Housing Affordability Out of Reach to Many in Los Angeles
New York and San Francisco have long been infamous for their excessive housing prices. Now, Los Angeles can be added to that list.
Compounding the problem in L.A. is the continuing conversion of once-impoverished areas into new, more affluent neighborhoods. The individuals and families who used to live in those sections of the city have been forced out into even worse dwellings like converted garages, because that's simply all they can afford.
“They’re bottom earners living in a high-priced housing market,” said USC professor Dowell Myers. “The L.A. market’s messed up on so many fronts.”
Image via flickr/kla4067
Colorado Luxury Development Offers Fractional Ownership
One Steamboat Place, a luxury development in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is offering up a new type of vacation property ownership that is similar to a timeshare.
Unlike timeshares, however, this new type of fractional ownership exclusively targets high-end properties. Plus, ownership is split by fewer people, meaning that each owner gets to spend a larger fraction of the year in the home.
Fractional ownership can be sold and can also be left in a will or a trust.
Image via onesteamboatplace.com
Lenders Unlikely to Use New FICO 9
Although the new FICO credit model, FICO 9, has been met with much optimism, it is unlikely that it will be used any time in the immediate future.
The new model could boost individuals' scores by as many as 25 points by essentially ignoring paid collections and paying little attention to paid and unpaid medical debt.
While realtors love the idea of this more borrower-friendly model, lenders have been a bit more reserved in the wake of the recent mortgage crisis.
Image via flickr/reynermedia
Wells Fargo Is Commercial and Multi-Family Mortgage Leader
The Mortgage Bakers Association announced this week that Wells Fargo leads the pack of commercial and multi-family mortgage servicers in the United States.
Wells Fargo had lent out $446.8 billion as of June 30, 2014.
PNC Real Estate/Midland Loan Service was next in line with $378.2 billion.
Image via flickr/Mike Mozart
Foreclosure Numbers Down
The number of homeowners facing foreclosure in July was down from the month before and also saw a 34.4 percent decrease from July 2013.
According to CoreLogic, there were approximately 640,000 homes in foreclosure in July 2014 and 967,000 in July 2013.
Some experts believe that that number may drop as low as 500,000 by the end of this year.
Image via flickr/Jeff Turner
Pending Home Sales at a New 2014 High
Mortgage News Daily is reporting that pending home sales are at the highest level they’ve been since August 2013.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the Pending Home Sales Index for July 2014 was measured at 105.9, which is up 3.3 percent from the month before.
This is the third straight month the index has been over 100.
Image via flickr/Tom Caswell
Home Prices Keep Rising, But Pace Is Slowing
Home prices rose 6.2% this spring from the same time last year, though the rate of growth is significantly smaller than the year-over-year comparisons for the three previous seasons.
Las Vegas saw the largest spring increase at 15.2 percent, while prices in Cleveland remained nearly flat.
Image via flickr/401(k) 2013
Mortgage Banks Back in the Black
In the second quarter of 2014, mortgage banks reported an average net gain of nearly $1,000 per loan.
That number is up quite a bit from the previous quarter, when the banks were losing almost $200 for every loan taken out.
"The gains seen in the second quarter come after first quarter losses that were likely triggered by a variety of factors including the implementation of new Dodd-Frank regulations and extremely low origination volumes," Marina Walsh, MBA's Vice President of Industry Analysis, told Mortgage News Daily. "Some loan closings may have been pushed into the second quarter, resulting in an increase in profitability as per-loan production costs declined."
Image via flickr/401(k) 2013
The World’s Most Expensive Apartment Is Being Built
The Sky Penthouse - set to be the world's most expensive apartment - is currently under construction in Monaco. It will sit high above the nation's skyline and overlooks the Riviera.
The 35,000-square-foot, five-story abode is expected to sell for as much as $400 million.
Image via flickr/trishhartmann
House Flipping on the Decline
