Price, package, patience keys for selling in today's market

by Broderick Perkins
© 2011 DeadlineNews.Com

Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime

Deadline Newsroom - If you aren't willing to price your home to compete with distressed properties and package it to look like a good flip, you may be better off being patient and holding it off the market until you can get the price you really want.

Sellers forced to sell their home right now are getting creamed.

One of every six real estate agents (about 17 percent) the National Association of Realtors (NAR) polled in June reported signed contracts were cancelled before the close of escrow. That was way up from only one in 25 agents (4 percent) in May suffering cancellations and over the past 16 months, the rate of cancellations has only be 8 to 10 percent, according to NAR's June resale homes report.

It's a buyers market, but buyers aren't buying it, either because they can't hack stiff underwriting requirements or appraisals are coming in too low for lenders to risk financing.

Get the full story here: Home Sellers Fight an Uphill Battle

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Under the DeadlineNews Group umbrella:

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Buyers' Market: Distressed Properties vs. Traditional Listings

The discount alone appears to be enough to make distressed properties a better deal than more expensive traditional listings -- if it doesn't needs a lot of work, if you can out-bid the investor and if you've got time to make the deal pencil, among other "ifs."

by Broderick Perkins
© 2011 DeadlineNews.Com

Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime

Deadline Newsroom - Distressed homes come with deeply discounted prices, but their prices continue to tumble. Homes sold the traditional way cost more, but prices are more stable.

CoreLogic's latest "U.S. Housing and Mortgage Trends" report, issued in late July says traditional home prices appear to be doing better than homes in the distressed sector and the trend is expected to continue.

CoreLogic reported its home price index of traditional home sales dropped only 0.4 percent from a year ago. Toss in distressed properties and the index was down 7.4 percent.

The report also says while the prices of traditional existing and new homes have returned to 2009 levels, prices for bank-owned foreclosures and short sale transactions -- distressed homes -- are 10 percent below 2009 levels and "continue to decline," CoreLogic reports.

So far this year, distressed sales nationwide accounted for one in three of all homes sales, 33 percent. In 30 major cities CoreLogic tracks, the price discount on distressed sales ranges from about 20 to 60 percent, or an average of about 40 percent.

The discount alone appears to be enough to make distressed properties a good deal.

But there's more to consider. Get the full story here: "What’s the Best Buy? Bargain or Full-Priced Real Estate?"

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Under the DeadlineNews Group umbrella:

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Foreign buyers cashing in on U.S. housing closeout sale

Our consumer news
also hits home! Hard!

Foreign buyers are joining domestic investors to take up some of the slack left by first-timers and other traditional buyers who are more susceptible to the hostile lending market, according to the National Association of Realtors 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime

Deadline Newsroom - Some say the end is near -- for either an up or down housing market -- when foreigners rush ashore to jump on the bandwagon or go for the spoils.

Right now they are after the spoils.

"In recent years, we have seen more and more foreign buyers coming here to take advantage of low prices and plentiful inventory," said NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, RI.

Foreign buyers are joining domestic investors to take up some of the slack left by first-timers and other traditional buyers who are more susceptible to the hostile lending market, according to the National Association of Realtors 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity.

"The word that may apply in this case is capitulation. Smart investors, both foreign and domestic, want to invest in an asset when no one else wants to and that may be exactly what's happening here. Investing in real estate may seem a safer bet by comparison than other options at this point," said Nancy Osborne, chief operating officer of Erate.com, a Santa Clara, CA-based financial information publisher and interest rate tracker.

Sales from those abroad or those who were new to this country, equaled $82 billion for the past year ending March 2011, up from $66 billion in 2010.

The sales were split evenly between non-resident foreigners and recent immigrants and amounted to about 8 percent of the $1.07 trillion figure for all existing-home sales in the U.S. during the period. Foreigners purchased 7 percent of U.S. existing homes or $907 million worth in 2010.

Foreign buyers are coming to America with boatloads of money.

Sixty-two percent of foreign buyers used all cash. In recent months, nearly one in three foreigners buying existing homes were plunking down bags of cash, NAR said.

