News on Real Estate Sales

Analyst sees little impact from home tax credit

2010-03-19T14:30:50Z

<div id="subtitle">Analyst says home tax credit not helping builder much, so expiration unlikely to hurt either</div><div><p>Pulte Homes Inc. is not seeing many sales as result of a federal tax credit designed to spur home purchases, an analyst wrote Friday, so its sales are therefore unlikely to fall after the incentive expires.</p><p>Last year, Congress created a homebuyer tax credit of up to $8...

Advantages of Financing With a VA Mortgage

2010-03-16T20:16:31Z

A VA mortgage has numerous advantages for a borrower purchasing a new home or a homeowner who is refinancing his or her current mortgage. This type of loan is specifically for veterans or service members currently serving in the U.S. military. It is an exclusive benefit available to them in return for their service to this country. This type of financing is known for its great rates, flexible loan requirements and easy qualific...

Obtain Low VA Mortgage Rates and Save Money!

2010-03-13T12:54:51Z

VA mortgages are a great financing option for both first time homebuyers and current homeowners. These types of loans have multiple benefits, including no down payment on purchases and no mortgage insurance. The absence of these costs, which are required on most mortgages today, saves borrowers money for their other expenses. Borrowers can also save money because this type of financing tends to have lower interest rates than other types of home loans.<br><br>Why Low Rates are Bene...

Highlights from the Fed's latest economic survey

2010-03-03T14:33:38Z

<div id="subtitle">Highlights from the latest Beige Book economic survey of the Fed's 12 regional bank districts</div><div><p>Highlights from the Federal Reserve's survey of economic conditions nationwide. The survey, released Wednesday and known as the Beige Book, is based on information collected from the Fed's 12 regional bank districts.</p><p>BOSTON</p><p>(This region cover...

Hovnanian CEO: Glut of unsold homes easing

2010-03-03T13:19:05Z

<div id="subtitle">CEO of homebuilder Hovnanian says market could withstand a 'little' increase in foreclosures</div><div><p>The CEO of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said a modest surge in foreclosures this year wouldn't have a devastating effect on the homebuilder's sales.</p><p>Ara Hovnanian said new construction and the inventory of homes for sale have fallen well below normal levels in many cities. So ...

Stock market saying the economy will remain strong?

2010-03-01T19:15:25Z

<div id="subtitle">Has a better track record than economists</div><div><p>Last summer, worries that the serious global recession was going to wind up in a global depression were replaced with confidence the recession would soon end. </p><p>Global stimulus efforts began to work. Plunging home sales reversed to monthly sales gains. Job losses that had been exceeding 500,000 a month improved to only 150,000 jobs being lost monthly. Home prices began to improve. ...

US existing-home sales dip 7.2% in January

2010-02-26T08:16:49Z

<div><p>US existing-home sales fell to their lowest level in seven months in January, industry data showed Friday, highlighting ongoing woes for a sector that was at the epicenter of the financial crisis.</p><p>The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said sales of single-family and townhomes and condominiums dropped 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 mi...

US existing-home sales dip 7.2 percent in January

2010-02-26T08:16:11Z

US new-home sales tumble 11% to record low

2010-02-24T09:16:45Z

<div><p>Sales of new homes in the United States plunged 11.2 percent in January from December to a historic low, the government reported Wednesday in a fresh sign of weakness in the troubled housing market.</p><p>Sales of new single-family houses fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, from a revised December rate of 348,000, the United States plunged 11.2 percent in January from December to a historic low, the government reported Wednesday in a fresh sign of weakness in the troubled housing market.</p><p>Sales of new single-family houses fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, from a revised December rate of 348,000, the United States plunged 11.2 percent in January from December to a historic low, the government reported Wednesday in a fresh sign of weakness in the troubled housing market.</p><p>Sales of new single-family houses fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, from a revised December rate of 348,000, the Reuters) - U.S. mortgage applications fell for a third straight week, with demand for home purchase loans sinking to the lowest level in 13 years as inclement weather weighed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.</p><p>A continued drop in demand for purchase loans, a tentative early indicator of home sales, would not bod...

Ahead of the Bell: New Home Sales

2010-02-24T03:30:06Z

<div id="subtitle">New home sales expected to post modest rebound in January but housing recovery still tentative</div><div><p>New home sales likely posted a rebound in January but economists are worried that the housing recovery could be headed for tougher times once government support ends.</p><p>Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect sales of new homes rose 5.3 perc...

Earnings Preview: Toll Brothers

2010-02-23T14:17:46Z

<div id="subtitle">Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers expected to report loss for fiscal first quarter</div><div><p>Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc., reports its fiscal first-quarter results before the stock market opens Wednesday.</p><p>WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Signs that home orders and completed sales rose during the quarter and any outlook from management on sales for the second half of the y...

Pending Home Sales Rise in December

2010-02-22T12:25:44Z

<div id="subtitle">Report suggests slight improvement in housing market</div><div><p> People hoping to sell their homes may have reason for some cautious optimism. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports its Pending Home Sales Index rose slightly in December.</p><p>The index is based on the contracts sold in...

Pending Home Sales

2010-02-02T08:16:02Z

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2009 file photo, a sale pending sign is attached to a property for sale in Palo Alto, Calif. The number of people preparing to buy a home rose slightly in December, a sign that home sales could be stabilizing heading into the spring home buying season.(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

...

New home sales fall 7.6 pct in December

2010-02-22T14:23:32Z

<div id="subtitle">Sales of new homes sink 7.6 percent in December as industry wraps up weakest year on record</div><div><p>Sales of new homes fell unexpectedly in December, capping the industry's worst year on record and fueling concern that the housing market turnaround could falter.</p><p>Last month's results were the weakest since March and were only 4 percent above the bottom last January. The data showed th...

Summary Box: New home sales sink

2010-02-22T14:07:57Z

<div id="subtitle">Summary Box: New home sales fall 7.6 pct. in Dec. as industry wraps up weakest year on record</div><div><p>WHAT HAPPENED?: New home sales sank 7.6 in percent in December, capping the industry's worst year on record. The results were the weakest since March and were only 4 percent above the bottom last January.</p><p>WHAT DOES IT MEAN?: The government provided most of the fuel to the housing mar...

Home Sales Plunge In December

2010-02-22T14:55:42Z

<div id="subtitle">Buyers disappear with first expiration of tax credit</div><div><p> Would homebuyers continue to snap up bargains once the first homebuyer tax credit expired at the end of November? </p><p>We seem to have the answer to that question, and the answer is no. </p><p>In December, sales of existing-home sales suffered their biggest monthly drop in 40 years, even though ...

Economic incentives aid taxpayers

2010-02-22T14:36:56Z

<div id="subtitle">Taxpayers reap benefits from programs aimed at combatting recession</div><div><p>The deep recession that hung over the nation in 2009 has led to new tax credits and deductions — attempts by Congress to boost consumer spending and get the economy moving again.</p><p>These, along with increases in the standard deduction, personal exemption and alternative minimum tax exemption, may bring a little...