Mortgage and Finance - St Louis Real Estate News

REALTORS Warn That Debt Ceiling Impasse May Run Interest Rates Up and Home Sales Down

By Dennis Norman, on October 9th, 2013

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), cautioned today that, given the fact the U.S. Government spends one dollar for every 75 -80 cents it takes in, if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, the government will have to decide where to cut its spending. Should the government choose not to pay its interest obligations, “we can expect interest rates on Treasury bonds to rise…and if that happens, mortgage rates will rise, because mortgage rates follow Treasury rates.”

Yun went on to say that if mortgage interest rates do rise we can expect home sales to drop Continue Reading →

How Will The Government Shut Down Affect The St Louis Real Estate Market?

By Dennis Norman, on October 7th, 2013

As we enter the 7th day of the government shut down, concern grows among home buyers and sellers as to how this may affect the transactions here in St Louis. The short answer is that, fortunately, it appears the impact will be minimal for the most part. This morning at a meeting of the St Louis Industry Forum, which I chair, this topic was discussed and from the input of the real estate-related professions represented, it appears the impact of the government shutdown on real estate transactions here will be minimal.

Shelly Clark, President of Cardinal Surveying, said that there Continue Reading →

The Dual Agency Dual

By Dennis Norman, on October 3rd, 2013

Agency relationships between a buyer or seller of a home and the real estate agent are probably one of the most confusing aspects of the real estate transaction for consumers and for many real estate agents as well for that matter. Dual agency takes the confusion to a whole new level though for the parties involved as the issue gets quite complex. At the very basic level, dual agency exists when the same real estate agent represents both the buyer and seller in the same real estate transaction (a bad idea in my humble opinion). At a more complicated Continue Reading →

Tough Lending Standards Mean Nearly One-Third of Americans Don’t Qualify For A Home Loan

By Dennis Norman, on October 2nd, 2013

Three of every 10 Americans don’t qualify for a home loan, according to the Zillow Mortgage Market Place Analysis. The analysis also showed that only borrowers with a credit score of at least 740 should expect to get the best mortgage rates offered due to tougher mortgage lending standards.

In doing their analysis, Zillow analyzed a total of 13 million loan quotes and over 225,000 purchase loan requests from September 2013. What was revealed was that borrowers with a credit score under 620 who requested a home mortgage for a 30-year fixed-rate loan, were unlikely to receive a loan. Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquencies Continue to Improve

By Dennis Norman, on September 17th, 2013

The housing market continues to show signs of recovery, today with the report by S&P/Experian showing that their credit default index for first mortgages fell by 12 percent in the past year and by over 20 percent (20.8%) for second mortgages during the same period. While this may not be that exciting of a topic or seem like such a big deal to some, given the fact that mortgage delinquencies are a leading indicator of foreclosures and, over the past few years, foreclosures have pommelled some neighborhoods all but destroying home values, this is really huge from a big Continue Reading →

St Louis Homeowners With Negative Equity Drops By One-Third In 2nd Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on September 14th, 2013

There were 59,709 St Louis homeowners with negative equity in the 2nd quarter of 2013, a 33 percent decline from the first quarter of this year when there were 89,690, according to a report released by CoreLogic. During the 2nd quarter just over 1 in 10 (10.6%) of all St Louis homeowners with a mortgage owed more on their home then the current value thereby putting them underwater, or in a negative equity position. The quarter before, about one in 6 (16%) St Louis homeowners with a mortgage were underwater.

Continue Reading →

Over 123,000 St Louis Homeowners Are Seriously Underwater

By Dennis Norman, on September 6th, 2013

Nearly one of every 4 St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are seriously underwater, meaning their mortgage exceeds the current value of their home by 25 percent or more, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. As the table below shows, the city of St. Louis has the highest percentage of seriously underwater homeowners at 31 percent and Franklin county the lowest at 14 percent. In addition, there are another 104,000 St Louis homeowners in a “near-equity” or “resurfacing equity” position, meaning their loan equals 90 to 110 percent of the current value of their home. As long Continue Reading →

Missouri Ranked 41st In U.S. In Terms Of Credit Quality of Homebuyers

By Dennis Norman, on August 24th, 2013

Lending Tree just released a list ranking the credit quality of perspective homebuyers by State based upon home loan applications during the 2nd quarter of 2013 and the report gives Missouri a score of 75.69 out of a possible 100, bringing our state in at 41st in the nation. In determining the credit quality of the borrower or “borrower health” in Lending Tree terms, they take into consideration three things on perspective homebuyer loan applications: weighted average of credit score, loan-to-value ratio [LTV] and overall lendability of mortgage-seekers to arrive at a score.

