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A New York bank recently settled with state regulators over their practice of not lending in minority communities. They outlined service areas which by-and-large excluded minority communities. The practice known as red-lining is illegal and a form of housing discrimination. While we would like to think that our society has moved past these types of small-minded behavior, this example reminds

A recent LA Times Article mentioned that only 22% percent of households can afford the Median priced home in Los Angeles.  In a perfect world, the average household should be able to afford the average house.  What’s different about LA is that we will always have a large part of the population, and more specifically at the lower income levels

HOW FHA MORTGAGE INSURANCE PREMIUMS WORK The Federal Housing Administration does not own or originate any mortgage.  FHA is essentially an insurance program.  Because FHA guidelines are less stringent than conventional loans, the FHA insures the investors against loss.  It is this insurance, also known as MIP that many homeowners want to get rid of. As a homeowner, though, your

Housing Wire reported on data released about year-to-year and month-to-month home price changes which seem to show that the national market is cooling off and price increases are slowing.  Anecdotally, in Los Angeles, I believe the data should show similar and in the coming months will show slight price declines or negligible increases.  Rates on 30 year mortgages have come down so that is working

The San Fernando Valley Business Journal reported on July data that shows price declines as compared to June 2014 with an increase in activity.  The take-aways are that home prices are stable or somewhat declining and that inventory is increasing.  We expect the news in the coming months to be mixed due to recent decreases in interest rates may help