Peter Cook and James Tyson / Bloomberg.com

Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer Daniel Mudd said the housing slump will last beyond next year, dragging down home prices and increasing credit losses.

“We don’t think we hit a bottom until the end of ‘08 and then we have some period of time to work our way back up again,'’ Mudd said today in an interview in Washington.
To view all of this article, please visit this link at Bloomberg.com

C.A.R.

Home sales decreased 27.8 percent in August in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home increased 2 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

“Despite the overall increase in the statewide median price, prices declined in 11 regions last month, falling 11.5 percent in the Central Valley region and 12.1 percent in Sacramento,” said C.A.R. President Colleen Badagliacco. “Price softness is even more pronounced when we look at different segments of the market. For example, the statewide median price in the entry-level price range of less than $500,000 fell 5.1 percent in August to $349,360 compared with $368,210 for the same period a year ago.
To view all of this article, please visit this link at C.A.R.

Too often, real estate practitioners are unaware of the tax liabilities arising from the cancellation of debt and fail to advise their clients accordingly.

BY LANCE CHURCHILL

You’ve just spent several stressful weeks helping your beleaguered seller negotiate a short sale. You’ve helped demonstrate to the lender that the home’s price has fallen and that to close the deal with the new buyer, the lender will have to forgive $10,000 of the seller’s outstanding mortgage loan not covered by the sale proceeds. But you did it, and now everyone is happy. The buyer gets a home, the lender avoids a messy foreclosure, and the seller walks away with no further financial burdens. Well, not quite.

Whenever real estate is sold, whether in a standard transaction, a short sale or a foreclosure auction, there are potential tax consequences for the seller. In this little scenario, the seller may still owe taxes to Uncle Sam — both in the form of capital gains on the home and on the unpaid portion of the mortgage. Yet, too often, real estate practitioners are unaware of the tax liabilities arising from the cancellation of debt and fail to advise their clients accordingly. Don’t make that mistake with your clients.
To view all of this article, please visit this link at Realtor Magazine

To view all of this article, please visit this link at LoanWorkout.org

The decline is accelerating, with prices falling faster in every month since the start of the year.

By MSN Money staff with wire reports

The housing market just got even uglier.

A decline in U.S. housing prices in July was the steepest drop in 16 years, according to the nationwide S&P/Case-Shiller home price index released this morning.

The downturn in the U.S. housing market has been blamed for creating turbulence in international money markets and has kindled domestic concerns about a possible recession. Federal Reserve policymakers cut short-term interest rates by half a percentage point last week in an effort to bolster economic growth.

Home prices were lower in 15 of 20 metropolitan areas, the report showed. A subindex of 10 metropolitan areas fell 4.5% in July, the biggest drop since July 1991. The largest declines over the past year were in Detroit; Tampa, Fla.; and San Diego. Seattle and Charlotte, N.C., had the biggest increases.
To view all of this article, please visit this link at MSN Money

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer / © 2007 The Associated Press / chron.com

WASHINGTON — Sales of existing homes, depressed by turmoil in credit markets, fell for a sixth straight month in August, pushing activity to the lowest point in five years.

The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing single-family homes dropped by 4.3 percent in August, compared to July. Sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate dropped to 5.5 million units, the slowest pace since August 2002.

The housing market has been battered by the steepest downturn in 16 years. Those problems were exacerbated in August by turmoil in credit markets, reflecting new worries about rising defaults in subprime mortgages.

To view all of this article, please visit this link at chron.com

Sales Climb Modestly in Several Central Valley, Bay Area Markets

CBIA (California Building Industry Association)

SACRAMENTO – New home sales in July at California new-home communities continued to lag behind last year’s pace, the California Building Industry Association reported today.

The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence New Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that new home sales in July were 27.8 percent below July 2006, continuing a trend of decline. For the month, 4,990 homes and condominiums were sold in the subdivisions tracked by Costa Mesa-based HWMI, compared to 6,915 in July 2006. Sales of single-family homes dropped by 20 percent, sales of townhomes and “plexes” – duplexes, triplexes, etc. – were down 44 percent and sales of condominiums were down 40 percent.

To view all of this article, please visit this link at CBIA

HomeGuide123 

According to the most recent foreclosure numbers released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the U.S. is embroiled in the worst foreclosure crisis in recorded history. More than 14 percent of subprime borrowers are defaulting, and prime borrowers are beginning to follow suit.

To view all of this article, please visit this link at HomeGuide123

Bob Ivry / Bloomberg.com

As many as half of the 450,000 subprime borrowers whose mortgage payments increase in the next three months may lose their homes because they can’t sell, refinance or qualify for help from the U.S. government.

“Short of the cavalry riding in over the hill, a lot of these people are just stuck,'’ said Christopher Cagan, director of research and analytics at Santa Ana, California-based First American CoreLogic, the risk management unit of the biggest U.S. title insurer.
To view all of this article, please visit this link at Bloomberg.com

New data suggest homeowners can’t make mortgage payments

AP / MSNBC

LOS ANGELES - The number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month more than doubled versus August 2006 and jumped 36 percent from July, a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes amid a national housing slump.

To view all of this article, please visit this link at MSNBC