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No loans in 'Wonderland'

By Lou Barnes, Friday, August 21, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kryten/104208165/" target=blank>Robert Whitehead</a>.

In a considerable achievement, Treasury and mortgage rates held last week's improvement: the 10-year T-note near 3.5 percent, mortgages 5.375 percent.

To have held during one of the thinnest trading weeks of the year, in which a butterfly wing-beat can blow up any market; in the week before the Treasury's next borrowing wave ($109 billion new cash next week); stock market antigravity; and interpretation of all incoming data as "recovery" -- quite an achievement.  more...

NAR: Sales rise for 4th straight month

By Inman News, Friday, August 21, 2009.

Sales of previously owned homes rose for the fourth straight month in July -- a streak that hasn't occurred since June 2004, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

The pace of resale home sales rose 7.2 percent from June to July and 5 percent compared to July 2008, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units -- this monthly rise is a record dating for association data dating back to 1999.  more...

Square-foot index up 3% in June

By Inman News, Friday, August 21, 2009.

An index that measures changes in the price per square foot of homes for 25 metro areas posted a monthly increase of 3 percent in June, according to real estate data company Radar Logic, with gains in all but two metros.

The 3 percent rise from May to June was one of the largest gains for the month of June in the history of Radar Logic's price data, which dates back to 2000.

The Boston metro area had the highest monthly gain in price per square foot in June, up 6.5 percent to $200.63, followed by the Atlanta metro area, up 5 percent to $81.19.  more...

The $4,500 loan mod that couldn't

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Friday, August 21, 2009.

Q: This isn't about a home sale exactly, but I hope you'll look at my situation anyway. I hired a loan modification company that had a very good reputation. (I'm not behind on my mortgage payments, but I wanted to have my lender extend my 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage to a 30-year-fixed.) I was very wary of getting scammed, so I asked my mortgage broker -- who has worked with my family for decades -- to refer me to a company.

The company seemed legitimate. It was associated with a law firm, and offered to give me a full refund if it couldn't get my loan modified. My boyfriend is an attorney, so he made sure my contract stated that the company would put my money in a trust account until they completed the loan modification.  more...

Are cold showers linked to small tank?

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, August 21, 2009.

Q: I have a 40-gallon natural gas water heater that is 5 years old, located at one end of the house and the bathrooms are at the other end. We added a recirculation pump with timer that allows us to get hot water within 5 seconds vs. without, which used to take 60-plus seconds.

However, I have never been able to keep enough hot water going for my wife's showering. She normally runs the shower for 15 minutes and unless it is at the top of the hot setting, she complains that there is not enough hot water. When we have visitors, it gets even worse. Does this mean we need a bigger-capacity water heater? Are there other solutions besides more capacity?  more...

Luxury prices hold despite slowdown Premium Content

By Riya V. Anandwala, Friday, August 21, 2009.

The stock market plunge and asset crash that hit last fall, along with stricter lending rules such as higher down payments for loans on luxury properties, are contributing to the drag on high-end sales.

And while high-cost markets are feeling a pinch in sales, luxury real estate values have generally held the line better than those of other real estate market segments, according to industry data.  more...

Renewed interest in new urbanism Premium Content

By Steve Bergsman, Friday, August 21, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/outofpaper/43112533/in/photostream/">Alexander Somma</a>.

Back in the 1990s, new urbanism and smart-growth movements began advocating for alternatives to urban sprawl, promoting a cross-hatch of ideas from the simple -- redeveloping along mass transit stops -- to the more ephemeral -- strengthening downtowns to make them more attractive to young, knowledge-based workers.

Indeed, new urbanism advocates seemed to be ahead of the curve as Generation X entered the workplace and began taking up residences closer to the downtown core. Then came the great real estate bubble, and the trend line ground to a halt like a tram approaching a congested intersection.  more...