By Les Christie, staff writerNovember 22, 2010: 10:47 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- There's a large number of homes, either already repossessed by lenders or very seriously delinquent, that are poised to be added to the already glutted regular supply of homes on the market.
This "shadow inventory" jumped 10% during the past year, to an eight-month supply at the current rate of home sales, according to a report issued Monday.
According to CoreLogic, a financial information provider, there were 2.1 million homes in this uncounted inventory as of the end of August, up from 1.9 million units 12 months earlier.
Adding the shadow inventory to the visible supply of homes on the market boosted the total housing-market supply to 6.3 million units from 6.1 million in August 2009. At the current sales rate, it would take 23 months to go through the entire visible and shadow inventory of homes -- more than three times the normal rate of six to seven months.
Continue reading here
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Mortgage rates fall to fresh lows this week
by JANNA HERRON - Nov. 11, 2010 08:57 AM
AP Real Estate Writer
NEW YORK - Rates on fixed mortgages dropped to their lowest levels in decades this week after the Federal Reserve unveiled a massive bond-buying program to help spur economic growth.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Tuesday the average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell to 4.17 percent from 4.24 percent last week. That's the lowest on records dating back to 1971.
The average rate on 15-year fixed loans fell to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent. That's the lowest since the survey began in 1991.
The Fed detailed plans last week to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds. On Wednesday, the central bank gave more details, saying it plans to purchase $105 billion in Treasurys over the next month. The extra demand means Treasurys will produce lower yields for investors. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
Mortgage rates have been at or near historic lows since April as investors, concerned about the health of the global economy, shift their money into Treasurys, pushing down rates on the bonds and consumer and business loans.
Read more here
AP Real Estate Writer
NEW YORK - Rates on fixed mortgages dropped to their lowest levels in decades this week after the Federal Reserve unveiled a massive bond-buying program to help spur economic growth.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Tuesday the average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell to 4.17 percent from 4.24 percent last week. That's the lowest on records dating back to 1971.
The average rate on 15-year fixed loans fell to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent. That's the lowest since the survey began in 1991.
The Fed detailed plans last week to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds. On Wednesday, the central bank gave more details, saying it plans to purchase $105 billion in Treasurys over the next month. The extra demand means Treasurys will produce lower yields for investors. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
Mortgage rates have been at or near historic lows since April as investors, concerned about the health of the global economy, shift their money into Treasurys, pushing down rates on the bonds and consumer and business loans.
Read more here
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Phoenix housing index fell for 2nd month
by Betty Beard - Nov. 5, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Phoenix housing values have fallen for the second month in a row, a sign that the housing recovery could be retreating.
Arizona State University's Repeat Sales Index, which is considered one of the more reliable measures of housing values, estimates that prices fell another 4 percent in September compared with a year earlier.
That is on top of a 2 percent decline in over-the-year prices in August.
Karl Guntermann, an ASU real-estate professor, said it's still too early to call that the start of a new trend. But if the index shows a third decline next month, that would indicate a trend has begun. And it doesn't look good.
"Continuing weakness in the Phoenix economy, the flow of foreclosures into the market and the seasonal slowdown that occurs in housing toward the end of the year are reasons to be pessimistic about house prices," he said.
Continue reading here
The Arizona Republic
Phoenix housing values have fallen for the second month in a row, a sign that the housing recovery could be retreating.
Arizona State University's Repeat Sales Index, which is considered one of the more reliable measures of housing values, estimates that prices fell another 4 percent in September compared with a year earlier.
That is on top of a 2 percent decline in over-the-year prices in August.
Karl Guntermann, an ASU real-estate professor, said it's still too early to call that the start of a new trend. But if the index shows a third decline next month, that would indicate a trend has begun. And it doesn't look good.
"Continuing weakness in the Phoenix economy, the flow of foreclosures into the market and the seasonal slowdown that occurs in housing toward the end of the year are reasons to be pessimistic about house prices," he said.
Continue reading here
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Banks ease up on foreclosures amid increased scrutiny
By Stephanie Armour and Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
In the Florida courtroom of Chief Judge Victor Tobin, there's been a marked change the past month in the pace of foreclosures that mortgage companies ask him to approve.
Tobin had been handling up to 200 cases a day in which delinquent borrowers weren't contesting mortgage servicers' motions seeking court approval to repossess their homes. Now, it's about 50 a day.
That's not the only difference the state judge has noticed in the wake of revelations since September that some mortgage servicers did not follow legal procedures in tens of thousands of foreclosures. In contested cases now, servicers are filing new affidavits stating that they or their lawyers have reviewed supporting documents — language missing in prior affidavits, says Tobin, chief judge of the Broward County Circuit Court.
METRO AREAS: Foreclosures rise in large U.S. cities.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Foreclosures by state.
He expects the case load to rise again in eight to 10 weeks, but for now, the mortgage industry's foreclosure machinery in Broward and other jurisdictions around the nation has slipped into a slower gear. Amid state and federal investigations into how homes are being taken away from delinquent borrowers, some judges are turning more critical eyes on foreclosure cases in the roughly 23 states where court approval is required, and some states such as New York and Maryland have adopted new rules to ensure they get a closer look. Meanwhile, heavy media coverage about foreclosure errors is encouraging more homeowners to hire lawyers to challenge foreclosure actions.
With more than 1 million homes in some stage of foreclosure, the pace of completed foreclosures could be slowed for months.
There's little question that the controversy has had an impact. It is at least partly responsible for a 6% drop in scheduled foreclosure auctions, to about 114,000, in the first 25 days of October compared with Sept. 1-25, according to RealtyTrac, a firm that collects data on foreclosure activity around the country.
"We're seeing a dramatic decrease in the number of (new) cases being scheduled and an increase in the number of foreclosure sales being canceled," says Circuit Court Judge Sandra Taylor, who handles cases in Tampa and in Key West, Fla.
Continue reading here.
In the Florida courtroom of Chief Judge Victor Tobin, there's been a marked change the past month in the pace of foreclosures that mortgage companies ask him to approve.
Tobin had been handling up to 200 cases a day in which delinquent borrowers weren't contesting mortgage servicers' motions seeking court approval to repossess their homes. Now, it's about 50 a day.
That's not the only difference the state judge has noticed in the wake of revelations since September that some mortgage servicers did not follow legal procedures in tens of thousands of foreclosures. In contested cases now, servicers are filing new affidavits stating that they or their lawyers have reviewed supporting documents — language missing in prior affidavits, says Tobin, chief judge of the Broward County Circuit Court.
METRO AREAS: Foreclosures rise in large U.S. cities.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Foreclosures by state.
He expects the case load to rise again in eight to 10 weeks, but for now, the mortgage industry's foreclosure machinery in Broward and other jurisdictions around the nation has slipped into a slower gear. Amid state and federal investigations into how homes are being taken away from delinquent borrowers, some judges are turning more critical eyes on foreclosure cases in the roughly 23 states where court approval is required, and some states such as New York and Maryland have adopted new rules to ensure they get a closer look. Meanwhile, heavy media coverage about foreclosure errors is encouraging more homeowners to hire lawyers to challenge foreclosure actions.
With more than 1 million homes in some stage of foreclosure, the pace of completed foreclosures could be slowed for months.
