Instances of financial abuse and fraud against the elderly increased from November 2010 to January 2011, according to a recent report from MetLife, which found overall investment fraud targeted towards older Americans is on the rise.

Americans over the age of 65 lost nearly $3 billion to financial abuse from April to June 2010, up 12 percent from the same period in 2008, according to the report. During that time, 51 percent of the fraud cases reported were perpetrated by strangers, 34 percent by family, friends, and neighbors and 12 percent by businesses.  In a separate look at the holidays, MetLife reports fraud by family and friends increased to 45 percent.

The Acting FHA Commissioner has extended a temporary waiver of FHA’s anti-flipping regulation through 2012.

“This extension is intended to accelerate the resale of foreclosed properties in neighborhoods struggling to overcome the possible effects of abandonment and blight,” said Carol J. Galante.  “FHA remains a critical source of mortgage financing and stability, and we must make every effort to promote recovery in every responsible way we can.”

With certain exceptions, FHA rules prohibit insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days.  In 2010, however, FHA temporarily waived this regulation through Jan. 31, 2011, and later extended that waiver through the remainder of 2011.  The new extension will permit buyers to continue to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. It will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.

The extension announced is effective through Dec. 31, 2012, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by FHA.  All other terms of the existing Waiver will remain the same.  The Waiver contains strict conditions and guidelines to prevent the predatory practice of property flipping, in which properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers. 

Read FHA’s anti-flipping waiver at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-12-28/pdf/2011-33411.pdf

U.S. house prices fell 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from September to October, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.9 percent increase in September was revised downward to reflect a 0.4 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in October, U.S. prices fell 2.8 percent. The U.S. index is 19.2 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the February 2004 index level.

The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from September to October ranged from -1 percent in the New England division to +2 percent in the East South Central division.

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Sales of new single-family houses rose 1.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.

The median sales price of new houses sold in November was $214,100; the average sales price was $242,900. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of November was 158,000. This represents a supply of 6 months at the current sales rate.

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California pending home sales fell 9.1 percent in November but were up from a year ago, according to C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)*.  The index was 109.8 in November, based on contracts signed in that month, down from October’s index of a revised 120.9.  However, the index was up 11 percent from November 2010, marking the seventh consecutive month that pending sales rose from the previous year. 

At 55.1 percent, equity sales made up more than half of home sales in November, up from 53.9 percent in October and 54.4 percent in November 2010.

The total share of all distressed property types sold statewide fell to 44.9 percent in November, down from October’s 46.1 percent and 45.6 percent in November 2010.

Of the distressed properties sold statewide in November, 21 percent were short sales, up slightly from the previous month’s share of 20.7 percent and up from last November’s share of 19 percent.

At 23.5 percent, the share of REO sales was down from October’s 24.9 percent, and down from the 26.2 percent reported in November 2010.

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Building permits for single-family homes rose 1.6 percent in November to a rate of 435,000 compared with October’s rate of 428,000, according to a joint release by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.

Single-family housing starts increased 2.3 percent in November to a rate of 447,000 compared with the October figure of 437,000.

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The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index improved to 64.5 (1985=100) in December, up from 55.2 in November. The Present Situation Index increased to 46.7 from 38.3, and the Expectations Index rose to 76.4 from 66.4.

Consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved in December. Those stating business conditions are “good” increased to 16.6 percent from 13.9 percent, while those stating business conditions are “bad” declined to 33.9 percent from 38.0 percent. Consumers’ assessment of the job market also was more positive. Those claiming jobs are “plentiful” increased to 6.7 percent from 5.6 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 41.8 percent from 43 percent.

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Data through October 2011, released Tuesday by S&P Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, showed decreases of 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent for the 10- and 20-City Composites in October compared with September. Nineteen of the 20 cities covered by the indices also saw home prices decrease over the month. The 10- and 20-City Composites posted annual declines of 3 percent and 3.4 percent versus October 2010, respectively.

In October, both Composites and 14 MSAs – Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Washington DC – saw their annual rates improve compared with September.

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By far the best thing that’s gone up here in 2011, Envelope A+D’s Proxy project in Hayes Valley takes the concept of adaptive reuse down to its bare nubbins, transforming the empty lots along Octavia Boulevard with some gravel, a few shipping containers and a pair (so far) of highly designed but ad hoc structures- along with coffee, beer and ice cream. In San Francisco, if… read more…