Existing-home sales eased in March but first-time buyers are responding to low mortgage interest rates and tax credits, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing Home Sales, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.57 million units in March from a downwardly revised level of 4.71 […]

To help Americans continue to achieve their dreams of homeownership, there must be a balance between safeguarding consumers in the lending process and ensuring reasonable access to mortgage capital. That is the message that the National Association of Realtors® delivered to Congress today, reiterating its support of comprehensive legislation to reform mortgage lending.
At a House […]

The combination of vacation- and investment-home sales slipped to 30 percent of all existing- and new-home transactions in 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
However, more than four out of 10 investment buyers and more than three in 10 vacation-home buyers paid cash for their properties; with large percentages indicating that portfolio diversification was […]

Mortgage fraud is accomplished through the use of false documents, identity theft, straw buyers, and sometimes the witting or unwitting assistance of real estate professionals. To protect themselves and their clients, real estate agents must be able to distinguish between legal and illegal mortgage practices.  There are a number of different ways in which the […]

On February 18, 2009, President Obama announced his Making Home Affordable Program, designed to help up to 7-9 million families avoid foreclosure by restructuring or refinancing their mortgages. In doing so, the plan not only helps responsible homeowners behind on their payments or at risk of defaulting, but prevents neighborhoods and communities from being pulled […]