Real Estate News – May 20, 2012




Thousands of condo-unit owners and buyers could soon be in line for some welcome news on mortgage financing: Though officials are mum on specifics, the Federal Housing Administration is readying changes to its controversial condominium rules that have rendered large numbers of units ineligible for low down payment, insured mortgages (via seattletimes.nwsource.com): http://bit.ly/KLKkcG


Foreclosure activity sinks to a five-year low (via therepublic.com): http://bit.ly/JumsWD


In a real estate shopping spree of epic proportions, the daughters of Formula 1 Racing boss Bernie Ecclestone have snapped up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of high-profile properties in the past 18 months (via online.wsj.com): http://on.wsj.com/JjObzQ


The Bay Area real estate market might be in a mini housing bubble that’s being fueled by Facebook’s IPO (via huffingtonpost.com): http://huff.to/LjYFj1


Lesbian couple charged with staging anti-gay offense to accuse HOA after spat over dogs (via denverpost.com): http://bit.ly/JI9Hy7


Real estate agents help local ‘heroes’ buy homes (via washingtonpost.com): http://wapo.st/K7iFQQ


In an effort to curb foreclosures, Bank of America is offering some of its defaulting home owners relocation assistance of anywhere from $2,500 to as much as $30,000 if they agree to complete a short sale (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/KDqukX