There's little question that the controversy has had an impact. It is at least partly responsible for a 6% drop in scheduled foreclosure auctions, to about 114,000, in the first 25 days of October compared with Sept. 1-25, according to RealtyTrac, a firm that collects data on foreclosure activity around the country.
"We're seeing a dramatic decrease in the number of (new) cases being scheduled and an increase in the number of foreclosure sales being canceled," says Circuit Court Judge Sandra Taylor, who handles cases in Tampa and in Key West, Fla.
Continue reading here.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Foreclosure Crisis: Stealth Stimulus for Defaulters
Real estate news and analysis from The Wall Street Journal
While delays in the foreclosure process are costing bond holders and mortgage servicers, defaulting homeowners living in–or even renting out–their homes are getting a pretty tidy subsidy, writes the WSJ’s Mark Whitehouse in today’s paper. That subsidy is worth about $2.6 billion a month, according to a WSJ analysis. That’s .25% of U.S. personal income, roughly equivalent to the benefit top earners receive from Bush-era tax breaks.
Will any of that money find its way back into the economy, as a stealth stimulus? It’s hard to say, writes Mr. Whitehouse. Some defaulters save their mortgage payments in the hopes that a mortgage modification will finally come through, others who have lost their jobs just need the money to keep on going–for food, car payments and the like.
Some defaulters are cashing in by renting out their homes. Joe Mayol, a real-estate agent in Palmdale, Calif., estimates that in his area about two-thirds of houses with defaulted mortgages are occupied, and half of those by renters. “People are getting money out of these houses,” he said.
Continue reading here.
While delays in the foreclosure process are costing bond holders and mortgage servicers, defaulting homeowners living in–or even renting out–their homes are getting a pretty tidy subsidy, writes the WSJ’s Mark Whitehouse in today’s paper. That subsidy is worth about $2.6 billion a month, according to a WSJ analysis. That’s .25% of U.S. personal income, roughly equivalent to the benefit top earners receive from Bush-era tax breaks.
Will any of that money find its way back into the economy, as a stealth stimulus? It’s hard to say, writes Mr. Whitehouse. Some defaulters save their mortgage payments in the hopes that a mortgage modification will finally come through, others who have lost their jobs just need the money to keep on going–for food, car payments and the like.
Some defaulters are cashing in by renting out their homes. Joe Mayol, a real-estate agent in Palmdale, Calif., estimates that in his area about two-thirds of houses with defaulted mortgages are occupied, and half of those by renters. “People are getting money out of these houses,” he said.
Continue reading here.
Homeownership Rate at Lowest Level in a Decade
Real estate news and analysis from The Wall Street Journal
The nation’s homeownership rate remained at its lowest in more than a decade, the AP’s Alan Zwibel reports, hampered by a rise in foreclosures and weak demand for housing.
The percentage of households that owned their homes was unchanged at 66.9% in the July-September quarter, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That’s the same as the April-June quarter. The last time the rate was lower was in 1999, when the rate was 66.7%. The homeownership rate was around 64% from 1985 through 1995. It then rose dramatically during the Clinton and Bush administrations, hitting a peak of more than 69% in 2004 at the height of the housing boom.
Continue reading here.
The nation’s homeownership rate remained at its lowest in more than a decade, the AP’s Alan Zwibel reports, hampered by a rise in foreclosures and weak demand for housing.
The percentage of households that owned their homes was unchanged at 66.9% in the July-September quarter, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That’s the same as the April-June quarter. The last time the rate was lower was in 1999, when the rate was 66.7%. The homeownership rate was around 64% from 1985 through 1995. It then rose dramatically during the Clinton and Bush administrations, hitting a peak of more than 69% in 2004 at the height of the housing boom.
Continue reading here.
Obama administration sings new tune on foreclosures
By Tami Luhby, senior writerNovember 2, 2010: 9:21 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Obama administration is singing a different tune about foreclosures.
A year ago, officials focused on stemming the foreclosure tide. Now they are touting the need for foreclosures to rebuild the housing market.
Last week Phyllis Caldwell, head of the Treasury Department's Homeownership Preservation Office, told a congressional panel that "an important part of ensuring longer-term stability in the market is to enable properties to be resold to families who can afford to purchase them."
And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs last month told reporters that without sales of homes in distressed areas the "recovery in the housing market stops. It's frozen."
"That obviously can have -- we believe and others believe -- a very negative and detrimental impact to our economic recovery efforts and the housing markets in states that have been hardest hit," Gibbs said.
Continue reading here.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Obama administration is singing a different tune about foreclosures.
A year ago, officials focused on stemming the foreclosure tide. Now they are touting the need for foreclosures to rebuild the housing market.
Last week Phyllis Caldwell, head of the Treasury Department's Homeownership Preservation Office, told a congressional panel that "an important part of ensuring longer-term stability in the market is to enable properties to be resold to families who can afford to purchase them."
And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs last month told reporters that without sales of homes in distressed areas the "recovery in the housing market stops. It's frozen."
"That obviously can have -- we believe and others believe -- a very negative and detrimental impact to our economic recovery efforts and the housing markets in states that have been hardest hit," Gibbs said.
Continue reading here.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Home prices expected to slide another 8%
By Les Christie, staff writer November 1, 2010: 6:54 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The robo-signing controversy is just another issue that the already sluggish housing market didn't need -- but most analysts do not think it will have far-reaching impact.
Nevertheless, the housing market still faces many problems: a weak economy, sluggish hiring, tight mortgage underwriting, falling home prices, and slowing sales.
Then there's the potentially disastrous number of foreclosures that may occur over the coming years.
"The market faces much bigger problems than the robo-signing issue," said Mike Larson, a housing market analyst for Weiss Research.
Prime among them are declines in home prices. And while cheaper homes are good for buyers, they also speak to a housing market that won't stabilize.
Confessions of a robo-signer
Fiserv, a market analytics company, has scaled back its home price projections considerably. In February, it forecast national price gains of about 4% through the end of 2011. The company's latest prediction is for a 7.1% drop in prices between June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2011.
Continue reading here.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The robo-signing controversy is just another issue that the already sluggish housing market didn't need -- but most analysts do not think it will have far-reaching impact.
Nevertheless, the housing market still faces many problems: a weak economy, sluggish hiring, tight mortgage underwriting, falling home prices, and slowing sales.
Then there's the potentially disastrous number of foreclosures that may occur over the coming years.
"The market faces much bigger problems than the robo-signing issue," said Mike Larson, a housing market analyst for Weiss Research.
Prime among them are declines in home prices. And while cheaper homes are good for buyers, they also speak to a housing market that won't stabilize.
Confessions of a robo-signer
Fiserv, a market analytics company, has scaled back its home price projections considerably. In February, it forecast national price gains of about 4% through the end of 2011. The company's latest prediction is for a 7.1% drop in prices between June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2011.
Continue reading here.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Arizona home sales propped up by investors
by Catherine Reagor - Oct. 17, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Investors are dominating metropolitan Phoenix's home-buying market again.
The region's growing supply of inexpensive foreclosure homes is drawing thousands of investors, who can pay cash and close deals fast. The growing supply of renters means those investors can make money off the homes they have scooped up.
The market has drawn a diverse crowd of investors, spurring small-scale landlords to add more homes to their holdings and attracting buyers from around the world looking to get in on a down market.
