As foreclosure listings grew in many housing markets nationwide in June, the Wells Fargo/National Association of Home Builders HMI or Housing Market Index fell to 15, a difference of one point from last month. The index, whose maximum level is 100 points, reached its highest peak in December 1998 when it reached 78 and had its lowest level in January, when it had only 8 points.

From April to May, the index was in an upward direction, prompting some home builders to express optimistic forecasts. The slight dip doused the optimism.

Joe Snider, an executive of Moody’s Investors service, said the home building industry is crawling along low points as foreclosure listings continue to win the competition in terms of home prices.

The problems of the home building industry were reflected in their stock results on Monday. Standard Pacific shares fell by almost 11 percent to $2.13 and Hovnanian Enterprises shares fell by 6.3 percent to $2.39. KB Home shares dropped by 5.8 percent to $13.27 while Lennar Corp. shares fell by 5.3 percent to $7.56.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones US Home Construction Index fell by 2.19 percent recently.

Investors in the home building industry had hoped that the sector was on its way to recovery, but the dip in the NAHB housing index is dousing hopes.

The situation is expected to worsen because mortgage rates have been climbing. Data from Freddie Mac showed that 30-year fixed rate home loans had been getting a rate of 5.59 percent last week, which was overwhelmingly higher than the 4.86 percent average rate four weeks earlier.

Also, the $8,000 federal tax credit, which has been enticing first-time home buyers to purchase their homes, is nearing its expiration date. The $10,000 assistance for first-time home buyers in California is also reported to be nearing exhaustion. Home builders are concerned that when these factors are absent, more potential home buyers will defer their home buying decisions.

However, the main factor clobbering sales of new homes is the low pricing of homes in foreclosure listings. Snider explained that foreclosure listings are lowering appraisal values, forcing home builders to sell new homes at a losing price or cancel the sale.

According to a June survey, more than 300 home building executives from over 2000 companies said their new home sales remained at low levels and that home prices continued to decline mainly because of low prices in foreclosure listings.

Positive reactions on the foreclosure prevention initiative from mortgage professionals, local realtors and builders were noted a day after US President Barack Obama unveiled his program.

Obama’s initiative, intended to streamline the number of foreclosed homes in the country, will allow lending institutions to reduce interest rates that would lower monthly mortgage payments to not more than 38 percent of the homeowners’ pretax income

Under the $75 billion plan, the federal government will match reductions that lenders will make to lower the mortgage payment to as much as 31 percent.

Despite the lack of details on how the Obama Administration will implement its loan modification program included in its foreclosure prevention plan, some homeowners who lost their jobs are hopeful that the initiative will bring the much needed respite that will allow them to continue paying their monthly loan payments.

Meanwhile, some mortgage professionals, local realtors and builders have expressed their support for the plan to end foreclosures.

Shore Mortgage President Robert Rahal said that the initiative is expected to help about 5 million homeowners whose mortgages are way beyond the fair market value of their properties but are making refinancing payments at reduced interest rates.

The initiative provides incentives to mortgage servicers to encourage them to offer loan refinancing to owners of distressed properties. Mortgage servicers will receive $1,000 for every eligible loan modification. In addition, the government will also provide mortgage servicers $1,000 annually for three consecutive years provided that homeowners remain current on their mortgage payments.

On the part of homeowners, they will also receive a balance reduction as much as $1,000 annually for five consecutive years provided that they pay their mortgages on time.

Independent Bank Corp. Senior Vice President Russ Daniel pointed out that the foreclosure abatement plan will encourage banks to offer loan modifications. He added that the initiative to help reduce the number of foreclosed homes will benefit almost 7 million Americans.

On the other hand, Coldwell Banker Schweitzer associate broker George Smale explained that any program that will help homeowners stay on their properties and avoid foreclosure would go a long way in helping stabilize housing prices.

The drastic decline in home prices has greatly affected banks and other financial institutions, making them less able to provide loans.

