World Home Mortgage News

Electronic House includes articles on whole house control and subsystems like residential lighting, security, home theater, energy management, and telecommunications. Plus it examines the emerging technologies in home control and advises home buyers and builders on future-proofing a new home or enhancing...

The right way to use a reverse mortgage
CNNMoney.com

QUESTION: I'm a 73-year-old widow who receives about $1,150 a month from Social Security and a pension. I own a small home valued at about $100,000, but no other assets. I have about $25,000 in debt that requires payments of $600 a month.  By the time I make my loan payments and pay other expenses I'm barely scraping by. My kids have their own families and expenses, so they can't...

Korea to Get US Mortgage Insurance
Donga.com, South Korea

Genworth Financial, a heavyweight U.S. financial services company, is launching into the Korean mortgage insurance market. As major local insurance firms also get ready to plunge into the market, mortgage insurance products are expected to become available within the year. With this insurance, customers will be able to take out loans for more than the LTV (loan-to-value) ratios if the homes...

Indymac decides against Financial Freedom IPO, buys rest of ...
Los Angeles Business, CA

Indymac Bancorp Inc. decided not to pursue an IPO for its Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. subsidary and instead will buy the remaining 6.25 percent stake of the company for $40 million, Indymac said Wednesday.  Financial Freedom's chief executive James Mahoney will sell his 6.25 percent ownership to Indymac to complete the transaction, and will remain co-CEO until...
 

Washington rents soar amid tight market
FXstreet.com The Futures Market, Spain

A surge of affluent renters is driving up rates in the Washington area and turning it into one of the tightest apartment markets in the country.  Rents have gone up 7 percent in the region in the past year and the cost of a luxury high-rise apartment in Maryland has jumped by 11 percent, according to Delta Associates, a real-estate information firm.  The area had 6,500 new renters in the past...

House prices to rise 9.2% this year, report finds
CTV.ca, Canada

Housing prices in Canada are expected to rise 9.2 per cent this year despite rising mortgage rates, as demand continues to exceed inventory, according to a report released Wednesday.  Royal LePage Real Estate Services said in its quarterly report that the average house price in Canada will be $272,200 by the end of 2006, given current economic forecasts for the balance of the year...

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Photos you won't see in the real estate brochures
Village Voice, NY

Olufemi Falade's tenants were pleased when HPD commissioner Shaun Donovan announced in April that their landlord would go to jail for his stubborn failure to maintain his buildings. If they didn't live in the Flatbush building in front of which the commissioner trumpeted the outcome of months of litigation, they likely saw the news in the many print and TV stories that followed.  But 12 days...

Another Fannie Mae board member resigns
Inman.com (subscription), CA
Fannie Mae on Friday announced the second board member to resign from the company within the last two months, media reports said.  In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fannie Mae said that board member Donald Marron will resign from the board of directors, effective July 31.  Marron is chairman and CEO of private equity firm Lightyear Capital and joined Fannie...

IRS scrutiny of down-payment gifts threatens charitable movement
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
A decade ago, Don Harris, then a minister at a Baptist church here, came up with a simple idea for helping needy families: Give them down-payment money to buy their own homes.  By late 2001, the nonprofit group he set up to raise and distribute those gifts, now called Nehemiah Corp. of America, had helped 100,000 low- and moderate-income families across the country buy homes...

State aid for home loans disappearing quickly
Columbia Daily Tribune, MO
With interest rates rising, so is the demand for a state program that helps first-time home buyers. But the program might have trouble getting more money.  The "First Place Loans" program offers below-market interest rates, and help with down payments and closing costs, to households that make less than $57,000 to $65,550 a year. It is administered by Missouri Housing Development...

Saving on Property Tax
WKRC 12, Cincinnati

You've probably heard us report in recent weeks. Cincinnati leads the list for population decline among the nation's major cities.  Cincinnati does have a program in place to try to entice people to move to or stay in the city ... and it could mean a lot of money in your pocket. Paula Toti tells us how to save on property taxes.  You can find properties that qualify for tax abatements on tree...

Household credit risk rising: BOK
Korea Herald (subscription), South Korea

Amid continued disputes over a possible property bubble burst, commercial lenders expect the credit risk for Korean households to be higher in the coming months, the central bank's latest figures showed.  An index measuring credit risk for households came in at 22 in the third quarter. The index, calculated based on the Bank of Korea's survey for 16 banks, continued to rise since the...

Property Market Review: Making Sense Of The 'Mini-Boom'
Find a Property

If you've read a lot of house price reports in recent months you'll have come across quite a few references to the existence of something pundits are calling a 'mini-boom'.  Said phenomenon has been with us for at least six months now - probably more than six months if you factor in the market revival that began when the Bank of England cut rates last August.  And what, you might ask...

Borrowing a few ideas from a housing lender
KVUE (subscription), TX

As interest rates keep rising and housing prices stagnate, and as Americans' indebtedness continues to grow and their savings dwindle, it's become clear that some homeowners should have ignored the guidance of their friendly neighborhood lender.  Too many Americans have said "Supersize me" at the McMansion counter and are now regretting it.  U.S. households increased their borrowing...
 

Rates on hold - but not for long
Advertiser Adelaide, Australia

A SURE bet now exists that the mortgage repayments of Australian homeowners will rise by the end of the year.  The Reserve Bank board left interest rates on hold yesterday at 5.75 per cent. However, all eyes have now turned to the bank's meeting next month, particularly once the most recent inflation figures are published.  The financial markets are punting that there is a 100 per cent chance...
 

House price growth lowest in years
Sunday Times, South Africa

Banking group Absa says that house price growth is at its lowest in 4-1/2 years.  According to the latest Absa House Price Index, nominal year-on-year growth of 13.6% was recorded in June 2006 compared with a growth rate of 14.3% in May.  This was the lowest year-on-year growth since January 2002 when it was also 13.6% and brought the average price of a house in the...