Understanding the square footage of your new home

If real estate rule No. 1 is "location, location, location," rule No. 2 may be that not all square footage is created equal. Many shoppers blindly trust that the size of a new home featured in an ad or brochure is accurate. But the reality is that no official industry standard exists for calculating residential square footage, nor is there widespread consensus on the correct measuring methodology.

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What's Keeping Mortgage Rates Low ?

Glimmers of hope in the housing market suggest a turnaround is at hand, with statistics showing stabilizing home prices and an increasing number of home sales.
Yet even as housing conditions improve, mortgage interest rates remain near record-low levels.
Rates on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.71% for the week ended June 14, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming rates. Prior to that week, rates had broken record lows for six weeks straight.

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Housing market rebounding, but slowly

CHICAGO (MarketWatch)—Promising statistics signal a housing market on the rebound, but economic headwinds are keeping markets from improving quickly, according to Harvard University’s annual State of the Nation’s Housing report, released on Thursday.

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New Construction Still Bouncing Along At Bottom

According to analysts at wells Fargo, the weak housing market provides little incentive to build. “While starts appear to be making progress, any recovery in housing will be agonizingly slow,” according to Wells Fargo.

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U.S. Mortgage Relief Effort Falling Short of Its Goal

The Obama administration's mortgage relief program originally intended to shield 3 million households from foreclosure. now it looks like it will only help as few as one-sixth of that number. 
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New Appraisal Standards Interfered With Sales

It was one of the most frequent refrains in home building over the past year. After protracted negotiations, builders and buyers would reach agreement on price. Then the appraisal would come in so low it would wipe out any profit left in the deal.
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US Housing Market Could Take A Dip

Despite signs of stabilization, next year could prove treacherous for the housing and mortgage markets. "We still have a crisis in the number of people who can't pay their mortgage, and we haven't seen the peak of that yet. It's going to weigh on us for several years," says David Lowman, CEO of Chase Home Lending.
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Spring Housing Market Hints At Recovery

"While sales have been down compared to last year, we've seen a steady increase in the number of sales and median home prices on a month-to-month basis. This steady climb gives us reason to be hopeful that we'll continue to move in a positive direction."
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A New Home In The Chicago Area Less Than $200K?

Is it still possible to buy a new home in the Chicago area for less than $200,000? It sure is, says recent buyer David Smith, if you are willing to make compromises and forgo some luxuries. 
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