Related Information:

• Foreclosure Listings
• Foreclosures by State
• Tax Foreclosure Properties
• Tax Foreclosures
• Foreclosure Homes

Before the problem with the subprime mortgage industry blew up, the real estate industry was basically concerned about choosing the right location. Today, both buyers and tenants are waiting on the sidelines and hoping for market conditions to favor them.

Luckily for home buyers, present market conditions look to be perfect for them. There are literally millions of homes for sale including foreclosure properties that are sold at a small fraction of their market prices. In addition to the healthy supply of homes, buyers also have the upper hand compared to sellers and they might enjoy greater incentives and discounts.

The only blight in this otherwise perfect situation is the tightened lending guidelines. But if you have a good credit score and unblemished credit history, there is certainly no reason for you to hesitate. There is no better time to make an investment than today considering the fact that sellers are getting more anxious.

On the other hand, commercial tenants might have to wait a lot longer if they are looking to take advantage of the weaker economy. As of now, there are no indications that would make landlords rein in rent fees. In fact, leasing has become the option of homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure. Landlords are clearly among the very few who are benefiting from these unfriendly housing market conditions.

With the election fever rampaging throughout the nation, it can also be expected that the real estate industry will not be jump started soon. Decisions are certainly being put off for now as Election Day looms closer and closer. For most Americans, the result of the election will certainly influence economic factors including those that fuel the housing market.

Of course, you must keep in mind that real estate is localized. Meaning that there are actually cities where home sales is not as sluggish. In order to make an informed decision, it is best that you conduct your own local market research.

Search for Foreclosure Listings in USA Top Cities:

• Atlanta Foreclosure Listings
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One of the questions that most people ask at one point in their life is whether they are ready to buy a home. Of course, once they have decided that they are financially-ready, the next question is if the timing is right. Most buyers do not realize how many benefits they would enjoy if they would only take time to check out the market and find out if conditions are in their favor.

According to a report published in BusinessWeek magazine, there are actually cities in the country with sellers who have cut their asking prices considerably in the last year. If you are a buyer living in any of these cities, then you should probably start your house-hunting now. You can even start with foreclosure properties since they are usually a lot cheaper than other existing homes for sale.

The report, which was a result of collaboration with research firm Altos Research, showed the percent change in asking prices on a year-to-year basis. On the top of the list is Sacramento, with a median asking price of $226,978; down 29.06 percent from April 2007. It is followed by Phoenix (-20.54%), Los Angeles (-20.35%), Las Vegas (-18.95%), Atlanta (-18.16%), San Diego (-16.90%), Boston (-13.42%), Miami (-12.16%), Chicago (-10.98%), Seattle (-3.69%), Washington (-3.41%), San Francisco (-3.30%), Houston (-2.35%) and Denver(-0.55%).

If you are considering buying a property in any one of these cities, you may probably be worried about declining home prices. This is probably one of the reasons that you should make your move right now. Waiting too long might mean the difference between making a profitable investment and not. Again, if you want to minimize risk and save money, you should always choose among foreclosed homes. You will never enjoy amazing deals such as the ones being offered for these repossessed properties.

For a great selection of foreclosures, check out what Foreclosure Listings NationWide can offer you!

Related Links:

• Atlanta Foreclosure Listings
• Boston Foreclosure Listings
• Los Angeles Foreclosure Listings
• Miami Foreclosure Listings
• Phoenix Foreclosure Listings
• Houston Foreclosure Listings

According to the Federal Reserve, more banks have decided to tighten their lending standards particularly on home loans including traditional prime housing loans, non-traditional mortgages (subprime and “interest only” mortgages). This decision is not remotely surprising as most of the banks have been losing much money over defaulting mortgages. Their large inventory of foreclosure homes are poised to get even bigger as sales activity remains sluggish.

