A jump in sales and a dip in inventory are providing a ray of hope for a depressed housing market.
The bad news is that home prices are still dropping and many buyers remain on the sidelines.
There were 1,740 homes under contract for sale in Nassau and Suffolk counties last month, a 26 percent increase over [...]

Home sellers, agents and brokers nervously tuned in Monday to news of Wall Street titans collapsing or teetering, as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch & Co. was sold to Bank of America Corp. and New York-based insurance giant American International Group Inc. struggled to stabilize its finances.
Until now, the New York [...]

The nation’s two largest secondary mortgage corporations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, say they’ll stop buying subprime mortgages in New York State. Banks lending in New York will have to change their mortgage origination systems to reflect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s exit from subprime lending in the state. It is unclear yet how onerous [...]

In its latest effort to deal with the fallout from the subprime-credit crisis, Freddie Mac said it won’t purchase subprime mortgages secured by properties in New York state with note dates on or after Sept. 1.
The move is Freddie Mac’s response to recent New York legislation, effective Sept. 1, that creates a new category of [...]

While sales numbers have declined since the first of the year, mid-valley real estate agents remain hopeful the market will improve.
At the same time, more homeowners are opting to put their houses up for rent.
“Sales aren’t dead,” said Art Prouty of Town & Country Real Estate, “but they have slowed quite a bit.”
Albany housing sales [...]

The most noticeable thing in Charles F. Hunt’s office is what’s missing: No family pictures on the walls. No certificates of achievement. No action figures from a favorite childhood movie perched on the desk.
It is just gray walls and clear windows in Hunt’s Osprey Avenue abode, where his family set up Hunt Real Estate ERA [...]

Gov. David A. Paterson yesterday signed legislation that requires lenders to give subprime loan borrowers a 90-day notice before starting foreclosure proceedings.
Subprime loan homeowners will now have time to meet with lenders and receive other information on dealing with their debt. Subprime loans are generally held by borrowers with shaky credit, and carry higher interest [...]

NEW YORK – July 31, 2008 – Guess who holds your mortgage now? It’s your friendly neighborhood hedge fund.
Dozens of hedge funds, private equity groups and other investors have plunged into the beaten-down mortgage market in recent months, buying tens of thousands of distressed loans and foreclosed properties around the country. They hope to profit [...]