by iwd Tina | Jun 21, 2011 | Housing News
Despite the emphasis on homeownership and the marginalization of renters, renter households still make up fully one-third of the households in the United States — almost 38 million households. Out of Reach is a side-by-side comparison of wages and rents in every county, Metropolitan Area (MSAs/HMFAs), combined nonmetropolitan area and state in the United States.
Please click here to view the study’s findings.
by iwd Tina | Jun 21, 2011 | Housing News
Sales of single-family homes and condominiums in Massachusetts surged by double-digit percentages in March compared to a year earlier, while prices for both also continued to rise, according a new report by The Warren Group.
“We’re seeing a significant turnaround in the local housing market. Monthly home sales have been increasing year-over-year since last July and that has propped up the median selling price statewide,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. “The homebuyer tax credit has been a wonderful impetus for the housing market. We hope that it has been a strong enough factor that consumers will continue entering the housing market.”
Please click here to read the full article.
by iwd Tina | Jun 21, 2011 | Housing News
HUD No. 10-012
Andrea Mead
(202) 402-0685
FOR RELEASE
Thursday, January 14, 2010
HUD SECRETARY DONOVAN ANNOUNCES $2 BILLION IN RECOVERY ACT GRANTS TO STABLIZE NEIGHBORHOODS, REBUILD LOCAL ECONOMIES – Stabilization grants to help neighborhoods recover from the housing crisis
WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that HUD is awarding $2 billion in Recovery Act funding to states, local governments and non-profit housing developers, under HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), to spur economic development in hard-hit communities and create jobs. Nearly 60 grantees are receiving awards. A full list of grants awarded today can be found on HUD’s Recovery Act website.
Funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this round of NSP grants is being awarded competitively to applicants who developed the most innovative ideas to rebuild local communities, while demonstrating that they have the capacity to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.
“By investing Recovery Act dollars in revitalizing hard-hit neighborhoods, we’re not only creating new job opportunities, but giving communities across the country an opportunity for a fresh start,” said Vice President Biden. “These competitive awards go to the heart of the Recovery Act: funding innovative projects that both provide immediate relief and help lay a new foundation for long-term economic growth.”
“Vacant homes have a debilitating effect on neighborhoods and often lead to reduced property values, blight, and neighborhood decay,” said Donovan. “This additional $2 billion in Recovery Act funding will help stabilize hard hit communities by turning vacant homes into affordable housing opportunities. The Neighborhood Stabilization program is a key part of the Obama Administration’s comprehensive approach to address the national housing and economic crisis.”
The $2 billion in NSP grants being awarded today will build on the work being done now to help state and local governments and non-profit developers collaborate to acquire land and property; to demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties; and/or to offer down-payment and closing cost assistance to low- to middle-income homebuyers. Grantees can also create “land banks” to assemble, temporarily manage, and dispose of foreclosed homes.
The awards will also require housing counseling for families receiving homebuyer assistance funds through NSP. In addition, it will protect homebuyers by requiring grantees to ensure that new homebuyers under this program obtain a mortgage from a lender who agrees to comply with sound lending practices.
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program was created to redevelop hard-hit communities, create jobs, and grow local economies by providing communities with the resources to purchase and rehabilitate vacant homes and convert them to affordable housing. Last year, HUD awarded nearly $4 billion in NSP formula funds to over 300 grantees nationwide to help state and local governments respond to the housing crisis and falling home values.
In addition, on August 26, 2009, HUD awarded $50 million in technical assistance grants to help grantees more effectively manage the inventory of abandoned homes they purchase under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. HUD’s NSP technical assistance grants are helping NSP recipients to implement sound underwriting, management, and fiscal controls; measure outcomes created by public funds; build the capacity of public-private partnerships; develop strategies to serve low-income households; incorporate energy efficiency into NSP programs; provide support, and training on the operation of ‘land banks’; and train NSP recipients on HUD program rules and financial management requirements.
President Obama signed the Recovery Act into law on February 17, 2009 as the country faced the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. The $787 billion Recovery Act program has already provided nearly $100 billion in tax relief for families and businesses, helped fill critical budget gaps for hard-hit state and local governments and jump-started tens of thousands of projects that are creating jobs and laying a new foundation for long-term economic growth. To learn more about the story of the Recovery Act, visit www.WhiteHouse.gov/Recovery. To follow Recovery Act dollars, visit www.Recovery.gov.
by iwd Tina | Jun 21, 2011 | Housing News
Foreclosure activity in Massachusetts increased significantly during the month of March, according to the latest report by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The number of foreclosures initiated by lenders jumped 22 percent from the prior month and 8 percent from a year earlier.
Lenders filed 2,581 petitions to foreclose in March, a 21.6 percent increase from 2,122 in February and 8.4 percent more than the 2,381 petitions filed in March 2009. A total of 6,577 petitions to foreclose have been filed in Massachusetts during the first quarter, a slight decrease from 6,636 in the first quarter of last year. Petitions to foreclose represent the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts.
Please click here to read the full article.
by iwd Tina | Jun 21, 2011 | Housing News
WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that the Obama Administration will work with Congress to find ways to help state and local governments more effectively combat the ongoing effects of the housing crisis and home foreclosures through additional funding for the Department’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and foreclosure prevention counseling. Donovan made the announcement today at a roundtable with Washington, D.C.-based reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
Please click here to read the full press release from HUD.
