New Home Mortgage : New York, New Orleans, Arizona, Florida & Texas

In this buyer’s market, many are taking advantage of sellers’ desperation, demanding major home repairs, warranties on appliances, and even tax rebates.
A rock-bottom price just isn’t enough for buyers these days - it’s a starting point. If the furnace is out of date, they’ll demand a new one. Cracked driveways have to be repaved, and dirty carpeting torn out and replaced. All at the seller’s expense.

Type	Overnight avgs

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Want to retire near the water, but without paying premium prices for a home? Residents who buy real estate in these towns see their incomes go the furthest.

Median home price (2007): $124,900
Median family income: $65,744

If the thought of freezing winters gives you the chills, head for North Augusta, where winter temperatures hover at a relatively balmy 40°F, and summers are warm but not scorching. Residents stay healthy by jogging along the Savannah River. Horse-lovers can take in barrel racing and other equestrian competitions at the Hippodrome event complex. Read the rest of this entry »

July decline of 3.2%, reversing prior month gain, shows housing market remains in ‘malaise.’ Pending home sales fell 3.2% in July after gaining in June, according to a real estate group’s report released Tuesday, in the latest in a series of gloomy housing reports.

The Pending Home Sales Index fell to 86.5, after gaining 5.8% in June, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). It now stands 6.7% below July 2007’s reading of 92.8. Read the rest of this entry »

Inflation fears pushed U.S. 30-year mortgage rates up after being unchanged for three weeks according to Freddie Mac. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.03 percent this week after three straight weeks at 5.88 percent. Rates on 30-year mortgages were last above 6 percent the week of March 16 when they averaged 6.13 percent. One-year adjustable rate mortgages, or ARMs, climbed to an average of 5.29 percent from 5.10 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.62% this week, up from last week’s 5.40% average. The mortgage averaged 5.87% a year ago. And one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.29% this week, up from last week’s 5.10% average. The ARM averaged 5.43% a year ago. A separate survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that the volume of mortgage applications filed last week fell 14.2% compared with the week before. Lenders charged an average of 0.3 percent in fees and points on 30- and 15-year mortgages, down from 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent last week, respectively.

Bank of America Corp., seeking approval of its Countrywide Financial Corp. takeover, plans to modify at least $40 billion of mortgages during the next two years to keep customers in their homes. Bank of America said that it will locate its national consumer mortgage headquarters in Calabasas, Calif., once it completes its acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp. Bank of America also plans to double its community development lending, which focuses on affordable housing, small businesses and people in low-income and minority neighborhoods, to $1.5 trillion over 10 years. To accomplish this, the company will offer borrowers several options, including loan modifications and payment forbearance. It will not charge borrowers in foreclosure new late charges, and, in some cases, will waive prepayment penalties. Critics have said that BofA needs to make a strong commitment to working with troubled borrowers and minority communities in the wake of the proposed acquisition, which would ostensibly create the nation’s largest mortgage banking operation.