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Week of May 5, 2008
Philadelphia area's foreclosure rate drops 30%
By: Al Heavens, Inquirer Real Estate Columnist
The Philadelphia region's first-quarter foreclosure rate fell almost 30 percent from the same period a year earlier, bucking a national trend that saw filings rise to one in every 194 U.S. households.
The rate puts Philadelphia 82d on a list of 100 metropolitan areas compiled by RealtyTrac Inc., the Irvine, Calif., firm that tracks foreclosures nationwide.
Included in the top 10 metro areas for foreclosure filings were six cities in California, as well as Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Stockton, Calif., in the central part of the state, led the list with 7,560 filings, or one household in 30, an increase of almost 292 percent from January-to-March 2007.
The more-populous eight-county Philadelphia region had 3,064 filings, or one household in 527, a decline of 29.64 percent, RealtyTrac's data show.
Nationally, there were 649,917 filings in the first quarter, an increase of 112 percent over January-to-March 2007, RealtyTrac reported.
Fannie Mae loses $2.2B in 1Q; warns of "severe weakness"
Fannie Mae said Tuesday it lost $2.2 billion in the first quarter as home-loan delinquencies mounted and home prices declined more sharply than the mortgage finance company had expected.
The company said it expects "severe weakness" in the housing market to continue this year, bringing increased mortgage defaults and foreclosures.
Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. buyer and backer of home loans, said it would raise $6 billion by selling new stock. The company will cut its dividend, starting in the third quarter, to 25 cents a share, to generate around $390 million a year.
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Road widening projects in Chester and Montgomery Counties delayed
By Nancy Petersen Inquirer Staff Writer
Motorists hoping for relief from the nightmare rush hours on stretches of Route 202 in Chester and Montgomery Counties will apparently have to keep their engines idling for several more years.
PennDot's new emphasis on rebuilding the state's aging bridges means that highly anticipated projects such as widening Route 202 have been pushed to the back burner, where they will likely remain well into the next decade.
"We have 6,000 structurally deficient bridges that need attention," said agency spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick. "There is very little money for [road] capacity expansion."
Supervisors accept traffic study
By DIANE MOUSKOURIE, Bucks County Courier Times
Wrightstown supervisors passed a resolution Monday night that could help ease traffic problems on local roadways in the near future.
Supervisors Chester Pognowski and Jane Magne voted to accept the Bucks County Traffic Safety Study Final Report dated October 2007 as is. The report was initiated by the Regional Traffic Planning Task Force and prepared by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and outlines several traffic safety issues for Wrightstown as well as several other municipalities.
Stemming the flow
By JEANNINE AVERSA, The Associated Press
A rising tide of late mortgage payments and home foreclosures poses considerable dangers to the national economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned anew Monday as he urged Congress to take additional steps to alleviate the problems.
“High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets and the broader economy,” Bernanke said in a dinner speech to Columbia Business School in New York. “Therefore, doing what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in the interest of lenders and borrowers. It’s in everybody’s interest,” he said.
Philadelphia ends moratorium, resumes mortgage foreclosures
The Associated Press
A one-month moratorium is over, and the city of Philadelphia has resumed mortgage foreclosure sales.
The first round of sales Tuesday was of dwellings not occupied by the owners or investors.
Legislative director Ian Phillips of the activist group Acorn says that amounts to only about 20 percent of the total.
Conservation or 'total meltdown'
By: JAMES MCGINNIS, Bucks County Courier Times
Gov. Ed Rendell came to Bucks County Wednesday to call for nearly $1 billion in clean energy grants and conservation programs and he warned the state was on the “brink of disaster” from utility bills that could soon skyrocket.
Rendell is on a statewide tour to promote two pieces of legislation that he said could fix the problem, though many who attended his meeting in Bensalem said they felt his proposals didn’t go far enough.
One bill provides $850 million for rebates on solar cells, wind energy, home energy loans and “green buildings.” You could get a $1,200 grant on a $2,400 solar cell to power your home, the governor said.
The other bill sets energy conservation goals and requires electric companies to offer ratepayers a choice in how they pay for electricity. For example, customers could be billed less for using electric at certain hours of the day when the grid is not as stressed.
Montco's GOP expected to elect new leadership
In its first organizational meeting as the minority political party, Montgomery County's Republican Committee is expected to elect new leadership tonight.
The GOP dominated Montgomery County politics for decades, but new registrations in the run-up to the April 22 presidential primary saw Democrats outnumber Republicans on county voter rolls for the first time. More than 700 county GOP committee members are expected at the meeting at the Westover Country Club in Eagleville, which is open to the public.
Retiring chairman Ken Davis, who has led Montgomery County's Republicans since 2004, likely will be replaced by lawyer Robert Kerns. Kerns, whose law office is based in Lansdale, has no announced opposition for the chairmanship. Also unopposed is vice-chair candidate Sharon Thomas, the mayor of Pottstown.
