| Las Vegas Home Sales Plummet in January
Las Vegas mirrored the downturn in the national housing market as sales of both new and existing homes fell sharply in January. New home sales fell to 2,052 in January, compared with 2,815 sales in the same month a year ago, Dennis Smith of Home Builders Research reported. It's the lowest January since 2003 when only 1,541 new homes were sold in Las Vegas. Excluding mid-rise and high-rise units, the number falls to 1,610. Panorama Towers led the month with 242 closings, followed by Manhattan with 81 and Platinum and Turnberry Towers with 59 each. The median price of all recorded Las Vegas new-home sales in January was $334,945, a 10.3 percent increase from a year ago. Nationally, new-home sales plummeted by 16.6 percent in January from the previous month, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
Monica Yant Kinney | Surrogacy made sense - till they lost $19,500
The overwhelming desire to have a child when you can't has been known to make smart couples risk big. Does that help explain why Susanne and Ray Breitwieser gave their life savings to a man who said he'd deliver, but didn't? The Breitwiesers, of Sicklerville, never considered surrogacy until Susanne, a loan officer, met Len Brooks on a mortgage deal in South Jersey. "It was a sign," she said at their kitchen table, explaining that while she combed through Brooks' past financial woes, she also saw how surrogacy had given him two kids and inspired him to get in the business. Susanne, 53, had a son at 20, but the toddler died of heart disease, and she could not conceive again. After she and Ray had spent a decade together, Ray, a 45-year-old painting franchise owner, said he "had a feeling I wanted to have a child, raise a child." Suddenly, surrogacy made sense.
The ABCs of taxes, assessments
The assessed value of a property is the basis for determining the property taxes owed. Under Indiana law, Indiana assessors in 2006 began annually adjusting assessed values of real property to account for changes in value, a practice called trending. Trending adjustments made in 2006 will be reflected in this year's tax bills, which have yet to be calculated. How to appeal A property owner may appeal the assessed value of the property up to 45 days after the property assessment has been adjusted and the notice of assessment, called the Form 11, has been mailed. If the assessor fails to notify the property owner, the owner may appeal the assessment upon receipt of the subsequent tax bill, up until the day taxes based on the new assessment are due, according to the Department of Local Government Finance.
Freddie Mac Moves to Contain Subprime Fallout
Facing shaken financial markets over growing subprime lender bankruptcies and warnings, big bank (HSBC, New Century) reports of record subprime losses and Congressional hearings into predatory subprime lending, government-backed mortgage buyer/lender Freddie Mac announced Tuesday that effective Sept. 1, it would no longer buy subprime mortgages with excessive payment resets or high default probability. Freddie Mac will now require stricter salary documentation and repayment capability proof, and will only buy teaser rate loans where borrowers qualify for the higher reset rate. The firm is developing alternative subprime loans with longer fixed-rate terms, and is also encouraging prime loan practices by setting up escrow accounts for borrowers tax and insurance payments. The ABX index tracking BBB- subprime mortgage-backed bonds has risen 250% since November, to 1,400 basis points.
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