Real Estate News – May 24, 2011

Condo Associations Get Tough on Fees (via online.WSJ.com): http://on.wsj.com/kolEeN

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have drafted a bill to raise the minimum down payment for Federal Housing Administration-backed loans to 5 percent as well as cut FHA loan limits in many markets. FHA-backed loans are a main source of mortgages for first-time home buyers (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/kALkkV

A growing number of Americans can’t afford a home or don’t want to own one, a trend that’s spawning a generation of renters and a rise in apartment construction (via abcnews.go.com): http://abcn.ws/lvEV32

The funding that created Florida’s foreclosure courts is gone but, at least in Jacksonville, the court will continue — with a change (via Jacksonville.com): http://bit.ly/lJ9UaZ

Hedge Fund Manager: Here’s 5 Reasons Why The U.S. Housing Market Is Going Down In 2012 (via businessinsider.com): http://read.bi/lq8CHZ

The U.S. mortgage market does not need Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, nor a federal government guarantee on mortgage-backed securities, according to one industry expert set to testify before a House subcommittee Wednesday (via HousingWire.com): http://bit.ly/iKXiA4

Home owners who default on their mortgage but have no other debts are not credit risks, according to a study released Tuesday from TransUnion, which analyzed credit patterns of 129,000 consumers over a one-year period (via REALTORMag): http://bit.ly/jYG4zC