The National Association of Realtors claims that uncertainties about a federal flood insurance program and delays in mortgage applications contributed to the dip in existing home sales in May. The association reported that there were 5.66 million existing home sales across the country in May, down from April’s 5.79 million and far short of analysts’ [...]

Foreclosures, job losses, the economic downturn, employment insecurity and other factors are affecting homeownership across the country according to recent data from the Census Bureau. The Bureau reports that as of late 2009, the homeownership rate has dropped from a high of 69 percent in 2006 to around 67 percent. However, another report on homeownership [...]

Louisville realtors sold 1,477 homes and condominiums in June, which represented a year-over-year increase of 26 percent from the previous June. Greater Louisville Association of Realtors members said that the jump was largely due to people taking advantage of the expiring federal tax credit for first-time homeowners and current homeowners wanting to buy roomier, more [...]

A government oversight official recently told a Senate panel that President Obama’s program to help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure is not working and that Treasury Department officials have failed to fix the program’s shortcomings. Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General for the financial bailouts, told members of the Senate Finance Committee that the Treasury Department has [...]

Many people who own investment real estate in the Louisville area face the same dilemma: manage the properties themselves or hire a professional Louisville property management company. Neither is better than the other is; it really boils down to the property owner’s situation. Nevertheless, if you’re a Louisville income property owner who lives outside the [...]

Springtime is here, and that means that tornado season is underway in Kentucky and other states in the region. Although there isn’t much that people can do to prevent a tornado from hitting their area, there are steps that homeowners can take to minimize damage to their Louisville houses if one is nearby. Here are [...]

The Obama administration’s efforts to help homeowners remain in their homes through a government loan modification program have taken a body blow with recent news about the success, or lack thereof, of the program. The Treasury Department and the Housing and Urban Development Department reported that despite having achieved loan modifications through the federal program, [...]

The current recession has inspired many homeowners to reevaluate wants versus needs, and researchers are finding that this reappraisal of values also applies to what they really want in a home. A recent study of over 22,000 people who bought a home in the last year provides invaluable insight into homebuyers’ current mindset and on [...]

In a survey released by the National Association of Realtors in 2009, 46 percent of homebuyers said that they used open houses as part of their research, but only 12 percent reported buying a home because they saw it during an open house. With the virtual tours and all the other home-selling marketing tools the [...]

The Obama administration has launched a new set of initiatives to help struggling homeowners keep their homes and avoid bankruptcy. If successful, more homeowners would be able to stay in their homes, property values would stabilize and the country’s deepening foreclosure crisis would bottom out. The administration’s first efforts, launched last year, lowered interest rates [...]