Compared to foreigners, that makes domestic real estate investors real pikers.

(See also: "Investors muscling in on first-time homebuyers' turf")

Only 18.5 percent of domestic investors were cash buyers, according to a recent Move.com study.

NAR also said foreign buyers are high-rollers. The average purchase price paid by an international buyer was $315,000 compared to the overall U.S. average of $218,000. However, 45 percent of international purchases were under $200,000.

Again, that beats out American investors.

Another study by Econohomes.com said today's breed of U.S. investors is only putting out for homes in the $50,000 market.

According to NAR, foreign buyers favor U.S. properties because they are generally cheaper than comparable foreign properties and right now they are bargain basement steals. They also see homes as a good long-term investment with the potential for rental income.

Some Realtors say more foreign families are also housing their college kids in properties near colleges and universities. International demand also stems from foreign executives temporarily working in America.

Said Phipps, "Many foreigners perceive owning a home here as an important accomplishment in their efforts to become established in this country."

Most buyers were Canadians, accounting for 23 percent of sales to foreigners, followed by China and, tied for third, Mexico, the United Kingdom and India. The top five nations accounted for 53 percent of all international transactions. Argentina and Brazil both reported an increase in foreign sales, together account for five percent of all sales, up from two percent in 2010, NAR said.

Foreigners are largely shopping in Florida (31 percent), California (12 percent), Texas (9 percent) and Arizona (6 percent), NAR reported.

Single-family homes accounted for 61 percent of foreign sales, compared to 36 percent for condos, apartments or townhomes.

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Under the DeadlineNews Group umbrella:

Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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Housing's fire sale continues

I survived Gulf disaster

As of July 1, one in four listings on the market experienced at least one price reduction, as sellers went after buyers with a vengeance.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - As of July 1, 25 percent of listings on the market experienced at least one price reduction, as sellers went after buyers with a vengeance.

That's a 9 percent increase from the previous month according to Trulia.com the real estate search engine reporting the news.

And, buyers? Take note.

The average discount for price-reduced homes continued to hold at 10 percent off of the original listing price.

That's a cool $50,000 off a $500,000 home for sale.

Many of the largest U.S. cities saw significant increases in price reduction levels. Twenty-two of the top 50 cities across the U.S. experienced price reduction levels at 30 percent or more, compared to just 10 cities in the previous month.

Trulia reported Minneapolis led the way with 40 percent of its home listings experiencing at least one price cut in the third straight month that Minneapolis has held the top spot.

• Erate has the full Housing's fire sale continues story.

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Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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San Francisco Bay Area ground zero for national housing recovery

Go offbeat! Click my head!

"Right now, the Bay Area is leading California's recovery because the area has fewer sub prime loans and this area is truly unique, with unique properties."

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - With some Golden State home prices skyrocketing again, the focus is turning to the California region that could be truly ground zero platinum for the nation's next real estate boom.

According to California Association of Realtors (CAR) vice president and chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young, the San Francisco Bay Area, including Silicon Valley, is at the top of the heap.

"Right now, the Bay Area is leading California's recovery because the area has fewer subprime loans and this area is truly unique, with unique properties," Appleton-Young said at a recent Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR) meeting in Palo Alto last week.

Even the Bay Area weather is cooperating. After several unusually heat-wave filled summers, the region has returned to its temperate-best Mediterranean like climate, a perfect inducement for home shopping.

In May, 8,264 homes closed escrows in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, up 18 percent from April and 11 percent from May 2009, according to MDA DataQuick.

In the Bay Area, the May median price of all homes was $410,000 up smartly more than 20 percent from May 2009.

That's a boom time pace.

In Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley), sales were up 28.2 percent from the previous year and the median price of $525,000 was up 18 percent from $445,000 in May of 2009.

Again, boom time stuff.

"The fortunes of California, including its state coffers, tend to rise and fall along with the returns generated in the stock market. A significant rise in the median price of a home in the Bay Area is likely linked to the dramatic recovery seen in the stock market in the past year, particularly in the tech sector, as market returns translate into home-buying cash," said Nancy Osborne, chief operating officer of Erate.com, a Santa Clara, CA-based financial information publisher and interest rate tracker.

