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In the news this week, banks are finally doing more short-sale deals, taking a hit and moving on. 40,000 properties changed hands in short sales in the first half of 2009. That is three times as many as were sold during the same period in 2008, according to two federal government sources. At least three major banks — Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, have added more staff to handle short sales and also created software to expedite these sales that had, in the past, taken months to complete.
It is possible the pace of short sales will continue at a faster clip as the federal government is now creating new incentives to move these transactions along. Last month, the Treasury Department released a plan to help homeowners relocate and to make payments to loan servicers as an incentive to accept a short sale.
It appears that the home remodeling business is starting to feel more hopeful as business started to pick up all across the country. The National Association of Home Builders puts together what it calls a remodeling market index, which is basically an assessment of how contractors feel their business is going and whether they are getting new work. That index has been on the rise in recent months after several months in the doldrums.
What’s behind the upturn after hitting bottom in the summer? That’s hard to say for sure, but may have something to do with the fact that the federal government is offering a $1500 tax-credit for energy-related improvements.
