For real estate buyers who have the cash and credit to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates, there is one market type that tends to be more resilient than others: the college town. Consider investing in one of these 10 student meccas.
Fewer Americans are having trouble paying their mortgages now compared to a year ago, according to a new survey. The bad news? Fewer Americans have mortgages. Some of those who were struggling last year have since sold or foreclosed.
The real estate market has endured a few years of painful price drops, and home values may have a bit further to fall. But independent experts say the bottom is very close. With prices in many areas at 2002 levels, and mortgage rates at 5%, this may be the moment for you to buy a home.
Las Vegas has always been a place of dreams, promising that pennies can turn into fortunes, cities can rise from the desert, and property values can rise without limit. But you can also lose your shirt there, and the real estate crash has hit Sin City harder than any other place in the country.
Home sales tumbled this summer, and foreclosed properties bore the brunt of the pain. Sales of foreclosed homes plunged 31% from the year-ago period -- and 25% from the previous quarter. Prices for these properties also fell more than other homes.
For a while, it seemed the housing crisis had been averted. Now, Gary Shilling, president of economic consulting firm A. Gary Shilling & Co., says that things are likely to get worse. He predicts that housing prices could fall another 20%.
Despite new federal laws designed to protect them, many tenants are caught up in foreclosure dramas as building owners struggle to keep their properties. If the real estate market doesn't improve soon, the problem could get even worse.
After a 16-day review of its foreclosures, Bank of America says it found no problems with any of them, and now it's ready to resume processing the paperwork. But that's a claim so unbelievable it doesn't pass the straight-face test. Here's why.
New data from RealtyTrac shows that 24% of all U.S. properties sold in the second quarter were foreclosed homes. The group projects that the U.S. "will get through the distressed inventory largely by the end of 2013."
In 2007, a man was convicted of murder despite strong evidence that he wasn't the killer after three apparently very compelling witnesses matched him to the scent of the victim's clothes. Those witnesses? A trio of bloodhounds named Quincey, James Bond and Clue. I wish I was joking.
Many troubled homeowners in the federal foreclosure relief program end up losing their property anyway. Banks gain the most by delaying repossessing houses they can't sell, while collecting monthly payments from strapped borrowers.
