The Portland Tribune recently posted an interesting article on Oregon’s foreclosure rates and according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, Oregon’s foreclosure rates are well below the national level. Oregon has the 31st highest rate in the nation of mortgage foreclosures or loans that are three months past due.

Another interesting fact is that Oregon has a lower-than-average number of homeowners with subprime loans, but a higher-than-average number of  homeowners with alternative loans.

Click HERE to view the full article

The October Market Action Report is in and the numbers continue to show positive numbers.

Overall inventory on the market was at its lowest point since August of 2007 (the month of the national sub-prime mortgage meltdown).  Sales activity continued its upward pace compared to last October.  Pending sales were up 64% compared to October of 2008 and closed sales rose 37.1%.  New listings were down 4.5%

The 64% jump in pending sales is the largest same-month increase since February of 1996.  The 2,009 closed sales this October was the highest total, also since August 2007 and its 37.1% same-month increase is the largest since January of 2005.

Compared to September 2009, closed sales increased 11.6% (2,009 vs 1,800), but pending sales dropped 9.1% (2,079 vs 2,286).

Congress has decided to extend the first time home buyer tax credit!

The new law will extend the $8,000 credit for first-time buyers for sales contracts entered in by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 30. New portions of the law include a $6,000 credit for owners of existing homes who are purchasing a new principal residence and a $6,500 tax credit if they have been residing in their principal residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight.

Additionally, the income eligibility has been raised to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for married couples.

The expansion of the tax credit is supposed to generate 180,000 additional home sales in the coming year.