|
News and Happenings in the Area
|
| C.A.R. reports May median price increased 23.2 percent; home sales increased 1.2 percent - 6/23/2010 1:28:00 PM | Quick Facts:
* Existing, single-family home sales increased 1.2 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted rate of 552,800 units on an annualized basis compared with May 2009.
* The statewide median price of an existing single-family home increased 23.2 percent in May to $324,430, compared with May 2009.
* C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index remained unchanged at 4.6 months in May.
LOS ANGELES (June 22) – Home sales increased 1.2 percent in May in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 23.2 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.
“Home sales posted their third largest increase on record for May, due in part to first-time home buyers who timed the open and close of escrow in order to capitalize on both the federal and state tax credits,” said C.A.R. President Steve Goddard. “May also marked the fifth month of double-digit gains in the median price, indicative of strong buyer demand relative to the supply of homes for sale. With a 4.6-month supply of homes for sale, unsold inventory continues to be well below the long-run average of seven months, and will continue to drive price appreciation over the next several months.”
Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 552,800 in May at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 1.2 percent from the revised 546,490 sales pace recorded in May 2009. Sales in May 2010 increased 14.1 percent compared with the previous month.
The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2010 would be if sales maintained the May pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during May 2010 was $324,430, a 23.2 percent increase from the revised $263,440 median for May 2009, C.A.R. reported. The May 2010 median price increased 5.9 percent compared with April’s $306,230 median price.
“The number of escrows opened in May fell 16.9 percent compared with April.
Highlights of C.A.R.’s resale housing figures for May 2010:
. C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in May
2010 was 4.6 months, unchanged from the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
* Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.89 percent during May 2010,
compared with 4.86 percent in May 2009, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-
mortgage interest rates averaged 4.01 percent in May 2010, compared with 4.75
percent in May 2009.
* The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 39.8 days in May 2010, compared with 52.4 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.
In a separate report covering more localized statistics generated by C.A.R. and DataQuick Information Systems, 245 of the 377 cities and communities reporting showed an increase in their respective median home prices from a year ago.
* Statewide, the 10 cities with the highest median home prices in California during
May 2010 were: Manhattan Beach, $1,555,000; Los Altos, $1,500,000; Saratoga, $1,435,500; Palo Alto, $1,293,500; Palos Verdes Estates, $1,262,500; Newport Beach, $1,100,000; Los Gatos, $1,087,500; Laguna Beach, $960,000; Mill Valley, $954,500; and Lafayette, $928,500.
* Statewide, the cities with the greatest median home price increases in May 2010
compared with the same period a year ago were: Richmond, 75 percent; San Juan
Capistrano, 58 percent; Newport Beach, 56 percent; Lemon Grove, 53 percent; San Bernardino, 50 percent; Oceanside, 47 percent; West Hollywood, 45 percent;
Watsonville, 42 percent; Los Gatos, 41 percent; and Santa Ana, 37 percent.
| | A University of Michigan researcher is predicting that foreclosures will begin to fall next year - 12/4/2009 2:44:00 PM | A University of Michigan researcher is predicting that
foreclosures will begin to fall next year, dropping from 2.75 million in 2009 to
about 1.75 million in 2010 and 2011.
They will
decline to less than an annual 1.5 million by 2012, said Dennis Capozza,
professor of finance and real estate at Michigan's Ross School of Business. The
drop in foreclosures will be due to better national and local economic
conditions, including a strengthening economy, slower house-price depreciation
and tighter underwriting of mortgages, he said.
"The improvement in foreclosures will provide relief to the severely
battered mortgage and housing markets," Capozza said in a news release earlier
this week. "For the time being, however, steep increases in unemployment are
continuing to mitigate the positive factors, which means that housing markets
will continue to take a beating for some time, despite federal stimulus
incentives."
Capozza and others at University
Financial Associates, a risk-management firm that forecasts mortgage and
consumer loan performance, analyze mortgage loans in the serviced portfolio of
all mortgages outstanding. They estimate the probability of default and
prepayment for each ZIP code in the country.
Read about one homeowner's struggle in avoiding foreclosure through
the federal Making Home Affordable mortgage modification program in this week's
Realty Q&A. Plus, read about the Obama administration's guidelines to
encourage the use of short sales, and record low mortgage rates in this week's
real estate pages.
Data released on Friday
suggests that job losses are slowing, but with an unemployment rate still at
10%, the slowdown in foreclosures is likely to be gradual.
-- Amy Hoak , Real Estate
writer (from Marketwatch)
| | HUD ISSUES NEW MORTGAGE RULES TO HELP CONSUMERS SHOP FOR LOWER COST HOME LOANS New 'Good Faith Estimate' will help borrowers save nearly $700 - 11/23/2009 9:50:00 AM | WASHINGTON - For the first time in more than
30 years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today issued
long-anticipated mortgage reforms that will help consumers to shop for the
lowest cost mortgage and avoid costly and potentially harmful loan offers. HUD
will require, for the first time ever, that lenders and mortgage brokers provide
consumers with a standard Good Faith Estimate (GFE) that clearly discloses key loan terms and
closing costs. HUD estimates its new regulation will save consumers nearly $700
at the closing table.
In announcing HUD's final changes
to the regulatory requirements of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
(RESPA), HUD Secretary Steve Preston said that changes in the
housing market and increases in home foreclosures demands action.
"It has been a long road
but today we can finally announce a better way to buy homes in
America," said Preston. "Consumers need and deserve to know what they're
getting themselves into before they sign on the dotted line. After carefully
considering the concerns of consumers and the different businesses in the
housing sector, we have developed an approach that empowers the average family
to shop for the most appropriate loan to meet their
needs."
Last March, HUD proposed
reforms to the longstanding regulatory requirements of the Real Estate Settlement
Procedures Act (RESPA) by improving disclosure of the
loan terms and closing costs consumers pay when they buy or refinance their
home. Last May, HUD extended the rule's comment period to June 12th to allow for
more opportunity for comment on the Department's proposed GFE
form.
Brian Montgomery, HUD's
Assistant Secretary of Housing, Federal Housing Commissioner, said, "We have
carefully considered the concerns expressed from every corner of the mortgage
market in developing this rule. I am convinced that we successfully balanced the
needs of consumers with those in the business of homeownership. None of us can
lose sight of the fact that millions of Americans simply don't understand all
the fine print of their mortgages and this, in many respects, is at the heart of
today's mortgage crisis."
Since 1974, little has
changed about the process Americans endure when they buy and refinance their
homes. Now, HUD's final reform will improve disclosure of the key loan terms and
closing costs consumers pay when they buy or refinance their home.
HUD received
approximately 12,000 comment letters following the proposal of its new RESPA
rule. In considering those comments, the Department made considerable
modifications to its proposal. For example, HUD originally proposed that
settlement agents read a closing script at the closing table and that a copy be
provided to borrowers. HUD ultimately discarded the script in favor of a new
page on the HUD-1 Settlement Statement that allows consumers to easily
|
|
|
|
|