It also has quietly attracted investment firms that are buying huge quantities of houses in a strategy aimed at reaping big profits from today's low prices. Big investors are showing so much interest that some observers say lenders may soon start selling foreclosure homes in bulk batches, an unprece- dented tactic in metro Phoenix where the homes have always been sold in small groups or one at a time.
Whether the investor-buying trend of the past few months continues at this pace in the Phoenix area depends in some part on the foreclosure moratoriums announced in the past few weeks by a handful of the nation's biggest lenders. So far, many Valley real-estate agents and investors aren't seeing a drop in supply of fore- closure homes for sale or problems finalizing sales on lender-owned homes.
Continue reading here.
The Arizona Republic
Investors are dominating metropolitan Phoenix's home-buying market again.
The region's growing supply of inexpensive foreclosure homes is drawing thousands of investors, who can pay cash and close deals fast. The growing supply of renters means those investors can make money off the homes they have scooped up.
The market has drawn a diverse crowd of investors, spurring small-scale landlords to add more homes to their holdings and attracting buyers from around the world looking to get in on a down market.
It also has quietly attracted investment firms that are buying huge quantities of houses in a strategy aimed at reaping big profits from today's low prices. Big investors are showing so much interest that some observers say lenders may soon start selling foreclosure homes in bulk batches, an unprece- dented tactic in metro Phoenix where the homes have always been sold in small groups or one at a time.
Whether the investor-buying trend of the past few months continues at this pace in the Phoenix area depends in some part on the foreclosure moratoriums announced in the past few weeks by a handful of the nation's biggest lenders. So far, many Valley real-estate agents and investors aren't seeing a drop in supply of fore- closure homes for sale or problems finalizing sales on lender-owned homes.
Continue reading here.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Foreclosure auctions hit record as document crisis unfolds
By Charles Riley, staff reporter October 14, 2010: 12:45 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bank repossessions and foreclosure auctions hit record levels in the third quarter, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
372,445 foreclosure auctions were scheduled in July, August and September, while 288,345 properties were repossessed by lenders over the same time period.
Overall foreclosure filings edged up to 930,437 in the third quarter, a 4% increase from the previous quarter. One in every 139 homeowners received a foreclosure filing during those three months.
Continue reading here.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bank repossessions and foreclosure auctions hit record levels in the third quarter, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
372,445 foreclosure auctions were scheduled in July, August and September, while 288,345 properties were repossessed by lenders over the same time period.
Overall foreclosure filings edged up to 930,437 in the third quarter, a 4% increase from the previous quarter. One in every 139 homeowners received a foreclosure filing during those three months.
Continue reading here.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Wells Fargo: No halt to foreclosures
Phoenix Business Journal - by Mark Calvey
Wells Fargo said Friday it has no plans to adopt a foreclosure moratorium despite Bank of America’s decision today to halt all foreclosures.
“Wells Fargo is not planning to initiate a moratorium on foreclosures. Our affidavit procedures and daily auditing demonstrate that our foreclosure affidavits are accurate,” said Wells Fargo spokesman Chris Hammond. “As a standard business practice, we continually review and reinforce our policies and procedures. If we find an error or if an improvement is needed, we take action.”
Wells and other major lenders are under growing political pressure to put the brakes on foreclosures. This week, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper publicly called on Wells and 14 other lenders to halt home seizures.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Friday that he will hold a hearing on Nov. 16 to investigate allegations of improper and fraudulent mortgage servicing and foreclosure proceedings.
Continue reading here.
Wells Fargo said Friday it has no plans to adopt a foreclosure moratorium despite Bank of America’s decision today to halt all foreclosures.
“Wells Fargo is not planning to initiate a moratorium on foreclosures. Our affidavit procedures and daily auditing demonstrate that our foreclosure affidavits are accurate,” said Wells Fargo spokesman Chris Hammond. “As a standard business practice, we continually review and reinforce our policies and procedures. If we find an error or if an improvement is needed, we take action.”
Wells and other major lenders are under growing political pressure to put the brakes on foreclosures. This week, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper publicly called on Wells and 14 other lenders to halt home seizures.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said Friday that he will hold a hearing on Nov. 16 to investigate allegations of improper and fraudulent mortgage servicing and foreclosure proceedings.
Continue reading here.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Bank of America halts foreclosures in 50 states
Oct. 8, 2010 12:36 PM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A mushrooming crisis over potential flaws in foreclosure documents is threatening to throw the real estate industry into chaos, as Bank of America on Friday became the first bank to stop taking back tens of thousands of foreclosed homes in all 50 states.
The move, along with another decision on foreclosures by PNC Financial Services Inc., adds to growing concerns that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers, without verifying the information in them.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, said Friday it would no longer complete foreclosures in all 50 states as it reviews documents used to process foreclosures. That applies to homes that the bank takes back itself and those that it transfers to investors such as mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
A week earlier, the company had said it would only do so in the 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by a judge.
The bank did so in reaction to mounting pressure from public officials inquiring about the accuracy of foreclosure documents. A document obtained last week by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed thousands of foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed up to 8,000 such documents a month.
Read more here.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A mushrooming crisis over potential flaws in foreclosure documents is threatening to throw the real estate industry into chaos, as Bank of America on Friday became the first bank to stop taking back tens of thousands of foreclosed homes in all 50 states.
The move, along with another decision on foreclosures by PNC Financial Services Inc., adds to growing concerns that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners using flawed court papers, without verifying the information in them.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp., the nation's largest bank, said Friday it would no longer complete foreclosures in all 50 states as it reviews documents used to process foreclosures. That applies to homes that the bank takes back itself and those that it transfers to investors such as mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
A week earlier, the company had said it would only do so in the 23 states where foreclosures must be approved by a judge.
The bank did so in reaction to mounting pressure from public officials inquiring about the accuracy of foreclosure documents. A document obtained last week by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed thousands of foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them. The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed up to 8,000 such documents a month.
Read more here.
Wells Fargo to pay $24M to end mortgage probe
Oct. 6, 2010 01:40 PM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Wells Fargo is paying $24 million to end an investigation by eight states probing whether lenders acquired by the company made risky mortgages to consumers without disclosing their perils.
The states said loans known as option adjustable rate loans, or "pick-a-payment" mortgages, were deceptive to borrowers. Those particularly toxic loans allowed borrowers to defer some of their interest payments and add them to the principal balance. Borrowers could make payments so low that loan debt actually increased every month.
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. announced the agreement Wednesday with attorneys general in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas and Washington state.
The loans were made by Wachovia Corp. and a California company it acquired, World Savings Bank. Wells purchased Wachovia at the end of 2008. Wachovia had already stopped making those loans before the acquisition was complete.
As part of the agreement, Wells has agreed to offer loan assistance worth more than $770 million to more than 8,700 borrowers through June 2013, though that amount will depend on how the economy fares during that time. The $24 million will be used to help states reach out to customers who took out such loans.
Read more here.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Wells Fargo is paying $24 million to end an investigation by eight states probing whether lenders acquired by the company made risky mortgages to consumers without disclosing their perils.
The states said loans known as option adjustable rate loans, or "pick-a-payment" mortgages, were deceptive to borrowers. Those particularly toxic loans allowed borrowers to defer some of their interest payments and add them to the principal balance. Borrowers could make payments so low that loan debt actually increased every month.
