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Author Archives: Scott_Morgan

Scott Morgan is a multi-award-winning journalist and editor based out of Texas. During his 11 years as a newspaper journalist, he wrote more than 4,000 published pieces. He's been recognized for his work since 2001, and his creative writing continues to win acclaim from readers and fellow writers alike. He is also a creative writing teacher and the author of several books, from short fiction to written works about writing.

Report: Cooled Market Offers Better Prospects for Buyers, Sellers

Zillow's August Home Value Index, released Friday, shows that U.S. home values in August rose at a cool 0.1 percent from July. This cooling of price increases is good news for both buyers and sellers, as slow growth makes for a market in which final sales numbers are more in sync with actual property values.

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Former Goldman Sachs Exec Predicts Doom for Housing

Former Goldman Sachs executive Joshua Pollard on Wednesday sent a sobering 18-page report to the White House warning of a potential nosedive in home prices that could put the country back into a recession before the ripples of the previous one settle. According to Pollard, the former head of the Goldman's housing research team, home price appreciation is outpacing income, and the United States is on the brink of a 15 percent decline in home prices over the next three years.

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Down Payments Trend Upward in Second Quarter

A new report by LendingTree finds that for the first time in a more than a year, the amount homebuyers are spending on down payments for their properties is on the rise. According to a report released Wednesday, down payment percentages for conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose a little more than 1.5 percentage points to an average of 17.28 percent from the first to the second quarter.

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Report: Most Markets Still Affordable for Debt-Burdened Grads

RealtyTrac's latest report on housing affordability shows that 96 percent of U.S. housing markets are still affordable for recent graduates making the median household income, even those with student loans. RealtyTrac found that the minimum amount of income needed to purchase a median-priced home, with and without student loans, was feasible in 475 out of 494 counties with a population of at least 100,000.

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U.S. Bank Earnings Rise on Stronger Lending

A report released Thursday by FDIC showed that federally insured institutions earned $40.2 billion and increased loan and lease balances by $178.5 billion (to $8.1 trillion) in the second quarter. The boost in lending was the largest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2007.

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Study: Underwater Gen-Xers Holding Down Housing

According to Zillow's latest Negative Equity Report, high negative equity among Gen-X homeowners is causing gridlock in the U.S. housing market. Nearly 43 percent of homeowners between 35 and 49 are underwater on their mortgages. In contrast, only 15 percent of millennial homeowners (those between 20 and 34 years old) and 31 percent of baby boomers (50 to 64 years old) are underwater.

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Rising Rents Hindering Homeownership

The latest conundrum in the U.S. housing market appears to be that while homes in 94 percent of the country's top metro areas are more affordable than they've ever been, rents are so high that renters in 88 percent of those metros can't afford to save up enough for a down payment to buy a home. According to Zillow's July Real Estate Market Report, a mere 12 metros out of the top 100 in the U.S. feature an affordable market for housing and rentals.

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Price Gains Stay on Slow Track in June Index

According to the latest Residential Price Index report from FNC, home prices are still on the way up, just not at the pace they used to be. FNC found that despite continued signs of leveling off in home price appreciation, U.S. home prices were up another 0.8 percent from May to June and 2.3 percent throughout the second quarter. Meanwhile, year-over-year growth is decelerating as expected.

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Industry Group Seeks to Restore RMBS Confidence

The Structured Finance Industry Group (SFIG) has released the first of a series of papers aimed at restoring investor confidence in the private-label residential mortgage-backed securities market. Overall, the group's effort looks to clarify differences in alternative standards in order to improve transparency across RMBS deals.

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Freddie Mac: Clearer Path Ahead for Housing

After half a year of failed predictions and slow starts, the U.S. economy actually appears to be closing in on normal, at least according to Freddie Mac. Freddie's latest Economic and Housing Market Outlook shows that the agency expects to see the U.S. housing market driven once again by fundamentals—jobs, household formations, and affordability—rather than economic upheaval.

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