Alternative2Foreclosure.com

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) — The U.S. housing market faces uncertainty as government support programs change direction, industry observers said.

With the Federal Reserve Bank set to stop a $1.25 trillion mortgage-backed security purchase program in March and a federal tax credit for first-time home buyers ending April 30, opinions vary on whether the market can stand on its own versus which direction it may fall, The New York Times reported Monday. More

The Hercules Redevelopment Agency occasionally buys homes and resells them or puts them up for rent. But what you have to do to get one is a bit of a mystery.

The Homeownership Retention and Loss Mitigation Program was established in May 2007 with the primary aim of helping homeowners who previously borrowed money from the agency avoid foreclosure by their primary lender. The agency has bought 11 homes under the program, city records show. In some instances, the agency paid off the existing bank mortgage and stepped in as first lender; in others, the agency bought the home.

Five of the 11 purchases occurred in the last half of 2009, all but one as short sales. The agency since has resold one of the homes, and rented two others back to the owners it acquired them from. The other two — a condo at 1209 Devonwood and a condo at 16 Amber Court — are vacant.  More

Bank of America’s newly-minted CEO Brian Moynihan announced last week that the company has hired additional loan management staff “to ensure we are doing all we can” to help homeowners. Yet he neglected to mention that any customer seeking guidance on, say, avoiding foreclosure just might reach one of B of A’s helpful “home retention” reps — in Mumbai.

That’s where B of A (BAC) has recruited at least some of its loan specialists, according to a November 2009 ad that ran on Indian job-hunting sites including TimesJobs.com and eBharatJobs.com. One thing to note is the experience required for candidates: 0-5 years. More

The heartbreak of foreclosure has been felt all around the Bay Area.  The Cardosos are one of the most recent to face this situation.  Only problem is, they paid cash for their house.

The Massachusetts couple had purchase a future retirement home in Spring Hill with cash in 2005.  They filed a lawsuit on January 20 that alleges he Bank of America seized the house, removed the belongings, and changed the locks on the their home.

The bank had an incorrect address on foreclosure documents.  The house it meant to seize is across the street and about 10 doors down.  But the Cardosos and a Realtor employed by Bank of America were unable to convince the company that it had the wrong house.  More

Donna Strange doesn’t want to see more homes built in Manteca until foreclosures that are plaguing neighborhoods – including her own south of Woodward Park – are absorbed by the market.

That is why she spoke out last week against two proposed neighborhoods with a combined total of 863 single family homes that are envisioned for vacant land immediately south of the Jasmine Hollow, Emerald Glenn and Rose Garden neighborhoods near Woodward Park.

“What happens to the foreclosures in our neighborhood?” she asked the City Council if even more new homes are built nearby. More

“While home prices have been trending up since spring 2009, existing, new and pending home sales are waning, which suggests that lower prices are on the horizon,” said the statement.

Market analysts and policymakers at the Federal Reserve are closely watching the battered housing sector and the weak jobs market to gauge whether the U.S. economy can go on growing and to determine when the central bank may start raising interest rates.

Recent data showed U.S. existing home sales dropped by a monthly record of 16.7 percent in December, while new home sales fell by 7.6 percent, S&P noted.

U.S. home prices increased in June 2009 in seasonally adjusted terms for the first time in nearly three years and prices continued rising through November, S&P said.

But in nonseasonally adjusted terms, the S&P composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas slipped 0.2 percent in November.

The recent fall in home sales is boosting the number of existing homes on the market, which grew to a 7.2 months supply in December from 6.5 months in November, S&P said. More

In 2006, Benjamin Koellmann bought a condominium in Miami Beach. By his calculation, it will be about the year 2025 before he can sell his modest home for what he paid. Or maybe 2040.

“People like me are beginning to feel like suckers,” Mr. Koellmann said. “Why not let it go in default and rent a better place for less?”

After three years of plunging real estate values, after the bailouts of the bankers and the revival of their million-dollar bonuses, after the Obama administration’s loan modification plan raised the expectations of many but satisfied only a few, a large group of distressed homeowners is wondering the same thing. More

Will your house hold its value as a financial investment and a good place for you to live during the next decade? What’s ahead for the housing market?

To answer those questions, homeowners and homebuyers should watch four trends:

1. Echo boomers’ entry into their peak homebuying years.
2. Baby boomers’ entry into their peak home-selling years.
3. The new demand for smaller homes.
4. The new demand for more energy-efficient homes.  More

The US government may be fueling another housing market bubble, according to a report released last week by the the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (SigTarp).

