Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 03:43PM
Blind Leading Blind
As a REALTOR you recognize that stabilizing the current mortgage market turmoil requires an immediate and significant response from Congress. I strongly recommend contacting your Member of Congress to ask for his or her YES vote on H.R. 1852, the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007 and a YES vote on the Frank-Miller-Cardoza amendment. H.R. 1852 reforms the FHA program by building on the strength and security of successfully insuring mortgages for more than 70 years. It is the immediate and significant response necessary to return stability to the mortgage market.
The amendment offered by Congressmen Frank (D-MA), Gary Miller (R-CA) and Cardoza (D-CA) raises the single-family FHA loan limits to 125% of area median home prices and permits the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to grant additional increases if required by market conditions. Sincerely, If you need technical assistance with responding to this Call For Action, please call 1-866-711-5643 M-F 8:30AM to 5:30PM EST. If you have any policy related questions, please contact us at comments@realtoractioncenter.com |
Jim the Realtor
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Thursday, August 16, 2007 at 12:09PM
More Babble
DataQuick analyst John Karevoll interpreted the prices and sales as a sign that San Diego real estate may be nearing the bottom of the post-boom period.
“Most of the declines in San Diego have happened,” Karevoll said. “Now it appears to be re-establishing a balance that we have yet to see for the (Southern California) region.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070814-9999-1n14prices.html
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Near-Term Home Sales to Hold in Modest Range |
WASHINGTON, August 08, 2007 - The housing market will probably hold close to present levels in the months ahead, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®. Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said he isn’t looking for any notable changes in sales activity. “Existing-home sales should be relatively stable over the next few months, holding in a modest range, with some pent-up demand growing from buyers who’ve been on the sidelines,” he said. “Mortgage disruptions will hold back sales over the short term, but long-term fundamentals are favorable. A modest upturn is projected for existing-home sales toward the end of the year, with broader improvement to include the new-home market by the middle of 2008.” Existing-home sales are forecast at 6.04 million in 2007 and 6.38 million next year, below the 6.48 million recorded in 2006. New-home sales are expected to total 852,000 this year and 848,000 in 2008, down from 1.05 million in 2006. Housing starts, including multifamily units, are likely to total 1.43 million in 2007 and 1.40 million next year, below the 1.80 million units started in 2006. “With the population growing, the demand for homes isn’t going away – it’s just being delayed,” Yun said. “More buyers, and cutbacks in new construction, will eventually draw down the inventory levels and support future price appreciation, but general gains will be modest next year. Serious buyers today have a long-term view of housing as an investment – speculators have left the market.” Existing-home prices should ease by 1.2 percent to a median of $219,300 in 2007 before rising 2.0 percent next year to $223,600. The median new-home price will probably fall 2.3 percent to $240,800 in 2007, and then rise 2.3 percent next year to $246,300. |
Thursday, August 16, 2007 at 12:07PM
What a Joke
Thursday, August 16, 2007
It has been a busy letter-writing week for the National Association of Realtors.
The trade group for about 1.3 million Realtors announced Wednesday that it sent a letter urging the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors "to adopt regulations that combat unfair, deceptive and abuse mortgage lending acts and practices" in light of "the collapse of several investment funds and the failure of more than 100 subprime lenders."
Pat V. Combs, the association's president, said in a statement, "The Fed must act responsibly to protect consumers, and NAR pledges its support. We champion the principle that all mortgage originators should act in 'good faith and with fair dealings' in all transactions."
Earlier in the week, the Realtor group joined with the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Home Builders trade groups in a letter to the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight that urges that agency "to temporarily increase the caps on the investment portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with appropriate conditions, to help inject needed liquidity and stability into the mortgage market."
The groups also stated in that letter, "The nation's mortgage markets are facing a liquidity crisis of a force and magnitude not seen in decades. The chill will have far-reaching effects throughout the housing market if stability is not restored."
NAR's letter to the Fed, meanwhile, seeks a range of restrictions on lending practices, such as a ban or severe restrictions on the use of prepayment penalties for subprime mortgages. Such penalties can "haunt" homeowners when they try to refinance, Combs stated, and can have the impact of trapping homeowners into an undesirable mortgage.
The letter also urged the Fed to require that subprime lenders provide an escrow reserve for taxes and insurance, which "will protect borrowers from large payments they can't afford and help insure they understand the total cost of their monthly mortgage," Combs stated.
The group, which adopted a set of goals for responsible lending practices earlier this year, also is pushing the Fed board to mandate underwriting standards that require all mortgage originators to verify a borrower's ability to repay a loan, and to ensure that "stated-income" and "low-doc" loans are used only sparingly.
