Just announced yesterday, Fannie MAe (FNMA) has extended it’s seller assistance program to June 30, 2010. This program extends the program scheduled to end on April 30 for two more months to aid in the sales of FNMA foreclosures to the owner occupied home buyer market.

This incentive is a 3.5% credit toward either closing costs, appliances or a combination thereof. Call your FNMA agent at Prime Real Estate for more information 404-685-3774.

Take advantage of your FNMA seller incentives AND your federal tax credit if you are under contract by April 30. See us at www.atlprime.com

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing homes sales are up 6.8% over the previous month. This is a great indicator that the spring market has hit. There has never been a better time to get off the fence and start your road to the American Dream.

Additionally, we are seeing foreclosure inventories gear up for the spring and summer sales seasons. Some estimates are that last quarter saw more than a 35% increase in foreclosures over the previous quarter. This means that banks are finally able to recover some of the assets that have been on hold due to the mostly failed modefication programs set forth by the federal governement.

For some time there has been a bottleneck of inventory that has been held up in these failing government loan modeifcation and retention programs. As a whole, these programs have done very little except hinder the overall recovery and liquidation of the distressed assets on the books at our banks and mortgage lenders.

Many industry experts see FNMA and other government lending programs as so far in failure that they may see extinction in the coming years.

However, for buyers and investors, now is the time to take advantage and get in on what could be your greatest opportunity for wealth building in a lifetime. Call the Prime Real Estate foreclosure experts to find out more and to find out about foreclosures before they hit the market.

Experience has taught us that the good ones go right away, so ensure your position at www.atlprime.com.

The most recent foreclosure news from DS NEWS 4/12/10 says

“Despite servicers’ efforts to modify unprecedented volumes of troubled mortgages and a large-scale government-led program put in place to stem the nation’s viral foreclosure epidemic, they haven’t been enough to keep up with the rapid pace of loan deterioration, according to new data from Lender Processing Services (LPS).
A market report released by the company Monday shows that the total number of delinquent loans as of the end of February was 21.3 percent higher than it was a year earlier. Although the data showed a small 1.45 percent seasonal decline in delinquencies from January 2010 to February 2010, LPS reported that the national delinquency rate still stood at 10.2 percent.

Although delinquencies remained relatively level, the nation’s foreclosure inventories reached record highs in February. Based on LPS’ analysis, the foreclosure rate of 3.31 percent represented a 51.1 percent year-over-year increase.

Furthermore, the percentage of new problem loans is also at its highest level in five years. LPS found that more than 1.1 million loans that were current at the beginning of
January 2010 were already at least 30 days delinquent or in foreclosure by February 2010 month-end.

According to the company’s data, the number of non-current first-lien mortgages and REO properties now total more than 7.9 million loans.

LPS noted in its report that as a result of the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), delinquent loans that were modified and that remained current through HAMP’s three-month trial period – called “cures-to-current” – have increased. Advanced delinquency rolls, however, remain elevated from a historical perspective, the company said.

Both delinquency and foreclosure inventories remain bloated, LPS said, thanks to high volumes of problem loans in combination with prolonged loss mitigation efforts and foreclosure moratoria.

With 10.2 percent of borrowers delinquent and 3.3 percent in foreclosure, the nation’s total rate of non-current loans has hit 13.5 percent, LPS said.

Based on the company’s analysis, the states with the most non-current loans include: Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Mississippi, California, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana.

The states with fewest non-current loans are: North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, Vermont, Colorado, Washington, and Minnesota.

Commentary from Freddie Mac’s economic team Monday says, “The current large backlog of seriously delinquent mortgages remains a daunting prospect for many local markets across the country, and it may take two years or more to return to more normal housing market conditions.””

Call your Prime Real Estate foreclosure expert to find out more

Just announced by fannie MAe (FNMA) is a great new incentive for those foreclosed homes missing their appliances. FNMA is offering up to a 3.5% incentive toward, Closing Costs, The purchase of Wirlpool Appliances or a combination thereof. Call your Prime Real Estate FNMA specialist today for more information.

To be eligible for the program, the following criteria must be met: The offer must be written AFTER January 28, 2010, The property must close before May 1, 2010 and the buyer must be an owner occupant. Second homes are also eligbile as long as they are owner occupied. Investors are excluded from the program.

So act quickly as time is almost gone for this program. Call Me or any of yout Prime REO specialists at 404-685-3774 or visit our web site at www.atlprime.com

Fed Extends TALF, Says Credit Markets Still ‘Impaired’
FEDERAL RESERVE, FED, TALF, ECONOMY, TREASURY DEPARTMENT
CNBC.com | 17 Aug 2009 | 09:38 AM ET
The Federal Reserve said Monday it will extend its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility another six months though it said conditions were improving in some areas.