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. announced the agreement Wednesday with attorneys general in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas and Washington state.
The loans were made by Wachovia Corp. and a California company it acquired, World Savings Bank. Wells purchased Wachovia at the end of 2008. Wachovia had already stopped making those loans before the acquisition was complete.
As part of the agreement, Wells has agreed to offer loan assistance worth more than $770 million to more than 8,700 borrowers through June 2013, though that amount will depend on how the economy fares during that time. The $24 million will be used to help states reach out to customers who took out such loans.
Read more here.
Wells Fargo, Arizona homeowners settle mortgage-loan case
by Casey Newton - Oct. 7, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Mortgage relief is on the way for Arizona homeowners who took out "pick-a-pay" loans from two companies that since have been acquired by Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo has agreed to provide more than $150 million in mortgage relief to homeowners who obtained the adjustable-rate loans through Wachovia Corp. and Golden West Corp. The move will come about as part of a settlement announced by Attorney General Terry Goddard, who alleged that the loans were marketed deceptively.
About 1,700 Arizonans obtained the loans through one of the two companies.
Under the terms of the settlement, Wells Fargo admitted no wrongdoing. But Mike Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Mortgage, said that mortgage relief would benefit the community.
Read more here.
The Arizona Republic
Mortgage relief is on the way for Arizona homeowners who took out "pick-a-pay" loans from two companies that since have been acquired by Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo has agreed to provide more than $150 million in mortgage relief to homeowners who obtained the adjustable-rate loans through Wachovia Corp. and Golden West Corp. The move will come about as part of a settlement announced by Attorney General Terry Goddard, who alleged that the loans were marketed deceptively.
About 1,700 Arizonans obtained the loans through one of the two companies.
Under the terms of the settlement, Wells Fargo admitted no wrongdoing. But Mike Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Mortgage, said that mortgage relief would benefit the community.
Read more here.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Mortgage rates fell to 4.32%
Sept. 30, 2010 07:12 AM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages matched the lowest level in decades and rates on 15-year loans dropped to their lowest point in nearly 20 years.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell to 4.32 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1971. That's down from 4.37 percent the previous week and equal to the average rate reached four weeks ago.
The average rate on 15-year fixed loans fell to 3.75 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1991.
Rates have fallen since spring as investors poured money into the safety of Treasury bonds, lowering their yield. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
Read more here.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages matched the lowest level in decades and rates on 15-year loans dropped to their lowest point in nearly 20 years.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell to 4.32 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1971. That's down from 4.37 percent the previous week and equal to the average rate reached four weeks ago.
The average rate on 15-year fixed loans fell to 3.75 percent, the lowest on records dating back to 1991.
Rates have fallen since spring as investors poured money into the safety of Treasury bonds, lowering their yield. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
Read more here.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Home prices rise, but that may change
The Associated Press
Don't take the latest snapshot of U.S. home prices too seriously.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday ticked up in July from June. But the gain is merely temporary, analysts say. They see home values taking a dive in many major markets well into next year.
That's because the peak home-buying season is now ending after a dismal summer. The hardest-hit markets, battered by foreclosures, are bracing for more homes sold at foreclosure or through short sales. A short sale is when a lender lets a homeowner sell for less than the mortgage is worth.
Add high unemployment and reluctant buyers, and the outlook in many areas is bleak. Nationally, home values are projected to fall 2.2% in the second half of the year, according to analysts surveyed by MacroMarkets. And Moody's Analytics predicts the Case-Shiller index will drop 8% within a year.
Read more here.
Don't take the latest snapshot of U.S. home prices too seriously.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday ticked up in July from June. But the gain is merely temporary, analysts say. They see home values taking a dive in many major markets well into next year.
That's because the peak home-buying season is now ending after a dismal summer. The hardest-hit markets, battered by foreclosures, are bracing for more homes sold at foreclosure or through short sales. A short sale is when a lender lets a homeowner sell for less than the mortgage is worth.
Add high unemployment and reluctant buyers, and the outlook in many areas is bleak. Nationally, home values are projected to fall 2.2% in the second half of the year, according to analysts surveyed by MacroMarkets. And Moody's Analytics predicts the Case-Shiller index will drop 8% within a year.
Read more here.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Arizona Business & Money
Sept. 27, 2010 07:26 AM
Bloomberg News
Howard Cohen hasn't paid the loan on his Tukwila, Wash., home in a year, and when he heard that Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage unit was suspending foreclosure evictions in 23 states, it gave him hope.
"Maybe I'll stay in my house, too," said Cohen, a 57- year-old commercial-loan broker.
An employee of Ally's GMAC unit said in a December 2009 deposition that he signed thousands of foreclosure documents without verifying their accuracy. Attorneys general in Iowa, Illinois and Texas are investigating.
"If uncovering such deficiencies halts thousands of pending foreclosures or renders void those that have already taken place, including repossessions of homes that have been resold, it could snarl courts for years and further postpone a recovery that can't happen until real estate prices find a bottom," said Stuart Saft, a partner at New York-based Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. Until home values start to rise, buyers will stay away, he said.
Read more here
Bloomberg News
Howard Cohen hasn't paid the loan on his Tukwila, Wash., home in a year, and when he heard that Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage unit was suspending foreclosure evictions in 23 states, it gave him hope.
"Maybe I'll stay in my house, too," said Cohen, a 57- year-old commercial-loan broker.
An employee of Ally's GMAC unit said in a December 2009 deposition that he signed thousands of foreclosure documents without verifying their accuracy. Attorneys general in Iowa, Illinois and Texas are investigating.
"If uncovering such deficiencies halts thousands of pending foreclosures or renders void those that have already taken place, including repossessions of homes that have been resold, it could snarl courts for years and further postpone a recovery that can't happen until real estate prices find a bottom," said Stuart Saft, a partner at New York-based Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. Until home values start to rise, buyers will stay away, he said.
Read more here
Monday, September 27, 2010
Canadians become top out-of-state homebuyers in Ariz.
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
The collapse in housing prices and a strong Canadian dollar are luring north-of-the-border buyers to Arizona and other states where the weather is warm and the housing cheap.
Canadians surpass Californians this year as top out-of-state buyers of Phoenix-area real estate. The Canadian dollar is gaining, up from an average of 80 cents on the U.S. dollar in 2005 to 97 cents last week. At the same time, home prices in the Phoenix area have dropped about 50% from their peak in early 2007.
"Parity in currency and falling home prices," says Gregory Tsujimoto, senior consultant at John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif. "Things have really lined up" for Canadian buyers, he says.
Florida, California and Texas remain the top destinations for international homebuyers, but Arizona is gaining.
Canadian homebuyers in Phoenix's Maricopa County made up a larger share than California buyers for eight of the past nine months, according to the Information Market, a Phoenix real estate data firm.
Read more here.
The collapse in housing prices and a strong Canadian dollar are luring north-of-the-border buyers to Arizona and other states where the weather is warm and the housing cheap.
Canadians surpass Californians this year as top out-of-state buyers of Phoenix-area real estate. The Canadian dollar is gaining, up from an average of 80 cents on the U.S. dollar in 2005 to 97 cents last week. At the same time, home prices in the Phoenix area have dropped about 50% from their peak in early 2007.
