37,734 new and resale home transactions closed escrow in California during December 2011, up 4% from 36,215 transactions one year ago. December is the fifth consecutive month in which home sales volume surpassed corresponding months in 2010, which could indicate the beginning of a larger trend. Home sales volume was relatively flat from month to [...]

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has extended the waiver of its anti-flipping restrictions through December 31, 2012. The waiver allows buyers to continue using FHA-insured mortgage financing to purchase single family residences (SFRs) from sellers who have owned the property for less than 90 days – the concurrent or nearly concurrent double escrow or assignment [...]

Coming by a down payment acceptable to today’s mortgage lenders is altering the outlook for homebuyers in this post-Millennium Boom era, following 30 years of ever relaxing mortgage qualification requirements. While 100% financing came to be regarded as the standard during the Millennium Boom, today’s homebuyers in need of purchase-assist financing are again making down [...]

This Market Chart compares the costs and benefits of assorted forms of default insurance demanded by mortgage lenders on loans with LTVs exceeding 80%, and suggests the optimal financing path for homebuyers and their agents.

32,669 new and resale home transactions closed escrow in California during November 2011, up 4% from 31,403 transactions one year ago. November is the fourth consecutive month in 2011 in which home sales volume surpassed the corresponding month in 2010. [For more extensive history and analysis of monthly and annual home sales in California, see [...]

The underlying cause of stunted home sales volume and sticky pricing may be the epidemic of floundering Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) scores during the Lesser Depression, according to a recent FICO study. Roughly 50 million American consumers experienced a FICO score drop of at least 20 points in 2008-2009 following the housing bust and financial [...]

This article highlights the FHA’s shift from requiring automatic SPC reporting and clearance to discretionary compliance by the lender.

Eligible homeowners may skip all or part of their monthly mortgage payments for one year or more as part of the administration’s new foreclosure avoidance program. The effort is directed at unemployed homeowners in an effort to keep people in their homes while they get back on their feet. Here, under yet another government program, [...]

Who cares about financial crises of historic proportions, a feeble and ravaged real estate market or all-time low consumer confidence levels? Americans don’t seem to when it comes to their sweet tooth for homeownership. 90% of Americans hold firm in the belief that homeownership remains an immovable cornerstone of the American Dream, according to a [...]

The ten largest lenders in the nation approved 73% of mortgage loan applications submitted to them in 2010, down from 77% in 2009, according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal. Loan approvals in California for 2010 were better than the national rate at 76% of total mortgage loan applications. Lender approval of refinance [...]