Mark Zabilowicz, Tampa Fl Realtor

Realtors and home builders are pleased Congress recognizes the need to stimulate the overall housing market, not just help borrowers facing foreclosure. The House included a tax credit for first-time home buyers in the housing measures that passed May 8. The tax credit would induce many Americans who don't own a home "to at least take a ...

"Dual-income customers should definitely buy a home now," says George Kaiser, vice president of banking operations for Northbrook Bank and Trust and West America Mortgage Co., its sister company. "People with assets in reserve and a credit score of at least 680 should buy as well. Anyone with a credit score less than that will have ...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Nov. 28, 2007 – Disruptions in the mortgage market and tightening credit continued to impact Florida’s housing sector in October. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 9,165 last month while 12,846 homes sold in October 2006 for a decrease of 29 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according ...

Daily Real Estate News  |  June 25, 2007 Existing-home sales eased slightly in May, as potential buyers hold out until they see more signs of stability in the housing market, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. “I think psychological factors are currently the biggest drag on the housing market, in ...

ORLANDO, Fla. – May 31, 2007 – A top Florida economist has declared the housing slump a done deal. “It will take another 18 months or so before closing volumes reach more normal levels, but the worst is behind us,” says Hank Fishkind. Fishkind says the turn-around is important to everyone, attributing housing troubles to ...

ORLANDO, Fla. – May 25, 2007 – Florida’s existing home sales remained soft in April though the inventory of homes continued to ease in many markets across the state, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 12,016 last month compared to 16,283 homes sold ...

RISMEDIA, Feb. 27, 2007-What's in store for the real estate market in 2007? Will this year be a good time to buy? As one of the nation's largest privately-held real estate companies, Weichert, Realtors keeps its fingers on the market's pulse-and its latest assessment gives the 2007 market a big thumbs up. The company, in fact, ...

TOKYO (AP) – March 1, 2007 – Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told a Tokyo seminar on Thursday that he does not think an economic slowdown in his country is “probable,” toning down his earlier warning over a recession later this year. “It is possible we can get a U.S. recession toward the end of ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Feb. 12, 2007 – Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a consumer advisory, warning Floridians of common mortgage fraud scams. Mortgage scams ranked among the top 10 categories of complaints received by the Attorney General’s office last year. Home equity scams come in several variations. Equity stripping ...

Home owners with subprime loans are missing payments more often than any time in the last 10 years, according to a report by investment bank Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. The default rate on subprime loans that have been packaged into bonds to be sold to investors rose to 10.09 percent in November, up from 6.62 percent a year earlier. ...