Dataquick pointed out the median sale price of all homes moved above $400,000 for the first time in 21 months because of action in the mid- to high-end markets of $500,000-plus homes, as sales fell in many affordable inland areas where investors and first-time buyers faced a dwindling inventory of low-cost foreclosures.

"The median has increased because the high end is making a comeback as there is a little more willingness on the part of sellers to take concessions; there are fewer distressed properties in the Bay Area compared to the rest of the state; and the jumbo market has started loosening for high-end borrowers," Dataquick reported.

California's volatile housing market is known for fast stops and faster starts.

Appleton-Young, often conservative in her estimates, said in five to 10 years California will see the beginning of a housing shortage and that could cause skyrocketing prices -- again.

She told the SILVAR meeting there has been an 83 percent drop in building of new homes since 2004, yet household growth for the state is projected at approximately 200,000 a year.

When demand outpaces supply, boom happens.


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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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American Dream attracting more foreigners

NYT reporter interviews robot

A new study found that 18 percent of all Realtors were estimated to have completed at least one international sale, compared to 12 percent last year. Fifty-five percent of those sales were cash-only deals.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - They comprise only a small share of homebuyers in the U.S., but more and more foreign buyers are coming to America for the homeownership piece of the dream.

More than a quarter of Realtors, 28 percent, reported working with at least one international client in the past year, up from 23 percent during the previous Profile of International Home Buying Activity.

The recently released 2010 study, which queried Realtors for a year ending in March 2010, found that 18 percent of all Realtors were estimated to have completed at least one international sale, compared to 12 percent last year.

Foreigners invested $41 billion in homes in the U.S. during the period, 4 percent of the total $907 billion market. Adding recent immigrants, or temporary visa holders, pushed the total to $66 billion, or 7 percent of the market according to the report.

A stronger dollar, desirable U.S. property and the slow, but emerging economic recovery are seen as factors in the growing demand for an American home.

Low mortgage rates haven't hurt.

"While all real estate in the U.S. is local, the same is not true for property owners," quipped NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox Real Estate in Tucson, AZ.

"The U.S. continues to be a top destination for international buyers from all over the world. Foreign buyers understand the value of owning a home in this country," she added.

But not all U.S. real estate markets are created equal in the eyes of foreign buyers.

The survey found foreigners buying property in 39 states, but a bit more than half were in just four states: Arizona, California, Florida and Texas. Except for Texas, they are all states that were hotbed boomtowns during the last big boom.

By larger regions, foreign buyers favored the South (45 percent), over the West (32 percent), the Midwest (13 percent) and the Northeast (10 percent).

The buyers came from 53 countries, but the largest number was from just across the borders, Canada, at 23 percent and Mexico at 10 percent. The United Kingdom added 9 percent; China (including Hong Kong), 8 percent; Germany together with France, 7 percent; and India, 5 percent, according to the NAR survey.

More than one in three foreign buyers weren't closers. Thirty four percent had financing problems, often because tight fisted lenders weren't willing to lend to those without Social Security numbers.

But money talks. Among those who did close, 55 percent paid cash, compared to only 8 percent of U.S. buyers coming to the table with a full stake.

Other findings:

• The median price paid by international buyers was in the neighborhood of $219,400 during the 2009 to 2010 period. By contrast, the overall median price for all existing home sales was $173,000 during the same period. However, nearly half the foreign buyers, 46 percent, paid $200,000 or less during the period.

• Most foreign buyers, 66 percent, purchased a detached single-family home, compared to 23 percent buying a condo, 8 percent a townhouse and 3 percent commercial property.

• Fifty percent said they bought the property to live in as their primary residence, 22 percent as a vacation home; 14 percent as an investment and 14 percent as both an investment and vacation home.

• Suburban areas were most popular, chosen 50 percent of the time over urban areas (27 percent), resort areas (14 percent), and rural or small town areas (9 percent).

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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California home prices golden again, sales rusty

Since the home price trough in February 2009, single-family, detached home prices in California have risen a golden 32.3 percent from $245,230 to $324,430, as of May 10, according to the California Association of Realtors.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - California's home prices are literally skyrocketing again, soaring in some of the Golden States' largest metro areas by 30 percent to more than 50 percent in little more than a year.

