Although prices in some regions are still dropping, the pace of decline is generally levelling off, notes Sal Guatieri, an economist in Toronto at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. Home prices have fallen to the most affordable levels in years. Only 12.1 per cent of an American family’s gross median income is needed to finance the typical house, which is about half the historical rate, Mr. Guatieri said in a recent report.

“While there’s little urgency, now is likely a good time to buy U.S. real estate in regions with relatively low foreclosure rates, as conditions should improve enough to put a floor under prices this year,” Mr. Guatieri said. “The inventory overhang has ebbed, prices are low, and some pent-up demand exists.”

A survey by BMO showed that almost 16 per cent of Canadians would consider buying a home in the U.S. The bank, however, cautions that patience remains a virtue for bargain hunters who are searching for homes in areas saddled with many distressed properties. In those areas, prices may still have further to fall.

For that reason, FHA loans became vastly more popular after the implosion of the subprime mortgage market.

But now these loans are getting more expensive, meaning buyers who get FHA-insured mortgages have less purchasing power when they go house shopping, according to local mortgage professionals.

“It’s been a real challenge for some customers,” said Louisville loan officer Adam Hall, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Kentucky.

Earlier this month, the federal government increased the monthly insurance premium it charges to FHA borrowers for the third time since 2010.

The additional money that borrowers must pay each month does not go toward equity in the home or interest owed — it simply protects the government from losses in case the borrower stops paying.

The changes that went into effect April 9 mean a borrower buying a $200,000 house with a minimum 3.5 percent down payment would pay $201.04 a month for mortgage insurance, an increase of $16.08 a month, according to an example provided by First Commonwealth Mortgage of Louisville.

When buying a new home real savings can be made by getting the right home insurance. Comparison sites, such as comparethemarket.com, can help new home owners find the best deal to suit their property.

David Jackson, Director of Insurance Partnerships at comparethemarket.com said: “There is so much to think about when you move home, especially for those taking their first step onto the property ladder. By using comparethemarket.com, homeowners can find the right level of cover with ease and make some great savings along the way.”

Specialising in more than just home insurance, comparethemarket.com provides customers with an easy way to find the right deal on a wide range of insurance and financial products including car insurance, van insurance, bike insurance, life insurance, pet insurance and credit cards. It also offers comparisons for a range of household utilities including electricity, gas, phone, broadband and digital TV.

*Source for property sale figures: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-1671748/House-prices-What-expect–news-predictions.html

About comparethemarket.com

comparethemarket.com was launched in 2006 and has grown rapidly over the past six years to become one of the UK’s leading price comparison websites.

comparethemarket.com provides customers with an easy way to make the right choice for them on a wide range of products including motor, home, life, travel and pet insurance as well as utilities and money products such as, credit cards and loans.

comparethemarket.com actively selects its brand partners, working with the best and most trusted organisations to ensure quality service to consumers.

comparethemarket.com is a trading name of BISL Limited. BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

IAG will hold 30 percent of AAA after the Ho Chi Minh City- based company issues new shares, Do Thi Kim Lien, chief executive officer and chairman of AAA, said yesterday by phone. The stake is valued at less than $20 million, IAG said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange, adding it has the option to raise its holding to 49 percent.

“Vietnam’s insurance market has just started so there are a lot of opportunities to explore,” Lien said.

IAG joins German insurer Talanx AG to tap the non-life insurance market in Vietnam that is growing at a 20 percent annual pace. Talanx in August agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in PVI Holdings for 1.9 trillion dong ($91 million) to seek a foothold in the Southeast Asian nation.

“A strategic priority for IAG is to boost its Asian footprint, with Vietnam identified as a target market,” Sydney- based Andrew Tubb, corporate affairs manager at IAG, said today in an e-mail in response to a Bloomberg News request to confirm the stake purchase. “IAG is currently reviewing opportunities in Vietnam, and will update the market should an agreement be reached.”

Asian Expansion

The Sydney-based insurer also said in the stock exchange announcement it expects the transaction to be completed by June. It said its goal is for its business in Asia to make up 10 percent of its gross premium by 2016. In the region, the company said it’s targeting India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

IAG said last week that its Malaysian joint venture, AmG Insurance, entered into a conditional agreement to acquire Kurnia Insurans (Malaysia) Bhd. for about A$480 million that will make it the nation’s biggest general insurer.

Non-life insurance revenue in Vietnam may increase 20 percent to about 24.2 trillion dong in 2012, compared with a 15 percent growth in the life insurance sector, according to a report on the Association of Vietnamese Insurers’ website.

“Vietnam’s insurance market has a lot of potential to continue growing,” said Nguyen Thu Ha, an analyst at Bao Viet Securities Co., a unit of Vietnam’s biggest insurer. “As their income increases, Vietnamese people will spend more money on insurance.”

Non-life insurance density in Vietnam was $10.30 in premiums per capita, compared with $141.80 in Malaysia and $77.60 in Thailand in 2010, according to a report by Swiss Re.

Notices of default, repossession and auction were sent out to almost 573,000 properties. That was 2% less than the previous quarter that ended in December 2011 and 16% lower than the first quarter of 2011. The latest total was also the lowest quarterly total since the last quarter of 2007. The total amounted to one of every 230 households in the U.S. received a foreclosure filing of one sort.

Brandon Moore, the CEO of RealtyTrac said, “The low number of foreclosure notices is not an indication the huge number of distressed properties has miraculously disappeared. The dam will not break for another month or more, but it will break and everyone needs to be prepared that that will happen.”

