As the second quarter of 2014 comes to an end, homeownership is at a 19-year low, falling to 64.8 percent. That is down .1 percent from the first quarter of this year, and .3 points lower than it was this time last year.
Homeownership was at its highest most recently in 2004, when it peaked at 69.4 percent.
Image via Wikimedia Commons/SanjibLemar
While many first-time home buyers are struggling to get approved for modest-sized mortgages, banks are seeing a major increase in the number of multi-million dollar loan requests coming through their doors.
“High-net-worth borrowers don’t have to borrow,” Bank of New York Mellon Corp. managing director Erin Gorman told bloomberg.com. “They choose to, so they’re very strategic about what, why, and when they borrow.”
They’re borrowing now while interest rates are low instead of liquidating their assets in a stock market that has seen a seven percent gain this year.
Image via flickr/Atwater Village Newbie
Online house hunting sites Zillow and Trulia may be pairing up, which would create one giant listing site of homes for sale and could potentially make real estate brokers irrelevant. News of the rumors sent stocks for both sites soaring on Friday, while brokers have begun to fear for the state of their jobs in the changing market.
Neither site has commented on the rumors.
Images via Wikimedia Commons/Jmabel and Wikimedia Commons/Awilkinson4
For the less than the cost of some New York City apartments, you can buy your very own town in Wyoming.
Aladdin, Wyoming, a 30-acre hamlet located 80 miles northwest of Rapid City, South Dakota, is on the market for $1.5 million.
Aladdin features a post office and a general store, and it is home to 15 residents.
Image via Wikimedia/openclipart.org – Caleb Moore
As soon as U.S. troops began steadily returning from their service in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of FHA loans taken out began to soar.
Following a decade of combat, “everybody is just ready,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Claude Hunter.
VA loans accounted for 8.1 percent of all mortgages in the first quarter of 2014, which has seen the U.S. housing market slowly begin to recover.
Image via flickr/Kim Hill
A former Westchester County corrections officer was convicted on Monday on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements to financial institutions.
The officer, Jacques Kelly, will spend 15 months in federal prison and has been given until Sept. 30 to begin his sentence.
Kelly and his co-conspirators collected about $56,000 by buying several multi-family homes and providing their lenders with inflated purchase prices. They made no down payments, and because the purchase prices were less than what they told their lenders, they collected large sums of money at each closing.
All of the mortgages went into default and have cost the lenders about $7 million.
Image via flickr/ Connor Tarter
Two Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts are predicting that rising housing prices will level off in mid-2016 and begin to drop shortly thereafter.
This has not been the popular forecast among many experts, but Chris Flanagan and Gregory Fitter say that recent data has validated their theories.
Image via flickr/401(K) 2012
In areas where you’re likely to be up against other buyers when bidding on a home, a pre-approval letter can be what sets you apart.
The letter, which should be signed by your lender’s underwriter, assures the seller that you have the financial means to purchase the house. In other words, it is evidence that you should be take seriously as a prospective buyer.
Image via Google/lossmit.com
The average American household owes nearly $33,600 in student loan debt, which breaks down to about $387 per month with a 6.8% interest rate under a standard 10-year payment plan.
But it doesn’t have to be as bad as it sounds. To lessen your monthly payments, consider joining a pay-as-you-earn program; sign up for an income-based repayment program; extend the timeframe for your loan repayment (though this will increase the amount of interest you pay over time); refinance and lower your interest rate; or defer your payments for up to three years. Also, if you’re a teacher or a public sector employee, you may be eligible for special financing programs.
Image via Flickr/Simon Cunningham
“The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19 basis points in early afternoon trading on Friday. The movement came at the end of a tough week for investors as the market retreated from all-time highs just in time to kick off earnings season.
Wells Fargo was the highlight of the earnings calendar this morning, releasing second-quarter results before the opening bell…”
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