Residential Housing Ready to Awaken?

The actual numbers behind the housing market are starting to signal recovery, as discussed in detail in this article from CNBC and Yahoo! Finance forwarded by BeachCityDigs.com friend Steve Newman.  To be sure, this will be a slow recovery, played out over a number of months and years.  Slowly enough, in fact, that we'll probably only know it in hindsight, once the lowest prices and interest rates are behind us.  The Beach Cities, which stabilized earlier this year, could be a prime example! - David

What Mortgage Modifications Say About the Housing Market - CNBC

B of A, a huge mortgage lender, has staffed up its troubled loan team and signalled a greater willingness to grant loan modifications.  But this is off a tiny base, so a relatively small proportion of homeowners needing help have actually received it. Still, it's moving in the right direction.  - David

Is Treasury Admitting Mod Defeat? - CNBC

HAMP, the government's Home Affordability Modification Program, was introduced with great fanfare but has benefitted relatively few borrowers. That's a shame, because a properly designed and adminstered program could have helped a lot of people keep their homes. Now there's a new program, HAFA, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program. It's emergence, and recent comments from Treasury advisors, suggest that the Treasury Dept may be admitting the failure of HAMP, instead endorsing short sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure. - David