Idaho Real Estate Economy

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Home builders feel they have weathered the storm

1/25/2007 6:26:52 PM Home builder sentiment improved in January to its strongest since July, as price cuts, lower mortgage rates and incentives fostered demand, the National Association of Home Builders said.

Housing slump may be slowing

1/25/2007 6:22:14 PM Sales of new homes rose a higher-than-expected 3.4% in November, but they were down 15.3% from a year ago, according to a government report.

More mortgage payments are late

1/25/2007 6:15:51 PM About 4.7% of homeowners were late on their mortgage payments in July through September 2006, up slightly from 4.4% in the third quarter 2005.

10 mistakes that made flipping a flop

1/25/2007 6:07:34 PM If there's a poster child for everything that went wrong in the real estate boom, it just might be Casey Serin.

Cities with highest and lowest jobless rates

1/25/2007 5:47:32 PM When you're looking to buy a home, it's all about location, location, location. And one of the biggest factors consumers consider when deciding on a new hometown is the health of the area's employment.

Best blogs for the young and broke

1/25/2007 5:29:42 PM Should you be clipping coupons or should you just stop buying "crap?" Here are some blogs to help you get real about money.

Don't bite off too much house

1/25/2007 5:17:30 AM Thirty years ago, first-time home buyers were often encouraged to stretch as far as they possibly could to buy a house. Back then, that advice made some sense. Today, it can be a recipe for disaster.

Avoid costly mistakes of renting

1/25/2007 5:00:14 AM Ah, your first apartment. It may be smaller than a closet with a next-door neighbor who likes to blast Celine Dion into the wee hours of the morning, but hey, it's a space to call your own.

Buyers in more markets find housing out of reach

1/25/2007 4:44:17 AM Since 2000, the cost of a home has more than doubled in about 30 major metro areas, including Washington, New York, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego and Atlantic City. In seven U.S. cities, the median home now costs more than a half-million dollars.

Home loan demand up with interest rates near four-year high

6/15/2006 3:48:45 AM Mortgage applications rose for a second consecutive week, reflecting a rush by consumers to lock in loans as interest rates rose to a near four-year high, an industry trade group said Wednesday.

Need to keep house payments low? Try a 50-year mortgage

6/15/2006 3:45:46 AM Those struggling to afford a home may be wondering how long their mortgage payments can be stretched out.
The new answer: a half-century.

Some homeowners struggle to keep up with adjustable rates

6/15/2006 3:43:09 AM For 45 years, Robert and Lorraine Brown have lived in their ranch-style home in Florissant, Mo. One of their four children was even born there. But for the past eight months, the couple have been locked in a sleep-wrecking race to keep up with their rising mortgage bills. They've switched to cheaper phone service, cut back on groceries and sometimes put off ordering medicine.

Agencies Adopt New Credit Scoring System

6/15/2006 3:32:03 AM The nation's three major consumer credit bureaus have created a new credit scoring system designed to make it easier for financial institutions to evaluate loan applications and to give consumers a better way of measuring their financial health.

Home sales expected to slow, but not sink in '06

2/24/2006 5:27:38 PM U.S. home sales are expected to slow in 2006, though remaining near peak levels, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.  Realtors' chief economist David Lereah predicts existing home sales will dip 4.7% to 6.74 million units, while new-home sales decline 8.5% to 1.17 million units. That would still be the third-best year on record.

Home mortgage rates edge up to 6.25%

2/24/2006 5:25:34 PM Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit their highest levels since early December last week, and applications fell for a second week.  The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended Feb. 3 slid 1.2% to 619.3 from the previous week's 626.8, following a decline in home sales.

Feds urge restraint on home lending

2/1/2006 6:29:48 AM Federal bank regulators warned Tuesday that lenders may be offering interest-only and other types of non-traditional mortgages to borrowers with weak credit or insufficient finances and spelled out guidelines to tighten such practices.

Indebtedness

2/1/2006 6:12:08 AM Two new economic realities are at work. Many [students] had to borrow serious money to attend colleges that are ever more costly. And as soon as they entered school, they were offered credit cards. By 30, many have accumulated thousands of dollars of that very expensive debt, too. Imprudent choices sometimes have compounded their troubles. The consequences can be profound: Many of those 30-year-olds feeling unduly burdened by their financial obligations have had to make compromises on some of life's vital decisions.