Real Estate Market - St Louis Real Estate News

Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Performance Remains Better Than Other Loans

By Dennis Norman, on March 9th, 2010

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its report on the performance of commercial and multifamily mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2009. Their last report from a year ago showed that commercial and multifamily mortgages were among the best performing loans held by banks and thrifts. Now, a year later, the data still looks good and shows that commercial and multifamily mortgages continue to have the lowest charge off rate of all loan types at banks and thrifts and also perform better than their overall portfolios as well.

This is good news for an already-struggling Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – What happened to property rights?

By Dennis Norman, on March 9th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This story is part of my ongoing series on how local laws negatively impact the property rights of property owners in the St. Louis area

Unfortunately I don’t have to try too hard to find examples of local laws that seriously impact the rights of property owners in the St. Louis area, particularly those property owners that are landlords or other investors.

My story today comes from a friend of mine, a St. Louis REALTOR(R) that buys homes for his rental portfolio. For the sake of the article, and to help him avoid Continue Reading →

Pending Home Sales Drop In January; Weather Named as Cause

By Dennis Norman, on March 4th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Today the National Association of REALTORS released it’s January Pending Home Sales Index showing a decrease of 7.6 percent in the index from December, 2009 to January 2010 (seasonally adjusted) and a 12.3 percent increase from last year.

Here are highlights from the report:

January”s pending home sales index (seasonally adjusted) was 90.4 (the index is based upon 100.0 being equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001 which we could call the last “normal” year) which was a decrease of 7.6 percent in the index from December’s revised index of 97.8 and an Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Mortgage Rates Hold Steady In the Country’s 8th most affordable city

By Robert Fishel, on March 3rd, 2010

Low foreclosures, stable home prices and affordability make eighth-ranked St. Louis a good bet for home buyers, according to a report released by Forbes.com last Friday. Forbes gathered data from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo’s Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The index measures median home prices against median incomes. Additional data overlays included Moody’s one-year forecast for the Case-Shiller Home Price Index of home prices and RealtyTrac’s 2009 foreclosure report. Rankings from all of these data sources were considered in determining the overall score. The top ten best housing metro areas: Pittsburgh, PA Louisville – Jefferson Continue Reading →

Thinking of “walking away” from your mortgage?

By Dennis Norman, on March 3rd, 2010

Dennis Norman

You may want to consider possible legal issues before deciding to “walk away”

Homeowners who are considering “walking away” from their home to avoid making their mortgage payment need to know that their mortgage company may try to file a lawsuit to recover the amount owed on the home.

In addition, homeowners who sell their home for less than the amount they owe – a process called a “short sale” — may be sued for the unpaid balance, even after the sale of the home. Finally, homeowners with unpaid home equity loans or second mortgages may also Continue Reading →

Missouri Offers to Pay Property Taxes but Homebuyers not biting

By Dennis Norman, on March 2nd, 2010

Dennis Norman

UPDATE June 7, 1010 – Here are links to the Forms from MHDC to claim the tax credit as well as some sample forms they have provided showing how to fill them in:

Program ApplicationHome Purchase AffidavitPromissory NoteHope Program Information and InstructionsSample Forms

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Dennis Norman

Back in December I wrote a post about a $35 million economic development initiative that was approved by the Missouri Housing Development Commission which included $15 million to pay the first-year of property taxes for qualified homebuyers who purchase a new or existing home after January Continue Reading →

Appeals Court Rules Builder Incentive did not violate RESPA

By Dennis Norman, on March 1st, 2010

Dennis Norman

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently consdered an appeal by the plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit again D.R. Horton, Inc. and DHI Mortgage, Co brought by John R. Yeatman and Eleanor E. Yeatman on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated individuals.

The lawsuit stems from the Yeatman’s purchase of a home from DR Horton in 2006 in which the purchase agreement gave the Yeatmans the option of receiving a discount on their closing costs on the house, provided they used DHI Mortgage as their mortgage lender. This was not Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Vacant Property Bill and It’s Affect on Property Rights

By Dennis Norman, on February 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

What do sex offenders and owners of vacant property have in common?

