The state of California – which is wrestling with a $20 billion budget hole – is set to launch a $200 million tax credit for home buyers that it hopes will create jobs in a weakened economy.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has championed the idea, is expected to soon ink a bill giving as much as $10,000 each to first-time buyers of existing homes and any new-home purchaser starting May 1. Analyst Ivy Zelman expects the new-home portion to be exhausted within five months, which could mean more business for builders Standard Pacific, KB Home and Lennar.

Full story is available on The Wall Street Journal

The number of homeowners who have received modifications of their existing mortgages under the Federal government’s HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) continues to climb. More than one million modifications of existing mortgages are active, as of the recently-released February stats. The percentage of modifications that have hit permanent status has also risen, to 17 percent from 12 percent the month before (you undergo a trial modification before being offered a permanent one).

The latest report released from the government is titled the “Making Home Affordable Program Servicer Performance Report through February 2010.” It’s ten pages and contains some interesting data. Did you know, for instance, that of the 6 million loans that are overdue by 60 days or more, some 800,000 are ineligible for HAMP modifications because they’re on investment or vacation homes?

Full story is available on Money Watch

The Obama administration’s marquee foreclosure-prevention program is on course to help far fewer homeowners than previously expected, according to a government watchdog’s new report.

The Treasury Department initially said the program, known as Making Home Affordable, would reach as many as 4 million struggling borrowers. But Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, said in a report issued Tuesday that Treasury now expects only 1.5 million to 2 million homeowners to get mortgage relief.

Full story is available on The Washington Post

The average homeowner in the Obama administration’s signature foreclosure-prevention program owes more on their mortgage than their home is worth, yet the program does virtually nothing to address this problem, according to a scathing new report by a government watchdog, casting doubt on the effectiveness of the $50 billion effort.

The average homeowner may owe their lender as much as two-and-a-half times more than the home is worth, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program states in its new report examining the administration’s year-old Home Affordable Modification Program, citing November data from Fannie Mae. The Treasury Department told government investigators that the average homeowner likely owes their lender about $1.14 for every $1 of the home’s current market value, the report notes.

Full story is available on The Huffington Post

The Michigan cities of Ann Arbor and Detroit are only about 40 miles apart, but the distance is enough to present starkly different housing markets.

The Ann Arbor market saw the boom and bust in recent years. But first-time home buyer tax credits in 2009 helped change fortunes.

“It’s almost like we started fresh this year,” says Alex Milshteyn, president of the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors. “For the first time, I have buyers who are in the market (who) can’t find what they are looking for.”

Ful story is available on USA Today

JPMorgan Chase this week became the latest big bank to say it is willing to modify second mortgages for some struggling borrowers. While it’s a baby step in the right direction, it won’t do much to fix America’s foreclosure woes.

Homeowners restructuring their mortgages with counselors in Florida. Banks are slowly starting to agree to modify second mortgages for some struggling borrowers.

Second-lien loans, essentially top-up mortgages, look like a good place to start addressing the problem of borrowers who cannot keep up with payments. After all, second liens are subordinate to first mortgages. So when it comes to cutting interest or principal payments, they should logically come first.

Full story is available on The New York Times

Capital Region sales of single-family homes and condominiums rose sharply in February.

There were 338 homes and condos sold during the month in the Capital Region’s four core counties, a 20 percent jump from the 271 sold during the same month a year earlier. That’s according to statistics from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.

Median sale prices were up nearly everywhere, too. In Albany County, for example, the median rose to $188,300 during the month, a five percent increase from a year earlier.

Saratoga County, meanwhile, saw a 13 percent increase to $260,000.

Even if the loan modification program ends up with 1.5 million to 2 million homeowners with new, more-favorable terms on their loans, “the program will not be a long-term success if large amounts of borrowers simply re-default and end up facing foreclosure anyway,” the report said.

Neil Barofsky, the Treasury’s Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said the Obama administration’s $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has a definition of success that is “essentially meaningless.”

Barofsky noted that when HAMP was launched in the first few months of 2009, Treasury proclaimed the program would help up to 3 million to 4 million at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure.

More recently, the Treasury has said the 3 million to 4 million figure refers to how many homeowners would receive offers of a trial modification, not how many homeowners get an actual long-term modification.

Full story is available on Reuters

(Business Wire) Lenders Asset Management Corporation (LAMCO), a full-service, nationwide default asset management company offering comprehensive REO services, announced its company’s approach to help mortgage servicers fully comply with the federal government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program.

In efforts to respond in a timely fashion to the inevitable influx of short sale requests throughout 2010 and beyond, LAMCO has prepared itself to execute accelerated short sale transactions through the governed efforts of its quality management system. This involves the company using specialized teams of experts who handle specific activities associated with the short sale and liquidation process by marketing and selling distressed and bank-owned properties quickly and efficiently. The team of experts also facilitates governmental compliance by fulfilling all of HAFA’s specified audit requirements.

Full story is availalb eon Earth Times

As they’ve done for most of the past 18 months, Tampa Bay homes sales improved year over year: Sellers unloaded 2,050 homes last month vs. 1,856 in February 2009.

But healthier sales haven’t stanched housing depreciation. Tampa Bay’s median home price dipped about 2.5 percent, to $128,100 in February, compared with $131,400 in February 2009.

Thirteen-percent unemployment and record-high mortgage defaults could press on prices even further this year. Since their high-water mark in June 2006, Tampa Bay home prices have receded 46.5 percent, Realtors said.

Full story is available on TampaBay.com