The price surge may be an indication of California's readiness to take the lead again in the nation's housing recovery -- if it can only get its sales engine going.

Fence-sitters and those looking to go West and put down stakes?

Take note.

California's home prices have been known to take off like wildfires, burning buyers who waited for the bottom only to find it long gone and themselves priced out of the market -- again.

California led the nation as one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures and did not fully hit bottom until February last year, according to the California Association of Realtors (CAR).

However, since that home price trough in February 2009, single-family, detached home prices have risen a whopping 32.3 percent from $245,230 to $324,430, as of May 10, according to CAR.

Get the full story here: "California home prices shine golden again, sales rusty"


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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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Home sales continue to bomb

Using sex to inflate tire sales

Approximately 180,000 home buyers who signed a contract in good faith to receive the tax credit may not be able to finalize by the end of June due to delays in the mortgage process, particularly for short sales.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - With the housing market a cornerstone of the economy, the economy is standing on shaky ground and record low mortgage rates aren't helping shore things up.

From April to May this year, new-home sales crashed nearly 33 percent, tumbling to a record low annual sales pace of 300,000 homes, according to the Commerce Department this week.

In May this year, new home sales were down 18.3 percent from May 2009.

Sales of previously owned homes also fell, by 2.2 percent from April to May, the National Association of Realtors also reported this week.

Fortunately, year-over-year existing home sales were up more than 19 percent, NAR reported.

"We are witnessing the ongoing effects of the home buyer tax credit, which we'll also see in June real estate closings," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

Get the full story here: Home sales continue to bomb

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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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New home sales nothing to write home about

Homes sold data in thousands of units.

From December 2001 to December 2004 the annual sales pace hovered around 1 million or more homes and in 2005 the annual sales pace peaked at about 1.28 million, before taking a nose dive.

From March of 2009 to March of 2010, the annual sales pace of new homes, reported each month, has broken the 400,000 barrier only four times.

For all of 2008, the new home sales pace averaged 485,000 and then tanked at 374,000 in 2009.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - New-home sales rose 27 percent in March to an annual pace of 411,000 new home sales per year.

That was the largest percentage gain since April 1963 and highest annual pace since July of 2009, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data.

What's more, the number was much stronger than the 335,000 pace MarketWatch-surveyed economists expected.

The story played out above the fold on front pages, above the scroll on home pages and all around blogging town.

"U.S. home sales surge"

"Builders rally on bounce in new-home sales"

"Home sales are cookin'" (An Associated Press headline, believe it or not.)

The headlines blared.

"Yawn," the economy replied and rolled back over.

Economists' expectations were probably right on, because without the home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 and mortgage interest rates' five quarter run on the 5 percent mark, the annual housing sales pace would still be stuck in the middle 300,000s.

Ironically, that's today's going price range for many of those half-million dollar boom-time homes.

Unemployment has surged. Joblessness is cookin'.

Calling the increase to a paltry 411,000 homes sold annually a "surge" is like lacing data with morphine -- but not enough to kill the pain.

New home sales were more than 300 times higher at the peak of the market then they are now. Three hundred times. Since the peak, new home sales have crashed 68 percent -- nearly 70 percent of the new home market -- gone.

From December 2001 to December 2004 the annual sales pace hovered around 1 million or more homes and in 2005 the annual sales pace peaked at about 1.28 million, before taking a nose dive, according to new and existing home sales data compiled by the National Association of Home Builders.

From March of 2009 to March of 2010, the annual sales pace of new homes, reported each month, has broken the 400,000 barrier only four times.

For all of 2008, the new home sales pace averaged 485,000 and then tanked at 374,000 in 2009.

The larger 5 million-a-year resale market fell half as far (Perhaps more, considering the share of distressed properties.). From 2005 (7 million) to 2009 (5 million), the resale sales market has been slashed by about 27 percent, nearly a third, according to the same data.

That's the real story about home sales.

Slashed and burned.

We aren't in Kansas anymore.

It's the land of Catch-22.

