The government has launched a new initiative aimed at helping homeowners who owe more on their properties than their homes are worth.

As part of the program, which was first announced in March, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will allow lenders to provide “underwater” borrowers with refinanced loans backed by the government. Lenders are also required to forgive at least 10% of the original mortgage amount. As many as 1.5 million households are expected to benefit from the program. However, data provided by CoreLogic showed that as of June, 11 million homes have underwater mortgages.

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The country’s industrial real estate sector is showing signs of some recovery if the latest report by commercial real estate group Jones Lang LaSalle is any indication.

According to the report, which monitors 38 key industrial markets in the U.S., national average vacancy rates slipped from 10.6% in the first quarter to 10.4% the following quarter. Craig Meyer, managing director and leader of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Logistics and Industrial Services group, said that at a time of high unemployment rate, the development is worth noting.

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Colleges and universities across the country are snapping up properties fast as real estate prices continue to decline in recent months.

The universities of Dayton and Delaware are among the institutions of higher learning that are taking advantage of the sluggish real estate market. According to reports, the Ohio-based University of Dayton recently bought the 115-acre world headquarters of NCR Corp. for $18 million. It was said to be the third time that the school bought property from the technology company. The University of Delaware, on the other hand, has acquired a 272-acre auto plant from automaker Chrysler for $24 million.

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A mansion in Windemere, Florida, topped this year’s Bloomberg-Businessweek Most Expensive Homes list.

Surprisingly, construction of the 90,000-sq.-ft. is still not completed. Originally constructed for David Siegel, chief executive of time-share company Westgate Resorts, the lake-front house is now listed for $75 million unfinished or $100 million finished. The buyer of this property would enjoy 13 bedrooms and 23 baths. It also features 10 satellite kitchens apart from the main kitchen.

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A real estate monitoring website has reported that fewer home sellers are lowering their asking price for their properties. This is the first time in many months that the number of home sellers asking less for their homes went down.

Website Zillow said U.S. home sellers reduced the prices of around 28.8% of homes listed with them for the month of August at least once. The figure stood at 30.1% in July. The percentage of home sellers reducing their asking price at least once was on a steady climb for five months until July.

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consumers are applying for loans to purchase homes, recent data revealed. According to a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), last week’s applications for home loans fell 37% from a year ago, indicating a possible downturn in home sales this selling season.

Despite a seasonally adjusted 1.8% weekly increase in mortgage applications, MBA vice president for research and economics Michael Fratantoni warned that the annual plunge can hamper home sales in the coming months.

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More consumers signed contracts to purchase existing homes in July as pending home sales jumped by more than 5% from a month earlier.

According to the National Association of Realtors, or NAR, its seasonally adjusted index for pending home sales rose 5.2% to a reading of 79.4 points from a month earlier. Sales in the West led the increase with a 12% growth, while sales in the Northeast rose by more than 6%. The number of pending home sales in the Midwest and the South, on the other hand, expanded by 4% and 1%, respectively.

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The state of California has reported a decline in the value of all types of real estate properties this year. According to the California Board of Equalization, property values fell 1.8% this year to $4.4 trillion.

This is the second year in a row that property values in the Golden State slipped since record keeping began during the Great Depression. Last year, values fell 2.4%.

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If everything goes according to plan, real estate investors will have more competitors when it comes to buying foreclosed properties.

Major banks and lenders have expressed agreement to a proposal to give local governments and nonprofit groups the chance to buy foreclosed homes before these properties are sold to private investors. Mortgage giants Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. are just some of the leading financial institutions that have shown support to the program.

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Although the housing market is showing signs of recovery in recent months, it seems that most real estate experts are dissatisfied with the way home prices are increasing.

Latest data showed that prices of residential properties between May and June grew at a rate that is considered one of the slowest in the last ten years. According to Radar Logic’s composite price index for 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), the RPX composite price for June 24 was $197.09 per square foot. The figure rose by just 0.6% from a month earlier.

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