Headlines abound: The Housing Bust is over… In June, a survey of economists concluded that housing has hit bottom. Realtors®, homeowners and renters, Americans, and citizens of the world all are sighing with collective relief. The economy and housing values both have cycles. It has been more than eighty years since the difference between the top and the bottom was so great.  So we are cautiously engaging the new reality, but first we need to pause. If we do not learn from history, we are bound to repeat it. We do not want to repeat the last ten years. So what are the lessons we should learn?
Read full story at: http://voicesofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2012/07/18/10-lessons-to-learn-as-the-housing-market-recovers/?om_rid=AAB0GY&om_mid=_BQEerkB8r8btu7&om_ntype=NARWeekly

Home values rise for first time in 5 years

Nationwide, home values rose 0.2% year-over-year to a median $149,300 during the second quarter, the first annual increase since 2007, real estate listing site Zillow reported. Prices were up 2.1% from the first quarter.
"[I]t seems clear that the country has hit a bottom in home values," said Zillow's chief economist Stan Humphries. "The housing recovery is holding together despite lower-than-expected job growth, indicating that it has some organic strength of its own."
Other home price indexes have also recorded gains lately, including the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. In it latest release, it reported that home prices in 20 major markets rose 1.3% in April, the first monthly increase in seven months.

Full Story: http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/24/real_estate/home-values/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2

New Anti-Deficiency Protection for Refinance Loans

Starting January 1, 2013, a new California law will protect homeowners who default on their refinance loans from personal liability for any deficiency following foreclosure. Existing anti-deficiency law protects a borrower from personal liability for the difference between the principal balance and what the lender receives at foreclosure if the loan is a purchase money loan secured by an owner-occupied property with one-to-four residential units. The new law, Senate Bill 1069, extends that anti-deficiency protection to include any loan used to refinance the purchase money loan, plus any loan fees, costs, and related expenses for the refinance. The anti-deficiency protection, however, does not extend to any "cash out" in a refinance.

Either Modify or Foreclose...not BOTH

SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers have passed legislation that would provide homeowners with some of the nation's strongest protections from foreclosure and such aggressive bank practices as seizing a home while the owner is negotiating to lower mortgage payments.  The legislation would make California the first state to prohibit lenders from "dual tracking," the practice of negotiating with clients to modify a mortgage so that payments become more affordable while simultaneously pursuing foreclosure. In such cases, homeowners can wind up being evicted even though they had been working with the bank to modify their loans.

Full Story:http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homeowner-rights-20120703,0,5215367.story