Archive for Tom Royce
Are FHA Loan Limits Increasing $100,000?
Buried at the bottom of a New York Times article on the trouble FHA housing loans are in is this tidbit, Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts wants to raise the lending limits of an FHA loan $100,000.
A few weeks ago, Congress extended the higher lending limits for another year. Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts [...]
20Nov2009 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | ContinuedTop 10 Most Affordable Real Estate Markets in 2009
If you are looking to move to someplace affordable, we have the list for you. The criteria that the National Association of Home Builders uses is if the home is affordable for families living at the median income of $64,800.
So while these cities are not the top of most folks hit parade, they do [...]
7 Million More Foreclosures To Hit The Market?
How scary is that number, 7 Million. If it was the deficit, it would not even scratch the surface. But it is the number of homes that are essentially in a foreclosure backlog.
These 7 million foreclosures represent those that are being negotiated, ones lenders are just plain ignoring, ones that are being worked out, [...]
Lowes See Home Improvement Market Improving In Hard Hit Areas
The housing downturn also took a big chunk out of the profitability of the home improvement stores. Think about it, who wants to invest in a home that is losing value or that you may have to turn over to the bank. When you can not pay the mortgage, preventative maintenance is not a priority. [...]
17Nov2009 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | ContinuedCommercial Real Estate Seeing Bottom
After a few years of following real estate, it is interesting to see the difference between the residential real estate market and the commercial markets.
For the residential market, real estate is home, a major investment, personal, and passionate. Decisions are not logical and are driven by status and desire.
The commercial market is all [...]
First Time Home Buyers Account For Nearly Half of Home Sales
Great news, the new home owner stimulus package did work. Nearly half of all homes sold between July 2008 and June 2009 were by first time home buyers. Average price was $156,000 and the median income of the household making the purchase was $61,600.
And the last piece of good news is that the government [...]
FHA Running Out Of Money
The Federal Housing Administration is nearly broke. Or in their parlance, dangerous low in cash reserves.
Yes, this is the same FHA that has provided loans to those who are unable to come up with the down payments that most banks are requiring or that loans for those with credit blemishes.
The same FHA that has [...]
Digital Assets For Real Estate Professionals
The past couple of weeks I have spent working and talking with people outside of the real estate industry about their web presence. It really brought home the point of how advanced many real estate agents, mortgage professionals, and those in the industry are.
We have domains that can be worth a great deal of [...]
Who Is Watching Fannie And Freddie? Answer Nobody Now. Internal Auditor Fired
Who is watching the hen-house full of 6 trillion dollars? If you are thinking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, today the answer is nobody. The agencies inspector general must have been getting too close to the truth as he has been fired in a complicated bureaucratic maneuver and now there is no oversight of the [...]
11Nov2009 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | ContinuedThird Quarter Existing Homes Sales Increase 11.4 Percent, Prices Drop 11.2 Percent
With stimulus provided by the new homeowners tax credit, we saw an increase in home sales in the 3rd Quarter of 2009. That is the good news. The bad news, prices dropped 11.2 percent from 2008 levels, ones anyone who watches real estate know were anemic.
Prices did rise in 30 of the 153 metro [...]


