Tag Archives: Cross River NY

Government thinks it can fix struggling communities | Cross River Real Estate

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The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development joined the education and agriculture secretaries Thursday in a press conference to elaborate on what will be involved in President Obama’s new “promise zone” initiative.

President Barack Obama announced that he is starting a new government program designed to help economically challenged communities.

The promise zone initiative, Obama said, will focus on attracting private investment to replace distressed housing with what they call “mixed-income” housing, reducing crime, providing tax incentives to stimulate economic growth, and promoting programs to help high schools retain and graduate students.

The first five locations will be San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Southeastern Kentucky, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The White House plans to announce 15 more promise zones over the next two years in blighted rural and urban areas.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said the effort will integrate housing, education and crime relief efforts, and bring together local community leaders with businesses through tax credits, coordinated by federal oversight.

“This is a sharp departure from the way the government provided aid in the past,” Donovan said. “Washington would swoop in and impose solutions without working with local leaders to support their visions and strengthen all assets needed for communities to thrive.”

“We want to bring together a wide variety of stake holders to better communities,” Donovan said. “Home is the foundation of all of our lives. Now we are going to connect housing with other efforts to expand opportunity.”

Donovan said that the tax credit component of the promise zone initiative is critical, especially for housing and job creation.

“Yes, these zones will work without tax credits, but no, not to full capacity,” he said. “Those tax credits that will be proposed are critical in accelerating job creation and improving housing.”

He added he believed the promise zones initiatives and tax credits will receive bipartisan support in Congress.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28537-big-promises-the-white-house-is-making-now-about-housing

Foreclosure filings plummet in November | Cross River Homes

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U.S. foreclosure filings plummeted 37 percent in November from a year ago and 15 percent from October, according to the latest report from foreclosure data aggregator RealtyTrac.

The 113,454 properties that were served with a default notice, scheduled for auction or repossessed by a bank in November represented the biggest month-over-month drop in foreclosure activity since November 2010, when foreclosure activity dropped 21 percent after the robo-signing scandal broke.

“While some of the decrease in November can be attributed to seasonality, the depth and breadth of the decrease provides strong evidence that we are entering the ninth inning of this foreclosure crisis with the outcome all but guaranteed,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, in a statement.

Only three of the 20 largest U.S. metros posted annual increases in foreclosure activity: Baltimore (up 46 percent), Philadelphia (up 34 percent), and Washington, D.C. (up 6 percent).

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/12/11/foreclosure-filings-plummet-in-november/?utm_source=20131212&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.xJyMjjbG.dpuf

Concern Grows that Aging Home Equity Loans Threaten New ‘Wave of Disaster’ | Cross River Real Estate

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Nearly half of the nation’s outstanding second lien home equity lines of credit (HELOC) will amortize over the next several years, raising monthly payments and increasing the risk of a rash of new delinquencies that could result in new defaults and foreclosures.

Lender Processing Services today joined Equifax in raising alarms about prospect that aging HELOC loans written in the final years of the housing boom could result in a huge number of defaults, creating a “wave of disaster.”

Some 48 percent of outstanding second lien home equity lines of credit, which were originated between 2004 and 2006, will begin amortizing on their tenth anniversaries.. As the payments on these HELOCs become fully amortizing, many borrowers may see monthly payments increase.  Recent increases in new problem loans among HELOCs originated prior to 2004 that have already begun amortizing indicate the huge wave of newly amortized loans poses increased risk of more delinquencies ahead, LPS said.

“In the aggregate, the home equity market is experiencing lower delinquencies,” said LPS Senior Vice President Herb Blecher. “However, among the HELOC population that has already begun amortizing, we are actually seeing an increase in new seriously delinquent loans. As of today, only 14 percent of second  lien HELOCs have passed this 10-year mark, leaving a very large segment of the market at risk of payment increases over the coming years. Nearly half of all of these lines of credit were originated between 2004 and 2006, with the oldest set to begin amortizing next year. If this trend toward post-amortizing delinquencies carries over, we could be looking at significant risk to the home equity market over the coming years.”

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/12/concern-grows-that-wave-of-aging-home-equity-loans-threatens-new-%e2%80%98wave-of-disaster%e2%80%99/

Housing market gets some upbeat news | Cross River Homes

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U.S. single-family home prices rose in September and posted their strongest  annualized gain in 7-1/2 years, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained  0.7 percent in September on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, matching the  Reuters forecast.

Earlier, the Commerce Department said permits for future U.S. home construction rose to their highest level in nearly 5-1/2 years in October.

“Housing continues to emerge from the financial  crisis: the proportion of homes in foreclosure is declining and consumers’  balance sheets are strengthening,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index  committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.

“The longer  run question is whether household formation continues to recover and if home  ownership will return to the peak levels seen in 2004.”

Prices in the 20  cities rose 13.3 percent year-over-year, the strongest gain since February 2006,  topping expectations for a 13 percent year-on-year advance.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits jumped 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. That was the highest rate since June 2008. Permits increased 5.2 percent in September.

August’s permits were revised to a 926,000-unit pace from the previously reported 918,000 units. Permits lead housing starts by at least a month.

The Department postponed the release of housing starts and completions for September and October until December 18 because the collection of data was affected by a 16-day shutdown of the government last month. November data also will be published at that time.

The partial shutdown of the federal government also delayed the publishing of the September and October permits reports.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected building permits at a 930,000-unit rate in October.

While permits are not counted in gross domestic product (GDP), they are a key indicator of economic activity and the sturdy gains in both September and October should ease concerns the housing market recovery was stalling.

Higher mortgage rates have slowed the pace of home sales, but demand for accommodation as household formation continues to recover from multi-decade lows is expected to keep residential construction supported.

Home resales fell in October for a second straight month and confidence among single-family home builders has ebbed somewhat since nearing an eight-year high in August.

Permits for the multifamily home sector surged 15.3 percent in October after increasing 20.1 percent in September. Permits for buildings with five units or more reached their highest level since June 2008.

Single-family home permits, the largest segment of the market, increased 0.8 percent after falling 1.9 percent in September.

 

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/some-good-news-housing-market-building-permits-leap-2D11658882