How Homeowners Can Benefit from Falling House Prices
by Laura Rowley
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With home values down sharply and projected to decline further this year, this may be the time to challenge your property tax assessment. In fact, a few tax authorities are beating homeowners to the punch.
The World's Best Places to Live 2008

To Buy or Not to Buy, That Is the Question
By Anya Kamenetz
Since we got married a year ago, my husband and I have been thinking about buying an apartment. We've dedicated Sundays to checking out open houses in different neighborhoods and even different cities. We've figured out what we can possibly afford and then revised it upwards. I haven't been able to pass a real estate office without looking at the listings in the window. In starting to shop for a home, we were following the traditional advice given to young people. Homeownership has been the acknowledged cornerstone of middle-class wealth for generations.

California Foreclosures Rise
Nothing but up for the London market
These are heady times for London's housing market, where the average price of the most desirable homes has jumped 254% percent since 1997, reports Bloomberg.com. In the city, which is now ranked as the world's most expensive, "prime" houses go for about 5 million pounds (or about $10 million) and prime flats sell for approximately 2.5 million pounds, Bloomberg.com says.

Foreclosure rates could soar
Moody's Economy.com forecasts that defaults won't peak until 2008 due to ARM resets and falling home prices.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The already poor performance of many mortgage loans will worsen substantially through the rest of the year, according to an analysis released Thursday by Moody's Economy.com.The company predicts that 2.5 million first mortgages will default this year, with little chance for improvement soon - Economy.com expects delinquencies to peak in the summer of 2008 at 3.6 percent of all outstanding mortgage debt, up from 2.9 percent during the first three months of 2007.

Subprime loan alternatives
Where credit-challenged borrowers can go for a mortgage loan - without the painful interest rates NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After the subprime mortgage market collapsed, many products that were widely available have disappeared from the scene.More than a score of subprime lending specialists have closed their doors. And many banks like Washington Mutual (Charts, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (Charts, Fortune 500) have cut back on or eliminated subprimes, leaving many credit-damaged home buyers scrambling to find a loan.

7 landscaping tips
These ideas offer some of the best returns for your renovation dollar. Plus, the payoff increases over time. NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- If prospective buyers looked at your house today, what would they see outside? A giant evergreen that looks as if it might swallow the station wagon, perhaps, scraggly old foundation plants or maybe a kitchen-table view of the neighbors' kids' trampoline?
If so, you have a truly inexpensive opportunity to boost your home's curb appeal.
Take your home outside
An open-air "room" adds inexpensive living space that may come in handy at resale. And it needn't have a price tag as big as the great outdoors.
NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- Pam and Mark Elmore weren't in the market for a home last summer. But when the Bend, Ore. couple happened to stop by a newly built house with a 1,000-square-foot patio, a fully equipped outdoor kitchen - fridge and range included -and a fire pit, they immediately realized they had to have it.Now the Elmores cook dinner outside about four nights a week. "It opened up a whole new space in our house," says Pam. "We are constantly entertaining out here."

The 'YouTubing' of real estate
Home sellers are starting to incorporate streaming videos in their promotional Web sites.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nearly 80 percent of home buyers start their search on the Internet - soon they'll have more to look at. On its Web site, the Peninsula on Indian River Bay development in Delaware has begun using high-quality, television news-style presentation to sell homes. On the site, viewers take interactive tours of the property, led by two on-line hosts, through different site "channels."

Most popular international second-home markets
7 Up-and-coming destinations
Top international markets for second-home buyers from Tom Kelly, author of "Cashing in on a Second Home in Mexico: How to Buy, Rent And Profit from Real Estate South of the Border."

Should You Buy a Foreclosed Property?
LAST MONTH, 43-YEAR-OLD Daryl White and his wife Renée closed on their new home: a five-bedroom, four-bathroom 2,900 square-foot house in Valencia, Calif., a planned community 40 miles north of Los Angeles. They got quite a deal. The property was appraised at $830,000, yet they bought it for $660,000. "The house was only 10 years old, so it only needed light repair, like removing the wallpaper and painting, just some patchwork here and there," White says.