ForeclosureListingsNationWide reported a 30 percent increase in national foreclosures rate and states with the most number of foreclosure filings include Nevada, California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana and Texas. The worsening foreclosure situation has already cost Citigroup about $6.5 billion in credit and they are expecting about $8 to $11 billion more.

Many fingers are pointing to the subprime mortgage industry. Loans with adjustable interest rates have accounted to the majority of the mortgages in default. Many borrowers have been led to believe that offers of “interest only” and “no down payment” schemes will actually benefit them. Unfortunately, resetting interest rates resulted to an average of 40 percent increase in their monthly mortgage payments – an amount they could not afford.

Real estate buyers and investors, on the other hand, are waiting in the sidelines and carefully studying the volatile market. These buyers are actually waiting for home prices to fall down much further before making a move. A considerable drop in home values has already been observed nationwide especially in states and cities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis.

Most buyers rely on foreclosure listings from brokers such as ForeclosureListingsNationWide in order to enjoy the hottest leads on these foreclosure properties. With millions of foreclosed homes for sale, these listings will certainly be handy.

Legislators are looking into mortgage reforms in order to prevent another market meltdown. It is widely believed that relaxed mortgage lending guidelines played a significant role in the present crisis.

The real estate market has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last couple of years. According to experts and various real estate forecasts, the market is expected to rise in 2007 through to 2008. This has two implications:

1. If you are a homeowner then your home equity will increase.
2. If you are a homebuyer then purchasing real estate may seem like an expensive option.

But at the same time experts believe that 36 of the 100 big real estate markets in the US will witness a price decline. The top real estate market right now is McAllen, Texas, which is expected to show an increase of 8.5% this year and 9.8% the next year. The median home price will be $69,660.

At the same time, there will also be an increase in the market for bank foreclosures. Last year witnessed high foreclosure rates in some of the top metropolitans and this has created a database of foreclosed homes for first time home buyers. The availability of unusually high number of foreclosed properties also means that there will be more investors and buyers in this market than in the real estate market where the prices are sky rocketing.

Again, going back to the real estate market, the figures show that there was a decline of 0.17% and 5.75 million homes were sold this year till July. But experts see another reason for the decline in real estate buying. According to them, it is because there are more homes available than buyers. Foreclosure listings are showing anywhere from 300,000 to 600,000 properties for sale in a year. The availability of new homes and foreclosed homes has actually caused a decline in the nationwide real estate with the west showing a decline of -15.15%.

Find foreclosure listings in top cities like: Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, New York, Saint Louis and Seattle.

As one of the best places to live in the nation, Iowa is perfect for those who want to enjoy the true meaning of quality life. With gorgeous sceneries and low cost of living, the state offers much reason for people to stay. For the past years, population growth has been steady and demand for housing also increased. Instead of buying brand new homes, many relocators choose to join an Iowa foreclosure listings service to find cheap investment homes.

During the most recent housing boom, home values skyrocketed, destabilizing the market conditions. Since real estate tends to correct itself, the past couple of years showed declining home prices. At this point buyers are waiting on the sideline until home prices and home values level off. Once it does, it will signal these buyers to start their purchasing. Right now, everything is indicating that the time is right for investing. With the many real estate foreclosures available, historically-low interest rates and good economic news, buyers should be sitting up and taking notice.

Many seasoned buyers choose to use foreclosure listings when hunting for bargain Iowa foreclosures. In addition to the convenience, these listings can be relied on to contain updated and complete information on these foreclosure homes. Of course, the best listings are offered by professional brokers like Foreclosure Listings Nationwide.

Whenever sellers realize that the market is favoring buyers, they usually offer bigger incentives and are much more willing to negotiate asking prices. Some of these sellers tend to shoulder closing costs as part of their terms so that buyers will be more enticed to transact with them. On the other hand, these buyers and real estate investors can become quite choosy especially with the large inventory of homes to choose from. If you are like these buyers, you should realize that waiting could cause you to lose great opportunities.