The nation's homeowners paid a median of $1,000 in monthly housing costs in 2009, while renters paid a median of $808 per month, according to the 2009 American Housing Survey released Thursday by the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). And while the number of Americans who own homes are falling, the number getting into reverse mortgages is gaining considerably.

Compared to 2007, the number of homeowners that owned their home free and clear decreased 1.3% to 24.2m in 2009 from 24.9m. The amount of regular and home-equity mortgages increased 1.4% to 50.3m from 48.7 in 2007. Reverse mortgages increased 59% to 252,000 from 159,000 while line of credit options decreased to 1.7m from 1.8m.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages propelled 2.2% to 6.3m. Veteran Affairs (VA) mortgages decreased 0.3% to 3.7m in 2009. Rural Housing Service/Rural Development (RHS/RD) mortgages held steady only increasing to 435,000 in 2009 from 426,000 in 2007.

The majority of homeowners in 2009, 35.8m or 46.9%, had a primary mortgage term between 28 and 32 years.

The survey also measures homeowner/renter satisfaction with neighborhood and satisfaction with the home. The 2009 survey indicates that respondents were generally content with where and how they were living:

• 70% rated their homes an 8, 9, or 10 out of 10, with 28% giving their home a 10

• 84% of residents in newly constructed homes rated their homes between an 8 and 10, with 45% giving their home a perfect score

• 68% rated their neighborhood highly, with 25% giving it the "best" rating

And in a further drilling down of household expenditures as it relates to purchases, in terms of renters versus owners, it turns out that having a mortgage represents a larger ability to feed oneself. The report said 9.3m renters, or 26.4%, in 2009 lived below the poverty level compared with only 6.4m homeowners, or 8.4%, that lived below the poverty level.

Three years ago, homeowners paid a median of $927 in monthly housing costs, an average of 20% of their household income. The median household income for homeowners was $59,886 and 8.8% were living below the poverty line. Renters in 2007 spent a median of $755 in monthly housing costs, an average of 30% of their household income. The median household income was $28,921 and 20.2% were living below the poverty level.

The American Housing Survey is released every two years and covers a wide range of topics with regard to housing conditions, including presence of air conditioning, safety equipment provided, type of heating used, presence of air conditioning and homeowner mortgage characteristics.

Write to Christine Ricciardi.

One in four real estate professionals surveyed by the analytics firm Clear Capital said the BP oil spill has caused home sales along the Gulf Coast to come to a "halt."

More than half of the respondents who said the oil spill was having a negative impact also reported the incident had pushed home values down 5% to 15%. But the impact isn't just on values. More than 3% of respondents reported actual property damage from the spill. Many said sales have come to a stand still.

In Mobile, Ala., home sales dropped 25% in June from last year, and other areas in southeastern Alabama and Florida reported decreased sales and property values because of the spill. In Panama City, Fla., professionals reported a 32.5% drop in sales volume from a year ago.

"The results of our survey reflect the overall uncertainty of where and by how much the oil spill is affecting individual local markets," said Alex Villacorta, senior statistician at Clear Capital. "While social stigma appears to be the largest factor influencing the slowdown in home buying activity, it is clear the effects of the spill are being felt well inland from the coast."

But the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit can't be spared blame, either. Pending home sales nationwide plummeted 30% in May after the expiration, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and July home sales have dropped another 27% from last year, according to the real estate brokerage chain RE/MAX.

"Many of these local markets in the Gulf have already experienced significant price declines over the last few years as well as a recent drop off in sales volume after the tax credit expiration," Villacorta said. "Additional downward pressure in the form of stigma and loss of employment will only serve to further dampen home price recovery."

Other firms are trying to determine the effect the spill is having on real estate values. This week, Greenfield Advisors, which specializes in complex real estate valuation and advisory services, launched a new website to determine that impact.

"Given that the data reveals a huge impact in housing markets due to real or perceived influences, the changing nature of public sentiment regarding the spill will undoubtedly drive market changes," according to the Clear Capital report.

Write to Jon Prior.

In the first part of 2010, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) passed a mandate that mortgage processors and underwriters must become licensed as loan originators. According to an email sent today from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the trade group successfully convinced the OFR to reverse this requirement.

"[Mortgage] processors and underwriters support the origination function and have limited contact with borrowers, and, moreover, many companies have erected firewalls between the origination and underwriting functions to preserve the integrity of the loan process and in response to the Home Valuation Code of Conduct," said the email from the MBA, explaining its argument to the state of Florida for rule reversal.

Additionally, underwriters who work for one employer also will not be subject to the existing requirements that loan processors file certain mortgage brokers or mortgage lenders declarations with the state of Florida.

In issuing its opinion, the assistant general counsel for the OFR, Jenny Kim, said that the state of Florida considers a "loan originator" as anyone who "processes a mortgage loan application." Underwriters did not clearly fit this description, Kim writes, as they instead provide support work under the supervision of an originator, according to Section 1503(4) of the S.A.F.E. Act.

"Please keep in mind that in-house underwriters that work for a licensed lender must be supervised by a licensed loan originator in order to comply with the S.A.F.E. Act and Florida statutes," Kim concludes.

Write to Jacob Gaffney.

Bay Area home sales for July fell to the lowest level in 15 years and the year-over-year decline is the largest for any month since May 2008.

MDA DataQuick said 6,773 homes were sold during the month across the nine-county area of central California, which is down 22.8% from a year ago and 19.1% lower than June.

The San Diego real estate research firm said the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit hampered sales for the month. But the July numbers haven’t been this weak since 6,666 homes sold in 1995 and are off 28.8% from 1988, when DataQuick began collecting the data.

“There’s been a pause in the market,” MDA DataQuick president John Walsh said. “Some potential buyers – including those who held off until the tax credits expired – will take their time to assess market conditions, searching for signs of renewed price cuts. Depending on the economy and other factors, that might be what some of them find, especially in areas with a growing number of homes for sale – particularly distressed properties.”

Sales of foreclosed properties accounted for 26.1% of July’s total. That number is up slightly from 25.6% in June yet down from 33.6% a year ago. DataQuick said foreclosure sales peaked in February at 52% of all sales that month.

Some 10.3% of all new loans in July were adjustable-rate mortgages, down from 12.2% last month but up from 6.6% a year ago. The average monthly ARM rate over the last decade is nearly 50% and ARMs hit a low of 3% in January 2009, according to DataQuick.

FHA loans accounted for 23.3% of Bay Area purchase lending last month, down from 25% percent in June and from 24.1% a year ago. Two years ago FHA loans were just 12.7% of purchase mortgages.

Write to Jason Philyaw.