I spoke with 3 of the large Title Companies this last week All told basically the same story -
May closing were 3 times the April closings!
Urban legend or is it happening?
Showing posts with label speculation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speculation. Show all posts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Housing Most Affordable
Realty Times of April 10, 2009
Housing Most Affordable: May be Time to Move from Renting to Owning
by Phoebe Chongchua
Falling housing prices, historically low interest rates, and tax credits are creating an enticing environment for renters to convert to homeowners.
"We are still going to have a tremendous amount of foreclosures, price declines, and best opportunities to buy properties at amazing prices," says Bruce Norris of The Norris Group.
If that sounds like a mixed bag of bad and good, indeed it is. Consumers have been inundated with news about a troubled real estate market. "If you look at the closings for California, 55 percent or more closings every month are lender-owned properties; that ratio has never existed before. So, the lenders are really dictating the prices at this point and there are so many lender-owned properties that the appraiser almost has no choice but to give that comp a lot of credence," says Norris. But the good news, especially for those who have been wanting to take the plunge into homeownership is that markets across the country are ripe for choosing the most suitable home.
"The affordability has never been this high. So, in relationship to income, California is the cheapest it's ever been. The fact that prices will still go down kind of means nothing to the person who is going to live in a house for quite a long time -- partly because the interest rates are also historically low," says Norris.
He points to his own daughter as an example. She is getting married this year and buying her own house for the first time.
"I think it's a very bright decision. Do I think her neighborhood might go down for another year-and-a-half, yeah—and to that I say, who cares! She's tying up an interest rate that's probably under 5 percent for 30 years and that may be the real bargain," says Norris.
Her fiancé owns a home but Norris and the couple agreed that her buying a home now is a good opportunity. So after the couple marries they will live in the home in order to receive maximum financial benefits. His daughter is using an FHA loan and putting $4,000 down on a $110,000 California home that was, at the height of the real estate boom worth, $330,000. She will then get a federal tax credit for $8,000 and she can receive that money (in as few as 10 days) now rather than waiting until she files her 2009 tax return. Best of all, the mortgage payment is less than it would cost to rent.
This is a trend that is playing out in many areas across the country. "Fortunately, the interest rates are national so you have that incredible interest rate that is forcing the mortgage payment below rent in many locations, including California. So the area that my daughter is buying in, her rent would be $1,100 and her mortgage payment is going to be about $825," says Norris.
Norris says that, coupled with the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, is making renters weigh their options, "It really is an inducement for people to go from being a renter to an owner."
"There are lots of areas that didn't go up as much as California. Let's pick an area, Texas, for instance, you have houses selling for $110,000 to $120,000 range and the rents there are also pretty high--$1,100 - $1,200 or so—so payments there are also a lot less if they own it," says Norris.
"It's most affordable right now, so you would think that everybody would want in, but real estate right now has a lot of fear attached to it and a lot of uncertainty about jobs," says Norris.
Some markets such as California are working to help alleviate barriers to home ownership. The California Association of Realtors in April introduced the Housing Affordability Fund's Mortgage Protection Program. There are specific eligibility requirements; talk to your Realtor for details.
"People who buy property in 2009 have a safety blanket now of six months of up to $1,500 payments per month that the California Association of Realtors, out of some fund that it has, will pay the people's payments," says Norris. He adds, "I've never heard anything like it."
Norris says while these programs to entice renters to become buyers are attractive, he says make sure you're ready to buy. He says there are specific habits that you should have in place before buying a home.
"You should already have developed a savings habit and you're ready to buy a home because you have a little bit of money left over in case something goes wrong," says Norris.
Another affirming reason to move from renting to buying comes from statistics from John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, California.
The company reports that 50 percent of the 76 metropolitan area markets across the U.S. that are tracked show that people can buy a house (after tax cost of homeownership considered) for less than they could rent one.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2009 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
Housing Most Affordable: May be Time to Move from Renting to Owning
by Phoebe Chongchua
Falling housing prices, historically low interest rates, and tax credits are creating an enticing environment for renters to convert to homeowners.