At the top of the list, Continue Reading →

Economists Predict Home Price Appreciation for 2013 to Top 6 Percent On National Level

By Dennis Norman, on August 10th, 2013

Home Price Appreciation for 2013 is expected to be 6.75 percent (year-over-year from 2012), according to the average estimate of a panel of 106 economists surveyed by Pulsenomics. Interesting enough, though the economists had varying opinions, not one panelist project a decrease in home prices for 2013, in fact the lowest estimation of home price increase for 2013 was 1.69 percent and at the other end of the spectrum, the highest projection was 15 percent.

Also worth noting from the survey was the fact that 88 percent of the economists on the panel did not feel that Continue Reading →

Missouri has almost the lowest closing costs in the nation!

By Dennis Norman, on August 8th, 2013

That’s right, along with very affordable home prices, Missouri also has almost the lowest closing costs in the nation at an average of $2,188 for lenders’ origination fees and third party fees, second only to the state of Wisconsin with average closing costs of $2,119, according to the 2013 closing cost survey by Bankrate.

See table below for survey results for all states:

(We work hard on this and sure would appreciate a “Like”)[iframe http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStLouisRealEstateNews&send=false&layout=standard&width=50&show_faces=false&font&colorscheme=light&action=like&height=35&appId=537283152977556 100 35 ]

Continue Reading →

Three out of four people say now is a good time to buy a home

By Dennis Norman, on August 7th, 2013

Nearly three out of four people (74%) say now is a good time to buy a home, according to the July 2013 National Housing Survey by Fannie Mae. In addition, forty-percent of the people surveyed feel now is a good time to sell a home, this is up for 36 percent that felt that way the month before and matches the survey high since it’s inception.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS:

Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Interest Rates On The Rise But Still Historically Low

By Dennis Norman, on August 3rd, 2013

St Louis mortgage interest rates are on the rise and hitting levels we have not seen in the past year and a half and the 3.x percent rates we have become somewhat accustomed to are gone. However, before you panic or think the housing market is headed toward another crash as a result, you should keep in mind that todays rates (see below for current rates) of about 4.5 percent for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage is still lower than the average monthly mortgage interest was for more than 40 years proceeding 2012. Granted, looking back, 2012 was Continue Reading →

The Mortgage Interest Deduction…Truth vs Fiction

By Dennis Norman, on July 26th, 2013

The truth on the Mortgage Interest Deduction

Currently, lawmakers in Washington D.C., while looking for ways to “close loopholes” and cut spending, are looking hard at something once considered “untouchable”, the mortgage interest deduction (MID). While there is probably little chance of totally eliminating the ability for homeowners to deduct the mortgage interest they paid on their homes, there is a possibility the deduction could be altered significantly or capped, and, perhaps, even phased out over time.

Like most current events, there are stories out there with varying degrees of accuracy about the benefit of the mortgage interest deduction Continue Reading →

The Typical St Louis House

By Dennis Norman, on July 23rd, 2013

The typical St Louis house is owner occupied (64.4 %), has 2+ bathrooms (62%) a garage or car port (84%) and a porch, deck, balcony or patio (96%), according to data just released by the U.S. Census bureau. According to the 2011 American Housing Survey, 68.5 percent of St Louis homeowners have a mortgage equal to 72 percent of the value of their house on average and with a median payment of $900 per month.

Click here for complete American Housing Survey Results.

Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosure Rate Declined By One-Third In Past Year

By Dennis Norman, on July 23rd, 2013

The St Louis foreclosure rate fell in May to 1.16 percent, down 33 percent from a year ago when the St Louis foreclosure rate was 1.75 percent, according to newly released data from Corelogic. More good news in the data is the fact that the St Louis mortgage delinquency rate declined in May as well, falling to 3.88 percent of all mortgage loans, down 17 percent from a year ago when the St Louis mortgage delinquency rate was 4.7 percent.

