With many of the riskier loan products that have been popular in recent years now out of the picture, large numbers of homeowners are turning back to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School."It’s encouraging to see that consumers have not been scared off by the ‘credit crunch’ and the ‘mortgage meltdown’ talk, and are returning to secure, tried-and-true home financing," real estate and finance professor Susan Wachter said in a statement.Adjustable-rate mortgage applications dropped 46.9 percent from September 2006 to the same month this year, according to Wachter’s latest Mortgage Payment Index. Meanwhile, applications for fixed-rate loans climbed 30.2 percent during the same period.Wachter’s report also shows that borrowers who put down less than 20 percent on a home took out single mortgages with private mortgage insurance, or PMI, rather than risking piggyback loans. The number of borrowers using PMI rose 36 percent in the second quarter of 2007 and is up 69 percent from the beginning of 2006.

The credit crunch is continuing to oust potential home buyers from the market, slowing new home sales and leaving builders facing more cancellations.Sales of new single-family homes fell 8.3 percent in August from the month before, dropping to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000 units, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. That’s also 21.2 percent below the August 2006 rate of roughly 1 million units.Valley builders continue to face cancellations and are struggling to find new mortgage products for buyers who no longer qualify after a tightening of lending standards. Many also continue to offer incentives, such as new landscaping, and price discounts, as they whittle away at inventories.Nationwide, the median sales price of a new home in August was $225,700.

Sales of existing homes fell again last month as potential buyers continued to have trouble qualifying for financing, the National Association of Realtors reported this week.Sales fell 4.3 percent in August from the month before to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 million units. That’s 12.8 percent below the 6.31 million-unit rate in August 2006."The unusual disruption in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through," NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.The western region of the country took the biggest hit with existing home sales dropping 9.8 percent in August from the month prior. Sales were also down 21.7 percent from August 2006.Nationwide, the median home price — where half cost more and half cost less — was $224,500, on par with the same time last year. The total number of homes for sale also rose slightly in August.

While the housing market has rapidly degraded in the past year, the commercial real estate market has enjoyed healthy growth thanks to a "fundamentally sound economy," according to the National Association of Realtors.A record $257 billion was invested in the commercial market during the first seven months of this year, a dramatic rise from the $146.7 billion in the same period in 2006.The reasons?Economic growth and job creation have remained fairly strong over the past couple of years and have increased the demand for more commercial space, and there also hasn’t been much overbuilding, NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said."These fundamentals will continue to support commercial real estate markets in 2006," Yun said in a statement last week.Commercial development in the East Valley seems to be mirroring the national trend. Millions of square feet of office and industrial space are under construction or in planning. Local commercial experts say that the market will likely slow from its record heights in the coming months but remain strong in 2008.

Forbes magazine recently ranked Phoenix No. 3 on a list of the best places for a renter to get a good deal. Tha magazine looked at 40 of the country’s largest cities for the study.Apartment vacancy rates have been on the rise in the Valley as failed condominium conversions and a growing number of single-family homes have been turned into rentals, increasing the supply. That’s caused many complex owners to offer incentives, such as a month of free rent with a 12-month lease.Here are the rest of Forbes’ top 10 best places for renters: Atlanta, Denver, Las Vegas, Tampa, Houston, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Sacramento and Dallas.

Last month, Arizona had a total of 8,815 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — a 50 percent jump from July and 243 percent increase from August 2006, according to research firm RealtyTrac. Meanwhile, the national outlook also remained grim.Nationwide, there were 243,947 foreclosure filings in August, up 36 percent from July and up 115 percent from the same month last year. It was the largest number of foreclosure filings reported by RealtyTrac since the company began issuing monthly reports in January 2005.Arizona ranked No. 7 for foreclosure rates, while Nevada held the top spot. The top 10 also included California (No. 2), Florida (No. 3), Georgia (No. 4), Ohio (No. 5), Michigan (No. 6), Colorado (No. 8), Texas (No. 9) and Indiana (No. 10).

In the past couple of weeks, more than 4,700 people have signed an online petition that asks senators and members of Congress not to support efforts to bail out mortgage lenders and borrowers with taxpayer dollars.According to the Associated Press, Thomas Roach of Sarasota, Fla., a 30-year-old information technology specialist for a financial firm, posted the Tax Payers Against a Wall Street and Mortgage Bailout petition. As of Wednesday afternoon, 4,733 people had signed it.Roach says in the petition that it isn’t right for him to pay for "other peoples’ financial excesses" and that a bailout "will only reward lenders and borrowers who acted irresponsibly."What do you think? Should the government help out troubled borrowers?Check out Roach’s petition and comments from signers here.

The mortgage market crunch is expected to further dampen home sales — postponing a potential housing market recovery until at least 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors.NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said tighter credit standards have had a notable impact on sales, especially in August and September. However, the association does expect sales to rise next year.Existing-home sales are projected to reach 5.92 million in 2007 and climb to 6.27 million in 2008. That’s compared with 6.48 million sales in 2006. The median price for an existing home is expected to drop 1.7 percent this year to $218,200 then rise 2.2 percent to $223,000 in 2008, according to NAR.Some local experts say, however, that hoping for a recovery next year may be too optimistic. There are still more than 50,000 existing homes for sale in the Valley. Both the new and resale home markets will continue to feel the crunch until that excess inventory is whittled down. Some industry observers have even said the market may not see signs of recovery until 2009.

Sales of existing homes are likely to keep falling in the coming months as the mortgage crisis continues to weaken the housing market.The Pending Home Sales Index, released by the National Association of Realtors, declined 12.2 percent in July from the month before and was 16.1 percent lower than July 2006. The index is based on transactions where contracts were signed in July but had not yet closed."Our members are telling us some sales contracts aren’t closing because mortgage commitments have been falling through at the last moment," NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.The ripple effects are also being felt throughout the Valley, as real estate agents, home sellers and new home builders watch deals fall through because of tightening lending standards.