By Dennis Norman, on December 21st, 2010 Ah, it is so much fun to be able to write something positive about the real estate market!
According to an economic outlook report just issued by Fannie Mae, our country’s economy should “kick into higher gear” by the second quarter of 2011. This positive outlook is the result of improvements in consumer spending, consumer confidence, increased demand for goods and services and falling unemployment claims.
For 2011, Fannie Mae, in their December 2010 forecast, is forecasting growth of 3.4 percent which is an improvement from the 2.9 percent growth in 2011 they previously forecast. The big caveat is that Continue Reading →
By News Desk, on December 10th, 2010
A former residential sales manager at a Florida property management company pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with housing repair contracts for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Justice announced this week.
Benjamin K. Graves, formerly a residential sales manager at West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla., to wire fraud. According to the one-count felony charge filed on Nov. 12, 2010, in the Middle District of Florida, Ocwen managed foreclosed properties under contract with the VA, which guaranteed qualifying residential mortgages for Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on December 8th, 2010 According to information released by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri (HBA), building permit activity in the St. Louis area through October of this year, is up over 12 percent from the same time last year.
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By Dennis Norman, on December 2nd, 2010 Dennis Norman
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for October shows an increase of 10.4 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 20.5 percent decrease from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on December 2nd, 2010
According to a report released by RealtyTrac, foreclosure homes accounted for 25 percent of all U.S. residential sales in the third quarter of 2010 and that the average sales price of properties that sold while in some stage of foreclosure was more than 32 percent below the average sales price of properties not in the foreclosure process — up from a 26 percent discount in the previous quarter and a 29 percent discount in the third quarter of 2009.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 30th, 2010 Dennis Norman
This morning S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for the third quarter or this year was released showing home prices declined 2.0 percent in the third quarter after having risen 4.7 percent in the second quarter.
Nationally, home prices are 1.5 percent below where they were a year ago. In September, 18 of the 20 metro areas covered by the report had declines in the home price index.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 26th, 2010 Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for October 2010 showing a decrease of 8.1 percent from the month before, but a decrease of 28.5 percent from a year ago.
The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for October was 283,000 homes, a 8.1 percent decrease from Septbmer’s rate of 308,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market increase from an adjusted 7.9 month supply in September to a 8.6 month supply in October. The median new home price decreased for the month to $194,900 from $226,300 the Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 23rd, 2010 Today’s existing home sales report from theNational Association of REALTORS(R) shows existing home sales in October were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.43 million units which is a decrease of 2.2 percent from September and is a decline of 25.9 percent from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 23rd, 2010 A report released today by CoreLogic shows that, while the overall inventory of homes for sale has remained the same in the past year at 4.2 million new and existing homes for sale as of August, the number of homes in “shadow inventory” has grown from 6.1 million a year before to 6.3 million as of August, 2010.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 19th, 2010 According the to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the largest obstacles to the recovery of the housing market are job creation and the availability of credit. At their board meeting last week, NAR approved a credit polity to urge the mortgage lending industry to “reassess and amend their policies so more qualified home buyers can become home owners.”
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By Robert Fishel, on November 17th, 2010
Obtaining a mortgage to buy a home, or to refinance an existing mortgage, can sometimes be a little intimidating to borrowers, but it needn’t be. Granted, this is something the typical person only does every few years at most and regulations continually change the process, but that’s where lenders such as myself come in to the picture, to provide you the info you need and to guide you through the process.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 17th, 2010
The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for October 2010 showing a slight increase in single-family home building permits and a small decrease in new home starts compared to the month before.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 17th, 2010
Price Reductions Surpass Highest Historical Levels in 15 U.S. Cities, Remain Flat Nationwide
According to a report released this morning by Trulia.com, 27 percent of the homes for sale in November have experienced at least one price cut. Following four-consecutive months of increases, this rate has now flattened out nationwide. However, locally the story is different as 15 major cities hit an all-time high for price reductions in November.
“Price reduction increases in many large U.S. cities can be attributed to the basic principle of supply and demand –– on that score, buyers clearly have the advantage this Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on November 12th, 2010 Dennis Norman
A study by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC shows that this fall as parents said goodbye to their college-bound kids, fewer of those kids were heading to dorms or apartments that are typically associated with college housing but instead will be heading to homes their parents bought for them to live in. In fact, 64 percent of real estate professionals in college towns surveyed said they had seen a significant number of “parent investors” buying homes for their kids to live in while attending college.
