Today's Mortgage Rates

Drew Myers of Zillow and Geek Estate recently asked me if I’d be interested in hosting the Carnival of Real Estate.  Naturally I was excited that he thought of our site and eager to participate since we’ve been active contributors for a while now but have not yet hosted.  Without further adieu, here’s the submissions for this week’s Carnival of Real Estate.

Julie Broad presents Networking Your Way to Real Estate Investing Success « posted at Life as Real Estate Investors.

Bob Schwartz, CRS, GRI presents San Diego Real Estate 2010 Forecast posted at San Diego real estate market blog.

Marty Millner presents Real Estate property tax appeal update, Bucks County, Pa. posted at Bucks County area real estate update.

Donna Johnston presents Charlotte Sucks* posted at Talk Charlotte Real Estate Blog.

Alison Paoli presents Best-Performing Cities of 2009 posted at Zillow Blog – Real Estate Market Stats, Celebrity Real Estate, and Zillow News.

Chris Lang presents Selling your house: 12 tips for a beautiful home that will capture all the possible buyers. posted at Home I Own.

DR presents A Buyer’s Guide to Rent to Own Homes posted at The Dough Roller.

David McDougal presents Real Estate Alert: Are You Ready For Google+Trulia | Digital Pure, LLC posted at SEO, Local Search, PPC, Design Talk | Digital Pure, LLC.

SVB presents Rent vs Buy A House: How To Evaluate Your Options posted at The Digerati Life.

Jonathan Dalton presents Phoenix Real Estate REOs, Short Sales and Traditional Sales posted at Phoenix Real Estate | Phoenix Homes for Sale | All Phoenix Real Estate.

Claudia Gonella presents What’s the cheapest real estate you can find in a master planned community in Central America? posted at International real estate in Central America.

Dan Green presents Comparing The Fed Funds Rate To 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages posted at The Mortgage Reports.

Charleston, W.Va., had the biggest year-over-year rise in median home value in October, according to Zillow. The Zillow Home Value Index measures the median value of all homes in an area. New Orleans and Wilmington, Del., saw the next biggest price appreciation.

The list is comprised of cities with populations of more than 20,000. Other cities that made the top 10 include Amherst, N.Y., West Seneca, N.Y., Mequon, Wis., Rochester, N.Y., Cheektowaga, N.Y., Florence, S.C., and North Little Rock, Ark.

The cities showed improvement in home values this year as U.S. housing prices stabilized. U.S. home values lost $489 billion during the first 11 months of 2009, compared with a $3.6 trillion loss in 2008.

So what helped the housing market this year? Super low mortgage rates and the  home buyer tax credit played a huge role. But challenges lie ahead for the U.S. housing market.

“Unfortunately, we believe that demand will come under downward pressure as mortgage rates creep back up after the first quarter and that housing supply will experience upward pressure as the volume of foreclosures continues to remain high. Both these factors will challenge the recent stabilization of home prices,” Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Reverse mortgage counselors have some new guidelines for qualifying to work with homeowners. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) guidelines come after complaints that some housing counselors aren’t qualified to discuss reverse loans.

Seniors who want to borrow reverse mortgages must meet with a counselor to discuss their options. Reverse home loans allow people 62 and older to borrow some of their home equity. The amount of a reverse mortgage loan depends upon the borrower’s age and home value, but the money can be used for any purpose.

The government’s new rules require reverse mortgage counselors to pass an AARP-approved exam. They also must undergo additional training every two years.

When the Government Accountability Office sent investigators posing as borrowers to 15 reverse mortgage counselors, they found that none of them covered the required topics. Some of those counselors also neglected to give information about alternatives to borrowing a reverse mortgage, such as local social services.

Borrowers can continue to receive reverse mortgage counseling in person or by phone. You can find a reverse mortgage counselor on the FHA site.