Despite falling interest rates, some consumers are still hesitant to buy a home.

For the second week in a row, mortgages to purchase properties fell despite interest rates falling. According to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage interest rates fell from 4.90 percent to 4.83 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate purchase loan with a 20 percent down payment …Full Story

October's drop in new-home construction is good news for the real estate market.

The stock market took a tumble yesterday because of investor reaction to what is being called a surprising drop in housing starts. The Commerce Department said October new home construction fell 10.6 percent from the previous month, dropping to a six-month low …Full Story

There's been some negative coverage of the home buyers tax credit. (Photo: iStockphoto)

Although the real estate industry did not get everything it hoped for when the home buyers tax credit was recently extended and expanded, they were more than happy the program was continued.

But for some, there’s a lot not to love about the home buyer tax credit …Full Story

Sure, they are pretty, but do you want thousands of them in your home? (Photo: iStockphoto)

With their vibrant red wings and black spots, ladybugs aren’t often thought of as pests in the traditional sense of the word. Children and others who’d usually run screaming from any type of beetle or bug are apt to like them, and farmers and gardeners welcome ladybugs because they are known to goggle up lots of crop-destroying pests …Full Story

Many people are hoping they'll qualify for the expanded home buyer credit. (Photo: iStockphoto)

Last week, President Barack Obama signed the “Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009,” which extends the $8,000 tax credit available to “first-time” home buyers and adds a tax credit of up to $6,500 for repeat or move-up buyers. The tax credits are available to those who purchase a primary home, and aren’t available to buyers of investment or vacation homes …Full Story

Who doesn't like free money? But will the new home buyer tax-credit program help the real estate market? (Photo: iStockphoto)

President Barack Obama, as expected, signed a bill today that includes a home buyer tax credit that will give up to $8,000 to first-time buyers and up $6,500 to buyers who have owned their home for at least five years …Full Story

The bill to extend the tax credit for homebuyers is now on President Barack Obama's desk. (Photo: Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite)

The bill to extend the $8,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers and open the program to move-up buyers easily cleared the House of Representatives by a 403-12 vote Thursday. The House vote came a day after the Senate passed the measure 98-0 …Full Story

Want a bigger home? A new tax-credit proposal may help you afford one. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The Senate appears to have sifted through the myriad proposals to extend the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and draft a program that will include those who have owned their home for at least five years …Full Story

Two Los Angeles homeowners may get jail time for their fury over a failed home-loan modification. (Photo: iStockphoto)

It's been awhile since I've hung out in the real estate crime beat, but here we are again. I ran across this story recently about a couple in Los Angeles arrested on charges that they tortured two purported loan modification agents that they suspected of ripping them off. According to Reuters, Daniel Weston and Mary Ann Parmelee owned a house together that was in foreclosure. They had tried to get a loan modification, had been frustrated with the lack of results, and wanted their money back …Full Story

On the market, the house neighboring President Barack Obama's Chicago home features period details.

Wonder how much it would cost to live next to the president? Possibly $1,849,900, if President Barack Obama's neighbors get their asking price.

The neighbors' home, at 5040 S. Greenwood Avenue in Chicago, in the Hyde Park/Kenwood neighborhood, was first listed by Obama’s neighbors, Bill and Jacky Grimshaw, without a price over a month ago. The asking price is nearly $250,000 more than what Obama paid for his home -- which reportedly is in much better condition --four years ago. (Obama paid $1.6 million.) The Grimshaws purchased their home for $35,000 in 1973 …Full Story