California Home Mortgage

Treasury Identifies Confusion in IRS Handling of Homebuyer Tax Credits

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:37:00 +0000

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has completed a study of IRS management of the evolving series of tax credits that were offered to homebuyers over that last two years and found that the IRS needs to “improve its capabilities to identify taxpayers who must repay tax credits for homes they purchased under the First-Time Homebuyer Credit program” The findings also provide an unpleasant surprise for a few people who took advantage of the credit, but good news to many more. In the first case, some homebuyers received what they thought was a gift of up to $8,000 which was actually a loan. In the second instance, homebuyers will not have to pay back money as they thought they would. In 2008 the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, the first attempt to stave off a looming…(read more)

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USDA Rural Development System Upgrade Complete. Now Processing Conditional Commitments

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:23:00 +0000

In March we learned that USDA Rural Housing funds were expected to run dry by the end of April . A month later, even though the legislation intended to provide the funding had not passed, USDA began issuing commitments for new loans, but there was a caveat: Loan approvals would be “subject to the availability of funds and Congressional authority to charge a 3.5 percent guarantee fee for purchase loans and a 2.25 percent guarantee fee for refinance loans.” Finally, on July 29 Congress passed HR 4899 to reestablish the program as one that would no longer be subject to the annual whims of Federal funding but self-sustaining through a 3.5 percent guarantee fee paid by the borrower. Four weeks passed after the Congress did their job and appropriated unlimited funding for the USDA Rural Housing Program…(read more)

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USDA Rural Development System Upgrade Complete. Now Processing Conditional Commitments

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:23:00 +0000

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Housing Crisis Needs Localized Approach, Not "One Size Fits All" Solution

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:58:20 +0000

Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, told attendees at a Federal Reserve sponsored conference on REO and Vacant Property Strategies for Neighborhood Stabilization last Thursday that there may not be a single solution for the housing market as the effects of financial crisis depend on the characteristics of each individual community. Framing the problem affects the solutions you propose, he said. If we assume we are trying solve a problem of foreclosures and REO rooted in the housing bubble, the solutions will tend to emphasize mitigating foreclosures, accelerating the disposition of REO, or advocating for reconsideration of the legal systems approach to personal bankruptcy and foreclosure. If the problem is viewed as being primarily about housing demand, then the…(read more)

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FHFA Establishes New Housing Goals for GSEs

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:44:03 +0000

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), conservator of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the Enterprises) has established its final housing goals for the Enterprises in 2010-2011. FHFA is required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) to set such goals for targeted segments of the mortgage market The new rules establish three goals for single-family, owner-occupied home purchases; one for low-income families, another for very low-income families, and a third for families living in geographical areas with lower-income populations, areas with high concentrations of minority residents, or federal declared disaster areas. The goal for disaster areas contains a sub-goal to ensure that the needs of lower-income and minority areas are addressed. A goal has also been established for…(read more)

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Fed Hosts Neighborhood Stabilization Summit

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:07:59 +0000

Community organizers, state and federal government officials, and representatives from banking, research and educations institutions are currently meeting in Washington at a REO and Vacant Properties Summit sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank. The two day conference is focused on examining the problems associated with vacant and abandoned property and to explore approaches to neighborhood stabilization. Governor Elizabeth Duke, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve opened the summit on Wednesday. In her remarks she introduced the types of issues that are faced by communities with high rates of foreclosure and REO and highlighted some of the lessons learned in the last few years about neighborhood stabilization strategies. She pointed out that the impact of each foreclosure goes far beyond…(read more)

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S&P/Case-Shiller: Home Prices Rise in June. Tax Credit Hangover Ahead

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:52:00 +0000

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index was up 4.4 percent in the second quarter of 2010, more than recovering from the 2.9 percent loss that was suffered in the first quarter, but the index committee warned that recent housing indicators “point to more ominous signals as tax incentives have ended and foreclosures continue.” On a month to month basis, the 10-city index improved 1.0 percent to 161.04 and the 20-city index rose 1.0 percent to 147.97. The year over year 10-City and 20 City Composite Indices for June marked the first time in 16 months that the increase in annual returns moderated, pointing to a possible deceleration in home price returns. In May the YoY increase in the 10-City Composite was 5.4 percent, in June it was 5.0 percent. The 20-City figure…(read more)

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S&P/Case-Shiller: Home Prices Rise in June. Tax Credit Hangover Ahead

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:52:00 +0000

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HUD Secretary Tiptoes Around Another Tax Credit, Pushes Balanced Housing Policy

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:11:31 +0000

In the wake of a full week full of bad economic news, especially housing indicators, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan appeared on CNNs Sunday morning news and interview program State of the Union . Host Ed Henry prefaced the interview with July housing numbers – a 27 percent decline in existing home sales and new home sales at their lowest levels since 1963 . “Many analysts,” Henry said, “believe that housing started this whole financial crisis. We saw some pretty grim headlines this week sparking some fears about a double dip recession.” He asked Donovan, what he could say to reassure Americans that this will not happen. Donovan said that the dip in house sales in July was not unexpected because it would mark the end of the homebuyers’ tax credit that had been…(read more)

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HUD Secretary Tiptoes Around Another Tax Credit, Pushes Balanced Housing Policy

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:11:31 +0000

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