The 'Emerging Caribbean' Owning a Slice of Paradise
When Swiss/Italian developers first asked Donald Trump if he'd like to partner with them to build a golf course and villas on Canouan Island in the Grenadines, he was perplexed. "I didn't know Canouan," Mr. Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.Neither do most Americans. But when Mr. Trump celebrated the grand opening of his luxury villas and golf course on Canouan with a New York cocktail party recently, it was just one of a number of new resort developments on Caribbean islands that may not ring a bell -- places like Great Exuma, Roatan and Scrub Island.

Four Steps to Selling Your Home for Top Dollar
We're smack in the middle prime house-selling season. The National Association of Realtors predicts that 6.6 million existing homes will change hands this year. But many markets around the country are cooling, and the inventories of homes for sale are rising. Compared to the hot real estate market of recent years, you can no longer automatically expect to sell a house quickly and for a high price.
However, sensible pricing and careful presentation can go a long way toward hastening a transaction. Follow these four tips, and you'll be on your way to selling your home for a good price this summer:

Million-dollar homes ... for a fraction of the price
Fractional-ownership is a fast-growing segment of the vacation-home segment. Is it for you?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - How would you like a big, luxurious vacation home in a beautiful resort for just a tenth of the going rate? Sounds good, right?The catch is that you only get to use it a fraction of the time.

How to Profit From a Cooling Real Estate Market
All over the U.S. there are stories of a rise in real estate foreclosures. Many people who took those exotic mortgages -- borrowing 125% of home value or choosing adjustable-rate mortgages -- are struggling to make their payments, and some aren't making it.Also, a glut of new property supply, especially condominiums, is coming on line. A friend of mine, a very seasoned real estate investor, says in San Diego County, once one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, thousands of new condominiums are getting ready to come to market -- just as the market softens. He estimates that over 12,000 new units are coming on line, and the market, at the best of times, can only absorb about 1,000 condominiums a year. If he's correct, that means 12 years of supply will be ready for market in the next year.

Real estate cools down
Prices in the first quarter fell 3% from the fourth quarter, though are still up more than 10% from a year ago.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Real estate gains came to an abrupt halt in the first quarter of 2006, with the median price of a U.S. home falling 3.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005, according to a report released Monday morning.

Real estate survival guide:
The great housing bubble has finally started to deflate, and the fall will be harder in some markets than others.By Shawn Tully, FORTUNE senior writer
NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - The stories keep piling up. In many once-sizzling markets around the country, accounts of dropping list prices have replaced tales of waiting lists for unbuilt condos and bidding wars over humdrum three-bedroom colonials.

Southland home sales at five-year low, single-digit appreciation
La Jolla,CA----Home sales in Southern California decelerated in April to their slowest pace since 2001, the result of higher mortgage interest rates and less buyer urgency. Prices rose at a single-digit appreciation rate for the first time in more than four years, a real estate information service reported.

Second-Home Owner Asks: Can I Deduct Mortgage Interest?
Question: In June 2005, you published an article called "The Hottest Markets for Vacation Homes," in which you indicated that second-home buyers could preserve the home-mortgage deduction by using a property personally 14 days or more a year, or renting it out 10% of time, whichever is greater. Last April, I purchased a second home for future retirement.

The 'Emerging Caribbean' --Owning a Slice of Paradise
When Swiss/Italian developers first asked Donald Trump if he'd like to partner with them to build a golf course and villas on Canouan Island in the Grenadines, he was perplexed. "I didn't know Canouan," Mr. Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Buying property overseas
5 Tips Home Edition: It's not out of reach. We'll help you figure out how to make buying a home abroad a reality.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Ever dream about buying a little place in the rolling hills of Ireland? Perhaps you're drawn to living in Tuscany or wandering the snaggleways of London.Buying property abroad isn't out of reach. Five Tips is here to tell you what you need to know before buying a home in a foreign country.