Easy mortgage money has gone the way of skyrocketing home sales as the financiers of the greatest recession since the Great Depression cower and ration credit to protect their assets.

You can't buy a home in an economy that's had its legs cut out from under it by the housing market. If the housing market can't get on its feet, well, the economy won't have a leg to stand on.

Even if you have a job and good credit it doesn't mean diddily if the lender had a bad day on Wall Street -- or a good day.

Here's your surge.


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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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2010's weakest, strongest housing markets

Know what's in your wallet

The real story is how many markets are still perhaps a year or more away from recovery: most of them. Even the hottest spots barely reached the threshold of "healthy."


by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - The U.S. housing recovery is shaping up as an uneven rebound, with only a few markets emerging as places to be for investors and home buyers looking for bargains that won't go sour.

The real story is how many markets are still perhaps a year or more away from recovery: most of them.

Even the hottest spots barely reached the threshold of a 50 score, the minimum necessary to indicate a "healthy, not weak" housing market, according to Hanley Wood Market Intelligence's "Builder Market Health Index." An MHI score of 100 indicates a market in the best of times.

Hanley Wood used projections for growth in employment, household formation, income and home values to determine MHIs for its annual Builder Market Health Index: Complete 2010 Rankings of 100 metropolitan areas. Only areas with the most building permit activity, albeit paltry, were included.

For the full storoy, "You've got news"...."News that really hits home," here: "10 Places Where Housing Market Is The Weakest"

Also see: "Top Housing Markets of 2010"

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Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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Top Housing Markets of 2010

If you are looking for a hot housing market, the South is rising again and the Lone Star State promises big things, according to Hanley Wood, a respected construction media outlet.


by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com


Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - Austin, TX is No. 1.

San Antonio, TX is right up there too.

And so are Huntsville, AL; Raleigh, NC; and Washington, D.C.

If you are looking for a hot housing market, the South is rising again and the Lone Star State promises big things, according to Hanley Wood, a respected construction media outlet.

We'll spare you the full how-they-did-it details, and link you right to The 20 Healthiest Housing Markets for 2010 for the inside scoop, but based on projections for household formations, resale values, and job and income growth -- with some "secret sauce" (Really. HW said that.) thrown in, HW came up with the towns most likely to emerge strongest from the extended, headachy, housing hangover.

(Hint: When you get to the full story, it reads like a countdown from No. 20. Instead, read it backwards, starting with Page 10 to get right to the top of the list.)

Without further ado, for Hanley Wood's Top 10 Healthiest Housing Markets for 2010, the envelope please.

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California home sellers' losses become first-time home buyers' gains

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Sixty-seven percent of all home sellers in California did so in 2009 because they had a tough time making the mortgage payment. The first-time home buyer share of the buying market, 47 percent, exceeded the state's long-run average of 38.6 percent and was the highest since 1995.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - As economic turmoil forced most California home sales last year, doors opened to a near record share of first-time home buyers.

According to the California Association of Realtors' (CAR) "2009-2010 Survey of California Home Sellers", 67 percent of all home sellers in California did so in 2009 because they had a tough time making the mortgage payment.

Unemployment and adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) resets, along with tough underwriting and equity losses preventing refinanced bailouts, converged on home owners, forcing them to sell, the report said.

Meanwhile, CAR's "2009-2010 "State of the California Housing Market" said first-time buyers enjoyed the spoils. First-timers represented nearly half, 47 percent, of all Golden State home buyers in 2009.

The first-time home buyer share exceeded the state's long-run average of 38.6 percent and was the highest since 1995, when more than half of all buyers were first-timers.

"It is clear that the federal tax credit for home buyers worked well in 2009 and is continuing to drive home sales," said CAR President Steve Goddard.

"The home buyer tax credit is arguably the most successful strategy employed by the government's efforts to stimulate the economy," Goddard added.

Some qualified Californian home buyers enjoyed both a federal and state home buying tax credit totaling as much as $18,000. The state version, for new homes only, ran out of cash months after it was introduced last year.

