Of the $1.5 billion allotted by the federal government to help states hardest hit by housing bubbles that burst, Arizona will receive $125 million.
Arizona is one of five states to receive the money, all states where home prices have dropped more than 20 percent. The money was divided among the states based on drops in home values, unemployment rates and foreclosure figures. The four other states and the funds they will receive: California, $670 million; Florida, $418 million; Michigan $155 million; and Nevada, $103 million.
This money will supplement the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program, announced by Obama ...

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The Arizona Housing Department is waiting to hear how much of the $1.5 billion in additional foreclosure aid, announced by President Barack Obama in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, the state will receive.
The U.S. Treasury Department is supposed to announce this Friday (tomorrow) what share of the money each of the five states, including Arizona, hardest hit by foreclosures will get.
The Treasury Dept. is also expected to give the five states guidelines on how the money can be spent to help homeowners facing foreclosure. One way the Arizona Housing Dept. would like to spend the money is to continue to ...

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Pre-foreclosures in the metropolitan Phoenix climbed in February, dashing hopes that the housing market is starting to recover from the crash.
In January, pre-foreclosures, known as notice of trustee sales, fell to their lowest level since late 2008. The significant drop had some housing market watchers hopeful more lenders were working with borrowers on loan modifications early on and more borrowers could afford their monthly mortgage payments.
But in February, there were 7,604 pre-foreclosure notices filed by lenders in metropolitan Phoenix, up from the 6,762 in January, reports the Information Market.
Foreclosures did fall last month to 4,271, from 4,452 in January. But ...

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The federal government has added a year to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, known as HARP.
 Part of the $75 billion housing aid package, HARP allows homeowners who are underwater, meaning they owe more than their house is worth due to falling home values, to refinance to a lower interest rate.
 Now, homeowners who owe up to 125 percent of what their home is worth have until June 2011 to try to refinance under the plan.
About 190,000 homeowners have been able to use the program to refinance so far.
The original limit was 105 percent, which helped very few Arizona homeowners. ...

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Arizona Democrats have introduced a package of legislation to help tackle the state's foreclosure crisis, and protect homeowners.
HB 2715 would give homeowners facing foreclosure another 60 days to work out a loan modification.
HB 27404 calls for allowing renters in foreclosure homes to stay in the house and continue to pay affordable rents, and homeowners who lose homes to foreclosure to remain as renters;
HB 2766 requires a landlord to give a renter at least 30 days notice if they have to move out of a foreclosure home
HB 2321 requires homes to be maintained during the foreclosure process.
HB 2739 creates a mandatory ...

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The federal tax credit for homebuyers boosted new home sales in metropolitan Phoenix last year. But now the expiration of the credit looms, and new home sales and building have slowed down again.
In January, new home closings in the Phoenix area fell to 479, the lowest level in decades, reports the Phoenix Housing Market Letter. Last November, Valley new home sales surged to 1,3124 as builders offered deals to rival foreclosure prices, and buyers rushed to take advantage of the tax credit. In December 2009, there were 956 new home sales.
Home building also slowed in January. There were 678 permits ...

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Metro Phoenix home values inched up in the latest S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index. Between November and December of 2009, home prices ticked up 1.2 percent in the Valley, on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Overall, the 20-city index climbed 0.3 percent for the period. Phoenix was one of only five cities to post an increase in home prices. Los Angeles posted the largest increase, 1.4 percent.
Year-over-year, the Valley saw home values drop 9.2 percent on the index. While the data lags due to the time it takes to research home prices across the country, Case-Shiller is considered the best national index tracking ...

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Arizona is one of five states that will split $1.5 billion from a new federal program aimed at helping regions hardest hit by home foreclosures.
President Barack Obama announced the new funds Friday in Las Vegas as part of a government push to reduce the number of homes falling into foreclosure by assisting unemployed homeowners and other struggling borrowers.
Because foreclosures damage home values and have been a critical factor in the collapse of the housing market, any recovery will have to be preceded by a slowdown in repossessed homes.
Almost a year ago in Mesa, Obama announced the $75 billion Home ...

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The federal foreclosure prevention program has aided about 12 percent of the U.S. homeowners who have applied, according to the latest statistics.
At least one million borrowers have applied. Another 76,000 homeowners have been approved and should have loan modification soon, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Another 830,500 borrowers are in "trial modifcation" periods.
Have you received a successful loan modification? Please tell me about it at catherine.reagor@arizonarepublic.com
  ...

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Several of Arizona's leading real estate groups have tackled a growing national housing problem in a new report: Opening Doors: A Discussion of Residential Options for Adults Living with Autism and Related disorders,
During the next 15 years, more than 500,000 children with autism disorders will become adults. Now, most adults with autism live with their aging parents, who won't outlive their children. Autistic adults currenlty have few options for housing away from their families.
“The potential crisis in housing and services for this population is an issue not only for families and local communities, but for society as a whole,” said ...

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University of Arizona law professor Brent White believes more homeowners, who are underwater, should consider walking away.
His discussion paper “Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis,” has attracted a lot of national attention.
His theory is more homeowners could be walking away from their mortgages but aren't because they're being shamed by banks and politicians to keep paying or their credit will be ruined, and that isn't fair.
“It's unfair that responsible homeowners, who bet on the housing market just like lenders, are bearing the burden of the meltdown,” said White
Thousands of Valley homeowners, ...

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January's significant drop in pre-foreclosures is the indicator many metropolitan Phoenix housing-market watchers have been anxiously looking for during the past several months.
For the first time since November 2008, the monthly tally of Valley homeowners to fall behind on their mortgages and face foreclosure is below 7,000. Actual foreclosures dropped as well, although their decline wasn't as dramatic.
Last month, there were 6,762 pre-foreclosures, or notice-of-trustee-sale filings, against Phoenix-area homeowners, according to the real-estate data firm Information Market. That is a 14 percent drop from the 7,879 pre-foreclosures filed by lenders in December 2009. Pre-foreclosures hit a record 10,689 last in ...

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Legislation has been introduced to prohibit excessive fees on mortgages and the issuance of certain types of high-cost,home loans in Arizona.
S.B. 1288,introduced by Sen. John Nelson, R-, of Glendale, calls for limiting negative-amortization mortgages as well as balloon payments and pre-payment penalties on most other mortgages.
The Arizona Attorney General backs the legislation, which is aimed at preventing another foreclosure crisis in the state.
A growing number of foreclosures in the Phoenix area are on "negative am" mortgages, which allow borrowers to pay less than what they owe in principal each month. But then those homeowners have to make up what they ...

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Recently, Arizona housing advocates held a forum alerting people to foreclosure scams at a Phoenix church. The event was part of a new movement to reach out to faith-based community leaders to help spread the word about loan modification scams and where homeowners can find free help.
“People with problems often turn to their church or spiritual center first,” Mark Linton, director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Center for Faith Based Initiatives, told the crowd at Mountain View Lutheran Church. “We are asking you all to tell people in your community how to avoid these foreclosure scams ...

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