Search St Louis Foreclosures HERE

For Advice on How to Buy St Louis Foreclosures From A 2000+ Home Continue Reading →

Missouri Supreme Court Upholds Missouri Condo Lien Over Refinanced Mortgage

By Dennis Norman, on July 16th, 2013

The Missouri Supreme Court just handed down it’s decision today which upheld the priority of Missouri Condo Lien over a refinanced first mortgage. This case, which involves a condominium in Parkway Towers in the Country Club Plaza area of Kansas City, Missouri, was a huge win for condominium associations in Missouri.

Here is a recap of the facts of the case, from the Supreme Court opinion:

Trish Carcopa purchased the condo in 2004 and then in 2006 did a quit claim from herself to herself and and Nicole Carcopa. In June 2006, the Carcopa’s refinanced their existing loan with a Continue Reading →

Foreclosures and Shadow Inventory Decline By Double Digits

By Dennis Norman, on July 10th, 2013

Foreclosures and Shadow Inventory are each down double digits from a year ago as the market continues to improve. In May there were 52,000 foreclosures completed in the U.S., a decline of 27 percent from 71,000 completed foreclosures a year ago, according to a new report from CoreLogic. The shadow inventory (foreclosed homes that are bank owned but not listed for sale) l falling below one million homes in April, a decline of 34 percent from it’s peak in 2010, when it reached 3 million homes.

Mortgage delinquencies are improving as well with less than 2.3 million mortgages (5.6 percent Continue Reading →

Number of homeowners with negative equity falls by almost 50 percent

By Dennis Norman, on July 8th, 2013

The number homeowners in a negative equity position (owing more on their mortgage than the current value of their home) during the first quarter of this year fell to just 7.3 million homeowners in the U.S. or less than 15 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, according to the most recent data from Lenders Processing Services (LPS). This represents a decline of almost 50 percent in the number of negative equity homeowners from a year ago. Continue Reading →

Get The “Fax” Before You Buy A Home

By Dennis Norman, on July 3rd, 2013

Yes, I know how to spell “facts” and am aware that “fax” machines have went the way of the dinosaurs and therefore would never advise someone to get one, so what exactly am I talking about in my post title? Actually, my recent discovery of a company that was launched in 2012 called Housefax prompted me to do this post, hence “fax”, however, I also mean to suggest that you should get all the “facts” you can (about the house and market) before you buy a home.

First, about Housefax. The company was launched last year and it’s top Continue Reading →

St Louis Foreclosures At Lowest Rate In Over 3 Years

By Dennis Norman, on June 25th, 2013

St Louis Foreclosures fell in April to 1.2 percent of all St Louis homes with a mortgage, a decline of 33 percent from a year ago when the rate was 1.78 percent and is now at the lowest rate in well over 3 years, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. This puts St Louis foreclosures less than half the national rate for April of 2.65 percent.

In addition, the report reveals that St Louis mortgage delinquencies are also down significantly for April 2013 which 3.96 percent of St Louis mortgage being 90 days or more delinquent, a Continue Reading →

St Louis Mortgage Companies Seeing Fixed Rate Jumbo Mortgages Make Comeback

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on June 14th, 2013

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

St Louis Mortgage companies were not making many 30-year, fixed-rate jumbo mortgages a year ago, but now many St Louis Mortgage companies are offering fixed jumbos – with very competitive rates, including my firm, Paramount Mortgage.

As interest rates start to rise, homeowners are thinking they may not see rates this low in the future and if their ARM is maturing a couple of years from now, they could be in a tough spot.

Continue Reading →

St Louis Homeowners With Negative Equity Falls 10 Percent

By Dennis Norman, on June 12th, 2013

There were 88,367 St Louis homeowners with negative equity during the first quarter of this year, according to a report just released by CoreLogic. This represents 15.7 percent of the St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage and is a decline of 10 percent from the prior quarter when there were 98,365 St Louis homeowners with negative equity, or 17.5 percent of all St Louis homeowners with a mortgage.

For the State of Missouri as a whole, there were 120,056 homeowners, or 15.3 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, with negative equity during the first quarter of this year. On Continue Reading →

Three out of Four People Say Now Is The Time To Buy A Home

By Dennis Norman, on June 11th, 2013

Over three of every four people (76 percent) say now is a good time to buy a home according to the National Housing Survey for May just released by Fannie Mae. Would be sellers are also feeling better about the housing market with 40 percent saying now is a good time to sell a home.

