With previous efforts to aid homeowners who are facing foreclosure or whose home values are “underwater” making only a slight dent in foreclosure projections, Congress has passed carrot-and-stick legislation called the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act to encourage both homeowners and lenders to take advantage of government mortgage programs. What has changed in this new bill since the U.S. Treasury announced its foreclosure prevention plan in March is that lender participation in government plans is now required as long as consumers meet eligibility requirements. In addition, some administrative burdens have been removed, borrowers are no longer required to produce tax returns for income verification and FHA premiums on modified loans can potentially be lower.

* Full story available on The Accounting Web

As home prices fall and sales volume remains weak in many markets, some real estate brokerages are resorting to charging “fees” to buyers and sellers — on top of the usual commissions.

The fees are usually in the range of a few hundred dollars, but that isn’t even the point. The point is that the fees are garbage — absolute unfiltered, unmitigated, bullcrap. What exactly is the fee for? Inman says they are sometimes referred to as “administrative fees,” “technology fees,” “transaction fees,” “flat fees,” and administrative brokerage commission (ABC) fees.”

* Full story available on The Wallet Pop

Purchases of new homes in the U.S. rose in April for the second time in three months as lower prices and cheaper financing stabilized demand.

Sales increased 0.3 percent to an annual pace of 352,000, lower than forecast, after a 351,000 rate in March, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The median sales price decreased 15 percent from April 2008, while the number of homes on the market fell to the lowest level in almost eight years.

* Full story available on The Bloomberg

First-time home buyers no longer have to wait until tax time to receive a credit made available through the federal government’s stimulus plan. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a program that will allow people buying their first home to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.

To qualify, home buyers must be approved for an Federal Housing Administration-insured loan (which comes from an FHA lender or nonprofit) and purchase (or plan to) a home between January 1 and December 1 of this year.

* Full story available on The My Fox 8

Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage bonds rose for a fourth day, after exceeding for the first time yesterday their levels before the Federal Reserve announced it would expand purchases to drive down interest rates on new loans.

Yields on Washington-based Fannie Mae’s current-coupon 30- year fixed-rate mortgage bonds climbed to 4.55 percent as of 3:15 p.m. in New York, the highest since Dec. 5 and up from 3.94 percent on May 20, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Rising mortgage-bond yields, driven higher in part by climbing Treasury rates, mean the Fed now “faces a challenge to its ability to sustain low mortgage rates,” according to Jeffrey Rosenberg at Bank of America Corp. The central bank, seeking to use lower home-loan rates to stem the housing slump and bolster consumers, said March 18 it would increase its planned purchases of so-called agency mortgage bonds by $750 billion, to as much as $1.25 trillion, and start buying government notes.

* Full story available on The Bloomberg

U.S. commercial real estate prices fell 10.5 percent in the first quarter and 12.2 percent in 2008, according to British real estate data and analysis provider IPD’s first analysis of the U.S. market.

Including monthly income, which rose 5.4 percent in 2008, the overall total return for U.S. commercial real estate was down 7.4 percent, according to the report released on Wednesday.

* Full story available on The Reuters

U.S. consumer confidence soared in May to its highest level in eight months, suggesting underlying improvement in the economy after a grim first quarter that witnessed a record plunge in home prices.

The Conference Board, an industry group, said on Tuesday its index of consumer attitudes jumped to 54.9 in May from a revised 40.8 in April, well above forecasts centered around 42.0. That was the biggest one-month jump since April 2003 when many Americans believed the war in Iraq was coming to a rapid conclusion.

* Full story available on The Reuters

Imagine being able to buy a new home with a 40 percent down payment and not ever having to make a mortgage payment for the rest of your life.

The Federal Housing Administration early this year approved such a deal as a form of reverse mortgage for home buyers who are 62 or older.

But in Texas, the only thing anyone can do is imagine. The home-equity-for-purchase deal is available in 49 states, but not Texas.

According to MetLife Bank, this is how the deal works:

“An empty nester couple who wants to downsize can sell their existing home and use the equity to make a cash down payment on a smaller residence. Or, an eligible couple who owns their home outright can refinance using a traditional home-equity conversion mortgage, then pull out a lump sum to use for an all-cash purchase of a second home.

* Full story available on The My SA Business

Foreclosure filings are increasing at a faster pace in the north and northwest suburbs than in other sections of Cook County as mortgage defaults spread well beyond the subprime loan market.

In the north suburbs of Cook County, the first three months of 2009 saw a 67 percent increase in the number of properties with foreclosure filings (589), compared with the same period of 2008 (353), according to the latest data from the Woodstock Institute.

* Ful story available on The Pioneer Local

Jason Bain, his wife Jessica and their 6-month-old son Marshall are kicking off their summer with move into their very first house.

“It’s actually a very large house, 2,700 square feet, and its got a half-acre lot so we’re pretty happy with that,” Bain said a couple of days before the move as he scrolled through pictures of the Burnsville house that is now his family’s home.

The Bains started house shopping before the $8,000 first-time home buyer was passed in the economic stimulus bill. Jason Bain called the tax credit a “huge bonus” that’s making the transition from renting to owning easier.

* Full story available on The Minnesota Public Radio