In the aftermath of a housing crisis built on easy credit, today’s tighter credit standards are widely accepted. But just how fine a comb lenders put to loan applications can be surprising. California Realtor Scott G. Harrison tells the story of a recent buyer with a pending contract on a […]
Author: Patrick Clark
Housing picture bleak in spite of modest gains
Better weather and an improving jobs outlook likely pushed existing home sales upward in March, but foreclosures, tight credit and lingering unemployment continue to dog the housing market as it enters the spring selling season. Home sales will rise 2.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million when […]
Washington Fix Unlikely Even As Home Prices Fall
Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a fifth-term Democrat from California’s Central Valley, doesn’t need an economic indicator to describe the state of the housing market. Three cities in his district—Modesto, Stockton and Merced—have foreclosure rates among the ten worst in the country. Seventy percent of Central Valley homeowners are underwater on their […]
Declining home prices offset rise in sales
Existing home sales increased last month, but declining prices and a high percentage of distressed sales indicate that the housing market faces a long road to recovery. The National Association of Realtors reported Feb. 23 that existing home sales increased 2.7 percent from December 2010 to a seasonally adjusted annual […]