Home buyers also cashed in on distressed properties. More than half of all first-time buyers purchased a foreclosure or short sale property. Distressed properties accounted for almost half of all the state's sales in 2009, an increase from 35.6 percent in 2008.

"2009-2010 Survey of California Home Sellers" also found:

• On average, homes sold for $20,958 less than the original asking price in 2009. The median difference between the selling and listing price was $32,315. The list-to-sold-price ratio was $30,000 below list for first-time sellers, but only $8,000 below list for those who had sold before.

• Among sellers, 44 percent were first-time sellers, a 33 percent increase from 2008, and nearly three times the 2007 percentage of 15 percent.

• Sellers in 2009 cited difficulty meeting the monthly mortgage obligations (30 percent); job loss (18 percent); and a higher mortgage payment (15 percent) as the primary motivation to sell. In 2008, only 20 percent cited the ability to meet their mortgage payment obligation; while 11 percent sold due to financial difficulties.

• Financial difficulties caused 63 percent of homes to fall out of escrow prior to closing often because the buyer could not land mortgages, the buyer backed out, buyer's remorse and home prices declined, among other reasons.

2009-2010 "State of the California Housing Market" also found:

• One-third of sellers experienced a net cash loss in 2009, the highest level on record since CAR started tracking the statistic in 1989.

• The median net cash gain from home sales declined 50 percent last year to $50,000 from $100,000 in 2008.

• Nearly 40 percent of buyers were prompted to buy by the federal tax credit.

• Lower home prices boosted affordability. CAR's First-Time Buyer Housing Affordability Index rose to a record 64 percent in the third quarter of 2009.

• Lower-priced distressed properties prompted more than half buyers to take the plunge. More than 70 percent of properties purchased by investors were either short sales or foreclosures.

• Low-down payment Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans were also a lure. The percentage of home buyers using an FHA-insured loan increased to 32 percent in 2009, compared with 18.9 percent in 2008. The median down payment for FHA-insured loans was $9,888 compared with $92,000 for conventional purchase loans.

• The median price of distressed properties declined nearly one quarter to $250,000 in 2009 compared with $330,000 in 2008; non-distressed property prices decreased only 10.4 percent to $485,000 in 2009 compared with $541,000 in 2008.

• Over all, California's median home price hit bottom in February 2009 at $245,170; for the year 2009, the median was listed at $271,000 and is projected to increase to only $280,000 in 2010.

• Statewide, annual sales of existing homes are projected to reach 527,500 units in 2010, a 2.7 percent decline compared with 2009's annual rate of 540,000 units.


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Low mortgage interest rates bubkes to home buyers

Avoid costly tax refund loans

Historically low interest rates and other market factors are colliding with negative economic conditions that undermine the confidence of consumers who might otherwise buy a home.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - Mortgage interest rates slipped below 5 percent again, falling to 4.97 percent for the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (FRM). The rate was down from last week's 5.05 percent average, according to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS).

Even lower rates have meant nothing special for home buyers.

For the week ending March 4, the rate includes an average 0.7 point. Last year, at this time, the 30-year FRMaverage was 5.15 percent.

The 30-year FRM's record low average, 4.71 percent, was posted Dec. 3, 2009 as the lowest conforming loan rate since Freddie Mac began its weekly survey in 1971.

Historically low interest rates, along with rolled-back home prices and unprecedented government assistance programs have made for greater affordability.

Unfortunately, those potentially positive market factors continue to collide with other conditions that undermine the confidence of consumers who might otherwise buy a home.

New, existing home sales plummet

New homes - The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales plummeted 11.2 percent to 309,000 in January this year, compared with 348,000 in December, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the lowest rate since the government began keeping records in 1963 -- almost 50 years ago -- and comes after declines in November and December.

Existing homes - Likewise, from November to December, resale home sales plummeted nearly 17 percent, the largest month-to-month decline in 42 years.

The December to January existing home sales fell another 7.2 percent according to the National Association of Realtors, but the sales rate in January was 11.5 percent above sales from January 2009.

