Category — Real Estate News

The deadline for the First Time Homebuyers $8,000 tax credit is looming, which has many people scrambling to buy a home quickly so they can cash in on their free money too. Realtors, mortgage lenders, the federal government and even individuals believe this incentive has helped to stimulate the housing market.  

There are some interesting speeches, announcements and numbers expected to be released today. As this is being written, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is delivering a speech at a congressional conference. 

With the number of housing starts and the number of housing permits applied for in May and June having increased, the same outcome was expected for the month of July. Unfortunately, the numbers are in and this is not the case.

The June figures are in and the proof is in the numbers—the number of signed and pending sales contracts that is. From May to June of 2009, signed home contracts rose 3.6 percent. A culmination of factors contributed to these increases, but the June increase marks the sixth straight month that the amount of pending home sales increased yet again.  

While housing sales prices continue to fall, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that it was at a much lower rate in the first quarter of 2009 than it was in the fourth quarter of 2008. This data may support the theory that housing markets are starting to stabilize in certain areas of the country. A recent study shows that certain cities in Texas began to see increases in house values, while California is continuing to struggle the most with getting its housing prices steady.