Homeowners refinance, put savings under mattress

Homeowners refinance, put savings under mattress

Chicago-area mortgage broker Steve Molitor had knee replacement surgery a few weeks ago, purposely scheduling it around the holidays because it’s typically a slow time of year in his business. But as he and other can attest, it’s been anything but slow.

Since the Federal Reserve’s announcement during Thanksgiving week that it would invest $600 billion in mortgage-backed securities, mortgage rates haven’t exactly been in a free-fall but they’ve sure gotten attractive. The Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday said that for the week ended Dec. 12, the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 5.18 percent for loans carrying an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio.

It has led to a refinancing boom, but one that’s much different from those of years past, when everybody who stood in line for a lower rate got one and the savings generated turned into spending.

Palm Beach may see some Madoff victims selling homes, yachts, jewelry [South Florida]

Palm Beach may see some Madoff victims selling homes, yachts, jewelry [South Florida]

Madoff mania may be flooding the island, but signs of panic may be more anecdotal than factual.

With the economy already in the doldrums, it can be difficult to divine the reasoning behind island residents’ financial moves.

While some island real estate brokers and shop owners have reported an increase in homes and merchandise up for sale since investment broker Bernard Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme was revealed last week, others say it’s business as usual.

Square Feet – Long List of Commercial Properties Face Distress – NYTimes.com

Square Feet – Long List of Commercial Properties Face Distress

For many months now, the commercial real estate industry has been grim about its future, but it has been hard to quantify just how bad things are. The default rate for loans packaged into securities and sold on Wall Street has remained well under 1 percent, yet today that low figure is considered highly misleading.

Now a New York research company, Real Capital Analytics, has compiled data showing that at least $107 billion worth of income-producing property — including hotels, offices, apartment complexes and warehouses — is already in distress or is headed in that direction.

The distress is occurring all across the country, but New York tops the list because of the number of costly high-profile transactions that occurred during the boom years. Real Capital Analytics’ list includes a total of 268 properties in the New York area, with a value of $12 billion, as already or potentially in trouble.

More ways to profit from market downturn

More ways to profit from market downturn

Still shedding tears over your mansion’s declining value and your beaten-down stocks?

Edward Mendlowitz, CPA and partner with the New Brunswick, N.J. accounting firm, WithumSmith Brown, says his wealthy Florida clients have been benefiting from the economic downturn.

How? They’re getting assets out of their taxable estates in a big way.

“We want to make the best of a bad situation,” Mendlowitz says.

HOAs cry foul over foreclosures

HOAs cry foul over foreclosures

Local homeowners’ associations and condo boards say banks are unfairly getting a break on how much back dues they have to pay when they take back a home in foreclosure.

That’s resulted in financial pain for some associations and helped drive others to the brink of collapse.

But bankers say it’s unfair to tag them with all the costs resulting from a bleak housing market and an overwhelmed court system that can take a year or longer to process a foreclosure.

Now both sides are gearing up for a fight in the state legislative session next spring.

Bargains drive up home sales in Palm Beach County [South Florida]

Bargains drive up home sales in Palm Beach County [South Florida]

Even as job losses mount and mortgage lending remains tight, South Floridians still are buying homes.

Bargain hunters continue to respond to plunging prices, with October sales of existing homes in Palm Beach County rising 37 percent, to 618 from 450 a year ago, the Florida Association of Realtors said Monday. The median price plummeted 24 percent, to $264,600 from $348,300 last October.

Sales have shot up since July, but that doesn’t mean the region’s nearly 3-year-old housing slump is ending, analysts say.

The October figures reflect home sales contracts signed during the summer, before the financial free-fall on Wall Street. And prices are expected to keep dropping as long as the foreclosure problem persists.