Mecklenburg Times: News for Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties Real Estate, Development, Construction, and Community News in the Charlotte area and throughout Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties

The more obvious culprits in limiting home sales in today’s market are the sluggish economy, continuing tight job market and tough requirements to qualify for a mortgage.      But there’s another not-so-obvious reason. Fewer babies are being born. Thus, ...

Tagged with: Jim Woodard

Several city and county government leaders, most notably in San Bernardino, Calif., are considering using eminent domain to force lenders to sell troubled "underwater" homes to private investors at prices less than the balances of their mortgages.

Most economists and homeowners believe strategic defaults are a bad idea, revealed a new survey. A strategic default occurs when a homeowner permits his mortgage to default, possibly leading to foreclosure, even though he or she can afford to make the payments.

Tagged with: mortgage

It’s not just head-of-households who suffer from today’s home foreclosures. Children in those families also suffer. One recent study shows they suffer even more than the adults.

Tagged with: Foreclosure

A successful mortgage modification doesn't necessarily mean the homeowner's problems are over. In fact, most of those borrowers will become delinquent again within 18 months, a recent study revealed.

Home prices rose 1.8 percent in May compared with the previous month, according to a report from CoreLogic. This is the third consecutive monthly increase this spring.

Limited supplies of housing inventory held back existing-home sales in May, but sales still maintained a strong lead over last year's levels and home prices are now on a sustained uptrend in all regions, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The brightest star in today's real estate market is rentals. And further growth in this market segment is expected in coming months.

Tagged with: rentals

Home prices are again rising in most markets. That may stem, in part, from the large number of homeowners experiencing negative equities with their home mortgage. That was the conclusion drawn by CoreLogic researchers after recently completing a study.

It's very predictable. When costs go up for acquiring a mortgage loan, a larger proportion of prospective borrowers are locked out of the system. They simply can't afford or qualify for the added costs.