...and the Good News is...

RISMEDIA, March 10, 2010—Golden Gateway Financial, a financial resource for seniors and retirees, recently released new usage data from its online Reverse Mortgage Calculator that showed average home values for older Americans have halted their slide after remaining flat or declining for seven consecutive quarters. The national average self-reported home value of older Americans rose from $369,762 in the third quarter of 2009 to $381,895 in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Positive Effects of Tax Credit Evident

GAINESVILLE, Fla.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 26, 2010 – Florida’s existing home sales rose in January, marking 17 months that sales activity has increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.

Existing home sales increased 24 percent last month with a total of 10,465 homes sold statewide compared to 8,444 homes sold in January 2009, according to Florida Realtors.

Miami, FL – In the Miami metropolitan statistical area (MSA), there was a 7 percent increase of existing single-family home sales in January 2010 compared to January 2009 and 60 percent compared to January 2008, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS). The sales of existing condominiums in the Miami MSA increased 42 percent in January 2010 compared to the same month the previous year.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Housing construction posted a better-than-expected increase in January, which pushed activity to the highest level in six months. The solid gain raised hopes that the construction industry is beginning to mount a sustained rebound from its worst slump in decades.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that construction of new homes and apartments rose 2.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000 units.

WASHINGTON – Feb. 11, 2010 – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday he doesn’t expect the central bank to sell its huge trove of mortgage securities anytime soon, easing fears the move would raise borrowing costs for home buyers.

“I currently do not anticipate that the Federal Reserve will sell any of its security holdings in the near term, at least until after policy tightening has gotten underway and the economy is clearly in a sustainable recovery,” he said in testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Wednesday that was postponed due to a snowstorm.

WASHINGTON – Feb. 11, 2010 – Strong gains in existing-home sales were the predominant pattern in most states during the fourth quarter, with many more metro areas seeing prices rise from a year earlier, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

Sales increased from the third quarter in 48 states and the District of Columbia; 32 states saw double-digit gains.

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 11, 2010 – Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida rose 44 percent in fourth quarter 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the latest housing statistics from Florida Realtors®. A total of 43,926 existing homes sold statewide in 4Q 2009; during the same period the year before, a total of 30,610 existing homes sold.