"Parity in currency and falling home prices," says Gregory Tsujimoto, senior consultant at John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif. "Things have really lined up" for Canadian buyers, he says.
Florida, California and Texas remain the top destinations for international homebuyers, but Arizona is gaining.
Canadian homebuyers in Phoenix's Maricopa County made up a larger share than California buyers for eight of the past nine months, according to the Information Market, a Phoenix real estate data firm.
Read more here.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The housing recession isn't over
By Paul R. La Monica, editor at largeSeptember 20, 2010: 1:31 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The worst is over for the housing market -- at least according to Wall Street.
Shares of home builder Lennar were up more than 6% Monday after the company reported a stronger-than-expected profit for the third quarter (it reported a loss a year ago) as well as a 14% increase in sales. Other builder stocks moved higher as well.
The S&P Homebuilders ETF, which includes shares of several housing-related stocks, has been rising on hopes that the real estate market has hit bottom.
The news that the recession that began in 2007 officially ended a year ago helped boost stocks too.
But while traders are popping champagne corks, it's better to take a closer look at the Lennar (LEN) report. The past three months may have been decent, but the future looks less promising.
For the housing market, at least, it doesn't look like the recession is over just yet.
Lennar admitted as much, saying that new home orders during the quarter were down 15% from the same period last year.
In a statement, Lennar CEO Stuart Miller conceded that while his firm was holding up better than some rivals, "high unemployment and foreclosures have continued to present challenges for the national housing market."
Read more here.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The worst is over for the housing market -- at least according to Wall Street.
Shares of home builder Lennar were up more than 6% Monday after the company reported a stronger-than-expected profit for the third quarter (it reported a loss a year ago) as well as a 14% increase in sales. Other builder stocks moved higher as well.
The S&P Homebuilders ETF, which includes shares of several housing-related stocks, has been rising on hopes that the real estate market has hit bottom.
The news that the recession that began in 2007 officially ended a year ago helped boost stocks too.
But while traders are popping champagne corks, it's better to take a closer look at the Lennar (LEN) report. The past three months may have been decent, but the future looks less promising.
For the housing market, at least, it doesn't look like the recession is over just yet.
Lennar admitted as much, saying that new home orders during the quarter were down 15% from the same period last year.
In a statement, Lennar CEO Stuart Miller conceded that while his firm was holding up better than some rivals, "high unemployment and foreclosures have continued to present challenges for the national housing market."
Read more here.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
U.S. home prices fell 0.5% in July
Sept. 22, 2010 08:09 AM
Bloomberg News
Sept. 22 -- U.S. home prices dropped 3.3 percent in July from a year earlier, the eighth consecutive decline, as foreclosed properties flooded the market.
Prices fell 0.5 percent from June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said in a report today. Economists had projected prices to fall 0.2 percent from the previous month, based on the average of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The agency revised the previously reported May-to-June decline to 1.2 percent from 0.3 percent.
Foreclosures are boosting the supply of available properties and reducing prices, even as mortgage rates tumble to record lows. The time it would take to clear the market of homes for sale was 12.5 months in July, the highest in more than a decade of data, according to the National Association of Realtors. Banks seized a record 95,364 properties from delinquent borrowers in August, according to RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, California-based seller of housing data.
"We have a lot of homes for sale, and a lot of them are distressed properties," said Thomas Lawler, founder and president of Lawler Housing and Economic Consulting in Leesburg, Virginia. "That is putting downward pressure on home prices."
Read more here.
Bloomberg News
Sept. 22 -- U.S. home prices dropped 3.3 percent in July from a year earlier, the eighth consecutive decline, as foreclosed properties flooded the market.
Prices fell 0.5 percent from June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said in a report today. Economists had projected prices to fall 0.2 percent from the previous month, based on the average of 15 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The agency revised the previously reported May-to-June decline to 1.2 percent from 0.3 percent.
Foreclosures are boosting the supply of available properties and reducing prices, even as mortgage rates tumble to record lows. The time it would take to clear the market of homes for sale was 12.5 months in July, the highest in more than a decade of data, according to the National Association of Realtors. Banks seized a record 95,364 properties from delinquent borrowers in August, according to RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, California-based seller of housing data.
"We have a lot of homes for sale, and a lot of them are distressed properties," said Thomas Lawler, founder and president of Lawler Housing and Economic Consulting in Leesburg, Virginia. "That is putting downward pressure on home prices."
Read more here.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Foreclosures still driving region's home prices down
by J. Craig Anderson - Sept. 21, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
The median sale price of existing Phoenix-area homes declined in August for the third consecutive month, according to an Arizona State University report.
Reasons for the downward trend include a combination of the expected and the unexpected, according to the report's author, Jay Butler, an associate professor of real estate at ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business.
Butler said it's typical for median home prices to decline in the latter months of the year, as homebuying activity takes a backseat to preparations for school and holidays.
Read more here.
The Arizona Republic
The median sale price of existing Phoenix-area homes declined in August for the third consecutive month, according to an Arizona State University report.
Reasons for the downward trend include a combination of the expected and the unexpected, according to the report's author, Jay Butler, an associate professor of real estate at ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business.
Butler said it's typical for median home prices to decline in the latter months of the year, as homebuying activity takes a backseat to preparations for school and holidays.
Read more here.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
State's housing prices dipped in 2nd quarter
by Howard Fischer - Sept. 16, 2010 12:00 AM
Capitol Media Services
Housing prices nationwide are finally starting to go up. But not in Arizona.
New figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency indicate the average price of a home that sold in Arizona in the second quarter of the year dipped about 1.7 percent from the first quarter.
That brings the year-over-year price drop to more than 8.2 percent. Only Idaho, where prices dropped by 11 percent, fared worse on an annual basis.
By contrast, the situation appears to be improving in much of the rest of the country.
Nationally, home prices went up 0.9 percent from the first to the second quarter. But that still leaves the annual change in negative territory at 1.6 percent.
The figures are considered a good indicator of housing prices because they're based on a repeat-sales index.
The report measures the prices on about 6 million homes whose mortgages have been purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and for which there are records of prior sales going back to 1975.
Read more here.
Capitol Media Services
Housing prices nationwide are finally starting to go up. But not in Arizona.
New figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency indicate the average price of a home that sold in Arizona in the second quarter of the year dipped about 1.7 percent from the first quarter.
That brings the year-over-year price drop to more than 8.2 percent. Only Idaho, where prices dropped by 11 percent, fared worse on an annual basis.
By contrast, the situation appears to be improving in much of the rest of the country.
Nationally, home prices went up 0.9 percent from the first to the second quarter. But that still leaves the annual change in negative territory at 1.6 percent.
The figures are considered a good indicator of housing prices because they're based on a repeat-sales index.
The report measures the prices on about 6 million homes whose mortgages have been purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and for which there are records of prior sales going back to 1975.
Read more here.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Investing in Foreclosures is a Great way to Make MONEY!
Buying foreclosed homes at auction is a great way to replenish your income. Phoenix , AZ has a huge market of foreclosed homes where you can fix and flip. Bid AZ Foreclosures is a great bidding company that can help you with purchasing a foreclosed home. Contact Mike O'Shaughnessy @ 602-300-4979 or Jeff Howard @ 623-512-3470. and/or go to BidAZForeclosures.com
Friday, September 10, 2010
Real Estate Outlook: Consumer Confidence
by Kenneth R. Harney
After a few weeks in August where the economic and housing outlooks have been a little sobering - even grim - the numbers at the beginning of September are looking increasingly positive.
