All the Real Estate News That’s Fit to RE-Print™

Welcome to our weekly edition of Hot Real Estate Investment News.
The big news this week: Home prices continue to rise; there’s a 24% drop in completed foreclosures compared to a year ago; shadow inventory of homes likely to be sold after foreclosure declined by 35%; and the Fed will keep interest rates low at least through 2014.
Here are the real estate investing related news items that caught our attention this past week. We hope they help you stay up-to-date with your real estate investment strategies and inspire some profitable real estate deals for you.

Home Prices Continue to Rise in May 2012 – Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

Data through May 2012 for the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed that average home prices increased by 2.2% in May over April for both the 10- and 20-City Composites.
More details here: Home Prices Continue to Rise in May 2012
See also: Case-Shiller Shows Strong Price Gains in May

CoreLogic Reports 60,000 Completed Foreclosures in June

—24 Percent Drop Versus a Year Ago Puts Completed Foreclosures at 2007 Levels—

According to the report, there were 60,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in June 2012 compared to 80,000 in June 2011 and 60,000 in May 2012.
Download a copy of the National Foreclosure Report here: www.corelogic.com/ForeclosureReport-June2012.

Morgan Stanley: Shadow inventory sheared 35% from peak

Housing Wire reporter Jon Prior states:
“The shadow inventory of homes likely to be sold after foreclosure declined by 35% since the peak reached two years ago, according to Morgan Stanleyresearchers.
There are roughly 5.65 million properties in this backlog now, down from 8.79 million at the beginning of 2010. These homes are either already foreclosed and not yet for sale, or they back delinquent mortgages that will likely need to be liquidated. The weight of these properties drags down home prices and resists recovery in the hardest hit areas.”

Fed to Keep Interest Rates Low Through 2014

From Housing Wire reporter Jon Prior:
“The Federal Open Market Committee said it will keep interest rates low at least through 2014 but will not yet act on further stimulus to a slow-growing economy….
The target rate of funds will remain between 0% and 0.25% for the next two years, unchanged since the Fed lowered it coming out of the financial crisis in 2008.”