UPDATE: March 8, 2010 – I found out today the bill that was actually perfected last Friday was a floor substitute…Unfortunately the changes made to the bill were minor- they changed the public data base so that you have to enter a property address in order to look up the owners personal information (including phone number and email address) and they changed the wording to no longer make real estate agents and property managers responsible for property they don’t own. So basically, just a little Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – St Louis Home Prices Increased 1.32 Percent in 2009

By Dennis Norman, on February 25th, 2010

Dennis Norman

According to a report issued this morning by the the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) St. Louis area home prices increased by 1.32 percent in 2009. Granted that’s not much but, hey, after what we’ve seen the last couple of years in the housing market I think this is very good news.

This information comes for the FHFA’s purchase-only price index which is based upon repeat sales of the same single-family properties therefore making it a much more accurate barometer of the market than just looking at median prices of homes sold as many reports do. Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Mortgate Rates Hold Steady But Expected to Rise

By Robert Fishel, on February 24th, 2010

When considering historically low interest rates, competitive home values along with the $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer and $6,500 Repeat Homebuyer Tax Credits, potential homebuyers still have a great opportunity.

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW.

The Federal Reserve indicates it will stop buying mortgage-backed securities toward the end of the first quarter. Most mortgage experts believe that mortgage interest rates will rise when mortgages go off “Fed support” as private investors require higher rates to compensate for the risk.

The deadline for the First Time/Repeat Homebuyer Tax Credits is an executed contract by April 30, 2010 with a Continue Reading →

Almost one-in-four borrowers underwater on home mortgage

By Dennis Norman, on February 23rd, 2010

Over Fifteen Percent of Missouri Borrowers are Underwater-Another 5.6 Percent Are Almost Underwater

Dennis Norman

According to a report released today by First American CoreLogic more than 11.3 million U.S. mortgages, or 24 percent of all mortgaged properties, are in a negative equity position meaning the borrowers owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth as of December 31, 2009.

There were approximately 600,000 more borrowers underwater on December 31, 2009 than just three months earlier. In addition, there were an additional 2.3 million mortgages approaching negative equity at the end of last year .

Together, Continue Reading →

Homeowners Confidence In Their Homes’ Value Drops

By Dennis Norman, on February 22nd, 2010

Dennis Norman

American homeowners’ confidence in their own homes’ values falls to lowest level in almost two years

According to the Zillow 4th quarter, 2009 Homeowner Confidence Survey, American’s aren’t feeling so good about the value of their homes, and, in fact, just one in five (20 percent) believe their own homes’ values increased during 2009. What’s interesting here is, according to Zillow, 28 percent of all homes increased in value, meaning that almost a third of the homeowners with homes that increased in value don’t think so.

Even though the confidence level in this report is the lowest Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Report Shows Market Stalled out In December

By Dennis Norman, on February 18th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Radarlogic Housing Market Report Shows First November-December Increase in Home Prices Since 2004 For the US – However It shows a Decrease For December for St. Louis –

When I received the Housing Market Report from Radarlogic, I was happy to see some good news; home prices increased in December from November and a 44 percent increase in the number of homes sold in December versus a year before. Unfortunately those numbers were based upon Radarlogic‘s RPX Composite Price, which tracks home prices in 25 major metropolitan areas (including St. Louis) and when I drilled down to Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Interest Rates Hold Steady – Paramount Celebrates 40 Years

By Robert Fishel, on February 17th, 2010

More than 380 mortgage lending operations nationwide have ceased operation since 2006, according to the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter website.

However in spite of a tough and demanding economic market, Paramount Mortgage this week celebrated it’s 40 year anniversary!

“Expect Excellence” has been our corporate motto and the driving force in our philosophy of providing exemplary customer service,” states H. John Frank, Jr., President of Paramount Mortgage Company. “We have never forgotten that this is a people business and we treat our clients with respect. We take the time to get to know their home purchasing goals and communicate with Continue Reading →

Mortgage Delinquencies Jump Over 10 Percent

By Dennis Norman, on February 16th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Deceleration in Rise of Mortgage Delinquencies Short Lived

Back in July, 2009 when speaking in North Carolina President Barack Obama announced “we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the recession“. My thoughts then were that was very optimistic and I didn’t agree (for whatever that is worth). Since then some economists have announced the recession is officially over. Technically based upon a few bits of data the recession may be over, but for us real people that are actually living and functioning in this economy I don’t think it is over; at least not Continue Reading →

Looking for Love? Try the laundry room!