Take consumer confidence. We all know how important that is for economic activity and future housing sales. Well, the latest survey from the University of Michigan came in with a one point jump in overall confidence, after months of declines.
That may sound modest, and it is, but after so many bad headlines about the economy, it's a step in the right direction.
And indeed, the latest Commerce Department study finds that consumer spending is on the upswing, and just registered the biggest pickup in four months.
Meanwhile, there was surprisingly strong news from the industrial manufacturing front, which is a key factor for future employment growth: The Institute for Supply Management reported a one point gain in its manufacturing index for the latest month - which was enough of a shock to doom-and-gloom analysts on Wall Street that the stock market soared on the news.
On the housing front there were even more encouraging numbers:
After a few weeks in August where the economic and housing outlooks have been a little sobering - even grim - the numbers at the beginning of September are looking increasingly positive.
Take consumer confidence. We all know how important that is for economic activity and future housing sales. Well, the latest survey from the University of Michigan came in with a one point jump in overall confidence, after months of declines.
That may sound modest, and it is, but after so many bad headlines about the economy, it's a step in the right direction.
And indeed, the latest Commerce Department study finds that consumer spending is on the upswing, and just registered the biggest pickup in four months.
Meanwhile, there was surprisingly strong news from the industrial manufacturing front, which is a key factor for future employment growth: The Institute for Supply Management reported a one point gain in its manufacturing index for the latest month - which was enough of a shock to doom-and-gloom analysts on Wall Street that the stock market soared on the news.
On the housing front there were even more encouraging numbers:
- Pending home sales , which had been sliding since the phase-out of the tax credits last spring, rose by 5.2 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors.
- Also, the Standard and Poor's /Case-Shiller index reported that home prices in the top 20 metropolitan areas gained 4.2 percent year over year. Prices were up in 15 of the 20, including some big gains in California and elsewhere.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Phoenix housing market lacks supply of homebuyers
Few homes are selling. Prices keep dropping.
In the metro Phoenix housing market, it's all a simple matter of supply and demand: too many homes for sale and not enough buyers.
Of the people who are buying homes, more than a third are investors, snapping up mostly foreclosure homes at bargain prices and turning them into rentals. The number of houses on the market remains high, partly because many traditional homebuyers just aren't buying.
Some of them want to buy - but can't.
Mortgage requirements are tighter now than they have been in a generation, and many people who would like to get into the market can't qualify.
Some of them can buy - but won't.
Many renters today see friends and relatives burned by the housing collapse who now owe more than their homes are worth.
Read more here.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Foreclosure market a ‘feeding frenzy’ for flipping houses
So says Colorado Springs, Colo., real estate agent Shawn Jardine in a recent article from the Christian Science Monitor:
“It’s a feeding frenzy right now. On one property listed for $65,000, I had 15 offers. The best offer won at $20,000 over asking price.”Wholesalers, which are basically investors with lots of money who can buy in bulk, are “snapping up” a healthy chunk of the best distressed property deals currently available on the market.
It’s common these days for wholesalers to swoop in and make all-cash offers, making it difficult for first-time homebuyers and other “small-time” investors to land their deals.
With the nationwide housing market riddled with bargains, and a volatile stock market, wholesalers are literally banking on the notion that the market will eventually rebound. Perhaps not to pre-collapse levels anytime soon, but nonetheless, it’s bound to happen.
Read more here.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Phoenix aiming to ease foreclosure-home blight
A new program to lessen the blight from too many vacant and neglected foreclosure homes is being tested in west Phoenix.
A few weeks ago, Phoenix's Neighborhood Services Department began closely monitoring foreclosure homes in the area between 75th and 91st avenues and Thomas and Camelback roads. A city inspector checks houses about to be foreclosed on or already in foreclosure for common signs of neglect: tall weeds and grass, dead plants, abandoned vehicles, junk and litter, open windows or doors, broken fences and graffiti.
A few weeks ago, Phoenix's Neighborhood Services Department began closely monitoring foreclosure homes in the area between 75th and 91st avenues and Thomas and Camelback roads. A city inspector checks houses about to be foreclosed on or already in foreclosure for common signs of neglect: tall weeds and grass, dead plants, abandoned vehicles, junk and litter, open windows or doors, broken fences and graffiti.
Banks giving gov't, non-profits chance to buy foreclosures
By Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer
WASHINGTON — Major banks are agreeing to give local governments and non-profit groups the ability to buy foreclosed homes before they are sold to private investors.
The Obama administration says local officials could benefit from acquiring these properties and using the land for redevelopment projects. Congress has provided $7 billion in money to buy the homes.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Housing quagmire: Is it time to remove relief?
by Nin-Hai Tseng, reporter August 31,2010: 12:43 PM ET
FORTUNE -- For the growing number of struggling homeowners in this country, more help is on the way. Additional aid from the federal government will begin making its way to them next month -- one program would help qualified homeowners refinance their mortgages after seeing their property values fall below the amount they owe, and the other includes another round of funding to help the unemployed or underemployed with their payments.
It's easy to see the need for such programs. Theoretically, they keep people in their homes and bring some stability to fragile housing market. But the plethora of programs announced since the housing crisis started have largely been failures, suggesting that any effort to fight foreclosures and boost home sales is going to be a futile one.
Read more here.
FORTUNE -- For the growing number of struggling homeowners in this country, more help is on the way. Additional aid from the federal government will begin making its way to them next month -- one program would help qualified homeowners refinance their mortgages after seeing their property values fall below the amount they owe, and the other includes another round of funding to help the unemployed or underemployed with their payments.
It's easy to see the need for such programs. Theoretically, they keep people in their homes and bring some stability to fragile housing market. But the plethora of programs announced since the housing crisis started have largely been failures, suggesting that any effort to fight foreclosures and boost home sales is going to be a futile one.
Read more here.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Foreclosure crisis spreads from subprime to prime mortgages
By Stephanie Armour, USA Today
The pace of prime borrowers going into foreclosure is accelerating, especially in states with mounting unemployment or property values that saw a big run-up during the housing boom.
It's a marked shift from earlier this year, when foreclosures were driven by defaults on subprime loans. And it has major implications — ravaging the credit scores of borrowers who once had unblemished records and dragging down property values in more affluent neighborhoods.
It also threatens to undermine the housing recovery.
"It's definitely a concern," says Brian Bethune at IHS Global Insight. "(Unemployment) is a major driver of foreclosures, and it will frustrate the housing recovery process."
In the first quarter, almost half of the overall increase in the start of foreclosures was due to the increase in prime, fixed-rate loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). At the end of the fourth quarter, 2.4% of prime mortgages were seriously delinquent, more than double the 1.1% at the end of March 2008, according to a report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Read more here.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Expert: Home Prices Likely to Stay Flate for Year
by J. Craig Anderson - Aug. 27, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Since March, the Phoenix area housing market has taken three steps forward and one step back, according to a report issued Thursday by the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
After three straight months of mild recovery, the Phoenix area housing market faltered in July, ASU reported.
