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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]