Yesterday, we discussed the housing slump’s effect on real estate agents — which, in many areas of the country, isn’t looking pretty. And yet, as the housing slump drags on, the National Association of Realtors remains overwhelmingly positive. Just this week, the NAR said that mortgage conditions are improving and that while sales are down from their 2005 peak, 2007 will mark the fifth-highest year on record for pre-owned home sales. That’s indicative of NAR’s other recent forecasts. In July, the NAR said it expected home prices to increase throughout all of 2008; yet it at the same time decreased…

The housing slump has hurt U.S. construction companies, banks and a number of related industries, from home renovation material retailers like Home Depot to power tool companies. And let’s not forget real estate agents. How are they faring as the market crumbles? Not well, according to a number of recent reports. For the first time in a decade, the National Association of Realtors expects membership to decline this year, the Associated Press reported this week. Last year, the NAR had almost twice its 1997 membership. Realtor income has also dropped — falling on a national level from $49,300 in 2004…

This week’s news that property moguls landed three of the four top spots on Forbes Asia’s annual list of the 40 richest people in China highlights an interesting trend — China’s real estate tycoons. That includes 26-year-old Yang Huiyan, who was named the richest person in China this week, with shares of the development company her father founded, Country Garden, valued at about $16 billion. As the U.S. sinks further into housing despair, China’s residential sector is booming. Real estate investment development grew 29 percent in the first eight months of 2007 to 1.4 trillion yuan, or $186.5 billion, the…

Sinking home sales, lower home prices — we’re all feeling the effects of the housing decline. And many of us are paying for it, thanks to higher loan resets. But reports indicate that the decline will soon hit homeowners in a new, costly way: Via property taxes. It seems wrong that property taxes could possibly be rising, when home values and selling prices are dropping across the nation. (Housing prices in the top 20 U.S. cities fell 3.9 percent in July from 2006, according to a recently-released Case-Shiller index.) However, because many counties assess properties every other year (some take…

… at least, not according to today’s report on the economy. Data released by the Labor Department today showed that wages and jobs were both up in September. That’s good news for the U.S., considering the recent dour housing news — the National Association of Realtors announced this week that its index of signed purchase agreements fell to lowest level on record, and residential building hit its lowest spending level since 2003 — had sparked fears we were tumbling into a recession. And, as it turns out, last month wasn’t as bad as we thought. In August, figures indicated the…

As the mortgage default and, accordingly, the foreclosure rate rises, one party has emerged to take the fall — the at-risk homeowner. Some are homeowners who used their home’s value to fund other purchases. Others are new homeowners who bought using a loan that, given booming home prices, assumed their property would appreciate significantly before being refinanced or sold. Many are people who took out a subprime mortgages, loans typically made to people with weak credit histories that will rise in a few years. And rise they did. More than $350 billion adjustable rate mortgages will reset to higher rates…

Yesterday, we touched on the current housing market woes as the National Association of Realtors proclaimed that its index of signed purchase agreements dropped to the lowest level on record. And today, we’re looking for a side of hope to go with that gloom and doom. No one’s arguing that the market is bad — and probably about to get worse — but good news: Some people and programs are trying to turn it around. Help with lending. Homeowners finding their bank isn’t giving them a decent rate due to the bank’s problems or imperfect credit might benefit from trying…

More dour housing market news — The National Association of Realtors announced today that its index of signed purchase agreements fell 6.5 percent to its lowest level on record. (Now, granted, the NAR has only kept a record since 2001, but it’s hard to feel much better when you still consider that means the least amount of people in the U.S. in six years decided to buy previously-owned homes in August.) Given that the index of signed purchase agreements fell 11 percent in July, it’s not exactly a total shock — but we’ve read too many "lowest point" and "new…

In just over a month, the U.S. Green Building Council will roll out its LEED for Homes standards. Since August 2005, 6,000 home projects have been part of the LEED pilot program, ranging from large — like the 44-home development in Walker, Mich., to small — such as the 1960s-era home in Phoenix being remodeled with environmentally-friendly paint, carpet and other materials. (A complete list of certified projects can be found on the LEED site.) We’ve been talking about this for ages. But what does LEED for Homes mean for the industry? What to Expect from LEED for Homes The…