Friday, February 25, 2011
Foreclosure Sales Fall in Fourth Quarter 2010. Asterisks Noted
Despite a sizeable drop in the fourth quarter, sales of foreclosed properties again accounted for over a quarter of all single-family home sales in 2010. Sales of foreclosed homes represented almost 26 percent of all sales during the year, down from 29 percent in 2009. The discount buyers received for these homes was 28 percent off the average sale price of a non-foreclosed property compared to a 27 percent discount in 2009.
The RealtyTrac Year and Q4 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Sales ReportTM released on Thursday states that a total of 831,574 residential properties that had either been foreclosed or were in some stage of foreclosure were sold to third parties during the year. This was a 31 percent drop in these sales from the 2009 level, but was a larger market share as the volume of non-foreclosed property sales dropped 19 percent from 2009 figures.
During the fourth quarter, sales of foreclosed homes dropped 22 percent and were down 45 percent from a year earlier however they reflected the lower sales figures for all homes during the period and still accounted for 26 percent of total sales. The average discount was 28 percent, identical to the year-long average.
Here is where the asterisks come into play...
"Foreclosure sales in the fourth quarter faced the twin headwinds of the expired homebuyer tax credit - which began to stifle sales volume during the third quarter - and the foreclosure documentation controversy, which hit in the fourth quarter and temporarily froze sales of foreclosures from several major lenders," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.
"Given those factors, it's not surprising that in the fourth quarter foreclosure sales volume hit its lowest level since the first quarter of 2008. Still, foreclosures continue to represent a substantial percentage of all U.S. residential sales and continue to sell at an average sales price that is significantly below the average sales price of properties not in foreclosure - the result of a bloated supply of foreclosures and weak demand from homebuyers." Saccacio continued, "The catch-22 for 2011 is that while accelerating foreclosure sales will help clear the oversupply of distressed properties and return balance to the market in the long run, in the short term a high percentage of foreclosure sales will continue to weigh down home prices."
...(read more)
Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/02242011_foreclosures.asp
Weekly Address: Winning the Future at Intel
The President speaks from the Intel campus in Oregon about educating our kids for the jobs of tomorrow so we can make sure America wins the future.
Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/02/19/weekly-address-winning-future-intel
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News Hub: Room for Rent at the Mansion
The mortgage crisis is hitting multimillion-dollar homeowners especially hard and some of them are renting out rooms in their mansions in an effort to raise cash. Alyssa Abkowitz explains.Source: http://online.wsj.com/video/news-hub-room-for-rent-at-the-mansion/B07DAB01-70...
Dr. Regina Benjamin's Story: Promoting Health and Wellness for All Americans
Ed. Note: This post is part of the Celebrating Black History Month series, which highlights African Americans from across the Administration whose work contributes to the President's goals for winning the future.
As Surgeon General, I am privileged to serve as “America’s Doctor,” providing the public with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and the health of the nation. I also oversee the operational command of 6,500 uniformed health officers in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. These officers serve in locations around the world to promote, protect, and advance the health of the American People.
I grew up in Daphne, Alabama, and graduated from high school in the nearby town of Fairhope. I received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Xavier University in New Orleans and attended Morehouse School of Medicine before receiving my medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I later obtained a masters’ degree in business administration from Tulane University in New Orleans. After completing my family medicine residency in Macon, Georgia, I established a clinic in a small fishing village in Alabama to help its many uninsured residents. That clinic in Bayou La Batre is still operating today, despite being destroyed by Hurricane Georges in 1998, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and a devastating fire in 2006. President Obama nominated me for the Surgeon General’s post in July 2009, and I was confirmed by the Senate for that position in November of the same year.
Prevention is the foundation of public health, and prevention is the foundation of my work as Surgeon General. If we want to truly reform health care in this country, we need to prevent people from getting sick in the first place, and stop disease before it starts. In the health reform law that was enacted in 2010, Congress created a commission to develop the first-ever national prevention strategy, and named me to chair the commission. The panel, made up of the heads of 17 federal departments and agencies, is providing coordination and leadership at the federal level to ensure that the government is focused on prevention.
Before becoming Surgeon General, I served on the Sullivan Commission, a blue-ribbon panel that looked for ways to diversify the health care workforce. The commission found that, while 25 percent of the nation’s population is minority, only 6 percent of physicians are minorities. That is the same percentage that existed when a similar report was issued in 1910–100 years earlier. Meanwhile, less than 9 percent of nurses are minorities.
Although the nation’s minority populations are increasing, in recent years there has been a downward trend in minority enrollment at our nation’s medical, dental and nursing schools. Unless current trends are quickly reversed, our nation faces a growing ethnic and racial disconnect between those who seek care and those who provide that excellent care.
Dr. Regina Benjamin is the Surgeon General of the United States.
Watch Live: The Motown Sound - In Performance at the White House
Tonight, the White House will celebrate Black History Month with a tribute to the legendary Motown Sound. Hosted by the President and First Lady, the program pays tribute to Motown’s fifty year legacy and its distinctive soul-infused pop music sound that solidified its popularity in American culture and influenced American music. You're invited to watch live on WhiteHouse.gov/live.
This is the eighth in a series of evenings celebrating the music that tells the story of America. Since 2009, the President and First Lady have hosted musical tributes to genres including Jazz, Country, Classical, Latin, Music of the Civil Rights Movement and Broadway.
The all-star tribute will include stars from the Motown Records label’s golden age and performances by artists of today who have been influenced by Motown and its powerful legacy. Performers include Smokey Robinson, Natasha Bedingfield, Sheryl Crow, Jamie Foxx, Gloriana, Nick Jonas, Ledisi, John Legend, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, Seal and Jordin Sparks with Greg Phillinganes as the night’s music director. Watch "The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House" Live at 7:15 p.m. EST.
This afternoon, the First Lady will host high school students from around the country for an educational workshop on the history of Motown. Taught by GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Robert Santelli, “The Sound of Young America” will give students an overview of the history of Motown music and outline the importance the genre had in the integration of African-American artists onto the pop charts. Introduced by the First Lady and moderated by Santelli, the program will also feature Motown founder Berry Gordy and musical legend Smokey Robinson. Watch "The Sound of Young America: The History of Motown" live at 1:30 p.m. EST.
Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/02/24/watch-live-motown-sound-performance-white-house
Advise the Advisor: Austan Goolsbee and Small Business
In the second edition of the Advise the Advisor series, Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, is asking for your feedback on small businesses and entrepreneurship.
Next week, Austan will travel with President Obama to Cleveland, Ohio for the Winning the Future Forum on Small Business. At the Forum Austan and the President will have a chance to talk with small business owners and entrepreneurs about their ideas for how America can continue to grow the economy.
We want to be sure you’re a part of the conversation as well. So head over to WhiteHouse.gov/Advise to answer any (or all) of the questions below:
Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/02/16/advise-advisor-austan-goolsbee-and-small-business
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