The National Association of Home Builder's Bob Nielsen weighed in on the recent announcement by the FHA to make some new changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). He said that "making more borrowers eligible for refinancing their mortgages by enhancing the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will give a badly needed boost to consumer confidence. Enabling additional home owners to take advantage of today's low mortgage interest rates in cases where their loans are greater than the value of their homes will give some households more money to spend on other things and enable others to at least pay their mortgages off at a faster rate."
According to the Chicago Sun Times, "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have helped approximately 9 million families refinance into a lower cost or more sustainable mortgage product, approximately 10 percent of those via HARP." An estimated 1,000,000 additional homeowners may be helped by these new changes. Some pundits have argued that the timing of these changes are simply a political strategy by the Obama administration, citing that just because a bank can refinance doesn't mean they will be willing to take on a homeowners who might be as much as much as 150 percent upside down in their homes. Simply removing the current loan-to-value ceiling (125%) may not have much affect, they say. Bob Nielsen, chairman of the NAHB, knows that many families have a hard road ahead because of current lending burdens. "It is essential to address overly restrictive mortgage lending standards, inappropriate credit limitations on home builders and a broken appraisal system that is contributing to housing price instability," he says. "All of these factors are detrimental to the full-scale housing recovery we need to rally consumers and get a disappointing economic recovery moving forward."
The road is even harder for families delinquent on payments, since these new HARP changes apply to borrowers still current on payments. Filings rose 1 percent over last quarter and now account for one in every 213 housing units. "U.S. foreclosure activity has been mired down since October of last year, when the robo-signing controversy sparked a flurry of investigations into lender foreclosure procedures and paperwork,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "While foreclosure activity in September and the third quarter continued to register well below levels from a year ago, there is evidence that this temporary downward trend is about to change direction, with foreclosure activity slowly beginning to ramp back up." The new homes market has finally seen some good news. The Commerce Department reports that new home sales were up 5.7 percent in September. This news is tempered, however, by the reality that sales of new homes are near historic lows -- bad news for builders and the large number of unemployed construction workers. New home sales this year are at a 50-year historic low rate. The previous records were set in 2010 and 2009.
Before that low rates were seen in 1982. According to the NAHB, "While the monthly increase shows some promise ahead for the new home market, the levels remain near record lows as buyers continue to be concerned about their own economic future and as difficulties in credit qualification and appraisals retard those who are in the market. At best, this is a promising prelude to improvement in 2012." As we know, housing isn't just about homeownership. There are millions of Americans today that seek our rental units as their home base. The Census Bureau has recently revealed that a large number of American renters are "severely rent-burdened". This means that 19.4 million renting households pay more than 30 percent of their total income on rent. And 25 percent pay more than 50 percent of their income on rent.
**************************************************************************************
Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert and Foreclosure Specialist who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.
Please visit: Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com, or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com , If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals - http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.
P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake, Osceola and Brevard County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud, Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Apopka, Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent and realtor who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it.
We also have now expanded to help homeowners to Stop Foreclosure in Brevard County Florida. Servicing Melbourne, Coco, Coco Beach, Satellite Beach, Palm Bay, Indian Harbour Beach, South Patrick Shores, Palm Shores, Rockledge, Cocoa West, Merritt Island, Port Saint John and Titusville Florida Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales. Orlando Short Sales, expert, specialist, Realtor, Keller Williams Realty, agent, broker, short sale, stop foreclosure
