Lacie Moore's Page

After a slow start, the volume of bids on LoanMarket more than quadrupled in August, he said, adding the stabilization of the housing market and the economy may have played a part as well as the discounts available from banks and funds that need to unload "underwater" investments.

In one example, a loan of $222,200 on a home in Riverside, one of the worst hit areas of California, sold for $80,000, or just 66.5 percent of the home's $120,300 estimated value now.

Dennis Regan, an investor with C… Continue

Associations should check whether their properties are approved
Daniel Vasquez on condos Condo columnist

It may be a buyer's market for those looking to purchase a South Florida condominium, but a new FHA rule putting an end to "spot approvals" for home loans may burst the shopping bubble and make it much more difficult to qualify for a loan.

By extension, the same rule may also mean more bad news for condo sellers, already suffering through a bad economy which has sent property values into th… Continue

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on August 27

On vacation last week I watched a lot of real estate reality shows and realized just how quickly they can get outdated in this horrible housing market.

Some of the shows do reflect the post-bubble reality. A show on HGTV called Real Estate Intervention follows a guy who looks and acts like a tough-as-nails police detective as he convinces homeowners that they can’t sell their house at the high price they hoped.

The worst example was HGTV’s House Hunters I… Continue

Dean Calbreath

Four years after the housing downturn began, prices in San Diego County and much of the rest of the country are beginning to inch up again. And, locally, at least, there are fewer foreclosures than there were last year.

So are we finally hitting bottom in the housing market? Don't bet on it.

So far, the nation's banks, which have been given billions of dollars over the past year under the idea that they'll use the money to help stabilize the economy, still seem to be reluctant… Continue

ORLANDO, Fla., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida's existing home sales rose in April - the eighth consecutive month that sales activity increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors(R) (FAR). April's statewide sales showed gains over the previous month's sales level in both the existing home and existing condominium markets.

Existing home sales rose 18 percent last month with a total of 13,111 homes sold statewide com… Continue