Purchasing a new home is the biggest investment of my life so it is essential to have a realistic idea of ‘how much house can I afford’ before entering negotiations or give sellers an offer to purchase. As a newbie home buyer, it is important to know what comfortable home value fits your budget and how can you avail affordable home mortgage loan. Remember, a mortgage lender considers several financial factors before sanctioning the potential buyer’s loan proposal. They evaluate the risk involved with the mortgage deal and check your ability to pay back a mortgage. The mortgage lenders take into account the buyer’s debt to income ratios, FICO [...] Continue Reading…

It was a mixed bag for housing prices in April with prices up in some markets, for the first time in eight months, while prices were down in several other markets.

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Sales of existing homes in May fell by 3.8 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors.

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Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s announced that it had downgraded its outlook for China’s property market to negative from stable over concerns about the government’s decision to tighten its credit policy.

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Jenny Salomon, an artist, lives in a magnificent restored brownstone that often functions as a de facto exhibition space.

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Have you ever asked yourself whatA¢a‚¬a„¢s probably the biggest investment in my life? Your home or is it your home mortgage? Did you know these facts about your 30 year home mortgage? You end up paying back between 200% to 300% of the amount you originally borrowed to purchase your homeA¢a‚¬aEthat means if you borrow $200,000.00 to buy your home, youA¢a‚¬a„¢ll end up paying back between $400,000.00 and $600,000.00 at the end of your 30-year mortgage. If you’re presently in your 40s today, youA¢a‚¬a„¢ll be in your 70s when you pay off your 30-year mortgage. If you’re in your 30s today, you’ll be in your 60s before you pay [...] Continue Reading…

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Beijing, China (AHN) – Inflation in China is running at a 34-month high fueled by increases in food prices that are hitting consumers hard there despite efforts by the government to curb the rise. A sharp increase of 11.7 percent for food prices led the increase in the consumer price index. Chinese consumers saw prices rise by 5.5 percent in May compared to the same month a year ago, National Bureau of Statistics officials announced Tuesday. In addition, analysts do not see an end in sight any time soon and forecast a CPI increase of 6 percent for June. Chinese [...] Continue Reading…

New data suggest that foreclosures are rising in more expensive housing markets. About 30% of foreclosures in June involved homes in the top third of local housing values, up from 16% when the foreclosure crisis began three years ago, according to new information from real-estate Web site Zillow.com. The bottom one-third of housing markets, by home value, now account for 35% of foreclosures, down from 55% in 2006. The report shows that foreclosures, after dying earlier this year, began to accelerate in the late spring and that more expensive homes have more recently accounted for a growing share of all foreclosures. “The slope of that curve in recent months [...] Continue Reading…

A new Columbia University satellite campus in Manhattanville is giving the neighborhood next door an extended turn in the limelight.

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Mortgage rates dropped yet again early last week, but then ended on a sour note as prices of mortgage backed securities fell steeply. The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages fell further below 5%, according to the weekly survey issued by Freddie Mac. Losses on mortgage backed securities continued all the way into the close of the day, which forced banks to reissue higher mortgage rates. We do have some potentially market moving data being released this week which could help slow the pace of rising mortgage rates, mainly the Fannie/Freddie news releases late in the week.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.87% for the week, which was the lowest [...] Continue Reading…