NC101

It appears that unseasonably warm weather in many parts of the country contributed to upbeat home sales and a sunny outlook for Spring 2012. That was surely the case in Chattanooga, TN where area Realtors sold 442 houses during February, up nearly 22 percent over the same month a year ago and 35.2 percent above the sales volume in January. As a matter of fact, the Greater Chattanooga home sales totals were the best they have been for January through February in 5 years.

The Chattanooga Board of Realtors ...

The value of homes in Cincinnati, Ohio has dropped compared to home values both last month and last year. Zillow.com shows the current home value index for Cincinnati at $83,000. This number represents the median estimated value of homes in the Cincinnati area as calculated by Zillow. This March 2012 estimate is a 5.6% reduction from 2011. While overall home values have dropped, there are several areas within Cincinnati that have seen an increase in home values. The neighborhoods of Mt. Lookout, ...

During most of 2011, Santa Fe’s housing market became more stable, evidenced by a 2% increase in total sales over 2010. Although the average price increased by about $1500, which brought it to $445,783 at the close of 2011, the median price actually dropped from $325,000 to $318,000. Local real estate speculators report that rising prices are a “lagging indicator and that an increase in number of sales is always a precursor to rising prices.”

Since the start of 2012, home sales ...

Even though the rates for 30-year fixed FHA mortgages have dropped from 4.81 since March of 2011 to their current rates which have been hovering in the high 3% to low 4% range, it seems that’s not helping raise the number of FHA applications. In spite of the low rates, potential borrowers seem cautious due to the slow recovery of the housing crisis, tougher lending requirements, and nagging unemployment figures. MarketWatch reported on March 7th that mortgage activity across the board had fallen ...

In an effort to give more US citizens the opportunity of home ownership, the federal government has several programs in place designed to assist eligible buyers. Here is a brief overview of three of those programs.

FHA Loans

In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration established an assistance program for those Americans who could not afford to initiate a home purchase because of their inability to afford the price of a typical down payment. Today the program also provides ...