The monthly ASU Repeat Sales Index was a zero in July, which means the median price of homes included in the study was the same as it had been in July 2009.
The report's author, professor Karl Guntermann, said the index is likely to remain at or near zero for the rest of the year.
"It is likely that house prices throughout the metro area will remain essentially flat for the next 12 months," said Guntermann, who co-wrote the report with Research Associate Adam Nowak. "While the improvement seen over the past 18 months isn't likely to continue, there also is no evidence that house prices will resume a downward trend, contrary to some published reports."
The Arizona Republic
Since March, the Phoenix area housing market has taken three steps forward and one step back, according to a report issued Thursday by the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
After three straight months of mild recovery, the Phoenix area housing market faltered in July, ASU reported.
The monthly ASU Repeat Sales Index was a zero in July, which means the median price of homes included in the study was the same as it had been in July 2009.
The report's author, professor Karl Guntermann, said the index is likely to remain at or near zero for the rest of the year.
"It is likely that house prices throughout the metro area will remain essentially flat for the next 12 months," said Guntermann, who co-wrote the report with Research Associate Adam Nowak. "While the improvement seen over the past 18 months isn't likely to continue, there also is no evidence that house prices will resume a downward trend, contrary to some published reports."
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The best moves for home buyers and sellers
Take such unreasonable expectations, multiply by two, and what do you get? "A standoff," says Glenn Kelman, CEO of real estate brokerage Redfin.
With the busy summer home-sale season drawing to a close, there's little time to waste. Whether you're trying to unload your place or land a new one, follow these dos and don'ts to negotiate the best deal -- fast.
Read more here.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
New home sales drop 12.4% to record low
New home sales dropped 12.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 276,000 last month, down from a downwardly revised 315,000 in June, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Sales year-over-year fell 32.4%.
Commerce started tracking new home sales in 1963.
Sales were forecast to tick higher to an annual rate of 334,000 in July, according to a consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
"The report shows the housing industry is still nursing a bad hangover," said Mitchell Hochberg of Madden Real Estate Ventures in New York. "With shadow inventory, rising foreclosures, little job growth and more stringent access to credit, weak sales will persist and the industry's headache will linger."
Home sales had soared in March and April as homebuyers rushed to sign contracts ahead of the April 30 deadline for the $8,000 tax credit. But sales plummeted in May, the first month after the incentive expired, to an annual rate of 281,000. The pace only improved modestly in June.
Read more here.
Home sales plummet to lowest rate on record
by Stephanie Armour - Aug. 24, 2010 10:45 AM
USA TODAY
Home sales plunged in July to record lows as buyer demand withered after the expiration of a federal home buyer tax credit — a drop that shows troublesome weakening in the housing market recovery.
Sales of existing homes tumbled 27.2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million units from 5.26 million in June, according to a report Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. Sales are at the lowest level since the report began being released in 1999, and sales of single-family homes — which account for the bulk of transactions — are at the lowest level since May 1995.
"This qualifies as a double dip in housing," says Mark Zandi, with Moody's Analytics.com. "It's particularly disconcerting given that fixed mortgage rates are lower. The recovery is weakening. These are pretty ugly numbers."
Economic fundamentals aren't working to buoy the housing market, economists say, and the real engine that is needed to turn the recovery around is more private sector jobs.
"Jobs, jobs, jobs," says Robert Dye, senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group, adding that government stimulus efforts such as another tax credit are unlikely to create lasting benefits. "Another tax credit will pull demand forward and then a hollowing out (of sales) again."
Economists say they were surprised by the size of July's drop in home sales, which indicates buyers have scant confidence in the housing market. Existing-home sales fell 35% in the Midwest in July, 29.5% in the Northeast; in the West, they fell 25% and they were down 22.6% in the South.
"This is extraordinary, how low the demand is, " says Joel Naroff, of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The (housing) sector is still flat on it's back."
Read more here.
USA TODAY
Home sales plunged in July to record lows as buyer demand withered after the expiration of a federal home buyer tax credit — a drop that shows troublesome weakening in the housing market recovery.
Sales of existing homes tumbled 27.2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million units from 5.26 million in June, according to a report Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. Sales are at the lowest level since the report began being released in 1999, and sales of single-family homes — which account for the bulk of transactions — are at the lowest level since May 1995.
"This qualifies as a double dip in housing," says Mark Zandi, with Moody's Analytics.com. "It's particularly disconcerting given that fixed mortgage rates are lower. The recovery is weakening. These are pretty ugly numbers."
Economic fundamentals aren't working to buoy the housing market, economists say, and the real engine that is needed to turn the recovery around is more private sector jobs.
"Jobs, jobs, jobs," says Robert Dye, senior economist with PNC Financial Services Group, adding that government stimulus efforts such as another tax credit are unlikely to create lasting benefits. "Another tax credit will pull demand forward and then a hollowing out (of sales) again."
Economists say they were surprised by the size of July's drop in home sales, which indicates buyers have scant confidence in the housing market. Existing-home sales fell 35% in the Midwest in July, 29.5% in the Northeast; in the West, they fell 25% and they were down 22.6% in the South.
"This is extraordinary, how low the demand is, " says Joel Naroff, of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The (housing) sector is still flat on it's back."
Read more here.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Foreclosure Seminar!
Interested in the foreclosure market? Want to find the best real estate deals in Sunny Arizona? We hold regular foreclosure auction seminars to help you understand what works and what does not. Seminars designed for the novice and experienced investor. One on one discussions available for those that are not able to attend a seminar.
Contact our office for more information at 602 229-1200 or visit our website at www.bidazforeclosures.com
Monday, August 23, 2010
Foreclosures rise in July
By Les Christie, staff writerAugust 12, 2010: 4:39 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The latest foreclosure numbers carried a mixed message: They're up 3.6% from the month before but down 9.7% from 12 months earlier.
In July there were more than 325,000 foreclosure filings -- including notices of default, auctions notices and bank repossessions. That is the 17th month in a row total filings exceeded 300,000, said RealtyTrac's CEO, James Saccacio.
"Declines in new default notices, which were down on a year-over-year basis for the sixth straight month in July," he said, "have been offset by near-record levels of bank repossessions, which increased on a year-over-year basis for the eighth straight month."
A near record number of people lost their homes to mortgage payment problems in July. Lender repossessions amounted to 92,858 homes, the second highest monthly total ever behind the 93,777 recorded this May.
Repossession is the final stage in the foreclosure process. People can stay in thier homes until the point that the bank takes posession of the home or sells it at auction
Read more here.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The latest foreclosure numbers carried a mixed message: They're up 3.6% from the month before but down 9.7% from 12 months earlier.
In July there were more than 325,000 foreclosure filings -- including notices of default, auctions notices and bank repossessions. That is the 17th month in a row total filings exceeded 300,000, said RealtyTrac's CEO, James Saccacio.
"Declines in new default notices, which were down on a year-over-year basis for the sixth straight month in July," he said, "have been offset by near-record levels of bank repossessions, which increased on a year-over-year basis for the eighth straight month."
A near record number of people lost their homes to mortgage payment problems in July. Lender repossessions amounted to 92,858 homes, the second highest monthly total ever behind the 93,777 recorded this May.
