News and Updates
Never
before, in our recent history, has there been as much concern
about the state of our economy. Many Americans today are
understandably apprehensive about their future and their eroding
savings accounts. This current recession is likely to be one
of the worst in our country causing the most damage as the Baby
Boomer generation is retiring.
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Federal officials heap much of the blame for the subprime
mortgage mess on lenders, claiming they recklessly made too many
high-cost home loans to borrowers who couldn't afford them.
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After
six months of haggling and political gamesmanship, a massive
housing-relief bill is heading for final approval.
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A
group representing the buyers and sellers of mortgage backed
securities unveiled a plan on Wednesday to recharge the moribund
mortgage market.
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DataQuick’s
final report on June homebuying seems to show renewed skittishness
among Orange County shoppers, with sales falling from May and
prices still at early 2004 levels.
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The nation's central bank clamped down hard Monday on mortgage
lenders, issuing new rules designed to curb the kind of shady
practices that led to the subprime mortgage crisis.
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IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the failed thrift, reopened its doors
under federal control Monday and promptly moved to toss ailing
homeowners a lifeline by halting all foreclosures on the mortgages
it owns.
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The U.S. Senate passed an extensive package of housing
legislation Friday, reacting to the continuing erosion of home
prices and growing foreclosures by taking their most aggressive
step yet to address the housing crisis.
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U.S.
lawmakers are touting a home-buyer tax credit in a high-profile
housing bill before Congress, but critics say it may do little to
help consumers amid the mortgage crisis.
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Real Estate Economics, homebuilder consultants from
Irvine
, have this to say about their latest version of their
“Composite Market Opportunity/Risk (O/R) Index” for the O.C.
housing market …
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The
first major bill designed to help prevent more home foreclosures
in
California
won final passage from the state Senate on Wednesday and was sent
to the governor, who was expected to sign the measure into law.
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Real estate professionals often say it's always a good time to
buy, but now Moody's Economy.com has come up with a formula that
shows now may just be the time to consider buying in
Orange
County
.
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Mortgages that allow consumers to put little if any money down
when buying a home have largely disappeared as a financing option
available from private lenders. But they are still available --
and growing more popular -- through a government-backed program.
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Economist
Chris Thornberg said
Southern California
home prices likely will continue falling until mid-to-late 2009.
When the dust settles, he added, homes here could end up being
worth half as much as they were at the peak of the housing boom.
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Market
watcher Steve Thomas at Re/Max Real Estate Services in Aliso Viejo
reports that shoppers’ demand for
Orange
County
housing (as measured by homes placed into pending escrows in local
brokers’ listing service within the past month) hit 3,060
Thursday – the highest since September 2005.
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Orange County’s real estate bubble may finally be deflated,
with the median selling price of an Orange County home back where
it was four years ago: below the half million-dollar mark.
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Pending
home sales unexpectedly increased in April to the highest reading
since October, an industry group said Monday, but they remain more
than 13% below the year-earlier period.
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Total
listings of homes in 29 metro areas at the end of May edged down
0.3% from a month earlier, according to figures compiled by
ZipRealty Inc., a real-estate brokerage firm based in
Emeryville
,
Calif.
The data cover listings of single-family homes, condos and town
houses on local multiple-listing services in those areas, where
Zip operates. The inventory was up about 0.3% from May 2007 in 18
metro areas for which Zip has comparable year-earlier data.
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Their
answer is the rent/buy ratio which is determined by dividing the
median price of a house by the cost of renting that house for a
year. David Leonhardt at the New York Times — a longtime
advocate of renting — became a convert to buying based on the
ratio when he was reassigned to Washington, D.C. this year. The
good news for
Orange
County
is that the rent ratio in the first quarter was 22.2, down from a
peak of 29.7.
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Sales
of new homes rose in April for the first time in six months,
although the unexpected increase still left activity near the
lowest level in 17 years.
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Could
the controversial mortgage industry practice of listing hundreds
of local real estate markets as "declining" -- and
restricting lending through higher down payments or credit scores
-- be scrapped?
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Some home sellers view open houses as a right. If their agents
balk at sitting in the living room for four or five hours on a
nice spring Sunday afternoon waiting for prospects to come
bouncing through the door, they feel cheated.
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ForeclosureRadar
reports banks were willing to accept 21.5 percent less than what
they were owed last month at homes sold during foreclosure
auctions in
Orange
County
. That’s a sea change from a year ago, when the average discount
was 1.2 percent at trustee’s sales.
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If
you were thinking of buying a home, start looking. The
latest data from the housing market shows that sellers, after
months and years in denial, are finally giving in to reality and
slashing prices.
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The dire headlines coming fast and furious in the financial and
popular press suggest that the housing crisis is intensifying. Yet
it is very likely that Summer 2009 will mark the bottom of the
U.S.
housing market. Yes, the housing market is bottoming right now.
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Demand
for
Orange
County
housing continues to grow, according to real estate watcher Steve
Thomas.
As
of Thursday, 2,540 existing homes and condos had been placed in
escrow in the past 30 days, a gain of 677 vs. a year ago and just
161 homes short of the reading in late April 2006.
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