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| Pending sales for homes headed up
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| Realtors are optimistic, but mortgage brokers remain wary. The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that the number of homes under contract for sale in April posted the largest monthly jump in nearly eight years.
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| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0201 EDST
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| Pending Home Sales Up for Three Months in a Row
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| The Pending Home Sales Index,1 a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7 percent to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2 percent above April 2008 when it was 87.5.
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| @ National Association of Realtors | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0315 EDST
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| The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 offers homebuyers a tax credit of up to $8,000 for purchasing their first home. Now it's even better.
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| Families can only access this credit after filing their tax returns with the IRS. AS OF May 29th, FHA's rules allowing state Housing Finance Agencies and certain non-profits to "monetize" up to the full amount of the tax credit (depending on the amount of the mortgage) so that borrowers can immediately apply the funds toward their down payments. Home buyers using FHA-approved lenders can apply the tax credit to their down payment in excess of 3.5 percent of appraised value or their closing costs, which can help achieve a lower interest rate.
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| @ Housing and Urban Development | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0320 EDST
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| Report: Tampa Bay economy faring better
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| Economic indicators for the Tampa Bay region are showing improvement. But that’s mainly because other comparative metro areas in the country have been slipping in the face of the down economy. The scorecard compares Tampa Bay with Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Jacksonville and Raleigh/Durham. Economic factors are ranked from 1 to 6, with 1 being the most favorable. Tampa Bay’s economy contracted at a rate of 3.7 percent, placing it in fifth place among the other regions in its gross regional product growth rate, the pace of growth in the local economy. However, that is an improvement over the fall scorecard when the region ranked last.
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| @ Bradenton Herald | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0330 EDST
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| Citizens proposes rate increases of 10 percent a year for one to five years
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| Citizens Property Insurance officials Tuesday proposed rate increases that would raise most South Florida home and condominium owners' premiums up to 10 percent a year for as many as five years, beginning Jan. 1.
State-backed Citizens estimates it needs to boost property insurance rates for homes, condos and businesses by a statewide average of 6 percent a year starting next year until the rates are about 44 percent higher.
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| @ Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0345 EDST
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| Chicago-area home sales fall 22% in April
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| The 22.1% year-over-year drop in Chicago-area sales in April was the smallest so far this year. In the nine-county Chicago region, 4,745 single-family homes and condominiums were sold in April, compared with 6,094 sales in April 2008. April sales were up 11.4% compared with March. In the city of Chicago, April sales fell 26.9%, to 1,378 compared with 1,886 in April 2008. Sales rose 16.7% compared with March.
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| @ Crain's Chicago Real Estate Daily | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0400 EDST
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| BofA, JPMorgan, others raise $19 billion
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| Lenders are trying to show regulators they are capable of functioning without government support. The Federal Reserve will announce next week which of the 19 big lenders that underwent "stress tests" will be allowed to repay government bailout funds.
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| @ Reuters | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0415 EDST
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| The Reverse Bank Run
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| Depositors seeking high yields are pouring money into the weakest banks, making their eventual failures more costly.
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| @ Forbes | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0419 EDST
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| European Consumer Spending, Exports Decline Most in 14 Years
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| Gross domestic product shrank 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter, matching an initial estimate and the most since the data were first compiled in 1995, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. Household consumption contracted 0.5 percent, while exports dropped 8.1 percent and imports declined 7.2 percent, all the most since the series started in 1995. Investment spending fell 4.2 percent, after a 4.3 percent contraction in previous quarter that was also the sharpest since 1995.
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| @ Bloomberg News | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0646 EDST
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| Canadian household borrowing eases in first quarter
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| Household demand for funds totalled $65-billion during the three-month period, down from $91-billion in the fourth quarter of 2008. "Lower personal expenditures on goods and services, particularly purchases of motor vehicles and household furnishings, contributed to reduced household borrowing in the form of consumer credit and bank loans," Statistics Canada said.
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| @ Financial Post - CA | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0652 EDST
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| Services rise may signal end to UK recession
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| Hopes rose today that Britain is set to emerge from the worst of the recession as figures revealed a surprise return to growth in Britain's key services sector. Activity in the services sector expanded in May for the first time in 13 months.
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| @ London Times | Posted: 06/03/09 at 0655 EDST
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