With uncertainty surrounding the status of federal tax cuts, longtime U.S. property owners are testing the sales market, setting the stage for a jump in transactions, followed by a decline, Robert Knakal told Crain’s. Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, said his brokerage firm has already seen a surge in deals, with contract signings reaching their highest monthly totals in three years. “This is just like ‘cash for clunkers’ or the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit,” Knakal said. “It’s essentially going to steal activity from the beginning of next year to the end of this year.” President Barack Obama has proposed ending the tax cuts enacted by George W. Bush for families making more than $250,000 a year and raising levies on capital gains, which include real estate profits, to 20 percent from 15 percent for those same earners. Republicans want to make the reductions permanent for all Americans. Congress will continue debating the issue when it returns for a session starting Nov. 15. [Crain's]
Posts Tagged ‘barack obama’
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The financial reform bill signed into law by President Obama may look like a giant cornucopia of helpful changes for homebuyers and loan applicants — not the least of which will be the creation of a powerful Consumer Financial Protection Burea [more]
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The Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention efforts are facing
major obstacles, according to the Associated Press, with more than 40
percent of the homeowners engaged in the president’s mortgage aid
program already dropped out. Of the 1.3 million participants who have
enrolled in the program since March 2009, about 30 percent — 390,000
– have received permanent modifications on their home loans, the
Treasury Department reported. While the program has been able to slash
mortgage holders’ monthly payments by $500 a month, on average, many
participants have complained that red tape and confusing paperwork
makes the program difficult to complete. Further compounding the
program’s problems, many of the borrowers who receive temporary
modifications have troubling transitioning to a permanent modification,
industry experts say, rendering the program largely ineffective. [Palm Beach Post] -
The Obama administration wants to stir the pot on a highly contentious issue involving home builders and their customers: the legality of the discounts, rebates, closing costs, upgrades and other incentives that builders often dangle in front of buyers — but only if they agree to use the builder’s own affiliated mortgage lender. In the real [more]
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The Morningside Heights two-bedroom apartment that Barack Obama shared with a roommate in 1981 — during his junior year at Columbia University — is now available for $1,900 per month, according to the New York Times. The third-floor walk-up, unit 3E at 142 West 109th Street, has a windowless office, exposed brick walls and wood floors. Broker Dalila Bella of Citi Habitats has the listing. [NYT]
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The Morningside Heights two-bedroom apartment that Barack Obama shared with a roommate in 1981 — during his junior year at Columbia University — is now available for $1,900 per month, according to the New York Times. The third-floor walk-up, unit 3E at 142 West 109th Street, has a windowless office, exposed brick walls and wood floors. Broker Dalila Bella of Citi Habitats has the listing. [NYT]
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HUD Secretary Shaun DonovanFrom the March issue: Shaun Donovan is dealing with the worst housing crisis in generations and is at the center of the fight to staunch a historic flood of foreclosures. Being the nation’s chief housing czar might sound stressful, but for the 44-year-old policy wonk it’s a dream job. In an exclusive interview with The Real Deal, Donovan, the city’s former housing commissioner and now an Obama cabinet member, talked about life in Washington, from HUD’s new focus on cities to Ping-Pong with the president. [more]
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Housing advocates say that while the Obama administration’s mortgage
modification program could help thousands of New Yorkers, it has been
slow to get off the ground, and the majority of people who have applied
for help have yet to hear whether they will receive it. The Center for
New York City Neighborhoods, a public-private agency that connects
homeowners with counselors approved by the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, has overseen 400 applications for the Making Home
Affordable program, and so far, only about 100 of those mortgages have
been modified. The rest of the applications are pending with lenders,
with people often waiting more than 60 days for a response. “The
promise of this program is enormous,” said Rafael Cestero, commissioner
of the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development. “It’s a
brand-new program and it’s a very complicated issue, but we all share
the feeling that it’s been moving too slowly.” [more] -
From left to right: Barack Obama, Mort Zuckerman, Amir Korangy and Darcy Stacom made the New York Observer Power 100 list.The Real Deal’s Amir Korangy made the New York Observer’s Power
100 list of the most powerful people in New York real estate, released today. President
Barack Obama ranks first on the list, which includes politicians,
developers and brokers, followed by Stephen Ross, CEO of the Related
Companies, and Mort Zuckerman, chairman and CEO of Boston Properties.
Twelve women made the list, including Corcoran Group CEO Pamela
Liebman, Elliman CEO Dottie Herman and CB Richard Ellis Vice Chairman
Darcy Stacom. The Observer also held a poll inviting readers to vote
for the most powerful people in New York real estate, and The Real Deal’s Web editor, Lauren Elkies, was named the city’s most powerful real estate blogger. [more] -
Cram-downs — in which bankruptcy judges have the power to reduce home mortgage debt by “cramming down” the principal — have not gotten enough support in the Senate and will be removed from a broader housing bill now under consideration. The Senate will vote on the cram-down legislation, which already passed the House of Representatives and which is a significant part of President Barack Obama’s proposed housing rescue, as an amendment to the rescue bill.
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