"We are still going to have a tremendous amount of foreclosures, price declines, and best opportunities to buy properties at amazing prices," says Bruce Norris of The Norris Group.
If that sounds like a mixed bag of bad and good, indeed it is. Consumers have been inundated with news about a troubled real estate market. "If you look at the closings for California, 55 percent or more closings every month are lender-owned properties; that ratio has never existed before. So, the lenders are really dictating the prices at this point and there are so many lender-owned properties that the appraiser almost has no choice but to give that comp a lot of credence," says Norris. But the good news, especially for those who have been wanting to take the plunge into homeownership is that markets across the country are ripe for choosing the most suitable home.
"The affordability has never been this high. So, in relationship to income, California is the cheapest it's ever been. The fact that prices will still go down kind of means nothing to the person who is going to live in a house for quite a long time -- partly because the interest rates are also historically low," says Norris.
He points to his own daughter as an example. She is getting married this year and buying her own house for the first time.
"I think it's a very bright decision. Do I think her neighborhood might go down for another year-and-a-half, yeah—and to that I say, who cares! She's tying up an interest rate that's probably under 5 percent for 30 years and that may be the real bargain," says Norris.
Her fiancé owns a home but Norris and the couple agreed that her buying a home now is a good opportunity. So after the couple marries they will live in the home in order to receive maximum financial benefits. His daughter is using an FHA loan and putting $4,000 down on a $110,000 California home that was, at the height of the real estate boom worth, $330,000. She will then get a federal tax credit for $8,000 and she can receive that money (in as few as 10 days) now rather than waiting until she files her 2009 tax return. Best of all, the mortgage payment is less than it would cost to rent.
This is a trend that is playing out in many areas across the country. "Fortunately, the interest rates are national so you have that incredible interest rate that is forcing the mortgage payment below rent in many locations, including California. So the area that my daughter is buying in, her rent would be $1,100 and her mortgage payment is going to be about $825," says Norris.
Norris says that, coupled with the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, is making renters weigh their options, "It really is an inducement for people to go from being a renter to an owner."
"There are lots of areas that didn't go up as much as California. Let's pick an area, Texas, for instance, you have houses selling for $110,000 to $120,000 range and the rents there are also pretty high--$1,100 - $1,200 or so—so payments there are also a lot less if they own it," says Norris.
"It's most affordable right now, so you would think that everybody would want in, but real estate right now has a lot of fear attached to it and a lot of uncertainty about jobs," says Norris.
Some markets such as California are working to help alleviate barriers to home ownership. The California Association of Realtors in April introduced the Housing Affordability Fund's Mortgage Protection Program. There are specific eligibility requirements; talk to your Realtor for details.
"People who buy property in 2009 have a safety blanket now of six months of up to $1,500 payments per month that the California Association of Realtors, out of some fund that it has, will pay the people's payments," says Norris. He adds, "I've never heard anything like it."
Norris says while these programs to entice renters to become buyers are attractive, he says make sure you're ready to buy. He says there are specific habits that you should have in place before buying a home.
"You should already have developed a savings habit and you're ready to buy a home because you have a little bit of money left over in case something goes wrong," says Norris.
Another affirming reason to move from renting to buying comes from statistics from John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, California.
The company reports that 50 percent of the 76 metropolitan area markets across the U.S. that are tracked show that people can buy a house (after tax cost of homeownership considered) for less than they could rent one.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2009 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Where Housing is Headed
From Realty Times of March 17, 2009
Real Estate Outlook: Where Housing is Headed
by Kenneth R. Harney
We received an important indicator of where housing is headed last week, when new mortgage applications for home purchases and refinances suddenly surged as they hadn't in months.
Applications for FHA loans to buy houses were up by 10.4 percent. And overall home purchase applications jumped by 7.1 percent.
Meanwhile mortgage interest rates dropped to their second lowest level in nearly two decades, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Thirty year fixed rates averaged 4.96 percent and fifteen year rated dropped to just 4.5 percent.
