The average price of a single-family home rose for the first time in eight months in April and is now back at levels last seen in the summer of 2003, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index.
Housing may soon rise from the dead, argue some economists. And, the severity of the slump may in fact accelerate the arrival of a recovery.
A simple scam aimed at hijacking just one or two mortgage payments from unwary homeowners is making the rounds once again. It isn't as insidious as, say, "flopping," the ruse de jour in the mortgage market. But it is a continuing, if not a growing, problem.
There were a lot of factors that contributed to loan defaults, but the lack of hefty down payments was not one of them. Rather it was making loans to people who had little or no chance to pay their mortgages.
Applications for both purchase and refinance transactions are up again this week, fueled by falling rates according to Mortgage Bankers Association.