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By News Desk, on November 10th, 2010 Percentage of Homeowners Underwater Reaches New Peak; Length and Depth of Housing Downturn Approach Depression-Era Declines According to Zillow® Real Estate Market Reports for 3rd Quarter 2010…
The United States housing market continued its long decline in the third quarter with home values falling for the 17th consecutive quarter, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. With home values 25 percent below their June 2006 peak, the current housing downturn is approaching Great Depression-era declines, when home values fell 25.9 percent in five years.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 8th, 2010
Dennis Norman
The National Association of REALTORS® just released their 2010 Survey of Home Buyers and Sellers which shows that people still look at home ownership as a good long-term investment and the typical seller is experiencing positive returns from home ownership.
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By Dennis Norman, on November 5th, 2010 Dennis Norman
At the National Association of REALTORS® Conference and Expo in New Orleans today, “a slow, steady recovery” was predicted for the housing market despite ongoing challenges.
Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors® chief economist, said that he expects “continuing improvement of underlying fundamentals of the current market in coming years.”
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By Dennis Norman, on November 5th, 2010 Dennis Norman
The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for September shows a decrease of 1.8 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 24.9 percent decrease from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on October 29th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Now that the controversial (to put it mildly) Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) has been put to rest as part of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, Fannie Mae has released their “Appraiser Independence Requirements“. Fannie Mae says the purpose of these requirements is to:
Protect the independence of appraisers and the integrity of their appraisals. Extend these important protections for home buyers, mortgage investors, and the housing market. Reinforce Fannie Mae’s commitment to responsible lending and mortgage quality standards. Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 27th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for September 2010 showing an increase of 6.6 percent from the month before, but a decrease of 21.5 percent from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on October 26th, 2010 Dennis Norman
This morning S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for August was released showing a deceleration in the annual growth rates of home prices from the month before in 17 of the 20 Metro areas covered by the report. The Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices for the 20 metros showed a decrease of 0.2 percent in home prices in August from July and an increase of 1.7 percent in home prices from the year before.
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By Dennis Norman, on October 26th, 2010 Dennis Norman
According to a report issued yesterday by CoreLogic, home prices in the St. Louis area decreased in August 2010 by 3.53 percent from the year before, over twice the US rate of price decline for the same period of 1.5 percent. However, distressed home sale prices are to blame and appear to be causing more damage in the St. Louis housing market than on the US housing market on average.
I say this because the data shows if we exclude the distressed sales then home prices in St. Louis only declined 0.28 percent for the same Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 25th, 2010 Dennis Norman
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today released their “October 2010 Scorecard” on the “Obama Administration’s Efforts to Stabilize the Housing Market”.
The scorecard points out the success of “The President’s housing market recovery efforts” but does point out that “data in the scorecard also show that the recovery in the housing market continues to remain fragile.”
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By Dennis Norman, on October 25th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Today’s existing home sales report from theNational Association of REALTORS(R) shows existing home sales in September were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.53 million units which is an increase of 10.0 percent from August but is a a decline of 19.1 percent from a year ago.
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By Dennis Norman, on October 19th, 2010
The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for September 2010 showing a slight increase in single-family home building permits and an increase in new home starts compared to the month before.
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By Dennis Norman, on October 11th, 2010 Dennis Norman
According to a new survey released by FindLaw.com, nearly two-thirds of Americans say the current economic situation is making them less likely to buy a house.
The survey shows that sixty-three percent of American adults say they are less likely to buy a house because of the current state of the economy. So even with record-low interest rates, depressed home prices and plentiful inventory to choose from, only 8 percent of people say the current economic situation makes them more likely to buy a house. About a quarter of people – 28 percent – say they are Continue Reading →
By Dennis Norman, on October 8th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Today Bank of America announced they will stop foreclosure sales in all fifty states until after they have completed their review of foreclosure documents.
This comes after Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co and GMAC deciding last week to stop foreclosure proceedings in states that require a judicial foreclosure process which was apparently the result of recent court decisions on lawsuits brought by homeowners that alleged lenders were abusing the foreclosure process.
By Dennis Norman, on October 8th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Today, Trulia released it’s “Rent vs. Buy Index” which established a price-to-rent ratio for the 50 largest cities in America (by population), then, based upon that ratio, determined which cities it makes more sense (financially) to rent versus buy.
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By Dennis Norman, on October 7th, 2010 Number of price-reduced homes on Market Rose 24 percent in September from 2009..
According to a report released by ZipRealty, the number of price-reduced homes on the market increased 2.1 percent in September compared to August. ZipRealty’s monthly review of MLS-listed properties in 26 major markets found that 47.8 percent of “for sale” homes had at least one price reduction and the average seller actually slashed their list price twice to attract buyers.
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By Robert Fishel, on October 6th, 2010 If you have bought a house and are getting ready to apply for your home mortgage, or perhaps you are about to refinance your existing mortgage to take advantage of the dirt-cheap interest rates, this handy loan application checklist will help you be prepared and make the process smoother and quicker:
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