Also among NAR's Fed wish list:
- Adopt anti-mortgage-flipping regulations that require lenders to verify that the new loan provides a significant benefit to the borrower;
- Encourage lenders to use alternative credit histories for borrowers with little or no credit histories;
- Require all institutional lenders to periodically report borrowers' payment histories to at least three national credit bureaus;
- Require lenders to offer borrowers mortgage choices with interest rates and fees that reflect the borrower's credit risk;
- Working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, improve consumer mortgage disclosure under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
"NAR believes that existing guidelines are not enough to protect consumers, and is pleased that the Board has made the first step toward this rulemaking. However, we still believe that each state should retain the authority to adopt its own high standards," Combs stated.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 05:37PM
More Psycho Babble
I'll move this post over to the Psycho Babble category after a few days.
The North SD County Association of Realtors' HomeDex email did arrive, but they didn't report any big price drop - they said that in North SD County the median was flat in January compared to previous month, and year-over-year ($625,000). Here are the other highlights:
"The housing market is remaining stable with signs of optimism as the market swings into spring and early summer - traditionally the best time of year for the housing market."
"The present market conditions are highly ideal for buyers. Interest rates remain comparable to 40-year lows and inventories becoming higher than has been the case in recent past."
"Conditions may not last with early indications that the housing market outlook is improving. Prices are expected to rise modestly next year."
These are our leaders. They are in the position to help agents help their clients. I don't expect them to work too hard to produce a lot of supporting documentation, but PLEASE, can you offer more than the median sales price to back up your statements?
They did mention that the median days-on-market lengthened from 61 to 71 days in January and that detached sales dropped 25% since December, and an 8% drop year-over-year. No help offered though on how to explain the impact to our clients.
I apologize to the community on behalf of all realtors - you deserve better than this. Stay tuned here and I'll do my best to keep the pertinent data coming your way.
Saturday, February 10, 2007 at 03:53PM
Lereah says "Bottom".
Received today by email:
Saturday, February 10, 2007
REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP
by JOHN LUNDIN
John Lundin & Associates
Real Estate Slump May Have Bottomed Out
The final housing numbers for 2006 are in, and they confirm what anyone who bought or sold a home last year has suspected: It was the worst housing slump in nearly two decades, both locally and nationally.
The freshest numbers also provided tea leaves for the more pressing question: has the housing market bottomed out yet — or will prices slide further before the market recovers?
After an historic five-year boom propelled by a strong economy and low interest rate, the real estate market went bust in 2006, according to the final tally released by the National Association of Realtors. Nationally sales of existing single-family homes fell 8.4 percent to about 6.5 million, the biggest annual decline since a 14.8 percent drop in 1989.
Like everything in real estate, a lot depended on location, location, location. The West — which had seen outsized gains during the boom — was hit hardest by the slump, with sales off nearly 16 percent last year. Sales in the South were down 7 percent, while the Midwest and Northeast saw sales fall nearly 6 percent for the year.
Double-digit price gains that sparked a frenzy of condo flipping and speculative building also came to an abrupt halt last year. The median price of an existing home rose just 1.1 percent last year — less than inflation — compared with 12.4 percent in 2005.
Those numbers have driven away much of the quick-buck crowd that loaded up on unbuilt condos and helped fuel the rapid rise in prices. In 2005, some 40 percent of the market represented investment or second-home purchases. Comparable figures for 2006 were not yet available, but the departure of those investors should help stabilize the market, according to David Lereah, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.
“With fingers and toes crossed, it appears that we have hit bottom in the existing-home market,” he said.
The trade group's official forecast calls for a 1.2 percent drop in sales of existing homes this year and a 1.5 percent increase in the median price.
Some market watchers note that at 6.5 million sales a year the pace of homes sales is still strong by pre-boom standards. And there are signs that the slump is easing, if not reversing course. Brian Westbury, chief economist at First Trust Advisors, notes that lumber prices, mortgage activity and some homebuilder stocks have begun to pick up.
“It looks to me as though maybe we haven't reached the complete bottom yet, but we're in the bottoming phase right now,” Westbury says.
The good news is that — unlike some past housing slumps — this one doesn’t look like it’s going to drag the overall economy down with it. Unemployment remains low, consumers seem to be weathering the housing downturn reasonably well, and interest rates are still in check.
In North San Diego County , signs of increasing activity abound. Area Realtors report more buyers are actively looking at homes once again, and more homes have gone into escrow over the past few weeks than during any period since August of last year.
Buyers are still finding an abundance of homes for sale, often at reduced prices. Mortgage financing remains readily available at interest rates that are still near record lows.
This first quarter of the year could be a turning point in the North County real estate market, and it is certainly an attractive time for buyers to be buying.
John Lundin is a San Marcos REALTOR ® and the broker/owner of John Lundin & Associates.
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