James B. Lockhart III, Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency
By: Dennis Norman
In an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box James Lockhart, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency which is the regulator of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks had a few good things to say about the real estate market.
When asked about his thoughts on the housing market he was somewhat optimistic with his reply, saying “I think we’re in process and we may be starting to see some bottoming (of the market). How long that will take, well its anybody’s guess…..Certainly mortgage rates being down where they were were very helpful at 5.4%. They’re higher (now), but they’re still in a range that I think does achieve affordability.” Read more…
By: Dennis Norman
Today the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of the Thrift Supervision (OTS) released their mortgage metrics report for 1st quarter 2009.
The report shows foreclosures continued to increase during the first quarter of this year. However the report also shows a significant increase in short-sales which I discussed yesterday in a post.
Below are some stats from the report: Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Today the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Office of the Thrift Supervision (OTS) released their mortgage metrics report for 1st quarter 2009. The report covers the performance of 34 million home loans in the US.
The report shows that delinquencies and foreclosures continue to increase during the first quarter of this year. However the report also shows that lenders are greatly increasing the number of loan modifications they are doing for borrowers in an effort to curb foreclosures. As you review the stats it is worth noting that the loan modifications reported happened before the “Making Home Affordable” program which was implemented after this period and should increase the number of modifications in the future.
Below are some stats from the report: Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
A recent study shows that 20% of homeowners owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. This, coupled with the challenged market we have been in the last year and a half or so, has led to a record number of “short-sales”.
A short-sale is something that was relatively unheard of a few years ago but is quite common today and refers to those sales where the sale price of the home is not sufficient to repay all the debt owed on the home and the lender chooses to accept a lessor amount to release their lien on the home. Read more…
First off, my usual disclaimer…I am not an attorney and this is not intended to be legal advice or a legal opinion.
Dennis Norman
Now that we have that out of the way lets talk about options that may be available to you if you are one of the 20% of homeowners that a recent study says owes more on their mortgage than their homes are worth.
If you do find yourself in this situation fortunately today there are some options available worth considering:
- See if you qualify for the Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Plan. This program is for those homeowners that are struggling to make their payments, or may have even missed a payment or two, but could make their payments if the amount was reduced. To complete a short questionnaire and find out if you may be eligible for this click here.
- If you have an FHA loan you may wish to contact a HUD approved counseling agency to explore what options may be available to you.
- For an extensive list of resources that are available please see my post “Help for homeowners facing foreclosure“. Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Since the real estate downturn reared it’s ugly head many builders, developers and speculators have turned their “for sale” inventory into rentals. At the same time many frustrated homeowners have rented their homes out after not being able to sell them after buying another home.
As this happened I wondered if all that was being done was passing off the excess inventory problem of the for sale market to the rental market.
While pondering this I did realize the sad fact that the tenant population has probably increased substantially over the past couple of years a result of homeowners losing there homes and resorting to renting. Read more…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
May1st the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) went into effect with regard to appraisals and the controversy over it began.
It seems no one likes it; not appraisers, real estate agents nor lenders. Many complain it is slowing down the home sale process and increasing the cost of buying a home.
This week Charles McMillan, the President of the National Association of REALTORS(R) sent a letter to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Federal Housing Finance Board Director James Lockhart asking for an 18 month moratorium to allow time to fully explore the pros and cons of HVCC.
Yesterday Representatives Travis Childers and Gary Miller introduce H.R. 3044, a bill which would impose an 18 month moratorium on HVCC. It’s too early to know if this bill will have the support necessary to carry it through congress and find it’s way to the desk of President Obama…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
May1st the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) went into effect with regard to appraisals and the controversy over it began.
Appraisers don’t like it, agents are complaining they are losing sales (which are scarce enough in this market already) as a result of it and lenders are complaining as well.
This past week Charles McMillan, the President of the National Association of REALTORS(R) sent a letter to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Federal Housing Finance Board Director James Lockhart asking for an 18 month moratorium to allow time to fully explore the pros and cons of HVCC.
Yesterday Representatives Travis Childers and Gary Miller introduce H.R. 3044, a bill which would impose an 18 month moratorium on HVCC. It’s too early to know if this bill will have the support necessary to carry it through congress and find it’s way to the desk of President Obama…
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
This morning the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000. this represents a 0.6% drop from Aprils rate of 344,000 and is almost 33% down from a year ago.
Three of the four regions in the US actually saw an increase in new home sales for the month. The Northeast region was up 28.6% followed by the Midwest and the the West with increases of 18.6% and 1.3% respectively. The South saw a 8.5% drop in sales for the month.
Median prices for new homes increased to $221,600 from $212,600 in April. Homes in the $200,000 – $299,999 range continue to dominate sales with 28% of the sales, homes in the $150,000 – $199,999 range accounted for 25% of the sales for the month.
The inventory of new homes continued it’s decline down to 292,000 homes in May which represents a 10.2 month supply. A 10.2 month supply is still about twice as high as we would like to see but it is certainly headed the right direction. The Northeast region has the largest inventory of new homes with a 14.66 month supply, followed by the Midwest with a 11.29 month supply, the West at 9.75 months and the South at 9.3 months.
These figures are once again consistent with my earlier comments that I think the market is leveling off and perhaps is close to finding it’s bottom. As new home inventories continue to decline we should see more strength in sales numbers.
Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
This morning the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000. this represents a 0.6% drop from Aprils rate of 344,000 and is almost 33% down from a year ago.
Three of the four regions in the US actually saw an increase in new home sales for the month. The Northeast region was up 28.6% followed by the Midwest and the the West with increases of 18.6% and 1.3% respectively. The South saw a 8.5% drop in sales for the month.
Median prices for new homes increased to $221,600 from $212,600 in April. Homes in the $200,000 – $299,999 range continue to dominate sales with 28% of the sales, homes in the $150,000 – $199,999 range accounted for 25% of the sales for the month.
The inventory of new homes continued it’s decline down to 292,000 homes in May which represents a 10.2 month supply. A 10.2 month supply is still about twice as high as we would like to see but it is certainly headed the right direction. The Northeast region has the largest inventory of new homes with a 14.66 month supply, followed by the Midwest with a 11.29 month supply, the West at 9.75 months and the South at 9.3 months.
These figures are once again consistent with my earlier comments that I think the market is leveling off and perhaps is close to finding it’s bottom. As new home inventories continue to decline we should see more strength in sales numbers.
