By Zach Dunkin

Indianapolis Star

With lenders struggling, borrowers defaulting and credit tightening, qualifying for a mortgage is becoming increasingly difficult. Even people who may have good credit are having a difficult time landing a mortgage because the lenders are becoming more conservative.

Like they used to be.

When Al Thorup first started originating mortgage loans 25 years ago, it took a solid credit score, a down payment and some extra cash in the bank to qualify for a loan.

“Those guidelines were based upon years of experience and knowledge throughout the history of the business,” said Thorup, now executive director of Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association, an Indianapolis-based trade association in the real estate finance industry. “And they made sense.”

Then it got easier. Too easy.

“For the last several years, the lenders have been so loose with their money that if you had a pulse and could fog up the mirror, you were pre- qualified,” said Bryan Traylor, a mortgage loan officer for Fifth Third Bank. “This has really come back to bite us.”

Tanikia Meeks, a Realtor for DW Real Estate Group on the Northwestside, says business has slipped, but “people are still buying.”

“Financially, you have to be prepared more now than ever before,” she said. “You’re going to have to have money to get a home.”

The squeeze is not limited to lower income brackets, according to Dick Richwine, Indiana’s top-selling agent for Century 21 Realtors for eight of the last 10 years. He recently had a deal on a $510,000 home “with people fighting to buy it” fall through because of mortgage issues.

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Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) — New-home sales in the U.S. improved in July from a 17-year low and construction cutbacks by builders reduced the glut of properties on the market by the most in almost five decades.

Sales increased 2.4 percent to a 515,000 annual pace that was lower than anticipated after a revised 503,000 rate in June, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The number of unsold homes on the market fell 5.2 percent, the most since November 1963, to a 416,000 pace.

Lower prices have made homes more affordable for Americans still able to obtain a mortgage, stemming the slide in demand and making it more likely the property glut will clear. A more stable housing market would eliminate one of the biggest risks to the economy even as the credit crisis and job losses threaten growth.

“We’re hopefully getting in the vicinity of a bottom,” David Resler, chief U.S. economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York, said before the report. Still, “we’re a long way from a recovery. We’ll see activity at low levels for a while.”

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The candidate’s three-page housing policy statement doesn’t say how many houses Obama owns (one), but offers plenty of speculation about the causes of the housing crisis, tons of rhetoric about the value of home ownership and a broad overview of the programs he supports. The statement offers some general insights into Obama’s perspective on housing, but includes hardly any meaningful details about how his plans would be implemented.

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By Shari Rudavsky  Indy Star

Indiana State Department of Health officials have issued a warning that levels of blue-green algae are high enough at Eagle Creek, Geist and Morse reservoirs for swimmers to exercise caution when in the water.

Tests at the three popular swimming spots did not find dangerously high levels of a toxin that the blue-green algae can produce. But Department of Health officials are advising people to tread carefully in the water and avoid direct contact with the algae — actually a bacteria, called cyanobacteria — which can irritate the skin.

“Right now, we’re just saying, ‘It’s there — you need to be aware,’ ” said Dr. James Howell, a state epidemiologist. “We’re not going to say stay out of the water; be aware that there is a risk.”

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Home prices continue to tumble across the country, making homes more affordable in most U.S. cities, according to a new report released Tuesday.

Nationally, 55% of homes sold from April through June were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $61,500, according to a quarterly report released Tuesday by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

That’s up from 53.8% in the first quarter of 2008, and the most affordable home prices have been since the second quarter of 2004.”Homes became more affordable because median income and interest rates remained about the same throughout the country, as home prices continued to fall,” said Gopal Ahluwalia, an NAHB economist.

Median home prices dropped to $215,000 in the quarter, which are about 10% below year-ago levels of $240,000, according to NAHB.

“This is definitely positive news, because more people can afford to buy a home,” said Ahluwalia. “Still, actual sales haven’t picked up, because people are waiting on the sidelines as they fear home prices will continue to decline.”

Falling home sales have battered the homebuilding industry. The NAHB study followed a Census Bureau report also released Tuesday that showed home building fell sharply in July to a 17-year low. Monday, a monthly NAHB report showed homebuilders’ confidence in the housing market remained at record low levels.

Tale of two cities: Indianapolis and New York

Indianapolis led the the nation’s major metro areas in home affordability for the 12th straight quarter. The median price of homes sold during the second quarter was $108,000, down from $122,000 last year. And 91.6% of the households there earning the median income of $65,100 could afford to buy a median priced home. That’s up from 86.8% last year.

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Tickets are on sale now!

Performances by legendary recording artists.

Over 50 of the biggest names in TV, film, sports and music will participate in the live phone bank, answering calls from viewers who want to donate.

Segments on cutting-edge research — likely to be reported by network news anchors Katie Couric, Charles Gibson, and Brian Williams — will include intimate dialogue with the renowned scientists who are making the big, potentially life-saving discoveries.

Celebrity performances and participation in special live and filmed pieces designed to educate, inspire and entertain.

+ Tune in September 5th, 2008 at 8:00 pm, ABC, CBS, NBC

 You can also log on to the website standup2cancer.org for additional information

By Zack O’Malley Greenburg

Steve Schwartz and his wife, Lori, have spent the last 30 years running Schwartz’s Bait and Tackle in Noblesville, Ind. Just 15 miles north of downtown Indianapolis, they sell fishing equipment and rent canoes to locals like Indianapolis Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri and former Formula One racer Derek Daly.

They’ve also discovered something most Americans are still searching for: the ideal place to raise a family. Their sons, Pete and Eddie, 26 and 22, who still help out at the store, are the products of an idyllic upbringing in Hamilton County,

“It’s the best of the best,” says the 47-year-old Schwartz, also a Hamilton County councilman, referring to the area and its quaint hamlets, low crime and desirable cost of living. “It’s a great place to raise your family. It’s safe, it’s fun, it’s affordable and it’s growing.”

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Don’t let money woes get the best of you

TODAY financial editor Jean Chatzky offers tips to combat financial anxiety

You’re stressed. How do I know? Because my mailbox is overflowing with e-mail from people who are overwhelmed. For some, it’s the combination of high gas prices and a 40-minute drive to work. Others have had their hours — and their paychecks — cut back. Countless others are sick of seeing higher prices whenever they walk into a grocery store. People all over the country are being hammered by this economy, and it’s taking a toll on not just our wallets, but on our health.

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