By Dennis Norman, on February 14th, 2010

Valentine’s Day is a time for love…Are you feeling left out because you haven’t found Mr or Mrs Right?

Maybe you aren’t looking in the right places…. have you tried hanging out in the laundry room of Apartment complexes?

All right, I know what you are wondering, what does this have to do with real estate and why am I writing about it? Actually I couldn’t resist….I guess I’m in the Valentine spirit, plus I was intrigued when I was sent the results of a survey done by Apartments.com concerning “Renter Romances in the Apartment Community.”

So here are Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – 2009 Ends with St Louis Foreclosure Rate at Record Levels

By Dennis Norman, on February 12th, 2010

Dennis Norman

St. Louis ended 2009 With The Highest Foreclosure Rate and Mortgage Delinquency Rates On Record For the St. Louis Area

According to date from First American CoreLogic, St Louis finished 2009 with 1.43 percent of the homes in St. Louis with a mortgage in some stage of the foreclosure process and 5.73 percent of the mortgages in St. Louis seriously delinquent (90+ days past due).

The St. Louis area has seen increases in the foreclosure rate every month since August, 2008 and the the December 2009 rate is the highest rate recorded since First American Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Commercial Real Estate: The Next Shoe to Fall?

By Dennis Norman, on February 11th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Big Losses Are Forecast For Commercial Real Estate and Expected to Crush Some Community Banks-Can the Housing Market Avoid the Fallout?

This morning the Congressional Oversight Panel issued a report, “Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability” which expressed concerns about coming losses in Commercial Real Estate and also described how these losses could affect nearly everyone.

The report states the panel “is deeply concerned that a wave of commercial real estate loan losses over the next four years could jeopardize the stability of many banks, particularly community banks, and prolong an already Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Interest Rates Hold Steady – Still Time for Tax Credit

By Robert Fishel, on February 10th, 2010

There is time left for qualified buyers to take advantage of the 2009 First-Time Home Buyer’s $8,000 Tax Credit & Repeat Home Buyer’s $6,500 Tax Credit. Binding sales contract must be executed by April 30, 2010, the closing can be extended until June 30, 2010. The newly expanded first-time homebuyer and repeat homebuyer tax credit was signed into law a few months ago, but many married, unmarried, or soon to be married tax filers, are confused about claiming these credits. Understandably so. There are numerous scenarios that can come up, e.g. “I am a long-time principal homeowner but my Continue Reading →

Fannie Mae offering buyers incentives on HomePath Properties

By Dennis Norman, on February 8th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Fannie Mae is offering 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equivalaent amount in appliances for people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath® property.

Fannie Mae is trying to entice buyers to buy one of their HomePath® homes by offering to pay up to 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equal amount toward new appliances for owner-occupants who close on the purchase of a property listed on HomePath.com before May 1, 2010. First-time homebuyers, and some long-term homeowners, will also be eligible for the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

Properties eligible for this incentive are listed Continue Reading →

Bank of America to do HAMP Second-Lien Modification Program

By Dennis Norman, on February 4th, 2010

Dennis Norman

Bank of America announced that it is the first mortgage servicer to sign an agreement formally committing to participation in the pending second-lien component of the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Bank of America has systems in place to begin implementing the Second Lien Modification Program (2MP) with the release of final program policies and guidelines by federal regulatory agencies, which is expected soon. 2MP will require modifications that reduce the monthly payments on qualifying home equity loans and lines of credit under certain conditions, including completion of a HAMP modification on the first Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Mortgage Rates Hold Steady-FHA Makes Changes

By Robert Fishel, on February 3rd, 2010

FHA loans gained in popularity for borrowers as applications for FHA-guaranteed mortgages exceeded an annual rate of 3 million in October; nearly triple the level in 2007. In 2006, when subprime and other Wall Street programs were at full speed, the annual rate for applications was less than 600,000.

As a result the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner David Stevens recently announced a set of policy changes to strengthen the FHA’s capital reserves. The changes announced are the latest in a series of changes Stevens has enacted in order to better position the FHA to manage its risk Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate – Realtor Pending Home Sales Index shows Real Estate Market Leveling off

By Dennis Norman, on February 2nd, 2010

Dennis Norman

Today the National Association of REALTORS released it’s December Pending Home Sales Index showing an increase of 1.0 percent in the index from November (seasonally adjusted) and a 10.9 percent increase from last year.