To the extent that the crisis was fueled by a ‘bubble’ in the housing market, the Federal Government’s concerted efforts to support home prices…risk re-inflating that bubble in light of the Government’s effective takeover of the housing market through purchases and guarantees, either direct or implicit, of nearly all of the residential mortgage market.

And yesterday, Paul Volcker, the former Fed chief who is now proposing a ban on proprietary trading at deposit-holding banks, reiterated the risks of too much government backing for the mortgage market, calling the mortgage market “broken” and saying that Canada’s banking system had avoided the worst of the effects from the housing bubble collapse by keeping its mortgage market private. More

There is good reason to be skeptical that the real estate market will heal rapidly from the self-inflicted wounds of the mortgage crisis. Even as home sales pick up and the shares of real estate investment trusts and home builders rise ahead of the market, the hangover from last decade’s building boom continues to be felt.

Vacancies, regardless of property type, remained at or near all time highs in the U.S. in the last three months of 2009 according to Census data. Predictions that demand for homes and properties are being constrained only by the recession are likely just wishful thinking says analyst Josh Levin at Citigroup. More

The Great Bailout is mostly over for the banks. But for those troubled behemoths of the nation’s housing bust, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the lifeline from Washington just keeps getting longer.

Fifteen months after Fannie and Freddie were effectively nationalized, neither the Obama administration nor Congressional leaders see a quick solution to one of the thorniest problems in American finance: how to fix the twin mortgage giants without choking the flow of credit to homeowners and dealing a blow to a still-fragile housing market.

The administration had said for months that it would begin charting a new course for Fannie and Freddie when it released its budget proposal on Monday. The companies, crucial pillars of American housing, already have consumed over $112 billion of taxpayer dollars. More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – (Business Wire) The California State Department of Real Estate (DRE), the state department that issues licenses to real estate professionals and protects consumers in real estate transactions, revoked a record number of real estate licenses for cause in 2009. The DRE also accepted another record number of license surrenders from licensees facing disciplinary action. All told, over 775 licensees had their license revoked or simply surrendered their licenses while facing accusations.

Over the past two fiscal years, the DRE averaged 446 license revocations and 59 license surrenders. In 2009, license revocations jumped over 50%, to 672, while license surrenders jumped nearly 80% to 105. The 122 cases that resulted in license suspensions in 2009 remained relatively unchanged from the 125 license suspensions averaged in the past two fiscal years. More

The government’s loan modification process (Home Affordability Modification Program or “HAMP“) is an abject failure in its current form. Complaints abound from underwater homeowners (it’s estimated that over 1/4 of homeowners owe more than their home is worth), banks and loan servicers about the documentation; the ability to morph from temporary modifications to permanent ones; and the inequality of first and second mortgage holders.

Almost every expert agrees that loan forgiveness is the key, but thus far, banks have been reluctant to write down loans because of the balance sheet impact. This “pray and delay” or “extend and pretend” strategy can only work if the economy and house prices recover quickly. Anyone think that’s happening? More

Have you considered buying a new home in Modesto?

Good luck trying. No subdivisions are building, and virtually all Modesto home developers have mothballed their projects or sold out.

Only Habitat for Humanity’s nonprofit Hope Village has construction plans for 2010, and those houses will be built by volunteers.

That’s no surprise considering the dismal housing market. Just 249 home-building permits were issued during 2009 in Stanislaus County, with only 38 in Modesto. More

The four-county region continues be a joy to bargain hunters, offering an abundance of foreclosed homes, especially in Sacramento County.

But finding a home could be a challenge. About 5,800 homes were on the market last month, 46 percent fewer than December 2008 — and much lower than the record 15,300 in August 2007.

Fewer homes on the market translated to fewer opportunities, as sales dipped 1 percent last month compared to November and 22 percent off December 2008, according to a Trendgraphix report released Tuesday.

Many of the homes available were bank-owned. Foreclosures increased 22 percent last month compared to November, as federal government moratoriums on such actions faded at the end of the year. And foreclosures — which have dramatically dropped home prices — will likely dominate the market this year. More

Even as the housing market shows signs of improvement, including in new data released Tuesday, economists warn that it could take up to a decade for many homeowners to regain equity in their homes, while some people in the hardest-hit regions of the country may not see a recovery during their lifetime.

Home prices have fallen 30 percent since reaching their peak in 2006, and many economists think they will take another tumble this year as more foreclosures pile on the market. The pace of recovery will vary throughout the country, with homes in the most battered markets taking the longest to regain value. Meanwhile, millions of homeowners who are “underwater” — owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth — face years of negative equity that puts them at a higher risk of foreclosure. More