The International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) announced its support of a plan by the Global Housing Foundation (GHF) to provide access to affordable housing for residents living in some of the world’s poorest communities. The “Micro Mortgage” program, which has been successful in Central America, has received a quarter-billion dollar commitment from Merrill Lynch. It [...]

Applications for the week ended June 27 were down 22.8% compared with the same week in 2007, the Washington-based MBA said.
Refinance applications were up 4.7% on a week-to-week basis, while applications for mortgages to purchase a home increased a seasonally adjusted 2.8%.
The four-week moving average for all loans as tracked by the MBA was down [...]

In April, many of the nation’s hardest-hit housing markets during the downturn saw prices depreciate at an ever-faster pace, according to the LoanPerformance Home Price Index released by First American CoreLogic on Wednesday.
Over the past 12 months, two southern California metro areas Riverside/San Bernardino/Ontario and Los Angeles/Long Beach/Glendale posted the worst annual price [...]

As the credit crunch, soaring food and oil prices and other economic problems continue to hobble the sale of homes throughout Europe, real estate agents are being forced to rethink how they can push sales through.
Even though house prices across Europe, especially in Britain, Spain and Ireland, are continuing to fall, borrowing costs are spiraling [...]

The Phoenix housing market showed modest changes across all measures for the start of the summer season, consistent with prior years. Inventory is down slightly at 1.8% from the previous month. Month-to-month sales did show a noticeable decline though June data revisions may close that gap somewhat. The median home price continued to drop, posting [...]

The mercury might be rising in Saskatchewan lately, but the housing market is showing distinct signs of cooling down, industry observers say.
Amid a booming economy, house prices in Saskatchewan grew about 32 per cent last year and are projected to grow another 20 per cent this year. That’s expected to be the biggest rise in [...]

Even the lofty Manhattan real estate market is beginning to soften, according to reports released Wednesday by four of the city’s top real estate agencies.
Data from this year’s second quarter indicate two divergent trends; on a year-over-year basis, the volume of sales is down, while at the same time the average home price is rising.
“The [...]

Consumers fell behind on loans secured by their homes at the fastest pace in two decades in the first quarter, signaling deeper distress in the U.S. economy, the American Bankers Association reported.
Home-equity lines of credit at least 30 days past due rose 14 basis points to 1.1 percent of accounts for the quarter, the Washington-based [...]

While much of the media’s recent coverage of the real estate market has been focused on the meltdown of home sales and declining values, one niche market’s success has been almost entirely overlooked.
Luxury destination clubs (http://www.sherpareport.com/destination-clubs/) – exclusive membership groups that entitle members to use upscale, fully serviced vacation homes in some of the world’s [...]

Mortgage lending into the property market in effect collapsed during May, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. The number of mortgages approved for house purchase fell to just 42,000 the lowest figure recorded by the Bank since it began collecting this information 15 years ago.
Economists described the numbers as “alarming”, [...]