Forums: Housing Cooperative

Criticism of the Obama Administration's mortgage bailout, the Home Affordable Modification Program, is reaching a fever pitch, and I know this because, among other things, the Administration itself appears to be mounting a defense. Recently, reporters who cover housing were called to the Treasury Department for a "background briefing" by Administration officials, who tried to focus attention on the many, varied Administration efforts to stabilize housing; the message was...it's not all about our modification program. Yesterday I received several emailed announcements from both HUD and the Treasury. One alerted us to a "Conference on the Future of Housing Finance," set...

With the Wall Street regulation bill behind Congress, it has already begun to tackle the next big fiscal issue: housing policy reform. With the government sponsored entities (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shaping up to be the most costly of all bailout recipients, it's a problem that deserves serious attention. What should Washington decide? First, here's a spoiler for how the debate will end: the government will maintain its strong influence in the housing market for decades, if not centuries, to come. The reason why has to do with a very unusual alliance when it comes to housing policy....

With all the talk of excess inventory and flood of foreclosures, the idea of a looming housing shortage sounds unrealistic if not fanciful. After all, the most recent data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) out last week showed a 5.1% decline in existing home sales in June. Meanwhile, total housing inventory increased 2.5% to four million homes available for sale, an 8.9-month supply, up from an 8.3-month supply in May. Foreclosures, too, are an issue with a vast backlog of distressed properties and underwater loans sitting just below the surface, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace. The...

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes rebounded strongly in June from the prior month's record low, government data showed on Monday, driving the number of houses on the market to their lowest level in nearly 42 years The Commerce Department said sales jumped 23.6 percent to a 330,000 unit annual rate from a downwardly revised 267,000 units in May. The sales pace last month was still the second lowest since records started in 1963. The percentage increase was the largest increase since May 1980, and partially unwound the prior month's historic 36.7 percent decline.

Government watchdogs are telling a Senate panel that the Obama administration's multibillion effort to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure is not working and could put the economic recovery at risk. Special inspector general for the financial bailouts Neil Barofsky said Wednesday that the program has not "put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings," during a hearing on the $700 billion bank bailout before the Senate Finance Committee. He also said the Treasury Department has ignored earlier demands that it set clearer goals for the program. Elizabeth Warren, who chairs a separate Congressional Oversight Panel on the bailouts, said Treasury's failure...

I like the statement "You know the Midas Touch? The government has the Medusa Touch where everything it touches turns to stone, like housing."

Rural Home Loans For People With Bad Credit And Single Mothers __ The USDA Farm Home Loans program provides low interest fixed monthly mortgage payment terms to help low and moderate income households afford a house of their own to keep the family together. In such difficult economic conditions, such rural home loans from the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Branch, can offer better credit flexibility compared to traditional lenders in the troubled and sluggish housing and lending market. Do not be too put off by the "rural home loans" name of this program since many semi-rural properties...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government watchdogs are telling a Senate panel that the Obama administration's multibillion effort to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure is not working and could put the economic recovery at risk. Special inspector general for the financial bailouts Neil Barofsky said Wednesday that the program has not "put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings," during a hearing on the $700 billion bank bailout before the Senate Finance Committee. He also said the Treasury Department has ignored earlier demands that it set clearer goals for the program. Elizabeth Warren, who chairs a separate Congressional Oversight Panel on the bailouts,...

(I have no connection to this company). My name is Jay Shafer and since 1997 I have been living in houses smaller than some people’s closets. I call the first of my little hand built houses Tumbleweed. My decision to inhabit just 89 square feet arose from some concerns I had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because I do not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. My houses have met all of my domestic needs without demanding much in return. The simple, slower lifestyle my homes have afforded is...