"Still, the latest monthly sales decline is not encouraging, and raises concern about the strength of a recovery.” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

More rate declines

The 15-year FRM this week, averaging 4.33 percent, also fell from last week's 4.40 percent average. The rate carried an average 0.7 point. A year ago the 15-year FRM averaged 4.72 percent.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 4.11 percent the week ending March 4, with an average 0.6 point, again, down from 4.16 percent from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.08 percent.

The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 4.27 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week's 4.15 percent average, according to Freddie Mac. Last year, at this time, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.86 percent.


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Existing home sales plunge largest in 40 years

We've gone offbeat!
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From November to December, resale home sales sank nearly 17 percent in December, the largest month-to-month decline since 1968. Economists expected only a 10 to 11.6 percent decrease.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2010 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - Resale home sales tanked by nearly 17 percent in December, the largest month-to-month decline since 1968.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected only an 11.6 percent decrease. Thomson Reuters' survey of economists forecasted a 10 percent decline.

(More home sales news)

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) were not surprised by the 16.8 percent decline, with buyers no longer rushing to cash in on the home buyer tax credit.

The first-time home buyer tax credit, credited with a previous three-month increase in resale homes, was due to expire Nov. 30, but Congress extended the credit until April 30 this year.

"It's significant that home sales remain above year-ago levels, but the market is going through a period of swings driven by the tax credit," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said

"We'll likely have another surge in the spring as home buyers take advantage of the extended and expanded tax credit. By early summer the overall market should benefit from more balanced inventory, and sales are on track to rise again in 2010," Yun added.

That's provided employment picks up.

"The job market remains a concern and could dampen the housing recovery – job creation is key to a continued recovery in the second half of the year," Yun also said.

NAR also said December 2009's resale sales remained 15.0 percent above sales in December 2008.

Home prices were up too. The median sales price of $178,300 in December was 1.5 percent more than it was a year ago, but the first yearly gain since August 2007.

Distressed homes continued to depress prices. They accounted for 32 percent of sales in December. For all of 2009, the median price was $173,500, down 12.4 percent from $198,100 in 2008. Distressed homes accounted for 36 percent of total sales last year.

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Perkins is also the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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Housing market mixed as new, existing home sales hit fork in the road

Top 2009 Offbeat News Stories

New home sales tank as resales surge. Experts say reliance upon federal programs reveals underlying weakness in the housing market.

by Broderick Perkins
© 2009 DeadlineNews.Com



Unauthorized use of this story is a copyright violation -- a federal crime


Deadline Newsroom - At year's end, the nation's housing market has become a mixed bag of ups and downs, revealing continued weakness and uncertainty.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes declined 9 percent in November, compared to a year ago, according to the Commerce Department.

On the other hand, existing home sales rose for the tenth straight month in November, and were more than 42 percent above sales a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Experts say the home buyer tax credit is partially to blame for the market's wall-eyed behavior.

New-home sales are recorded when a contract is signed. Sales tanked in November when the tax credit was supposed to expire as buyers gave up, figuring they couldn't sign in time to meet the deadline and cash in.

Existing-home sales, which are recorded when a sale closes, leaped because folks had been scrambling for months to finish their deals before the Nov. 30 expiration.

The home buyer tax credit was extended and expanded to include move up buyers, but the damage had already been done, leaving concerns about what's really fueling the housing market.

Experts question how well the housing market will fare after the new home buyer tax credit's expiration next year, particularly if one month's new home sales numbers were so dependent on the tax credit's status.

Other government stimuli, including the Federal Reserve spending $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities to help keep mortgage interest rates low, can't last forever.

"They (sales numbers) also show just how important it was that Congress moved when it did to help spur housing demand by extending and expanding the home buyer tax credit beyond its November deadline. We hope to start seeing the intended effects of that move on buyer demand in early 2010 as families determine their purchasing plans following the holidays," said Tulsa, OK home builder Joe Robson, also chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

But it's not just the tax credit.

"The emerging housing recovery is on a bumpy path that is strewn with obstacles, including the extreme difficulties that builders are encountering in obtaining financing for new projects and inaccurate appraisals that are now scuttling a third of new-home sales. Today’s report reinforces just how fragile the housing recovery remains and the potential damage that any further retardants could cause," said Robson.


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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.

Perkins is also the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
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