Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Housing News Digest, March 22

Connecticut foreclosure mediation bill moves out of banks committee
A bill to prevent mortgage lenders from foreclosing on property until a homeowner completes a foreclosure mediation process moved out of the Connecticut Assembly's banks committee.

If passed, H.B. 6351 would prohibit lenders from ordering a foreclosure sale or default judgment in Connecticut unless the homeowner has been notified of the possibility of seeking mediation assistance and has been allotted enough time to seek help and go through the mediation process.

Denver in top 10 of bigest rent-hike cities
Renters in parts of the Denver suburb Littleton, Colo., saw rents spike by 13.4% in 2010, and renters in southeastern Denver, Northglenn and Thornton saw rates rise by 9.7%, Axiometrics says. The Denver metro's average unemployment rate increased to about 8.3%, according to preliminary data from the BLS, from 7.9% in 2009.

Suthers sues lender
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that his office has filed a lawsuit against Western Sky Financial, a South Dakota-based online lender, and its principal, Martin A. Webb, for making unlicensed, high-interest loans to Colorado consumers.

Gas Prices vs. Consumer Sentiment
Another question asked in the survey pertains to expectations of inflation. Consumer expectations of inflation for the next year jumped from 3.4% to 4.6%. Again gasoline prices seem to figure more prominently in consumers' expectations than we might have expected, and again we can do a simple mechanical calculation of the direct effect. Gasoline prices have a weight of about 5% in the CPI, so if all other prices were held fixed, the 20% increase in gasoline prices we've seen over the last 3 months would add about one percentage point to the CPI.

Auction brings in $10M
A large Northern Colorado land auction with a portfolio worth more than $100 million four years ago brought in an estimated $10 million last week and has spurred some interest in the market, according to the seller.

Of more than 50 parcels totaling 1,500 acres of land for sale, Water Valley developer Martin Lind sold 13 commercial properties Thursday afternoon at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Loveland at a public auction. There were six reserve properties awaiting final approval by Lind as of Monday.