In a joint announcement with the Treasury Department, the central bank said the TALF, as the program is known, now will run until June 2010, from its original cutoff date of December 2009.

“Conditions in financial markets have improved considerably in recent months,” the Fed and Treasury said in their statement. “Nonetheless, the markets for asset-backed securities backed by consumer and business loans and for commercial mortgage-backed securities are still impaired and seem likely to remain so for some time.”

The extension will cover newly issued commercial mortgage-backed securities but will not be expanded to cover assets not already eligible.

The program targets primarily students loans and credit cards but extends to other financing as well.

The TALF started in March and figures prominently in efforts by the Fed and the Obama administration to ease credit, stabilize the financial system and help end the recession.

Under the program, investors use the funds to buy securities backed by auto and student loans, credit cards, business equipment and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration.

The program has the potential to generate up to $1 trillion in lending for households and businesses, according to the government. Spurring such lending is vital to turning around the economy. The Fed and Treasury said they were prepared to reconsider this decision if financial or economic developments conditions indicate that such an expansion would still be warranted. However, the government believes the financial system is beginning to stabilize after being hit last fall by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The Fed and the Treasury also extended TALF through March 31 for newly issued asset-backed securities and already-issued, or “legacy,” commercial mortgage-backed securities.

—Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

© 2009 CNBC.com
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/32446222/

August 14, 2009

Atlanta Business Chronicle – by Maria Saporta Contributing Writer
Joann VItelli
72 Marietta Street: AJC’s current home is “a critical piece of real estate,” says Central Atlanta Progress’ A.J. Robinson.
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The possible move of Atlanta’s largest daily newspaper out of downtown concerns civic leaders and one of the city’s most accomplished journalists.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been laying the groundwork to move from its current downtown home to a location that likely will be outside the city limits. Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported the possible move Aug. 12.

“It would be a very sad day for the community, after so many generations, to physically lose such an important part of the fabric of Atlanta,” said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, a downtown business group.

Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said major daily newspapers have played a vital role in helping create the civic, business and cultural life of cities.

“We have seen other major metro newspapers suffer so this is nothing new,” Williams said. “But it strikes to the heart of Atlanta because reporting on the public sector on a daily basis, especially investigative reporting, is crucial to good government.”

The AJC’s roots downtown date back more than a century. Throughout its history, the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution have produced some of the city’s leading citizens, beginning with editor Henry Grady’s vision for the New South in the late 1880s to “Gone With The Wind” author Margaret Mitchell to editor Ralph McGill and columnists Celestine Sibley and Lewis Grizzard.

As a testament to his role in the city, Grady’s statue stands proudly in the middle of Marietta Street just a block away from the newspaper’s building.

If the AJC does move out of the city, “I can see Henry Grady holding a handkerchief to his eyes,” said George Goodwin, 92, who won the Atlanta Journal’s first Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for exposing voter fraud in Telfair County.

AJC executives have been letting community leaders and employees know about the possible move, telling them that decision should be announced later this month. The AJC’s new publisher, Michael Joseph, informed employees in an Aug. 3 e-mail about a possible relocation.

“We have been exploring all the options to lower our cost structure, including real estate,” said Jennifer Morrow, the AJC’s external communications manager. “We are looking at a lot of options related to real estate opportunities.”

She added that a decision likely will be announced within a couple of weeks.

The AJC’s parent, Cox Enterprises Inc., made a similar move in Dayton, Ohio, in 2007, when it moved the headquarters of the Dayton Daily News out of downtown Dayton.

That decision was met with disappointment from Dayton economic development groups, including the Downtown Dayton Partnership.

Cox’s Doug Franklin, who until recently was publisher of the AJC, was formerly publisher of Cox Ohio Publishing, where he was involved in the 2006 decision to move the Dayton Daily News outside of downtown Dayton.

Even though the problems of the newspaper industry are well-known, CAP’s Robinson wondered how moving the AJC from the city would put it in a better position to cover Atlanta, especially “when the major institutions and the leaders who create or shape the news are in the central city.”

But Robinson said that although it would be a great disappointment, the AJC moving would “not be a death knell” for downtown. “It’s not the end of the world for us,” Robinson said. “We will go on about our business of building a great downtown.”

Actually, Robinson said the AJC’s current home at 72 Marietta St. is “a critical piece of real estate.” It is a strategic site for the redevelopment of Marietta Street and the railroad gulch that is part of the proposed “green line” project and a new multimodal train station.

Retired journalist Goodwin remembered the 20 years that he worked for the Atlanta Journal right after World War II.

“I have difficulty imagining our major newspaper being anywhere else but the heart of Atlanta,” said Goodwin, who after leaving the Atlanta Journal became the dean of the city’s public relations professionals. “Atlanta is a particularly large circle. And if you are a circular city, you’ve got to be located in the middle.”