When it comes to financing that home purchase, American’s are getting more optimistic as well, with 46 percent saying it would be easy to get a home loan today, however 50 percent believe it would be difficult to obtain a mortgage.

Thinking of Continue Reading →

Missouri Has 5th Lowest Average Down Payment In Nation

By Dennis Norman, on June 5th, 2013

The average home buyer in Missouri makes a down payment of 13.2 percent and borrows an average amount of $172,998.59, according to the latest data from LendingTree.com. The state with the lowest average down payment is Mississippi at 11.9 percent and the highest, New Jersey at 20.5 percent.

Over 1 in 4 St Louis Homeowners With A Mortgage Are Underwater

By Dennis Norman, on May 23rd, 2013

Slightly over 1 of every 4 (26.4 percent) St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are underwater or, in other words, in a negative equity position owing more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth, according to a report by Zillow. This is slightly higher than the national rate of 25.4 percent and, unfortunately, is predicted by Zillow to increase in the coming months to about 26.7 percent by January 2014.

In addition to the St Louis homeowners that are underwater, the report indicates that another 20.7 percent of the St Louis homeowners with a mortgage have less than Continue Reading →

How Long Do You Have To Wait To Get A Home Loan After Foreclosure, Short Sale or Bankruptcy?

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on May 18th, 2013

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

Since the real estate market crash, millions of homeowners have lost their homes in a foreclosure, been forced to do a short sale to get out from a home they were underwater on or file bankruptcy as a result of financial hardship as a result of the the market crash and general economic downturn. Many of these homeowners have resorted to renting or living with relatives but, as time passes and the financial wounds heal, are now wanting to buy a home again prompting the question, “how long do I have to wait Continue Reading →

Survey Shows One-Third Of Homebuyers Lack Info Needed To Get Mortgage

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on May 13th, 2013

One-third of Homebuyers Surveyed Are Ill-prepared to Get a Mortgage

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

According to a survey recently conducted by Zillow, many homebuyers are really not armed with the information they should have before attempting to obtain a mortgage. For example, over one-third (34 percent) of the prospective homebuyers surveyed did not know that a qualified borrower can obtain a home loan today with less than a five percent downpayment.

In addition, many homebuyers have misinformation that can prevent them from obtaining the best possible mortgage interest rate. For example, 26 percent of the homebuyers said Continue Reading →

Over 1 of every 4 homeowners in Missouri underwater

By Dennis Norman, on May 9th, 2013

As of April 2013, there were 182,678 homeowners in Missouri (26.68 percent) that were underwater on their mortgage meaning that their loan balances exceeds 125 percent of the current value of their home, according to a report just released by RealtyTrac. As a comparison, Illinois’ underwater homeowner rate is 34.79, Florida 41.24, Nevada 52.07 and California 25.07 In a little more upbeat news, the RealtyTrac report also revealed that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions) in April affected 144,790 properties in the U.S. which is a decline of 5 percent from the month before and a Continue Reading →

Real Estate Recovery "On Its Way"

By Tyler Frank NMLS # 942420, on May 3rd, 2013

Tyler Frank,Paramount MortgageNMLS ID 942420

“The (real estate) recovery has been much more like the tortoise than the hare,” said Stephen Blank, a senior resident fellow of the Washington-based Urban Land Institute. “We’ve become used to slow relief. But we have finally turned the corner.”

Real estate markets on both coasts in places like; New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston were the first to emerge from recession and will pick up their pace of recovery through 2013, said Blank, a principal researcher for Emerging Trends. He was the main speaker at the annual outlook presented by Continue Reading →

Do You Need a Survey When You Buy A House And If So, What Kind?

By Dennis Norman, on May 2nd, 2013

When you purchase a home if you are most likely going to obtain some type of survey as part of the purchase process. Even if you don’t think you need one, if you are obtaining a mortgage, the lender is going to require that you get one. There are many types of surveys though and not all are created equal. Here in St. Louis it is quite common for a home buyer to obtain a “spot” survey because, at around $100, it is the lowest cost survey that will normally meet the lenders requirements. However, in my opinion, all home Continue Reading →