In February, the country’s five largest banks entered a settlement of $25 billion for foreclosure practices that were deemed inappropriate by the government, following a 16-month investigation by the attorneys general of all 50 states. That settlement allowed lenders to once again resume their efforts to seize properties.

Estimates of how many homes that will be foreclosed upon or lost in a distressed sale is between 1.6 million and 8 million. The 1.6 million figure represents the number of homes already that have received notices of foreclosure.

The FHA previously had said that starting this month, it would disqualify people with more than $1,000 in medical or other collections from getting FHA-backed mortgage loans.

It was considered a blow for first-time homebuyers, who often depend on FHA mortgages. FHA requires down payments of just 3.5 percent to 5 percent, allows gifts from family members for down payments and lets sellers pay closing costs.

“They’ve kicked it back, and they’re going to look at it,” said Jack Shull, San Antonio branch manager of Guild Mortgage Co. “It was a nice Easter surprise. We had been rushing like crazy to get case numbers ordered for people before it went into effect. Then they come out at the twilight hour and change it. I have a woman under contract to buy a house, and I’m not sure she even likes it.”

Wilmington-based online brokerage HomeInsurance.com has been taken over by Red Ventures and expects to hire 200 people in the next two years.Red Ventures, based in Fort Mill, S.C., announced the deal Tuesday.

Red Ventures is a technology company that works with clients to generate leads and sell products.

“They use technology to drive customers and convert those customers into sales,” said Carlos Lagomarsino, who has headed HomeInsurance.com since its founding in 2007 and will continue on as general manager of Red Ventures’ insurance division.

He added that the merger will mean major expansion of HomeInsurance.com’s business and employment here over the next five years. The company hopes to triple its growth rate in the next two years and to increase it by seven to tenfold in the next five years.

The insurance company has 130 employees at its call center at 4829 Carolina Beach Road. It is hiring now, Lagomarsino said.

HomeInsurance.com became profitable in 2010, the same year that it acquired the domain name HomeownersInsurance.com for $570,000, Lagomarsino said.

It also has developed NChomeinsurance.com, SChomeinsurance.com and similar sites in the total of 45 states where it operates.

The company gives premium quotes to 50,000 people a month and brokers for Travelers, Hartford, Safeco, Foremost, Progressive, Liberty Mutual and American Strategic, Lagomarsino said.

Now records show Mayfield could lose his home to foreclosure.

The clerk of court said Mayfield’s houses and his 450 acres of property could be auctioned on the courthouse steps at the end of the month if he does not pay up.

On his way into the Catawba County Justice Center, former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield said he hopes to keep his sprawling estate in eastern Catawba County, but is prepared to leave later this month.

“We’re not for sure what we are going to do. We might move on. Who knows, you know?” he said.

According to foreclosure papers filed at the courthouse, Mayfield’s Monthly Payment is $19,000. He currently owes just over $2.3 million in principal and has accrued interest in excess of $334,000.

Mayfield was in court Monday on charges of possession of meth, possession of stolen property and obtaining property by false pretenses after police searched his property last November.

He will go back in front of a judge on those charges June 25.

Mayfield still has his supporters and people trying to figure out his next move after hearing about his financial difficulties today.

“Ain’t no way he is going to be able to afford that or foot that,” said Artis Linebarger, one of Mayfield’s neighbors.

“I think a lot of people got it in for him, and I think if he gets a chance to go to court and 12 people hear this, they’ll find he’s not guilty of everything they say he is,” said Fred Travis.

The National Association of Realtors’ seasonally adjusted index for pending sales of existing homes decreased 0.5% on a monthly basis to 96.5. The results were 9.2% above the same month a year earlier.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast that pending home sales would rise by 1.0% on a monthly basis from a January reading of 97.0.

Despite the small decrease for February, the Realtors’ top economist said the market is showing new signs of life.

“The spring home buying season looks bright because of an elevated level of contract offers so far this year,” said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist. “If activity is sustained near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in five years.”

The index tracks agreements to purchase homes. A sale is considered pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction hasn’t closed. Pending sales typically close within one or two months of signing.

The housing market has been one of the weakest parts of the U.S. economy. Recent economic data show it is starting to get back on track after a price collapse that began 5 1/2 years ago–though the market remains uneven.

Mortgage rates have been hovering around the lowest recorded levels, employers have stepped up hiring and economists’ forecasts have become less gloomy.

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. dipped slightly last month, but still recorded the strongest February in five years.

“Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has reported that there is no proposal to shift the insurance sector to a paperless model,” Minister of State for Finance, Namo Narain Meena said in written reply to Lok Sabha on Friday.

He further said, “The insurance companies could continue to issue paper insurance policies. However, where an insurer issues e-insurance policies, the company shall do so at the option of the policyholder by utilising the services of an insurance repository licensed by the Authority.”

“The insurers issue the electronic policies only at the option of the policyholders thus the paperless model is unlikely to create inconvenience to the illiterate and rural population of remote villages,” the Minister added.

It is also clarified that all insurance policies in electronic form shall be treated as valid insurance contracts.

According to the information provided by IRDA to the government, there are five entities which have been granted in-principle approval to act as insurance repositories to hold insurance policies in electronic form on behalf of policy holders.

These entities are NSDL Database Management Limited; CDSL Ventures Limited; Stockholding Corporation of India Limited; Karvy Consultants limited; and Repository Services Limited.

It is explained that the objective of an insurance repository is to provide policyholders with a facility to keep insurance policies in electronic form and undertake changes, modifications and revisions in the insurance policy.

These are to be done with speed and accuracy in order to bring efficiency, transparency and cost reduction in the issuance and maintenance of insurance policies.