CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of consumer, financial and property information and business services, today announced the lending industry’s first short-sale fraud prevention and pricing solution, Short Sale Monitoring Solution™. The new service allows lenders to receive alerts on “risky” pending and closed short sales to minimize unnecessary losses related to fraud and property underpricing, which CoreLogic estimates at $41,500 per transaction. Short Sale Monitoring Solution provides real-time access to lenders’ concurrent transactions on short-sale properties through the CoreLogic Mortgage Fraud Consortium, the largest repository of application and transaction data, representing 65 percent of annual loan applications.

“Short-sale fraud is costing lenders $310 million a year and those losses may increase if lenders cannot proactively identify risks in real time,” stated Tim Grace, senior vice president of Fraud Analytics, CoreLogic. “Prior to our solution, lenders were disadvantaged by not being able to cross reference pending loan applications on the same property. Our Short Sale Monitoring Solution gives lenders unique and immediate pre- and postclosing perspectives on short-sale transactions.”

Full story is available on iStockAnalyst

Anyone who needed convincing that the economy is on the rails should’ve tried selling a house last month. In July, sales of gently-used single-family homes in the U.S. plummeted to a 15-year low, according to the National Association of Realtors. Existing-home sales came in at an annualized rate of 3.8 million. The slowdown was worse than Wall Street had expected; per Briefing.com, analysts were expecting 4.7 million houses to sell. The NAR also reported that its June sales figure was worse than initially thought, revising that number downward to 5.3 million from 5.4 million.

The number of houses still sitting on the shelf waiting for buyers rose 2.5% to 4 million. At the current rate, it would take 12 and a half years to get rid of the housing glut.

Full story is available on Observer

For millions of home sellers, it’s been a hot summer but a chilly housing market.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes plunged last month to the lowest level in 15 years , despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades and bargain prices in many areas.

July’s sales fell by more than 27 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. It was the largest monthly drop on records dating back to 1968, and sharp declines were recorded in all regions of the country.

The weak economy and high unemployment rate, a standoff between buyers and sellers over price and the expiration of government tax credits are all playing a role in keeping the housing market weak.

For home buyers, the glut of houses means they can be as picky as they please about everything from the home’s price to the neighborhood it’s in to whether they like the kitchen faucet.

Full story is available on msnbc

l your LA house here is what needs to be done.

One: You want to get pre-approved for a home loan. There are many times that people will sell their home before they even know if they are qualified to buy another house. So that you know what you are going to do once your home is sold you want to make sure you get this done first.

Two: Find out what your mortgage payoff is. You want to call the lender for your current home mortgage and find out this information before you try to sell.

Full story is available on Real Estate Articles

While mortgage rates have been at record lows, they aren’t doing much to boost home sales. Instead, refinance activity is exploding.

Refinancing jumped 17% in the week ended Aug. 13, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s index. It hit the highest level since May 2009.

But home purchases fell 3.4%. Home sales are going to suffer as long as the unemployment rate hovers at 10%, experts say.

Full story is available on MSN Money

The survey, by real estate search site Trulia.com, found 27 percent of renters do not plan to ever buy a home. Although 72 percent still expect to buy eventually, that proportion is down from 77 percent six months ago.

Of those who do hope to become homeowners, two-thirds say they will wait two years or more.

This reluctance to buy could drag out the real estate market’s slump longer than many have predicted, Trulia said.

“Renters converting into buyers are crucial to turning around the housing slump, but the current economic crisis is causing people to become very hesitant to get off the fence and buy a home,” said Trulia Chief Executive Officer Pete Flint.

Among the factors affecting sentiment: Renters are unable to save for a down payment, or they are waiting to get a new job or for mortgage rates to go even lower.

Full story is available on Reuters.com

Many home owners confuse a number of aspects, especially financial ones, when it comes to selling their homes. To begin with, they think about how much they themselves paid for the house and how much they think it should be worth. Next, they consider theirBoston Massachusetts Real Estate  own current financial condition and how much they need to make out of the sale of their house. Keeping these figures in mind, they decide on the asking price of the house. As any house expert will tell you, these criteria have nothing to do with the value of your house. Taking them into consideration is a mistake you cannot afford to make.

If you price your house wrongly, your house too could remain unsold for months, even years to come. Remember that this is a buyer’s market now and that the perceived value of the house by its owner is of no consequence to the buyer. He is out to get his money’s worth and is not likely to spend a penny more.So, what can you do to ensure that you get the asking price of your house right? Firstly, even though this is breaking away from custom, hire a home inspector and get a professional opinion on the condition of the house.

Full story is available on We Buy houses Boston Massachusetts

The residential real estate market is sliding back into a slump. Despite mortgage rates at a historical low point, real estate prices have been going sideways.  Now that the government home buyer tax credit has ended, prices will probably fall a bit more.

The first chart from Calculated Risk shows home prices based on data from CoreLogic, a consulting firm that tracks real estate.

The residential real estate market is sliding back into a slump. Despite mortgage rates at a historical low point, real estate prices have been going sideways.  Now that the government home buyer tax credit has ended, prices will probably fall a bit more.

The first chart from Calculated Risk shows home prices based on data from CoreLogic, a consulting firm that tracks real estate.

Full story is available on Marlet Watch

The good news for sellers: Your house will sell. The bad? Only if the price is just right.

That could mean biting down hard and slashing tens of thousands from your ideal listing price if you’re serious about selling. And you should be prepared to get even less than that.

The recently expired tax credits for home buyers gave sellers a boost. Home sales surged and values edged up. But since the deadline passed at the end of April, housing has faltered. Job insecurity, tight credit and consumer confidence are undermining a sustained recovery.

In June, sales of previously occupied homes fell 5.1 percent, while new home sales posted the second-weakest month on record. And many economists expect prices to decline another 2 percent to 10 percent followed by “a long, flat bottom,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist at real estate website Zillow.com.

That means sellers must set their price with precision or risk languishing on the market.

Full story is available on The Sun News

Federal taxes can be required when you sell a home. The tax will vary depending on whether the home is your primary residence or a vacation home or rental property. Full tax rules can be complicated and should be thoroughly understood when completing tax forms.

Amount of sale:

Taxes will be required if the profit from the sale of the home is more than $250,000 for a single homeowner and $500,000 for a married couple. If a spouse dies within two years before the sale of the home and the seller did not remarry they are considered married for tax purposes.

Taxes will be based on the amount realized from the sale and the adjusted basis. The amount realized is the selling price minus qualified expenses occurred during the sale. The basis is the original home price plus or minus improvements, additions, special assessments or energy credits, adoptions credits and easement payments received. This is only a partial list of all the factors that can be involved in determining basis.

Primary residence:

For a home to qualify as a primary residence the seller must live in the home for two out of the five years immediately before the sale of the home. If portions of the property were used for business purposes additional tax rules apply.

Full story is available on Helium