Apparently low interest rates and reduced home prices aren’t enough incentive to get consumers to purchase new homes.

A recent survey by Weichert Realtors shows that increasing the tax credit for homebuyers to $15,000 and extending it to all buyers — not just first-time purchasers — will get more people to jump off the fence and buy a home.

Groups representing Realtors and homebuilders have been pushing lawmakers to boost and expand the tax credit to stimulate the housing market.

“The tax credit would increase home sales, which would cause inventories to fall and stabilize home prices and mortgage markets,” National Association of Home Builders First Vice President told a Congressional committee.

But will throwing extra cash at more consumers really be the key to help revive home sales?

I’m guessing that factors like job losses and business growth are more critical to the health of the overall housing market.

If a buyer doesn’t know how secure his job is, his appetite for committing to a hefty new loan isn’t going to be great.

Meanwhile, the current tax credit and favorable interest rates have done little to spur more home sales here in Massachusetts.

The Warren Group reported this week that home sales in May dropped to 3,256 their lowest level for the month since 1990.

The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) wants to make sure buyers and sellers know exactly who the real estate agent is truly representing in a real estate transaction.

 The group sent a letter to Congress last week urging the leaders to include real estate agency disclosure requirements in mortgage lending reform bills.

 “Too many consumers have no idea that when they contact an agent listing a home, that agent must do everything possible to achieve the best outcome for the seller,” NAEBA President John Sullivan said in a statement. “As a result, these consumers have no one involved from the beginning of the transaction who can advise them on negotiating techniques, price points or the acquisition of an appropriate loan.”

 Some states, including Massachusetts, have disclosure laws that are designed to protect consumers. In Massachusetts, for example, brokers are supposed to present mandatory agency disclosure forms to buyers during their first meeting explaining who the agent represents.

 But I wonder how often that doesn’t happen?

 NAEBA leaders say too often. Studies have shown that the majority of homebuyers aren’t given disclosure forms during their first meetings with agents, the group points out.

 The NAEBA wants stiff penalties for real estate agents who violate agency rules.

 Agency is a hot-button issue. About four years ago, when changes to the agency rules were made, there was a huge uproar and Realtors were deeply divided.

 I don’t think local Realtors are going to be too thrilled about the federal government stepping in and dictating when the disclosure is made or having the feds come up with uniform definitions of agency relationships.

 Am I wrong?

The Warren Group issued a surprising report this morning that foreclosures in Massachusetts are down 26 percent so far this year compared to 2008.

You would expect to see an upward trend given that unemployment is climbing and mortgage delinquencies are rising.

But so far it looks like even the cities that have been hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis are experiencing fewer foreclosures.

 The number of foreclosure deeds recorded in Dorchester and Brockton from January through May dropped 42 percent from a year earlier. In Lawrence, foreclosures fell even more – 44 percent!

Lowell and Haverhill’s foreclosure numbers declined 37 percent, while in Hyannis they were down 38 percent during the same period.

Could it be that all the property owners who were in trouble have already gone through the foreclosure?

One number to keep an eye on is foreclosure petitions.  Petitions to foreclosure mark the start of the foreclosure process. Even though they’re lower than they were a year ago, they remained fairly steady month-to-month.

The Obama administration made a big deal about a foreclosure rescue/housing plan it announced earlier this year.

The plan was supposed to help homeowners with little or no equity in their homes refinance into loans with lower interest rates and also help some people who had fallen behind on their monthly mortgage payments modify their loans so they’re more affordable.

So how’s the plan working?

CNN asked homeowners who sought help and got a mixed reaction.

Only one person really reported having success. Others described endless phone calls, unreturned messages and delays before getting the final message: denied.

Some who were current on their loans were told the priority was to work with people who have already fallen behind on payments.

Here in Massachusetts, the foreclosure picture is mixed.

A new report to be released by The Warren Group tomorrow shows that the number of actual foreclosures dropped in May.

Good news, yes, but the picture remains cloudy because lenders initiated more foreclosures.

It seems like even well-paid celebrities can’t escape the foreclosure crisis.

The Associated Press reports that actor Stephen Baldwin’s foreclosed home will be auctioned. The actor defaulted on mortgage payments on his home, which is located in a suburb north of New York City. The mortgage holder is Bankers Trust Co.

I was wondering which company or lender is behind most auction and REO re-sales here in Massachusetts.

