Housing News

When Chris N. Chulakes-Leetz is sworn is Monday as a new Cape Coral councilman, he wants to research every facet of the citya s administration.

After weeks of partisan debate, the Senate voted on Wednesday to lengthen unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks and to extend the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.

The suddenly surging Columbia housing market just might have gotten more juice. The tax credit that helped fuel the Midlands' first year-over-year homes sales gain in more than two years got extended and expanded by Congress on Thursday.

Real estate investor Barry Sternlicht is betting the Greenwich, Connecticut, housing market is making a comeback.

November 5, 2009 - The National Association of Home Builders today applauded Congress for passing legislation that will extend and expand the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, stating that this will provide a much-needed boost to the fragile housing market and economy.

Regulators on Friday shut small banks in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri, bringing the number of bank failures this year to 119 amid the struggling economy and a cascade of defaults on loans.

Freddie Mac's losses narrowed to US$6.3 billion in the third quarter, but the government-controlled mortgage finance company didn't need a federal cash infusion.

But now homebuilders are on the hunt again, vying for choice parcels even in foreclosure-riddled markets like Las Vegas , Southern California and Orlando, Fla., where prices are cheap and there are early signs of a recovery.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign a measure today to continue to provide tax credits to homebuyers and extend jobless benefits up to 20 weeks in states hit hard by the recession like Nevada.

The White House signing ceremony Friday comes a day after the House, displaying rare bipartisan agreement over the seriousness of the jobless situation, voted 403-12 for the measure.

MIDCOAST : The Senate yesterday passed legislation to extend the $8,000 home buyer tax credit to May 1, 2010, for first-time buyers and add a $6,500 tax credit for repeat buyers if they've lived in their home for five of the past eight years.

Pending sales of single-family homes and condominiums in King County jumped more than 70 percent in October compared with last year as buyers raced to purchase homes before losing a federal tax credit.

The measure is expected to be approved by the House and signed by Obama within days.

By now, you're probably sick of reading all the competing theories about who and what created the housing bubble of 2003 to 2006 and subsequent bust.

Just as the housing sector appears to be recovering, gathering problems in the commercial real estate market threaten to become a new drag on the economy.

Buying a home is about to get cheaper for a whole new crop of homebuyers - $6,500 cheaper.

Last week, I wrote about how Ottawa has been creating a housing bubble in Canada with taxpayer money which is why residential real estate prices rise in defiance of rising unemployment and recession.

Sales of single-family homes and condominiums on Oahu picked up substantially in October; however, year-over-year median sales prices continued to contract, according to statistics released today.

The slump in U.S. housing prices is unlikely to end before the middle of next year, and data showing values are rising is misleading, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.

Pulte Homes Inc. lost $361.4 million in the third quarter, but with the acquisition of Centex Corp., the homebuilder's new orders increased by more than a third.