Posted: 03 Aug 2010 12:47 PM PDT CDPE website…

We experienced a serge in home sales in the months of April due to the first time home buyer tax credit. The reality ofwhat the true housing market starts from here on out. There are not any more incentives to buy a home in Shoreview or anywhere else…just the same old benefits of home ownership. Homes even after the tax credit still continue to sell and believe it or not, there are buyers waiting to buy. It doesn’t look as bleak as some may say, homes are still selling. It just takes more time, effort, and patience to sell these days.

The housing market as you may notice, is going on the upswing. There is a steady rise in the average price home sold, and the numbers and statistics compare to last year is on a steady rise. Before you know it, we will once again be talking about how great the housing market it and forget all about the burst.

It didn’t take an official statement from Freddie Mac’s CEO to convince CDPEs — the agents helping distressed homeowners on a daily basis — that short sales have increased dramatically across the country. However, the number was still impressive and makes a big statement on a movement within the real estate industry to provide real solutions to homeowners facing foreclosure. Here’s what Housing Wire reported:

Freddie Mac CEO Ed Haldeman said the company has seen the number of its short sales increase 600% from 2008 as lenders look to dampen the impact of foreclosures hitting the marketplace.

In a statement put out this week, Haldeman said Freddie Mac is doing everything it can to prevent more foreclosures, and that short sales are becoming an ever-popular tool in situations where foreclosure is imminent and modifications have failed.

That number could increase as the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program takes hold. The Treasury Department launched it in April to provide cash incentives to servicers for conducting short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.

Great to hear, don’t you think?

We feel this is yet another testament to the incredible work by CDPEs being done on behalf of homeowners who need the most assistance. Short sales look to continue their leadership in the marketplace, and we look forward to releasing more information to our members on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s HAFA programs on August 1, 2010.

Article courtsey of CDPE

Strategic defaults are anything but strategic for distressed homeowners today. The Distressed Property Institute and CEO Alex Charfen, author of the CDPE, have stood against this practice from the very beginning. Now Fannie Mae has intensified penalties for those who “strategically default” on their mortgages, stating:

“… defaulting borrowers who walk away and had the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for a period of seven years from the day of foreclosure.”

This is yet another reason that homeowners should seek other alternatives to foreclosure, including short sales, and why agents need to have all the information to counsel distressed homeowners properly.

Article courtesy of www.cdpe.com