Single-family house prices in the state dropped about 17.1 percent in February compared to the same month in 2008, making it the fifth consecutive month that median prices have dropped by double-digit margins, according to the Warren Group, publisher of the Commercial Record.
“We didn’t see such a period of price slumps during Connecticut’s last housing downturn in the early 1990s,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr. in a statement. Warren is the chief executive of the Warren Group. “Prices won’t level off until sales activity picks up substantially for several months straight.”
The local results are mixed and the most promising news could be in Meriden.

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=20289419&BRD=2755&PAG=461&dept_id=592709&rfi=6

FED-UP with forking out a small fortune for a tiny bedsit?

 Why not pay a fraction of the price and set up home in an old fire station?

In return for looking after empty premises, cash-strapped tenants — or guardians, as they are known — get loads of living space in prime locations for as little as £45 a week rent INCLUDING council tax.

Many public buildings are involved in the scheme, including old schools and town halls.

Barmaid Lyndsey Dawson, 23, is one of six tenants living in a laboratory that fell into disuse more than a decade ago.

Others who have moved in include a cabbie and a teacher.

Lyndsey pays £180 per month for the use of a vast office in the three-storey building on Bidston Hill, Merseyside, on the Wirral peninsula.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/article2266214.ece

Northern Rock has suffered losses of £45.9m since 2001 as a result of having to repossess property on its books.

Data from the nationalised lender’s securitisation vehicle Granite shows that in December alone the figure for repossession losses came in at £8.7m.
This amounts to an average loss per property of £ 19,348.

Of the properties that Northern Rock has not repossessed, some 6.3% of borrowers are behind with mortgage payments by at least a month.

The figures also reveal that 3,719 mortgage loans under Granite are now worth less than what was originally loaned out by Northern Rock.

It means that 1.33% of borrowers with assets under the Granite trust were in negative equity as at December last year.

The Granite securitisation vehicle does not represent all of Northern Rock’s mortgage book, but does give a clear indication of the scale of losses the nationalised lender is now facing.

Mortgage-finance company in Washington Freddie Mac said it will allow some borrowers to rent out their homes after losing them to foreclosure.

The goal of the new policy is to prevent properties from becoming vacant so they won’t fall into disrepair.

Freddie also said it will allow renters to remain in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure. It has about 8,500 properties in the foreclosure process, but many are vacant.

“Keeping foreclosed properties occupied and in better repair will support local property values and promote a faster recovery in the housing market,” said Freddie Mac Chief Executive David Moffett.

Fannie Mae, which announced similar plans in January, said it has stopped about 20,000 foreclosure sales and halted 6,300 evictions of owners or renters this winter.

Under Freddie Mac’s new policy, tenants and former property owners need to demonstrate they have enough income to pay the rental bill.

Freddie Mac also said it would consider reinstating a mortgage for those borrowers who can qualify for a modified loan.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the government in September.

For more about this issue, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2008742377_freddiemacrent15.html

HOMEOWNERS in Johannesburg continue to struggle to meet mortgage repayments because of the prevailing credit crunch. The FNB residential property barometer, a survey of the property market based on data from local estate agents, indicates that in the fourth quarter of last year most homes were put up for sale by homeowners trying to downscale due to financial pressure.

The survey revealed that a total of 26% of homeowners across all income brackets were opting to sell because mortgage repayments were becoming too difficult to meet.

The recent interest-rate cut is good news and will provide at least some relief to over-burdened homeowners.

However, there are ways of easing the stress of bond repayments. Mark Beckett, CEO of Bond Choice, says: “Approach your bank as soon as you realise you are in financial difficulty. The banks want to assist clients and consider it a last resort to repossess homes. “Running away from the responsibility only compounds the problem in the future.” He says that extending the home- loan period from 20 to 25 or even 30 years will help to reduce the monthly instalment amount.

For more about this issue, http://allafrica.com/stories/200902130483.html

For every 500,000 people becoming unemployed there will be a further 20,000 repossessions, says a new report from CB Richard Ellis.

‘Loss of income through unemployment is the major contributory factor towards arrears and repossessions,’ says the report.

The Government support for mortgage interest payment kicks in 13 weeks after being made unemployed.

The report highlights the most groups most vulnerable to repossession being the sub-prime market and the buy-to-let borrowers. ‘High mortgage rates are a particular problem for borrowers coming to the end of their current mortgage deal. These homeowners are finding it difficult to obtain a mortgage on comparable terms and may not be able to afford the higher rates,’ it says.

‘There are a large tranche of vulnerable borrowers which could increase the severity of the problem,’ the report concludes.

This report was found at: www.countrylife.co.uk/news/property

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to intervene to stop mortgage lenders acting too quickly to repossess homes. As the British Chamber of Commerce warn that the UK could soon be in recession, the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice disclosed that the number of court orders granted to mortgage lenders rose by more than 12 per cent between the first and second quarter of 2008. Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor, Vince Cable, believes that these figures show that the “government must intervene to stop lenders moving quickly through the courts” in an effort to repossess homes. He said: “Since the mid 1990s, claimants have been unable to get help with mortgage payments until they have been unable to work for nine months. “This means many of those out of work will face the threat of repossession.” Earlier this month, the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed that the number of repossessions in the first half of this year was 18,900, which is a 48 per cent increase on the same period in 2007.