Loudoun County news in brief
Washington Post
Loudoun County will offer a free post-purchase counseling seminar to recent and prospective home buyers. The quarterly seminars, which will be administered ...

Study argues stimulus, other action averted second Great Depression; others ...
Washington Post (blog)
This was before Obama's $787 billion stimulus, before the cash-for-clunkers program, before the home-buyer subsidies and so on. "These forecasts assumed no ...

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Meritage Homes swings to 2Q profit
Washington Post
The homebuilder closed 36 percent more homes during the quarter as many homebuyers raced to wrap up deals in time to qualify for federal tax credits. ...

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DC area housing market relatively insulated from downturn, report finds
Washington Post
A recently expired home-buyer tax credit -- $8000 for some first-time buyers and $6500 for certain repeat buyers -- also helped boost area sales in the ...

Senate GOP to hold hearings on Black Panther tale?
Washington Post (blog)
That banks talked minority home buyers to subprime loans, EVEN WHEN THEY QUALIFIED FOR CONVENTIONAL LOANS only exacerbates the problem. ...

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Week ahead: Lots of economic data out this week, including Q2 GDP
Washington Post (blog)
Sales plummeted 32.7 percent in May, after the expiration of a home buyers tax credit, so the question is whether the post-credit collapse is done with and ...

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What went wrong with stimulus
Washington Post (blog)
20/20 hindsight, the homebuyers tax credit was a waste, and there should have been better planning for how the unemployment extensions end. but other than ...

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Financial news schedule: July 26-Aug. 1
Washington Post
Sales plummeted 32.7 percent in May, after the expiration of a home buyers tax credit, so the question is whether the post-credit collapse is done with and ...

In tough times, how to score a better mortgage deal
Washington Post
In one recent case, he said, home buyers whose scores had been in the mid-600s boosted them into the 700s when rescorers helped eliminate a late payment ...

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Mortgage rates hit record low, existing home sales fall
Washington Post (blog)
Economists expect the numbers to get worse as the year continues and the federal tax credits of up to $8000 for homebuyers are phased out. ...

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Home construction sinks 5 percent in June
Washington Post
... to the nation's high unemployment rate, an industrywide tightening of lending standards and the expiration of a lucrative home-buyer tax credit. ...

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Home construction lower than expected in June
Washington Post (blog)
Builders are shying away from new construction in part because high unemployment, tightening lending standards and the phase-out of a lucrative home buyer ...

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Proposed Fla. tax relief amendment under attack
Washington Post
Labor unions and a taxpayer are challenging a proposed state constitutional amendment that would give an extra property tax break to some home buyers. ...

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Washington Post (blog)
Michael Boskin: Stimulus 'mostly a tragic waste of money'
Washington Post (blog)
Cash for Clunkers and the home-buyers' tax credit shifted some purchases forward but appear to have had little or no effect once netted against the ...

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Washington Post
Obama's next act
Washington Post
... city governments, small manufacturers, home buyers and credit bureaus." Third is the near $1 trillion stimulus, the largest spending bill in US history. ...

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Government paper gives China tips on buying US property
Washington Post
The US National Association of Realtors said China was the fourth-biggest source of international home buyers in the United States, following Canada, ...

Kansas City Star
US Home Seizures Rise 38% to Record as Banks Process Backlog
Washington Post
The expiration of a federal tax credit for homebuyers also cut demand, even as average borrowing costs for a 30-year fixed-rate loan set record lows. ...
Foreclosures in Prince George's County again lead MarylandWashington Post

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Retail sales down in June, for second consecutive month of falling receipts
Washington Post
Some of that was driven by government stimulus money that has now phased out, such as the home buyers' tax credit that spurred jumps in sales at building ...

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Goldman's Matsui Cuts Three-Month Forecast for Topix
Washington Post
... recommends retail and real-estate companies that should be supported by economic measures such as child-care allowances and tax breaks for home buyers. ...

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Mortgage rates for 30-year loans fall to lowest level on record — again
Washington Post
Mortgage rates for 30-year loans fell to the lowest level on record for the third straight week, reducing borrowing costs for home buyers as unemployment ...

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