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Metro Phoenix real estate agents fight new MLS data system	2/21/2012 12:16 PM
Many metro Phoenix real-estate agents have been dealing with data and technology glitches over the past few weeks. The problems affected several home sales in the region, according to blogs, tweets and Facebook postings. Local agents’ main source for marketing homes and tracking numbers on comparable sales is the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, or ARMLS. A few months ago, the Realtor-owned group decided to change its data provider and system from IMAPP to Corelogic’s Realist. Neither firm is based in Arizona, but IMAPP receives its Arizona data from local providers. The changeover happened earlier this month, and within hours, real-estate agents were ... read the rest of this post
Homeowners eligible $26 billlion don't have to wait for lenders to call them	2/17/2012 3:37 PM
Last week’s $26 billion dollar settlement with the nation’s five largest lenders continues to receive mixed reviews. Some critics don’t think the deal went far enough; others don’t believe it’s the right way to help homeowners. Others are just glad lenders are being held more accountable for bad foreclosure practices. Many homeowners eligible for some of Arizona’s $1.6 billion piece of the deal don’t want to wait for lenders to contact them, particularly since the lenders have three years to handle the settlement. The Arizona Attorney General’s office listed contact numbers for the five lenders involved in the settlement. Housing advocates are ... read the rest of this post
Ariz. legislation to help underwater homeowners re-introduced	2/14/2012 1:04 PM
Legislation to launch a program allowing Arizona homeowners, underwater on their mortgages reduce their interest rates and monthly payments, has been re-introduced. Formerly known as Senate Bill 1039, the new legislation is SB 1451. It’s ardently backed by Sen. Michelle Reagan, R-Scottsdale, and passed the Senate’s Committee on Banking and Insurance earlier this week. Reagan’s program stalled last year in the Arizona Housing Commerce Committee. Then the senator said she wasn’t giving up because “too many Arizona homeowners are doing the right thing and paying their mortgage when they owe so much more than their house is worth.” The new bill creates the Arizona ... read the rest of this post
Home prices climb in Phoenix	2/10/2012 11:18 AM
Metro Phoenix’s median existing home price climbed again in January to $121,500, according to the Information Market. The region’s home values ended the year on a high note when the median climbed to $120,000 after falling to $112,000 last August. The recent increases come after a triple dip for the region's home values. But many housing market analysts are confident metro Phoenix is past the market's bottom and should keep slowly improving. I'll keep tracking the numbers... ... read the rest of this post
Arizona to get $1.6 billion from natl. lender settlement, $10 million from BofA lawsuit	2/9/2012 10:51 AM
Arizona will receive $1.6 billion of the $26 billion settlement over bad foreclosure practices that government officials reached with the nation’s biggest lenders today. Separately, the state will receive $10 million from Bank of America to settle its lawsuit over alleged mortgage fraud the Arizona Attorney General filed against the lender in December 2010. The settlement of that lawsuit, reached late last night, had to happen for Arizona to participate in the national settlement. BofA is also part of the nationwide settlement. The $26 million deal is the largest industry settlement since the multistate tobacco deal reached in 1998. The money will ... read the rest of this post
Deal with AZ Attorney General and B of A could be worked out by Thursday	2/8/2012 3:30 PM
Attorney General Tom Horne expects to settle the state's mortgage-fraud lawsuit with Bank of America this week, paving the way for Arizona to join more than 40 other states in a proposed $25 billion settlement with the nation's biggest lenders. The national deal would settle allegations of bad foreclosure practices by the banks that cost thousands of borrowers their homes. "We expect to settle with BofA in the next day or two so we can then join the national settlement," Horne said. ... read the rest of this post
Phoenix foreclosure fall	2/2/2012 1:12 PM
New data shows the number Phoenix-area homes taken back by lenders fell to its lowest level in January since early 2008. Last month, there were 2,263 foreclosures, or trustee sales, in the region, according to the Information Market. Pre-foreclosures, also known as notice of trustee sales, fell to 2,932, the lowest level since the summer of 2007. ... read the rest of this post
Obama announces more details on refinancing for underwater homeowners	2/1/2012 12:48 PM
The much-anticipated details of a sweeping plan to help nearly 15 million Americans underwater on their mortgages refinance to lower rates were announced this morning by President Barack Obama during a speech in Falls Church, Virg. The plan, first mentioned in one of the president’s speech last October, would be broadened to include not only homeowners with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgagesd, but also 3.5 million homeowners with privately-held home loans. However, for the plan to apply to borrowers with privately held mortgages, Congresss would have to approve new legislation proposed by the president today. Many metro Phoenix homeowners have already started to ... read the rest of this post
Can Obama's plan to help homeowners with private mortgages work?	1/25/2012 2:29 PM
In President Barack Obama’s State of the Union last night, he vowed to keep the “American dream” alive. His plan includes legislation that would extend the expanded HARP refinancing program to homeowners with private loans. Currently only underwater homeowners with mortgages backed by government-owned Fannie and Freddie Mac are eligible. To qualify, it doesn’t matter how much homeowners are underwater, but they can’t have missed more than one payment. In Arizona, where nearly 50 percent of homeowners are underwater, I have received calls and emails from several people with private mortgages upset they don’t qualify for the government’s refinancing plan. The federal government ... read the rest of this post
Some investors eligible for HARP 2 refinancing	1/23/2012 12:11 PM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are changing the rules in a way doing something that could make metro Phoenix’s many home investors very happy. The new program that allows homeowners with mortgages held by those government-owned mortgage giants to refinance, no matter how underwater they are, now will include investors. When the expanded Home Affordable Refinancing Program, or HARP, was announced in October, investors weren’t going to be to be included. But then federal officials realized that many people who don’t live in a home they own are accidental investors. They can’t sell because they owe much more on their mortgage than their house is ... read the rest of this post

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