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Everyone knows that the housing market has been a little daunting for the last several years. Ups and downs, talk of good news and bad news, and a confusing amount of information about rising and falling mortgage rates has rendered the market all but inaccessible for a lot of prospective buyers. Good news! Times are changing. Whether you want to buy a home as your long-term residence or as an income property, things are looking up. Remarkably low mortgage rates are making houses more affordable than they have been in decades.

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT—An analysis of the Washington, D.C. Metro Area housing market, prepared by RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), based on the September 2011 RBI Pending Home Sales Index™ was released recently.

The second edition of the National Association of Home Builders/ First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), released recently, shows 23 individual housing markets now qualifying as "improving" under the new gauge's parameters. This is nearly double the 12 housing markets that made the list last month. The index reveals metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in housing permits, employment and housing prices. The following metros were listed in October:

Greg Rand (@gsrand), CEO of OwnAmerica, the host of Rand on Real Estate on 770 WABC, asks the question "Why didn't the Great Recession happen 10years ago today?" The circumstances were ripe for a major recession. We were already in a minor recession; endured the evaporation ...

What do you do when the appraisal on the dream home you want to buy comes in below the price in the offer the seller has accepted—even as much as 10 to 20 percent below? Chances are that raising the cash for your down payment and closing cost has tapped you out. Finding thousands more to make up the difference between the appraised value and the contracted amount is out of the question. You’re not the only buyer who has hit the low appraisal snag. This past June and July, 16 percent of real estate pros reported a cancelation in a sale, mostly due to a large number of low appraisals.

RISMEDIA, July 26, 2011--Recently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and NeighborWorks® America announced that the deadline for the Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program has been extended to Wednesday, July 27, 2011, in order to give homeowners at risk of foreclosure in the participating 27 states and Puerto Rico ...

RISMEDIA, April 20, 2011—Welcoming a brand new player to the real estate playing field is always big news. New perspective, new ideas, new potential on the horizon. However, with almost 200 years of history, and doing business today in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions, you can’t exactly call Citi a newcomer. You can’t even refer to Citi as a newbie to mortgage lending, a vertical it’s operated in for almost 40 years.

RISMEDIA, April 19, 2011—(MCT)—Craig and Amy Smith always felt quite confident, even cocky in their abilities to tastefully design the spacious interior of their steel-and-concrete loft in downtown Denver. That was until they decided to sell it and a consultant hired to help them "stage" their home told them to neutralize a dramatic accent wall, put away family photos and place most of their furniture and artwork in storage.

RISMEDIA, April 18, 2011—As the interest in home renovations continues to grow, homeowners are constantly looking for ways to get the job done without depleting their bank account. With numerous steps and details involved in the

RISMEDIA, April 14, 2011—Numbers don’t lie, and if you look at the most recent monthly housing statistics for the Twin Cities metro, as released in the Monthly Indicators report for February 2011 distributed by the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS®, you’ll see

RISMEDIA, April 5, 2011—Recently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation became the first of six government agencies to adopt for public comment a proposed rule concerning risk retention on mortgage-backed securities, as required by section 941 of the Dodd Frank Act. As several of the FDIC directors noted, the rule could have profound consequences for this country’s financial system, and in particular for its housing finance system. Most at risk, perhaps, is the ability of that system to effectively serve the vast majority of Americans looking to buy their first homes who have no hope of saving a 20% down payment plus closing costs, and no access to relatives or a charitable organization or governmental entity that might provide the funds (with no expectation of repayment).

RISMEDIA, March 25, 2011—If your home was built before 1978 and you still have the original windows, it's time to seriously consider replacing them—especially if members of your household include young children or someone who is pregnant.

RISMEDIA, March 23, 2011—(MCT)—The frightening images of Japan's tsunami wiping out homes, roads and entire cities are vivid reminders that a natural disaster can strike at any time. And whether it's an earthquake, a wildfire or flooding, being covered against severe damage to your home or business is essential. Across the United States, flooding is the No. 1 natural disaster, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

RISMEDIA, March 21, 2011—Generation X—young families and adults ages 31 to 45—are likely to lead the home-buying recovery as it gets underway, according to real estate experts who spoke at an educational webinar produced by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in partnership with Builder magazine. These potential home buyers are most likely to think it's a good time to get off the fence—and have strong opinions about the design features their new homes will include.

RISMEDIA, March 19, 2011—(MCT)—Bill Schramm and Bethany Siwicki scoured property listings for three months before agreeing to see a home in Round Lake Beach, even though its online pictures didn't look promising. "It looked like a piñata blew up in there," Schramm said. Every room was a different color, and the only way to tell the carpet once had been white was looking at the furniture marks.