Bank of America announced that it will trim up to $100,000 off the mortgage principal of about 200,000 home owners. The bank’s principal reductions are part of the $26 billion foreclosure settlement between five major banks and state and federal officials.
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The government was able to chip away at its foreclosure inventory in 2011, reducing it by nearly half, HousingWire reports in analyzing financial statements from three government enterprises.
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A growing number of reports are revealing higher interest from buyers in real estate, prompting an analyst with Credit Suisse to upgrade five homebuilder stocks, sending several builder stocks soaring Friday.
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Churches are being foreclosed upon in record numbers, as more churches fall behind on their mortgage payments and banks lose their patience, according to the CoStar Group.
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Nearly half of home owners recently polled in an online survey said they would walk away from their mortgage if home prices continued to fall. The poll included 1,000 visitors to HousingPredictor, a real estate Web site.
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A 3.8 percent levy on certain investment income was included in healthcare legislation two years ago, and now misinformation about the tax’s application to home sales is being passed along over the Internet and e-mail, throwing some prospective home sellers into a panic. In actuality, very few owners will be affected by the new tax taking effect in 2013.
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