National Standards are Introduced for Homeownership Counselors (Update)

Kerri Panchuk 01.18.08Homeownership counselors now have a set of official guidelines to follow with the introduction of the National Industry Foreclosure Counseling Standards on Friday.The standards, which were developed under the guidance of lending institutions, community development organizations, as well as real estate and mortgage insurance companies, are designed to eliminate damaging practices by ensuring customers are aided by lending professionals trained in the highest of industry standards and ethics.“By carefully measuring the needs of the counseling industry and mortgage borrowers in responding to the foreclosure crisis, the Advisory Council thoughtfully developed these performance standards -- keeping in mind how they will strengthen the confidence homeowners will have when discussing the details of their personal financial situation with a counselor," said Jayna Bower, director of the NeighborWorks Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling.The National Homeownership Industry Standards Advisory Council is behind the standards, which are described as “a set of training and performance benchmarks designed to provide guidance to those organizations and counselors providing foreclosure counseling services to consumers.”A complete list of the new counseling standards and a National Code of Ethics and Conduct are available by logging onto www.homeownershipstandards.com.

Home Sales and Prices Down in July

Kristin Campbell 08.23.06
Existing-home sales were down in July, while home prices in many areas were slightly below year-ago levels, the National Association of Realtors said today. Total existing-home sales dropped 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.33 million units in July, down from a pace of 6.60 million June. The July rates were 11.2 percent below the 7.13 million rate in July 2005.Housing inventory was up 3.2 percent, as of the end of July, when 3.86 million existing homes were available for sale. However, sales of existing homes were down overall in all four regions of the U.S. The West saw the biggest decline from a year ago, with sales down 18 percent from July 2005. As for median sale prices, the Northeast had the biggest annual drop in July with a 2.1 percent decline in price from a year ago. Existing home prices in the South rose, however, to a median of $192,000, which was up 3.2 percent from a year earlier. The price increase in the South helped to balance out the price drops in the other three regions, bringing the national median price for existing homes to $230,000 in July, up 0.9 percent from July 2005 when the median was $228,000.Single-family home sales dropped 5.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.51 million in July, down from 5.80 million in June, and were 11.4 percent below the 6.22 million-unit pace in July 2005. The median price for existing single-family homes was $231,200 in July, up 1.5 percent from a year ago.

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