Tag: tax

1. 5 things to consider before tapping your home for cash
“During the housing bust, many homeowners were cut off from a popular source of funds: their homes.”

2. Drop in jobless claims points to labor market strength
“(Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to nearly its lowest level since before the 2007-09 recession, a sign of growing steam in the U.S. labor market.”

3. Southern California office leasing market boosted by job growth
“Job growth in Southern California finally produced a robust quarter of leasing for office landlords, who were able to fill long-vacant space and push up rents.”

4. Suit asks why U.S. bailout of AIG wasn’t more generous
“The trial pitting a fallen financial titan against an array of former high government luminaries provides a through-the-looking-glass view of the financial credit crisis of 2008 — a view that only makes sense on Wall Street.”

5. U.S. Mortgage Application Volume Up
“The average number of mortgage applications for the week ended Friday rose 3.8% from the week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey.”

6. Why Getting a Mortgage Will Remain Hard for at Least 3 More Years
“NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Americans will likely have to wait at least three more years before it becomes any easier to get a mortgage.”

7. Rebirth of housing market calls for moving past Fannie and Freddie
“This fall marks the seventh anniversary of the federal government’s move to take conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the nation should thank the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) for restoring confidence and liquidity in mortgage finance during a time of crisis. Without their intervention and involvement, our nation’s housing system would have fared far worse than what we experienced.”

8. Op-Ed: Loan File Size Increasing at ‘Alarming’ Rate
“Lenders are gathering an unprecedented number of required documents to originate mortgage loans and comply with new regulatory requirements. To be sure, the regulatory environment saps efficiency and profitability at the same time that loan volumes are falling.”

9. Real Estate Investment Up; Led by NYC–Again
“New York remains the world’s largest real estate investment market for the fourth consecutive year. Volumes there rose nearly 11 percent to $55.4 billion–7 percent of global market share–in the 12 months leading up to June. Second-place London, which registered $47.3 billion of investment, closed the gap on New York thanks to a 40.5 percent increase in activity over that year, becoming the largest global market for cross-border investors. With $35.5 billion in investment, Tokyo reclaimed the third position from Los Angeles ($33.1 billion), which dropped to fourth while San Francisco ranked fifth with $23.8 billion invested.”

10. Find out why West beats East in home price appreciation
“It used to be gunfighters would brag about being the fastest gun west of the Mississippi River, and now it’s all about home price growth.”

11. Auction.com launches Auction Finance to spur investor activity
“Seeking to expand on its pool of potential real estate buyers, Auction.com has created a new division to help commercial and residential real estate investors obtain financing.”

12. Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates drop near yearly lows
“Mortgage rates slightly fell back down following the Federal Reserve’s latest tapering announcement, dropping down near their yearly lows, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market survey results showed.”

13. Mortgage applications for new homes flat in September
“Mortgage applications for new home purchases remained unchanged relative to the previous month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey data for September 2014.”

14. Debt among youngest, oldest shifted dramatically in past decade
“A new TransUnion study found that the consumer loan wallet – the composition of loans that people typically carry – has materially changed for both the youngest and oldest segments of the population during the last decade.”

15. Freddie Mac Expands Into Small Apartment Mortgages
“Freddie Mac is building a business to originate small apartment loans, between $1 million and $5 million, as part of its mandate to support affordable housing.”

16. If Congress Won’t End GSE Conservatorship Soon, FHFA Can
“Last week, a D.C. District Court Judge struck down a lawsuit brought by shareholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who had been seeking to stop the government from taking the profits from the two agencies. The suit will be appealed, but setting aside the legal disputes for a moment, the U.S. government still has a big issue to confront: what to do about the two government-sponsored enterprises.”

17. Taper Tantrum Erased With Mortgage Yields at 16-Month Low
“In the market for U.S. mortgage bonds, it’s almost as if the turmoil that became known as the taper tantrum never happened.”

18. REGION: Housing boom targets ‘silver tsunami’
“The Inland region’s newest housing boom is being built on its oldest residents.”

19. REAL ESTATE: Slower gains predicted in 2015 for home sales, prices
“Reset, California.

That could be the theme of a real estate forecast that California Association of Realtors chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young delivered Tuesday for 2015, as the real estate industry takes the shape of a more traditional market.”

20. It’s easy to pay someone else’s property tax
“Anybody can pay anyone else’s property tax, and it’s easier than ever with the recently enhanced online system in San Diego County.”