Interest Rate Report - March
There really isn't a lot on the horizon to make the mortgage rate look scary. Sure, there was a slight uptick in inflation, but the "core" rate (excluding food and energy costs) drifted slightly lower.However, the Fed will probably continue to raise short-term rates in the near-term.

Housing starts slow in February
After the highest number in January in decades, new construction falls but still beats estimates.
March 16, 2006: 10:01 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Home building slowed in February, according to a government report Thursday, but the decline was not nearly as much as expected.The Census Department said housing starts, which is when digging for a foundation begins, slowed by 7.8 percent to an annual rate of 2.12 million in February, down from January's huge 2.3 million revised rate.

Housing is key to economic growth in New Orleans
Projected job growth calls for new and renovated housing units
Housing deficiencies may restrain economic growth in the hurricane-ravaged New Orleans metropolitan area, and it will take about 50,000 housing renovations per year over the next three years to counter the projected shortage, according to a study prepared by an economics professor at Louisiana State University.

Closing Costs When Buying or Refinancing a Home
When you talk to a lender, they usually prepare a "Good Faith Estimate" of closing costs. Sometimes they will give it to you right away, but they are only required to mail it to you within three business days of application.

Arab investment overseas will rise, say experts
GCC investments abroad have come under the spotlight in the last 12 months, notably with Dubai-based DPI World’s purchase of P&O, the UK port and ferry operator.»

100 fastest growing counties
Flagler County, Florida grew at a faster rate than any other U.S. county in 2005.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Flagler County, Florida has retained its status as the fastest growing county in the United States, based on rate of population gains, according to the latest Census Bureau statistics.

10 Ways to Save on Your Taxes
Seize the breaks you've earned, don't miss what's new, take advantage of your last chance for some favorite write-offs--and, come this April, keep more of your money (MONEY Magazine) – When you gather up your W-2s, 1099s and crumpled receipts to figure your taxes this time of year, you're probably hoping for some shred of good news.

Real Estate Flourishing In Some Arab Nations
With the war in Iraq and nuclear issues with Iran, it's easy to think the entire Middle East is in turmoil. But that's far from the case, at least when it comes to real estate.

Guide to Buying a Home
Step-by-Step Home Buying

6 Rules for Smart Home Buyers
(March 17, 2006) -- Elizabeth Razzi, author of The Fearless Home Buyer, offers these rules worth sharing with first-time (and even repeat) home buyers.

Things to Have Ready When You Apply For a Loan
It used to be that lenders mailed out verifications to employers, banks, mortgage companies, and so on, in order to verify the data supplied by borrowers. Nowadays, things move faster. "Alternate documentation" has become more widely used.

The 100 Major Markets
While currently hot real estate markets may cool, don't look for many outright losers just yet.
NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - Home prices across the country will likely keep rising over the next year. While many hot markets on both coasts could see a dramatic slowdown in their growth rates, the forecasters at housing research firm Case Shiller Weiss aren't predicting outright losers anywhere.

Buying a Home -- What’s Deductible?
Realtors are quick to point out that home ownership allows a lot of tax advantages not available to someone who merely pays rent. A homeowner can deduct points used to obtain a mortgage when buying a home, mortgage interest paid during the year, and property taxes.
 

Boomtown USA
Something strange happens when real estate makes everybody rich. Is this where your town is headed?
NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - Twenty-four-year-old Kelly Pearson says the $580,000 ranch-style house she bought near downtown San Diego last August is a dream come true. It is nice: 1,450 square feet, four bedrooms, two baths, crown molding, a big kitchen with an island and -- quick! duck! -- a 737 jet descending upon her roof with what feels like 10 feet to spare.

Buying a Home With Resale Value
Location – Local Community, Town or City
Before you can actually pick out a house, you need to choose what cities or communities you would like to live in. There are many factors you should pay attention to, not only for yourself, but because you intend to eventually sell the home to someone else. Carefully choosing your community is the first step in "location, location, location" and can help maximize your future potential resale value.