Toll Brothers, a luxury homebuilder, has posted a smaller loss of $40.8mn, or $0.25 per share, for its first quarter that ended January 31, 2010; this compares to a loss of $88.9mn, or $0.55 a share, a year earlier. The first quarter saw a $33.4m in pre-tax write-downs, including a $22.5m write-down on account of [...]

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Freddie Mac has reported that delinquency rate on its single-family loans rose to 4.03% in January, from 3.87% in December; a year ago, the delinquency rate was 1.98%. In volume terms, Freddie’s total mortgage portfolio dropped at an annualized rate of 1.7% in January. The agency’s refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume was $22.6 bn in [...]

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The Oracle of Omaha, in his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has written, “Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us. Prices will remain far below ‘bubble’ levels, of course, but for every seller or lender hurt by this there will be a buyer who benefits.” The [...]

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Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) — Sales of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in January to the lowest level on record, a sign that an extension of a government tax credit may not be enough to rekindle demand.
The report underscores Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s comments today that the economy is in a “nascent” [...]

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Home buyers hoping to snag a really good deal on a foreclosed home are finding it increasingly difficult because supply is shrinking.
The number of foreclosures that are available for sale nationwide fell to 617,000 in December, down from 845,000 in November 2008, reports Barclays Capital.
Not only have attractive homes in popular neighborhoods already been snapped [...]

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Daily Real Estate News | February 23, 2010
Although the economy has been growing lately, fallout from the recent recession continued to negatively impact commercial real estate sectors in the fourth quarter, but there is hope for some improvement next year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said commercial real estate [...]

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By Ken Sweet and Peter Barnes
FOXBusiness
The White House is considering changes to its mortgage modification plan that could include a freeze on home foreclosures, sources tell FOX Business.
According to industry officials who have been briefed on the plan, the administration is considering changes that would require home-loan servicing companies to push delinquent borrowers into the [...]

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President Obama has signed off on the bill approving an extension of the $8,000 new home buyer tax credit until April 30th 2010. Also, the new provisions in the extension are NOT retroactive. Here is a summary of the new and updated provisions and their impact on you if you have or are planning to [...]

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REALTORS Optimistic for 2010… Despite Last Year’s Slow Market
Courtesy of LA Realtors.org
By most accounts, 2009 was not a banner year for real estate
in Louisiana and across the nation. However, REALTORS are
optimistic that the state has absorbed the worst of the housing
market downturn and poised for improvement this year.
“The national economic downturn caught up with Louisiana [...]

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Lower prices and the first-time buyer home credit boosted home sales in May for the first back-to-back monthly gain since September 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Existing home sales – which includes single-family, townhomes, condos and co-ops – were up 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.77 million units last month, [...]

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