Why's this important? New financing applications to buy homes obviously point to rising purchase contracts and closed sales in the months ahead. They also suggest that prices have hit a level in many markets that is attracting once-hesitant buyers off the sidelines.
There's still another factor that's likely at work here as well: Congress's recent improvements to the home purchase tax credit -- pushing it to $8,000 from $7,500 and making it non-repayable. George Ratiu, research economist for the National Association of Realtors, says the big jump in loan applications could be tied to the improved credit in the stimulus package signed into law last month.
"Consumers may be responding to the stimulation" effect of the better credit for 2009, he said.
But let's be clear here: A rise in home purchase applications does NOT suggest we've turned the corner in the cycle or have solved the multiple challenges facing markets around the country -- high foreclosure levels, continuing domination in some areas of REO and short sales, and continuing increases in the unemployment rate.
Even amid these problems, however, there are some hints of possible improvements ahead. For example, a new study by research firm Realty Trac and USA Today found that despite the constant headlines about record levels of foreclosures, the more closely you look, the more you find that those numbers are highly concentrated in a relatively small number of counties.
More than half of the nation's foreclosures in 2008, researchers found, were concentrated in just 35 counties in 12 states. You can guess where: California, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Florida.
But the really eye-opening finding: In more than 650 other counties, representing one fifth of all markets in the U.S., foreclosure numbers have actually declined since 2006.
Foreclosures are horrible no matter where they occur. But the fact is: Huge portions of the United States have NOT been seeing record foreclosures, short sales or even serious property value declines. They're doing better.
Copyright © 2009 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
Arisona always seems to get a mention - we are No. 2 nationally in Foreclosures in January 2009. I hope most of those are the California Investers that ran our prices up out of reach to most buyers in 2004 and 2005.
.
Real Estate Outlook: Where Housing is Headed
by Kenneth R. Harney
We received an important indicator of where housing is headed last week, when new mortgage applications for home purchases and refinances suddenly surged as they hadn't in months.
Applications for FHA loans to buy houses were up by 10.4 percent. And overall home purchase applications jumped by 7.1 percent.
Meanwhile mortgage interest rates dropped to their second lowest level in nearly two decades, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Thirty year fixed rates averaged 4.96 percent and fifteen year rated dropped to just 4.5 percent.
Why's this important? New financing applications to buy homes obviously point to rising purchase contracts and closed sales in the months ahead. They also suggest that prices have hit a level in many markets that is attracting once-hesitant buyers off the sidelines.
There's still another factor that's likely at work here as well: Congress's recent improvements to the home purchase tax credit -- pushing it to $8,000 from $7,500 and making it non-repayable. George Ratiu, research economist for the National Association of Realtors, says the big jump in loan applications could be tied to the improved credit in the stimulus package signed into law last month.
"Consumers may be responding to the stimulation" effect of the better credit for 2009, he said.
But let's be clear here: A rise in home purchase applications does NOT suggest we've turned the corner in the cycle or have solved the multiple challenges facing markets around the country -- high foreclosure levels, continuing domination in some areas of REO and short sales, and continuing increases in the unemployment rate.
Even amid these problems, however, there are some hints of possible improvements ahead. For example, a new study by research firm Realty Trac and USA Today found that despite the constant headlines about record levels of foreclosures, the more closely you look, the more you find that those numbers are highly concentrated in a relatively small number of counties.
More than half of the nation's foreclosures in 2008, researchers found, were concentrated in just 35 counties in 12 states. You can guess where: California, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Florida.
But the really eye-opening finding: In more than 650 other counties, representing one fifth of all markets in the U.S., foreclosure numbers have actually declined since 2006.
Foreclosures are horrible no matter where they occur. But the fact is: Huge portions of the United States have NOT been seeing record foreclosures, short sales or even serious property value declines. They're doing better.
Copyright © 2009 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
Arisona always seems to get a mention - we are No. 2 nationally in Foreclosures in January 2009. I hope most of those are the California Investers that ran our prices up out of reach to most buyers in 2004 and 2005.
.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Prices Up In Certain Markets
August 7, 2008
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Real Estate Outlook: Prices Up In Certain Markets
by Kenneth R. Harney
When you're in a long, slow recovery period in real estate, even the slightest hint of good news can be significant.