21. Best College Towns for Buying Rentals, Flipping in 2014
“RealtyTrac has ranked the top 10 college towns for buying rental properties, and the top 10 college towns for flipping in 2014. For these rankings, RealtyTrac looked at public four-year universities with a total 2012 enrollment of 20,000 or more based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics and located in counties with an unemployment rate below the national average of 6.2 percent in June 2014.”

22. Boston Broker Sends Agents to Asia to Promote Local Real Estate
“I was interviewing Boston-area broker Tom Truong for an article spotlighting the Boston market for the August issue of RealtyTrac’s Housing News Report when he made this comment that took me a bit by surprise.”

23. L.A. and O.C. least affordable rental markets: Rental market is at odds with weak employment growth and weak income figures.
“It should come as no surprise that the L.A. and O.C. housing markets are the least affordable in the entire nation. That is right, even more unaffordable than San Francisco or New York. Why? Because even though New York and San Francisco have higher rental costs, people make more money. Should be common sense but it should be apparent that people in SoCal like stretching their budgets. It might be the Hollywood allure of “acting” rich instead of actually being wealthy. Fake it till you make it. Hence the broke older homeowners with their boomerang adult-children coming to live back home. Rents are paid by net income. There is no extra mortgage leverage that you can squeeze out of a rental payment. You either make the monthly payment or you don’t. And seeing this data simply confirms that many in SoCal would rather act the role of being rich instead of taking steps to being wealthy.”

Plan to downsize your home? Don’t wait
“Moving to a smaller home in later life is a lot like starting a diet: It sounds like a good idea – but one that can always wait until tomorrow. In most cases, though, retirees can benefit from downsizing sooner rather than later.”

New-home sales fade in December after best year in five
“WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Sales of new single-family homes fell in December, but the whole of 2013 saw the highest sales level in five years, the government reported Monday.”

How spending has fallen under Obama
“It’s unlikely that President Obama will ever shake his reputation among Republicans as a big spender. But a key fact counters that rap.”

African-Americans squeezed out of the housing market
“More African-Americans are being squeezed out of the housing market.”

Will Real Estate Investing Slow In 2014?
“There’s little doubt that the real estate marketplace is in the midst of change. The huge price run-up seen during the past year or so is plainly cooling, interest rates have risen from the record lows seen in 2012 and higher prices may be causing some institutional investors to slow their purchases.”

Will Mortgage Tax Relief Die In 2014?
“An important law which has eased the financial fall-out from the mortgage crisis has ended. The Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act expired on New Year’s Eve and unless the legislation is extended large numbers of troubled borrowers will suddenly face huge new taxes.”

Rental house owners can profit from a professional manager
“It’s one thing to manage a rental house when it’s nearby. But it’s another process entirely when the rental is in a distant vacation retreat. Unfortunately, many second-home buyers find that out the hard way.”

Home prices show signs of topping out
“Home prices are showing signs of topping out: The S&P/Case-Shiller index posted its first month-over-month decline in 10 months on Tuesday.”

Home prices: Your local forecast
“After 2013’s big gains, home prices are expected to moderate this year. CoreLogic Case-Shiller expects prices to increase by the mid-single digit percentages for the 12 months through September. See how your market is expected to fare.”

Many renters just say no to buying homes
“(Reuters) – With a wife and a 10-year-old daughter, Matthew Amster-Burton appears to be one of the likelier people to buy a house, but the Seattle food writer says he has no interest in doing so.”

What business expects in the State of the Union
“President Barack Obama will likely talk about improving the broad U.S. economy as well as bolstering specific sectors when he gives his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. Trade groups around Washington are hoping for a coveted mention, and some are confident the president will talk about working with their industry.”

Yellen Faces Test Bernanke Failed: Ease Bubbles
“Janet Yellen probably will confront a test during her tenure as Federal Reserve chairman that both of her predecessors flunked: defusing asset bubbles without doing damage to the economy.”

Wall Street Bond Dealers Predict Plunging Treasury Sales
“The U.S. will borrow less money this year than at any time since 2008, validating the nation’s decision to go deeper into debt to combat the financial crisis as faster growth shrinks the deficit, Wall Street’s biggest bond dealers say.”

Banks ‘Chase’ Mortgage Loans With Mobile Apps for Home Buyers
“Not long ago, a financial institution couldn’t easily target consumers who were shopping for a new home. But with new online and mobile tools available today, banks and credit unions can be on the front edge of the mortgage application process.”