If you guessed Deutsche Bank, you’re right. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. is listed as the seller in at least 310 transactions involving an REO property so far this year, according to data from The Warren Group.

Deutsche Bank didn’t necessarily originate the loans on these properties. In a lot of the cases, the bank was simply acting as a trustee for a pool of investors that held the loan.

Fannie Mae and US Bank are right behind Deutsche Bank, having sold more than 200 properties each so far this year.

Crafty home sellers can come up with some pretty creative incentives to entice buyers when market conditions are sluggish.

In Florida, former quarterback Dan Marino, who has been trying to sell his multimillion-dollar mansion for three years, is now offering to throw in his furniture and a signed football. His offer comes after reducing the asking price of his 15,000-square-foot residence twice.

Many brokers say that healthy price cuts can be the most effective tactic to use if a property hasn’t attracted any offers – not gimmicks like a free car or pieces of furniture.

It looks like a good number of home sellers agree. A recent survey by Trulia finds that nearly a quarter of the homes currently on the market have had a least one price cut. The average price reduction has been about 11 percent.

Boston, along with Los Angeles and Dallas, is among cities where at least 30 percent of homes have had a price reduction.

Scott Van Voorhis writes in this week’s Banker & Tradesman that the Bay State won’t see the steep home price drops that other parts of the country have seen, including communities in California.

He points out that one of the reasons home prices are a bit more resilient here is that there hasn’t been the type of overbuilding that took place in places like Phoenix and Las Vegas. The numbers from the U.S. Census bureau show that to be the case:

The number of housing permits issued in Massachusetts fell 61 percent from 2005 to 2008. More than 23,800 permits were issued in 2005. By 2008, the number of permits dropped to 9,241.

By comparison, Arizona — which has a similar-sized population as Massachusetts — issued almost four times as many permits in 2005 (91,436). Three years later, the number sank to 25,232 – still much higher than the permitting activity in Massachusetts.

 Tennessee, another state that has about the same population as the Bay State, also saw more building. In 2005, more than 46,000 housing permits were issued – almost double Massachusetts’ level. By 2008, there were 21,699 permits – 57 percent more than Massachusetts.

A news report this morning about how Florida officials were considering using foreclosed homes to house residents when hurricanes and other disasters strike caught my attention.

 As soon as I heard the report, I could almost hear the bank executives grumbling and offering a bunch of excuses about why this is a terrible idea.

 Banks don’t want to take on any risks and liabilities associated with being a landlord. That’s why they’ve been so eager to evict tenants who are living in foreclosed properties here in Massachusetts and in other parts of the country.

 Here’s what the CEO of the Florida Bankers Association told a local newspaper about the idea of housing hurricane survivors in foreclosed properties:

“Who doesn’t want to help Florida families after a hurricane? It’s an idea worth examining. But there are just a lot of legal obstacles in the process.”

 Some of the vacant foreclosed homes aren’t safe to live in, and have been stripped of even basic appliances.

 Who would be responsible for making sure that the home was safe and met local building code standards?

 And what would happen if a disaster survivor moving into a foreclosed home destroyed the property? How long could the hurricane victim stay in the home? How much would they have to pay?

 Too many questions for banks already struggling to manage their REO portfolios and rewrite loans for homeowners who can’t keep up with mortgage payments …

 Here in Massachusetts, there are laws in place to protect tenants. Many attorneys say the pro-tenant laws and rules are so stringent it makes it tough to be a landlord in Massachusetts. 

 A local attorney once told me that one of the reasons banks and other lender refuse to accept rent payments from tenants living in foreclosed properties is because they don’t want to acknowledge that they’re a landlord.

 “The national lenders don’t want to deal with the intricacies of the landlord-law here because once they do, they become liable as a landlord,” he told me.

Condominium sales in Massachusetts have been pretty sluggish for the last six months and prices have slumped considerably.

Tougher lending requirements are putting the squeeze on the condo market, according to a recent story in the Boston Globe.

In fact, the median price for condos sold so far this year dropped 14.4 percent to $226,750 from $265,000 a year ago, according to the latest numbers from The Warren Group.

But there are some communities where condo prices are on the rise.

In Somerville, the median condo price jumped 14 percent to $384,500 from $337,000.

Fall River’s condo prices shot up nearly 9 percent to $137,000 from $126,000.

In Waltham, the median condo price is $23,000 higher, reaching $296,000.

Condo prices also climbed in places like Woburn and Cambridge.

Why are these communities bucking the trend?