By KIMBERLEY HAAS A new proposed rule meeting President Joe Biden’s call to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act was announced by officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday. “Affirmatively furthering fair housing means more than merely steering clear of housing discrimination violations,” Demetria McCain, principal deputy assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, said in a statement. “Today, HUD is taking new, bold action to eliminate the historic patterns of segregation that continue to harm American families. This action will help make the purpose of the Fair Housing Act reality by making it easier for local communities to identify inequities and make concrete commitments to address them.” According to a press release, the rule…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Homelessness has risen for individuals and people with disabilities, according to the 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report released on Monday by officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Homelessness among single individuals increased by 3.1%. The number of people with disabilities experiencing homelessness for long periods of time increased by 16% between 2020 and 2022. The report found 582,462 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2022. States with the highest numbers of people who were homeless in 2022 include California (171,521), New York (74,178), Florida (25,959), Washington (25,211), and Texas (24,432). Officials say the Biden-Harris Administration is working to reverse the post-2016 trend of rising homelessness. Their goal is to…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS A Los Angeles broker convicted of defrauding lenders to obtain more than $8 million in mortgage loans has been sentenced to five years and four months in prison. Alex Ashod Dadourian, 61, was a licensed mortgage loan broker whose company, Success Funding, doing business as Pride Funding, was located in Northridge, California. Investigators claim that Dadourian received more than $254,000 in fees and commissions by taking out 17 mortgage loans based on fraudulent applications and supporting documentation between 2017 and 2019. Dadourian was convicted on 91 felony charges of mortgage fraud, grand theft, identity theft, and conspiracy, according to a press release issued on Dec. 7. “We won’t stand idly by when bad actors take advantage of…
Americans agree that military families deal with more financial stress than the average family. Ahead of Veterans Day, WalletHub looked at the best places veterans can live to reduce that burden. The Midwest and South offer the best places for veterans to live well, according to WalletHub’s 2022 Best & Worst Places for Veterans to Live report. The report analyzed the 100 largest U.S. cities for key metrics related to veterans’ quality of life, including the share of military skill-related jobs, housing affordability, and proximity to VA health facilities. Raleigh, NC, took the top spot for the best place for veterans to live, followed by Austin, TX, and Laredo, TX. Madison, WI, and Tampa, FL, rounded out the top five.…
New home sales fell in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 603,000, down 10.8% from August and 17.6% YOY, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The month-over-month figure is slightly better than expected. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal predicted home sales to fall 13.4%. The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 462,000, representing a supply of 9.2 months at the current sales rate. September saw mortgage rates soar from the high-5%s to nearly 7% at month’s end, pricing many potential buyers out of the market. Home shoppers who could have afforded a mortgage payment earlier this year now may…
New home sales fell in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000, down 12.6% from June and 29.6% YOY, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The massive dropoff can be attributed to the rising cost of buying a home. Home price appreciation and increasing interest rates are pricing potential buyers out of the market. Between rates and prices, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical US home is 62% higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, some sellers are opting not to put their homes up for sale, exacerbating the stock shortage and driving up competition. About half of all homeowners have a rate under 4% and are disinclined…
Housing payments have surpassed the dreaded 30% cost-burdened threshold thanks to the 30-year fixed rate’s recent half-point jump. Black Knight reports that it now costs $2,103 to make the principal and interest (P&I) payment on an average-priced home with a 20% downpayment. That equates to 36.2% of the median household income and sinks affordability to its lowest level in more than 35 years. Payments as a percentage of income are now higher than the previous record of 34.1% in July 2006, and significantly up from the long-term average of 25.1%. The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines cost-burdened families as those “who pay more than 30% of their income for housing” and “may have difficulty affording necessities such as…
In a narrow victory decided by a tie-breaking vote, Julia Gordon has been confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). President Biden nominated Gordon to the position in June. Her nomination to the Senate for a vote didn’t happen in 2021, forcing President Biden to re-nominate her. This time around, Gordon was confirmed by a 51-50 vote in the Senate after a tie was broken by Vice President Kamala Harris. Gordon most recently served as president of the National Community Stabilization Trust, a nonprofit organization that promotes neighborhood revitalization and housing affordability. Gordon previously served as Senior Director of Housing and Consumer…
New home sales fell to a four-month low in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000, down 8.6%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The massive dropoff can be attributed to the rising cost of buying a home. Home price appreciation and increasing interest rates are pricing potential buyers out of the market. Between rates and prices, monthly mortgage payments are 19.5% higher than they were three months ago and 38% higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, some sellers are opting not to put their homes up for sale, exacerbating the stock shortage and driving up competition. The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end…
Good Morning! Today is Tuesday, March 29. Biden said he was expressing “moral outrage”, not policy, when he said Putin “cannot remain in power.” A federal judge concluded that Donald Trump most likely committed felonies by trying to overturn the 2020 election. Will Smith apologized to Chris Rock for slapping him at the Oscars. The Mortgage Note Reports Russia’s Attack On Ukraine Felt By Builders In America: Some experts say there will be ramifications in the home and commercial markets, Chuck Green reports. Budget Response: The Biden administration’s budget proposal includes big money for housing, which the CHLA says reaffirms the need to scrap its Life of Loan policy. Condo Explosion: Condo prices have hit a record high – up…
