real estate values

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Home Prices Up .7%, 1st Rise in 8 Months

Washington DC, San Fran, Atlanta see biggest gains

(Newser) - Home prices in major US cities have risen for the first time in eight months, boosted by an annual flurry of spring buyers. Prices rose in 13 of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index, according to the April report released today. Washington, DC, saw...

11.1M Households Underwater
 11.1M Households Underwater 

11.1M Households Underwater

Number jumps to 23.1% at end of 2010, more likely on way

(Newser) - Just when it looked like the housing market might be treading water, more American homes slipped underwater at the end of 2010, reports the AP. Now 23.1% of all mortgages, or 11.1 million, outweigh the value of the house they secure—up from 22.5% in the previous...

Home Prices Up 3.2% Over July 2009
 Home Prices Up 3.2% 
 Over July 2009 

but downturn looms

Home Prices Up 3.2% Over July 2009

July numbers up .6% from June, but demand weakening

(Newser) - Home prices rose in July for the fourth straight month, but many cities are bracing for declines in the year ahead. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased 0.6% in July from June and 3.2% from a year ago. Twelve cities showed monthly price gains. However,...

After 17 Years on Market, Mega-Mansion Sells

Tyler Perry paid $7.6M for place he's going to tear down

(Newser) - Celebs plunk down millions on mansions every day, but Tyler Perry's new acquisition is somewhat more storied. The scribe bought Atlanta's Dean Gardens, which cost $25 million to build, features 58 acres, a golf course, wedding chapel, and what the New York Times calls an almost universally mocked "collision...

Christie Brinkley Hawking Hamptons House for $15.75M

(Newser) - And you thought she was just a pretty face. Ex-supermodel Christie Brinkley is offering for sale one of her several Hamptons homes—for the low, low price of $15.75 million. Located in North Haven, NY, near Sag Harbor, it was built in 1843 and features 5500 square feet, 4....

Seeking Cheaper Land, Amish Go West

Population in Colorado surges

(Newser) - With fewer than 1,000 residents, Westcliffe, Colo., looks like a lot of other Western towns—until you notice the buggy crossing sign and the hitching post outside the supermarket. Amish farmers are seeking out the rural community 3 hours south of Denver, where land is six times cheaper than...

Record $5.4B NYC Apartment Complex Lost to Creditors

Stuyvesant Town project collapses under debt

(Newser) - The record-setting sale of a New York residential property for $5.4 billion in 2006 was a deal made at the height of the boom—and it's now a casualty of the collapsed real estate market. Tishman Speyer, the property company that bought the 56-building, 11,000-unit Peter Cooper Village...

Lenders Loosening Up on Mortgage Down-Payments

Max insurable rises to 95% as many markets stabilize

(Newser) - Mortgage lenders and insurers, buoyed by improvement in the housing market, are relaxing their down-payment requirements. As they take more and more markets off the restricted list, the percentage of a property's value insurers will cover is rising from 90% to 95% in many places. Wells Fargo, which has been...

House-Flippers Target Foreclosure Sales

Big profits loom as lenders offload homes at auction

(Newser) - House-flipping is making a comeback as investors seek fast profits from foreclosure auctions. Lenders are overwhelmed with property, especially in foreclosure hotspots like California, Nevada, and Arizona, and their haste to sell off their huge supplies of homes can mean big flip profits for investors with knowledge of local markets,...

As Slump Eases, High-End Homes Linger on Market

(Newser) - It’s a tale of two housing markets out there. While low and mid-priced homes are enjoying a resurgence, high-priced residences are languishing unsold, their prices falling rapidly, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We’re extremely oversupplied,” says a real estate agent in an affluent Illinois town, where...

Looking to Buy a Condo? Act Now

What's bad for luxury developers is good for buyers

(Newser) - Standing tall in some of the most moneyed neighborhoods in America, condos once symbolized a seemingly bottomless housing boom. Now that the housing market has cratered, the luxury real estate sector is providing would-be buyers with the biggest opportunities, Forbes says. Lake Tahoe, Calif., Key Biscayne, Fl., and New York’...

Recession Puts Brakes on Divorces
Recession
Puts Brakes
on Divorces

Recession Puts Brakes on Divorces

Would-be exes stay under one roof to avoid real estate losses

(Newser) - A lot of unhappy couples are staying together—or at least staying under one roof—thanks to the recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many would-be exes are putting off breakups, unwilling to sell their houses in a down market or unable to afford new ones. Some even continue to...

Congress Weighs Wider Home Tax Credit

$8K for first-time buyers may jump to $15K, apply to all sales

(Newser) - With the tax credit for first-time homebuyers set to expire in November, congressional efforts to increase it and broaden its reach are ramping up, reports USA Today. Chris Dodd, who leads the Senate Banking Committee, supports a proposal to raise the credit to $15,000 and extend it to all...

Hamptons Grim, But Not Dead
 Hamptons Grim, But Not Dead 
GLOSSIES

Hamptons Grim, But Not Dead

(Newser) - The Hamptons are not a happy place these days, Michael Shnayerson writes in a Vanity Fair piece detailing fortunes destroyed, plans dashed, homes selling for bargain basement prices. The stink of the financial crisis in general, and Bernard Madoff especially, has descended on the oceanfront playground of New York’s...

Investors Storm Housing Market

Aim to take advantage of current low prices

(Newser) - Investors are snatching up cheap houses, hoping to turn a profit when the market picks up, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some are foraging far and wide for potential purchases; others are locals who know the ins and outs of the area market. Investors often make all-cash offers, helping them...

Leona's Mansion Makes History: Price Drops $50M

(Newser) - The asking price for the late real estate magnate-cum-jailbird Leona Helmsley’s Connecticut mansion has been slashed by $50 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 40-acre Greenwich property is now offered for $75 million, down from $125 million. Insiders think it could be the largest cut ever for a...

Gonzo Blogger Exposes SoCal Housing Market

Jim Klinge's unrestrained criticism of real estate practices brings him buyers

(Newser) - With “transparency” a political mantra and the housing market an unqualified mess, one real-estate broker is seeking unfettered truth, the Los Angeles Times reports. Armed with a video camera, blogger Jim Klinge is chronicling California’s real-estate crash, sparing no broker’s feelings with scathing appraisals not just of...

Manhattan Apartment Prices Tumble
Manhattan Apartment Prices Tumble

Manhattan Apartment Prices Tumble

Financial crisis sends values down double digits in first quarter

(Newser) - Wall Street's problems have chucked a bucket of cold water over Manhattan's once overheated property market, Reuters reports. The median price of a Manhattan apartment dived 11% to $749,000 in the first quarter, according to a report released today by the Corcoran Group, New York's largest brokerage. Analysts expect...

Cash-Strapped Calif. Considers Selling San Quentin

(Newser) - Some state lawmakers have proposed a novel solution for California's budget problems: sell San Quentin Prison, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Experts estimate the 435-acre site, picturesquely situated on a peninsula overlooking San Francisco Bay, could go for more than $2 billion. About half of that would go toward building...

Developers Use Auctions to Move Condos

When it's tough to set prices, these sales let buyers do it

(Newser) - With buyers scarce and prices in Florida's condo market plunging, sellers are increasingly turning to auctions to move units in new developments. No longer just a means of unloading foreclosed homes, the auctions also keep agents from having to guess what the public is willing to shell out, the New ...

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