Here are highlights from the report:

December”s pending home sales index (seasonally adjusted) was 96.6 (the index is based upon 100.0 being equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001 which we could call the last “normal” year) which was a 1.0% increase in the index from November and an increase of 10.9 percent from the year before. December”s Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – New Home Sales Fall again in December

By Dennis Norman, on February 1st, 2010

Dennis Norman

The U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000, a 7.6 percent decrease from the revised November rate of 370,000 and is 8.6 percent below a year ago.

My Mantra

As has been my long-running mantra, I don’t like “seasonally adjusted” numbers and “rate” of sales. Why, for one I can’t figure out how in the world they compute the numbers. Second, I just don’t think discussing the “rate” of new home sales paints a realistic picture of the market. I Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate – Permanent Loan Modifications under HAMP triples in December

By Dennis Norman, on January 28th, 2010

Dennis Norman

This week the Treasury Department issed a report which included stats on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) which is part of the Obama administrations’ Making Home Affordable Program and “is a loan modification program designed to reduce delinquent and at-risk borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments”. The HAMP program got underway around March of this year and is set to expire December 31, 2012. According to the government website HAMP is intended to help keep “3 to 4 million Americans in their homes by preventing avoidable foreclosures.”

Permanent modifications triple in December from November:

According to the Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate – St. Louis Mortgage Rates and Outlook

By Robert Fishel, on January 27th, 2010

The mortgage market will be besieged this week by a wave of worry…demand concerns related to Treasury auctions to the question about what happens if Fed Chairman Bernanke is not confirmed for another term… uncertainty seldom pushes rates lower.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – January 27, 2009 *

30-year fixed-rate mortgage 5.00% no points 15-year fixed-rate mortgage 4.375% no points 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage 3.875% no points 3/1 adjustable rate mortgage 3.750% no points

For more information or if you have questions on mortgage rates in St. Louis you may contact me by phone at my direct line, (314) 372-4319, Continue Reading →

St. Louis Home Sales in 2009 show signs of bottom

By Dennis Norman, on January 26th, 2010

Dennis Norman

For the St. Louis area 2009 marked another year of “bad” records for the housing market; record numbers of foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies as well as sales numbers and prices lower than we have seen in several years. However, as I compiled St. Louis area home sales data for 2009 and compared it to the prior two years I realized this is some positive news. It appears we are perhaps seeing the bottom of the market and a flattening of the downward trends.

Unfortunately as our national debt balloons out of control, we continue to see double-digit Continue Reading →

December home sales plummet but 2009 finishes stronger than 2008

By Dennis Norman, on January 25th, 2010

Dennis Norman

NAR’s “seasonally-adjusted” numbers show sales down 16.7 percent for the month…2009 finishes with 5,156,000 homes sold…My projection for the year was 5,143,000 homes….missed it by 13,000 (2/10 of 1 percent) hmm..not bad for a “non-economist” :)

According to the latest report from the National Association of REALTORS(R), existing home sales in December decreased 16.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 5.45 million units in December from a revised level of 6.54 million units in November, and are 14.9 percent higher than the 4.74 million-unit pace in December 2008.

NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, said “It’s Continue Reading →

FHA Announces Tougher Guidelines for Loans

By Dennis Norman, on January 22nd, 2010

Dennis Norman

FHA Announces Policy Changes to Address Risk and Strengthen Finances

This week FHA announced policy changes that are going to help them shore up their finances but will make it more difficult and/or costly for your clients to purchase a home.

The FHA policy changes include: Mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be increased to build up capital reserves and bring back private lending The upfront mortgage insurance fee to the borrower will be increased to 2.25% from 1.75%. This will go into effect this spring. Update the combination of FICO scores and down payments for new Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate Market shows signs of stabilizing

By Dennis Norman, on January 20th, 2010

Dennis Norman

We are long overdue for some good news on the St. Louis housing market and data from December home sales brought just that. Based upon my comparision of homes sold in December 2009 with the year prior, it appears to me the St. Louis housing market may have found it’s bottom and now be starting to level off.

There are still disturbing aspects of the data, like the fact that for the St. Louis metro area there were almost 8 percent fewer homes sold in December 2009 than in December 2008 but there is light at Continue Reading →