A government watchdog says participation in a federal program to help struggling homeowners is “anemic”.
The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said the program has failed “to put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings.”
That assessment isn’t surprising to local foreclosure prevention counselors and attorneys who work with homeowners who are [...]

When does a house size go from big to too big? That’s a question I’m sure planners have been asking themselves for several years as they’ve watched McMansions spring up and home sizes balloon.
It looks like Wellesley planners were facing that question recently. The Boston Globe reports that the Wellesley Planning Board has approved [...]

It looks like Newton just got a bit more desirable. The city snagged the No. 3 spot in Money magazine’s annual search for the top 100 best places to live in America. The magazine noted the city’s close proximity to Boston, top-rated schools, low crime, strong economy, pedestrian-friendly shopping districts, parks and playgrounds.
But one [...]

Those of you who’ve been following housing trends know that foreclosures have been spreading to some of the wealthier suburban parts of the state.
Well it looks like a multimillion-dollar home in one of Brookline’s most desirable neighborhoods was recently foreclosed on.
A 6,000-square-foot mansion at 375 Lee St., which is near Brookline’s Country Club, [...]

Housing industry followers might be suffering from information overload this week.
Just this week:  A monthly housing scorecard was released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with all sorts of details, including how many borrowers have received loan modifications under a federal program, and how many temporary loan modifications have been canceled.
Then there [...]

More bad news for homeowners who’ve been struggling with mortgage payments: Fitch Ratings released a report yesterday predicting that most homeowners who’ve received a loan modification under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, will default within a year.
The redefault rate within a year is likely to be 65 percent to 75 percent under [...]

Summer is quickly sneaking up, and people with dreams of vacationing with the rich and famous and all sorts of VIPS are snatching up properties on swanky Nantucket.
 Sales of single-family homes have more than doubled on the island in the first four months of the year, compared to a year earlier. There were 39 single-family [...]

Real estate agents in Dover, Melrose, Palmer, Hanover, Brookline and Wellesley have been much busier in the first four months of this year than they were a year earlier.
Those communities have had some of the biggest increases in home sales volume so far this year, according to The Warren Group. Home sales in Massachusetts surged [...]

More homeowners in Massachusetts may have lost their homes to foreclosure so far this year than they did a year ago, but fewer homeowners are behind on their mortgage payments.
That’s according to the most recent delinquency survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The association reported today that the Bay State delinquency rate fell 90 basis [...]

Foreclosure activity in Massachusetts isn’t easing. A new report from The Warren Group shows that lenders started and finished more foreclosures statewide in April than they did a year earlier.
And Banker & Tradesman reports this week that properties that have entered the foreclosure process are moving faster to the auction stage. As Colleen M. [...]