CAP’s Robinson said he knows newspapers are in transition and that the industry is struggling. “When faced with questions of survival, institutions make radical decisions,” said Robinson, who hopes the Atlanta community will try to get the AJC to reconsider its plans before a final decision is announced.

Goodwin still has a hard time believing the AJC could leave the central city. “It’s a very negative thing. Somebody in civic Atlanta needs to say … ‘You can’t do this.’ ”

Reach Saporta at (404) 736-3612 or maria@saporta.biz.

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/08/17/story2.html?b=1250481600^1932931

By ALAN ZIBEL

The Associated Press

7:31 a.m. Thursday, August 13, 2009

WASHINGTON — The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes rose 7 percent from June to July, as the escalating foreclosure crisis continued to outpace government efforts to limit the damage.

Foreclosure filings were up 32 percent from the same month last year, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. More than 360,000 households, or one in every 355 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice, such as a notice of default or trustee’s sale. That’s the highest monthly level since the foreclosure-listing firm began publishing the data more than four years ago.

Banks repossessed more than 87,000 homes in July, up from about 79,000 homes a month earlier.

Nevada had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for the 31st-straight month, followed by California, Arizona, Florida and Utah. Rounding out the top 10 were Idaho, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado and Oregon. Among cities, Las Vegas had the highest rate, followed by the California cities of Stockton and Modesto.

While there have been numerous recent signs that the ailing U.S. housing market is finally stabilizing after three years of plunging prices, foreclosures remain a big concern. Foreclosures are typically sold at a deep discount, hurting neighbors’ home values.

The mortgage industry has been slow to adapt to the surge in foreclosures. Many lenders have needed government prodding to get up to speed with the Obama administration’s plan to stem foreclosures.

The Treasury Department said last week that banks have extended only 400,000 offers to 2.7 million eligible borrowers who are more than two months behind on their payments. More than 235,000, or 9 percent, those borrowers have enrolledin three-month trials in which their monthly payments are reduced.

“The volume of loans that are in distress simply overwhelms” those efforts, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing.

___

August 13, 2009 07:31 AM EDT

By Michelle E. Shaw

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

9:32 p.m. Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The median sale price of a single-family home in metro Atlanta rose from the first quarter to second quarter of the year but remained well below year-ago levels, the National Association of Realtors says.

The median price was $121,400 in the three months that ended June 30, up 5 percent from $115,600 in the three months ended March 31. The current median price is 23 percent lower than it was this time last year, $158,300, according to figures released Wednesday by the association.

The median is the mid-point for all sales; half of homes sold were priced higher, and half were priced lower. A rise in foreclosures and other distress sales, coupled with a slow market for mid- and upper-price sales, depresses the median.

Though the price is still down year-over-year, quarterly improvement is progress in the right direction, housing analysts say.

“The real key will be year-over-year increases, but the quarterly movement shows things are moderating,” said Steve Palm, president of the Marietta real estate research firm SmartNumbers. “The numbers have been edging up since February, and quarterly progress is good to see.”

Nationally, 129 out of 155 metropolitan statistical areas saw second-quarter declines in median existing single-family home prices, compared to same period the year before. Twenty-six areas had price gains.

Median sale prices are lower than typical home valuations in many parts of the metro area because of market conditions.

“Recently sold homes are concentrated in lower price ranges,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors’ association. “The median price may not be representative of overall values in a given area because many middle priced homes are not on the market.”

Foreclosures and sales for less than the loan value accounted for 36 percent of transactions across the country in the second quarter, according to the association. The national median existing single-family price was $174,100, down 16 percent from the second quarter of 2008, the release said.

Sales volume, declined 4 percent in Georgia in the second quarter from the first, and 5 percent year over year, according to the report. But 39 states had sales increases from the first quarter, and nine had year-over-year improvements, the association said.

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There are a lot of INCREDIBLE deals out there right now for buyers and investors in the foreclosure market.  Many are taking advantage of nearly 50% discounts on these great properties.  Prime Real Estate is a foreclosure selling specialist and your best ally in getting the right property.  Contact your Prime Real Estate sales associate to get directed toward the right homes in Atlanta that are incredible deals for investors, homeowners and all other buyers alike.

You can see out current inventory at www.atlprime.com.  However, we have access to mant great properties before they hit the market, so calling a specialist for a sneak preview of what is coming gets you ahead of the game.  Of course we can also research many other great deals that are out there undetected to the typical eye.

Call our office at 404-685-3774 or email your Prime Real Estate associate today!  There has never been a better time to buy than today.  Atlanta is one of the top 10 markets in the United States and is poised for explosive growth going forward.  Get your slice of success today.