We saw that last week, when the controversial Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index came out.
You may have seen the headlines or watched the gloomy news reports on TV: Prices were down again -- this time by nearly 16 percent year to year -- in 20 of the largest U.S. markets.
Now even if you accept the validity of that index as a measure of what's really going on in prices nationwide -- and we have always had serious doubts about it -- when you scratch below the surface of the latest monthly report, you find some surprisingly positive developments that got little or no media attention.
Number one: Prices in seven of Case-Shiller's top markets actually were UP for the month. They include Denver, Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Charlotte, Portland and Dallas.
Number two: The month to month change for the entire index was a minus nine tenths of one percent. We all know the index is disproportionately weighted toward the most volatile, high-cost markets of the boom years, so when the monthly change is less than one percent, it begins to look like the curve is finally flattening out.
That's definitely positive news, especially coming from the most bearish source in the real estate marketplace.
In other economic developments affecting housing this week, recession fears were put off for still another quarter, as the U.S. economy continued to expand and defy the doomsayers. The Gross Domestic Product (or GDP) rose at a 1.9 percent rate in the second quarter, up from nine tenths of one percent in the first quarter.
Mortgage rates dropped to 6.46 percent for 30 year fixed rate loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. Fifteen years rates slid below the 6 percent mark again, down from 6.1 percent last week. Both are lower than year ago levels.
The main negative at work at the moment is the unemployment rate, which jumped again last month and now stands at 5.7 percent. However, the Labor Department just revised its employment numbers upward by 26,000 for the prior two months. As a result, according to forecast economist Dr. Orawin Velz of the Mortgage Bankers Association, "the decline in employment in the past two months is less severe than originally reported."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2008 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Estate Outlook: Prices Up In Certain Markets
by Kenneth R. Harney
When you're in a long, slow recovery period in real estate, even the slightest hint of good news can be significant.
We saw that last week, when the controversial Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index came out.
You may have seen the headlines or watched the gloomy news reports on TV: Prices were down again -- this time by nearly 16 percent year to year -- in 20 of the largest U.S. markets.
Now even if you accept the validity of that index as a measure of what's really going on in prices nationwide -- and we have always had serious doubts about it -- when you scratch below the surface of the latest monthly report, you find some surprisingly positive developments that got little or no media attention.
Number one: Prices in seven of Case-Shiller's top markets actually were UP for the month. They include Denver, Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Charlotte, Portland and Dallas.
Number two: The month to month change for the entire index was a minus nine tenths of one percent. We all know the index is disproportionately weighted toward the most volatile, high-cost markets of the boom years, so when the monthly change is less than one percent, it begins to look like the curve is finally flattening out.
That's definitely positive news, especially coming from the most bearish source in the real estate marketplace.
In other economic developments affecting housing this week, recession fears were put off for still another quarter, as the U.S. economy continued to expand and defy the doomsayers. The Gross Domestic Product (or GDP) rose at a 1.9 percent rate in the second quarter, up from nine tenths of one percent in the first quarter.
Mortgage rates dropped to 6.46 percent for 30 year fixed rate loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. Fifteen years rates slid below the 6 percent mark again, down from 6.1 percent last week. Both are lower than year ago levels.
The main negative at work at the moment is the unemployment rate, which jumped again last month and now stands at 5.7 percent. However, the Labor Department just revised its employment numbers upward by 26,000 for the prior two months. As a result, according to forecast economist Dr. Orawin Velz of the Mortgage Bankers Association, "the decline in employment in the past two months is less severe than originally reported."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2008 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.
.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
SPECULATION ..... DRIVES OIL MARKET
This insightful article from Petrostrategies.org is definitely worth a read!
Click on the "Oil & Gas Blog" and find the June 8 article with the following title:
Speculation, Not Market Fundamentals Drives Oil Market
Let see if Wall Street can duck this for long!
.
Click on the "Oil & Gas Blog" and find the June 8 article with the following title:
Let see if Wall Street can duck this for long!
.
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