Repossession is the final stage in the foreclosure process. People can stay in thier homes until the point that the bank takes posession of the home or sells it at auction
Read more here.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Foreclosure prevention program losing its punch
Foreclosure prevention program losing its punch
By Tami Luhby, senior writerAugust 20, 2010: 12:28 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The president's signature foreclosure rescue plan is losing its punch, according to a federal report released Friday.
Only 36,695 troubled homeowners received long-term mortgage modifications in July under the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, known as HAMP. This brings the total to 434,717 borrowers who have successfully made it out of the trial phase.
A month ago, 51,205 delinquent borrowers were given long-term assistance.
The number of people falling out of the program, however, is on the rise. Some 12,912 homeowners had their permanent modifications canceled in July, 272 of whom paid off their loans.
Obama officials acknowledge that the foreclosure rescue program will not help every troubled homeowner and that it may be a while before the housing market stabilizes. They are shifting their focus to initiatives that are targeted to those who have been hit by the recession and declining home prices.
"While there has been some stabilization in the housing market, it remains clear that we have more work ahead," said Raphael Bostic, assistant housing secretary. "We know that we must continue to provide support to underwater borrowers, unemployed homeowners, and to the nation's hardest hit neighborhoods."
Foreclosure prevention programs have taken on renewed importance with the housing market on shaky ground again. A spike in foreclosures, combined with weak housing sales, could send home prices plummeting again.
Defaults on the rise
The latest report comes two weeks after the government had to revise its June redefault figures sharply higher, after analysts called the initial numbers misleading.
The revision showed that nearly 20% of homeowners were at least two months delinquent nine months after receiving a permanent modification. The initial figure showed that 7.7% had fallen behind.
The government did not provide redefault statistics for July in the current report. Officials said the data would be released quarterly.
Analysts at Barclay's Capital said last month said 60% of homeowners may ultimately redefault.
Read more here.
By Tami Luhby, senior writerAugust 20, 2010: 12:28 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The president's signature foreclosure rescue plan is losing its punch, according to a federal report released Friday.
Only 36,695 troubled homeowners received long-term mortgage modifications in July under the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, known as HAMP. This brings the total to 434,717 borrowers who have successfully made it out of the trial phase.
A month ago, 51,205 delinquent borrowers were given long-term assistance.
The number of people falling out of the program, however, is on the rise. Some 12,912 homeowners had their permanent modifications canceled in July, 272 of whom paid off their loans.
Obama officials acknowledge that the foreclosure rescue program will not help every troubled homeowner and that it may be a while before the housing market stabilizes. They are shifting their focus to initiatives that are targeted to those who have been hit by the recession and declining home prices.
"While there has been some stabilization in the housing market, it remains clear that we have more work ahead," said Raphael Bostic, assistant housing secretary. "We know that we must continue to provide support to underwater borrowers, unemployed homeowners, and to the nation's hardest hit neighborhoods."
Foreclosure prevention programs have taken on renewed importance with the housing market on shaky ground again. A spike in foreclosures, combined with weak housing sales, could send home prices plummeting again.
Defaults on the rise
The latest report comes two weeks after the government had to revise its June redefault figures sharply higher, after analysts called the initial numbers misleading.
The revision showed that nearly 20% of homeowners were at least two months delinquent nine months after receiving a permanent modification. The initial figure showed that 7.7% had fallen behind.
The government did not provide redefault statistics for July in the current report. Officials said the data would be released quarterly.
Analysts at Barclay's Capital said last month said 60% of homeowners may ultimately redefault.
Read more here.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Arizona's jobless rate deters extra foreclosure aid
Arizona's unemployment rate is preventing struggling homeowners from receiving help from the federal government's latest foreclosure-prevention program.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department named the states that will divvy up $2 billion in additional funding to specifically help homeowners facing foreclosure due to unemployment. Arizona wasn't on the list, a disappointment to many of the state's homeowners and housing advocates.
Arizona is already receiving $125.1 million from the federal government's Hardest Hit Housing Markets fund, which is the same federal program administering this latest round of aid. Arizona is one five states - along with California, Florida, Nevada and Michigan - sharing $1.5 billion through a program for areas with the biggest drop in home prices. All five states are posting among the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.
California, Florida, Nevada and Michigan also qualified for a piece of the $2 billion in new funding to help unemployed homeowners. Those states were among 17 and the Washington, D.C., area selected.
The Treasury Department said the states to receive the latest round of foreclosure-prevention funding all had unemployment rates at or above the national average during the past 12 months.
In June, Arizona's unemployment rate was 9.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country: 14.2 percent. Michigan is second at 13.2 percent, and then comes California at 12.3 percent. Florida is in the top 10 with an unemployment rate of 11.4 percent.
The U.S. average rate for unemployment is 9.5 percent.
Arizona might be eligible for another round of funding to help homeowners facing foreclosure. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is working on a $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program. Plans for it include providing zero interest, deferred-payment bridge loans of up to $50,000 for homeowners who have had their incomes cut due to job loss, underemployment or medical conditions.
Next month, Arizona's Housing Department plans to launch foreclosure-aid programs funded by the $125.1 million it was awarded earlier this year.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/2010/08/18/20100818biz-catherine0818.html#ixzz0x6CkleLi
Arizona's jobless rate deters extra foreclosure aid
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department named the states that will divvy up $2 billion in additional funding to specifically help homeowners facing foreclosure due to unemployment. Arizona wasn't on the list, a disappointment to many of the state's homeowners and housing advocates.
Arizona is already receiving $125.1 million from the federal government's Hardest Hit Housing Markets fund, which is the same federal program administering this latest round of aid. Arizona is one five states - along with California, Florida, Nevada and Michigan - sharing $1.5 billion through a program for areas with the biggest drop in home prices. All five states are posting among the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.
California, Florida, Nevada and Michigan also qualified for a piece of the $2 billion in new funding to help unemployed homeowners. Those states were among 17 and the Washington, D.C., area selected.
The Treasury Department said the states to receive the latest round of foreclosure-prevention funding all had unemployment rates at or above the national average during the past 12 months.
In June, Arizona's unemployment rate was 9.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country: 14.2 percent. Michigan is second at 13.2 percent, and then comes California at 12.3 percent. Florida is in the top 10 with an unemployment rate of 11.4 percent.
The U.S. average rate for unemployment is 9.5 percent.
Arizona might be eligible for another round of funding to help homeowners facing foreclosure. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is working on a $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program. Plans for it include providing zero interest, deferred-payment bridge loans of up to $50,000 for homeowners who have had their incomes cut due to job loss, underemployment or medical conditions.
Next month, Arizona's Housing Department plans to launch foreclosure-aid programs funded by the $125.1 million it was awarded earlier this year.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/2010/08/18/20100818biz-catherine0818.html#ixzz0x6CkleLi
Arizona's jobless rate deters extra foreclosure aid
Monday, August 16, 2010
New Offices Grand Opening!
Real Estate Investment Networking Event
and
Interested in the "Fix and Flip"?
Want to learn more about investing in foreclosure properties?
For Details and To Contact
Visit
Call
602-229-1200
602-229-1200
Email
Arizona Real Estate: Phoenix home prices down
Arizona real estate: Phoenix home prices down
Indicators forecasting housing 'double dip'
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Foreclosures
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Please visit www.bidazforeclosures.com for more information.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
