MiddlesexCounty second to Suffolk in homes going on the market

Cambridge, Belmont, Arlington sees 70% increase in homes on market over a year ago!

More homes hitting the market - Boston Real Estate Now - Boston.com

MassHousing mortgage new for Somerville, Medford homeowners from REALTOR Christina Lazrak

Somerville and Chelmsford Homeowners. MassHousing is offering loan programs with extremely low down payments - as low as 3 percent - and no mortgage insurance!

This popular program has loan volume at MassHousing quadrupling so far this year compared with 2011. About 1,200 people have qualified for the new loan products this year, compared with about 300 borrowers through the same period last year, and loan volume is running at $29 million a week.

Please contact REALTOR Christina Lazrak if you need to contact a loan consultant that can give you more details regarding  this program. I am REALTOR for Chelmsford, Somerville, MA.

MassHousing mortgage has low rate, no insurance premium - The Boston Globe

Somerville Foreclosure still low compared to rest of nation

Somerville Realtor Christina Lazrak shares:

Foreclosure numbers in Somerville and in much of the surrounding region are relatively average to low.

Medford saw 15 completed foreclosures in the first quarter, compared to 7 during the same period of 2012. Malden saws 25 (12 in 2011).

Cambridge had 4 foreclosures in the first quarter of 2012 (9 in that period of 2011). Arlington also had 3 completed foreclosures (0 in 2011).

Other parts of the state have suffered more from foreclosures.

Lawrence had 5 completed foreclosures in the first quarter of 2012, compared to 16 in 2011. However, there were 53 foreclosure petitions through March.

Fall River had 43 foreclosures in the first quarter (23 in 2011) Brockton had 84 (65 in 2011).

First Quarter Saw Increase in Foreclosures in Somerville - Somerville, MA Patch

Weekly Review of News you can use from Christina Lazrak

Somerville’s Assembly Row breaks ground next week - BostonHerald.com

State officials will celebrate the start of construction of Assembly Row, the 45-acre Somerville retail and residential refurbishment project that will feature nearly 2 million square feet of office space and 2,100 residential units on the Mystic River, during a groundbreaking ceremony Monday morning.

The mixed-use, transit-oriented, smart-growth $1.5 billion project will also include a 200-room hotel, an MBTA Orange Line station and over 880,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and entertainment, including a 62,000-square-foot, 12-screen movie complex, to create a New England destination for living, shopping, dining and entertainment.

Somerville’s Assembly Row breaks ground next week - BostonHerald.com

National Real Estate News Round up for Lowell Homeowners

News that may help Chelmsford, Lowell, MA Home buyers from Christina Lazrak

Sunset over Waikiki !

Real Estate Sentiment

Nearly half of consumers polled in Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey in March expect higher rental prices in the year ahead. And 33% expect home prices to rise in the year, the highest percentage recorded in more than a year. Forty-four percent think their personal finances will get better over the next year.

As a result, 73% of the 1,000 Americans polled think it’s a good time to buy a home. More from Marketwatch.

Ron Peltier, the executive building Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A)’s real-estate brokerage by acquisitions, said he expects a rebound in U.S. home sales as banks liquidate seized properties after settling foreclosure-misconduct claims. From Bloomberg

Home Loans

Potential buyers in the Chelmsford, Lowell, Tewksbury, MA area, please contact me if you need assistance on your FICO scores.  Home loans closed by banks and mortgage lenders in February had borrowers with a credit score of 750, up from 740 six months earlier, and an average loan-to-value ratio of 76%. The average denied loan had a credit score of 699 and a loan-to-value ratio of 83%. Story from WSJ

Home Builders

KB Home (KBH) slashes its quarterly dividend to $0.025/share from $0.0625. This cuts the yield on the stock from nearly 3% to 1.2%. 

Foreclosures

The number of foreclosure filings in the USA is continuing to fall, dropping 16% year-on-year in Q1 according the latest numbers from market monitoring service RealtyTrac. “There are hairline cracks in the dam, evident in the sizable foreclosure activity increases in judicial foreclosure states over the past several months, along with an increase in foreclosure starts in many judicial and non-judicial states in March.”

“The dam may not burst in the next 30 to 45 days, but it will eventually burst, and everyone downstream should be prepared for that to happen—both in terms of new foreclosure activity and new short sale activity.” The five states posting the largest monthly increases in foreclosure starts are:

1. Nevada: Up 153%

2. Utah: Up 103%

3. New Jersey: Up 73%

4. Maryland: Up 53%

5. North Carolina: Up 47%