How QM fails to deliver
“Although the Qualified Mortgage and ability-to-repay rules are designed to halt excessively risky lending, the new guidelines are likely to fall short on risk restraint when comparing their reality to the expectations of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said Ed Pinto, resident fellow and co-director of the American Enterprise Institute’s International Center on Housing Risk.”

FHA Turns to Residual Income Test to Qualify Borrowers
“The Federal Housing Administration has elected to use the Department of Veterans Affairs’ residual income test as a new compensating factor to qualify borrowers with high debt-to-income ratios.”

New home sales fall, but private sector expands
“(Reuters) – Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell more than expected in December, but lean inventories and steady price gains suggested the housing market recovery remained intact.”

Is this what’s holding back the RMBS market?
“What is the state of the residential mortgage-backed securities market going into 2014?”

Fixed-rate mortgages tumble in popularity
“Adjustable-rate mortgages are gaining in popularity with interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages trending higher these days.”

We couldn’t believe which states have the most late mortgages
“Black Knight Financial Services says December was a good month for foreclosures in its latest report.”

JPMorgan reportedly selling $373M prime new issue RMBS
“JPMorgan Chase (JPM) told HousingWire.com the bank will decline comment on a Bloomberg news item suggesting the lender is about to sell $373 million prime new issue residential mortgage-backed securities.”

This Detroit Neighborhood Is So Bad That $1 Homes Could Be A Rip-Off
“Downtown Detroit is seeing a revitalization of sorts sparked by Dan Gilbert’s $1 billion investment in the area. Since 2010, Gilbert’s investment has created an estimated 6,500 jobs in downtown, and, as a result, it’s nearly impossible to find a vacant apartment as residential occupancy rates reached as high as 99.4% for the downtown area.”

Latest Real Estate Numbers Give Reason to Hope
“Housing price data for November, fresh out of the oven, shows dazzling year-over-year gains but a slowing in month-to-month prices. The S&P/Case-Shiller Housing Price Index that’s a composite of 20 metro areas jumped 13.7% year-over-year, beating even the past two month’s 13.3% and 13.6%. The continued march upward will certainly hearten housing bulls, as prices are currently only 20% off their bubble peaks of Spring/Summer 2006. Separately, last week the National Association of Realtors reported that volume was good, with 5.09 million homes sold in all of 2013. In addition to crossing the psychological barrier of the 5 million mark, that’s a 9.1% jump from the year before.”

Tax Geek Tuesday: Why You Should Never Hold Real Estate In A Corporation?
“Sometimes in life, when faced with a given situation, we say things simply as a matter of reflex. For example:”

Sold! The 2013 real estate year in review
“Historically low interest rates and limited inventory in 2013 fueled some of the greatest housing appreciation in San Diego County since the early 2000s.”

Living at home generation: a modern day feudalism awaits young Americans as the prospect of homeownership falls out of grasp.
“The prospect of homeownership for many young Americans seems so far out of reach that many are resigned to be renters for the rest of their lives.  In places like San Francisco and New York even those with decent paying jobs will find it hard to own a piece of real estate.  Obviously many investors with easy money from the Fed realized this end-game and dove into the landlord business with all the gusto in the world.  Wages are weak for the children of baby boomers.  Many in fact are back living at home.  Homeownership seems like a massive pipedream when many don’t even have the income to support a rental.  Of course in California, you have odd inter-family dynamics where some kids are just waiting until the parents keel over so they can inherit the Prop 13 protected World War II built property.  What more do people expect from a narrow focus on the present while ignoring the challenges facing a new generation of Americans?  This structural change has also created a big hit on new home sales.  Unfortunately for many a modern day system of debt serfdom awaits.  For those that have the chance to buy, it may require a massive leap into debt on top of the student debt many already carry.”

Delinquencies Down Nearly 10% in 2013
“Delinquencies picked up slightly in December, according to early data released by Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS)—but overall trends indicate 2013 was a year of improvement.”

FDIC Marks Second Bank Collapse of 2014
“FDIC announced the closure of an Oklahoma bank over the weekend, marking the first insured collapse in the Sooner State in more than a year and a half.”

Federal To Taper Stimulus Again
“The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce the second cut in its bond-buying program in six weeks as a lackluster December jobs report failed to diminish the central bank’s expectations for solid U.S. economic growth, according to The Wall Street Journal.”