St. Louis Real Estate News – St Louis mortgage rates inch up slightly this week

By , on December 15th, 2009

St. Louis mortgage rates inched up slightly this week but remained at near record-lows according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company.

Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – December 15, 2009 *

30-year fixed-rate mortgage 5.00% no points 15-year fixed-rate mortgage 4.75% no points 3/1 adjustable rate mortgage 3.75% no points 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage 3.875% no points

For more information or if you have questions on mortgage rates in St. Louis you may contact John Frank by phone Continue Reading →

New home building permits in St. Louis down 10 percent from a year ago; Multi-family permits down 54 percent

By , on December 10th, 2009

Dennis Norman

Not surprisingly, builders in St. Louis (those that have managed to survive thus far) are not racing out to build homes. According to the latest data reported by the Home Builders Association of St. Louis, there were 228 permits issued in October for new homes in the St. Louis metro area (St. Louis City and the Counties of St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles, Franklin, Lincoln and Warren) down almost 19 percent from September when there were 281 permits issued.

Year-to-date, through October 31, 2009, there have been 2,321 permits issued for new homes in the Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News – St Louis mortgage rates stay pretty much the same this week

By , on December 9th, 2009

St. Louis mortgage rates remained at near record-lows this week, with only the 30 year fixed rate mortgage rates increasing slightly, according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company.

Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – December 9, 2009 *

30-year fixed-rate mortgage 4.875% no points 15-year fixed-rate mortgage 4.375% no points 3/1 adjustable rate mortgage 3.625% no points 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage 3.875% no points

For more information or if you have questions on mortgage rates in St. Louis Continue Reading →

Obama administrations loan modification program ‘destined to fail’

By , on December 8th, 2009

Dennis Norman

Laurie Goodman, the Senior Managing Director at Amherst Securities, testified today before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on “The Private Sector and Government Response to the Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis“. Amherst Securities specializes in the trading of residential mortgage backed securities and charges Goodman with keeping them and their customers abreast of trends in the market.

Today, in her testimony, Goodman told the committee she hoped to make two primary points in her testimony: “The housing market is fundamentally in very bad shape. The single largest problem is negative equity.” “The current modication program does not address Continue Reading →

Commercial and multi-family properties mortgage delinquencies on the rise

By , on December 7th, 2009

Dennis Norman

For the first year or so of the real estate slump, it appeared to just be concentrated in the residential market, specifically homes and condos. However, over the past few months the attention has shifted more and more to the commerical and multi-family markets as well as the economy remains weak.

The Mortgage Bankers Association released their Third Quarter 2009 Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Delinquency Report showing that delinquency rates on loans in this sector continued to increase. Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News – St Louis mortgage rates unchanged this week

By , on December 2nd, 2009

St. Louis mortgage rates remained at near record-lows this week according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company.

Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – December 2, 2009 *

Continue Reading →

Pending home sales rise for ninth consecutive month

By , on December 1st, 2009

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist, NAR

Is the increase real or have the tax-credits created an “artificial” market that cannot be sustained?

Today the National Association of REALTORS(R) issued their Pending Home Sales Index Report for October showing pending sales in the U.S. rose again for the ninth consecutive month – marking the longest streak since since NAR began the pending home sale index in 2001.

As I have expressed previously, I’m somewhat cautious about getting too excited about these recent encouraging reports on the housing market as I feel we still have many challenges out there.

Continue Reading →

Helpful homebuyer tax credit video from NAHB

By , on December 1st, 2009

Dennis Norman

I have done several posts on the homebuyer tax credit and received and answered hundreds of questions about the tax credits on the various blogs I write for. There appears to be a lot of demand for the credits by homebuyers but also appears to be many questions. If you have questions about the homebuyer tax credit I would suggest you check out the comments/questions and answers to a post I did at www.RealEstateConsumerNews.com.

In addition, the National Association of Home Builders has just updated their informative video on the newly extended and expanded tax credit Continue Reading →

The Cost of Not Walking Away From An Underwater Mortgage

By , on November 27th, 2009

In the ongoing debate about whether one should walk away from an underwater mortgage or not, one University of Arizona professor speaks out strongly in favor of taking a hike. According to Brent T. White, an associate professor of law at the University of Arizona:

A failure to grasp the true economics of the situation is holding back many Americans whose home values have dropped far below the amount they owe and who would be better off renting, Mr. White says. Fear, shame and guilt also are preventing rational decisions, he believes. And, he says, those “emotional constraints” are encouraged Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News – St Louis mortgage rates stay low this week

By , on November 25th, 2009

St. Louis mortgage rates remained at near record-lows this week according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company.

Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – November 25, 2009 *

Continue Reading →

New Home Sales in US through October; UP 5.1 percent OR DOWN 24.1 percent from a year ago, take your pick

By , on November 25th, 2009

Dennis Norman

This morning the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report showing the sale of New Homes in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000, a 6.2 percent increase from the revised September rate of 405,000 and is 5.1 percent above 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 Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News: Over 15 percent of St Louis homeowners with a mortgage are underwater

By , on November 24th, 2009

Dennis Norman

According to a report released today by First American CoreLogic nearly 10.7 million U.S. mortgages, or 23 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 September 30, 2009.

Here in St. Louis, as of September 30, 2009, there were 87,557 homeowners in St. Louis that were “underwater” on their mortgage, meaning they owe more than their home is worth. This works out to 15.14 percent of the homeowners in St. Louis with a mortgage, Continue Reading →

St. Louis area home sales increase 7.0 percent in October from September; down 4.8 percent from a year ago

By , on November 23rd, 2009

Dennis Norman

National Association of REALTORS released a report today saying US Home Sales in October increased 10.1 percent for the month and are 23.5 percent higher than a year ago; I did an analysis of the data based just on ACTUAL sales and came up with an increase for the month of 6.6 percent and an increase of less than 1 percent from a year ago…When looking at the Actual sales number for US home sales, the St Louis market is performing pretty close…(to see my complete post and analysis of the NAR report click here)

Here Continue Reading →

President of Metropolitan Money Store Sentenced to Over 12 Years in Prison for $37 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

By , on November 21st, 2009

Joy Jackson Personally Responsible for Over $16 Million in Losses to Mortgage Lenders; Used Over $800,000 of Fraudulently Obtained Proceeds to Pay for Her Wedding

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced the president of the Metropolitan Money Store, Joy Jackson, age 41, of Fort Washington, Maryland, today to 151 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that falsely promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, announced United States Attorney Continue Reading →

Almost 1 in 8 Missourians are delinquent on mortgage payments according to MBA report

By , on November 20th, 2009

Missouri ranks 21st in delinquencies and 30th in foreclosures

According to a report just issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association, the mortgage delinquency rate on one-to-four-unit residential properties in the U.S. rose to a new record rate of 9.64 percent. Here in Missouri, the delinquency rate is slightly lower at 9.41 percent.

Included in the MBA’s report as a “delinquency” are loans that are at least one payment past due, but does NOT include loans somewhere in the process of foreclosure. At the end of third quarter 2.05 percent of mortgage loans in Missouri were in the foreclosure process. Therefore Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News; St Louis home prices fall in September but projected to increase 2.4 percent in next twelve months

By , on November 19th, 2009

Dennis Norman

According to a report issued by First American CoreLogic national home prices continue to decline with their HPI (Loan Performance Home Price Index) declining by 9.8 percent in September 2009 compared with the year before. If you take the distressed sales out (foreclosures, short sales, etc) the nation decline in HIP for the same period was 6.2 percent.

St. Louis home prices did better according to the report with the HPI declining 3.85 percent in Sepetember 2009 from the year before. This is an improvement over August which was down 4.09 percent from the year before. Continue Reading →

New home construction in Midwest down in October; New home completions still outpacing sales by over 50 percent

By , on November 19th, 2009

Even with a decline in the Midwest in new home starts and completions, new home construction activity is still outpacing new home sales potentially leading to inventories increasing again.

The US Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for October 2009 showing a decrease in new home construction activity in the Midwest from September.

The report shows the following for the Midwest Region:

Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News St. Louis Real Estate Market Update

By , on November 18th, 2009

Dennis Norman

Home sales in the St.Louis area through October 31st are down 4.8 percent from the same period a year ago, however this is a decrease of almost 40 percent from the month before when sales were down 7.9 percent from the same period the year before. St. Louis area median home prices for the period are down 6.5 percent from a year before however this is also an improvement from the 7.1 percent decrease for the month before. The average time it takes to sell a home in the St. Louis area is 2.2 percent less Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News – St Louis mortgage rates drop again this week remaining below 5 percent

By , on November 17th, 2009

St. Louis mortgage rates dropped this week to almost record lows according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company.

Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – November 17, 2009 *

Continue Reading →

Mortgage Loan Delinquencies on track to set record in 2009

By , on November 16th, 2009

Dennis Norman

TransUnion released the results of its analysis of trends in the mortgage industry for the third quarter of 2009 and the associated impact on the U.S. consumer.

Part of this report focused on delinquencies on mortgages and the rate of mortgage delinquency. The report showed that mortgage loan delinquency (the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days past due) increased for the eleventh straight quarter, hitting an all-time national average high of 6.25 percent for the third quarter of 2009, a 7.57 percent increase from the record-setting second quarter rate.

Continue Reading →

Justice Department Files Fair Housing Lawsuit in Missouri Against Owner and Managers of Federally-Subsidized Property for Race and Sex Discrimination

By , on November 12th, 2009

The Justice Department announced it has filed a lawsuit today in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri alleging a pattern or practice of violations of the Fair Housing Act by the owner and managers of Forum Manor Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex, for refusing to rent to African-Americans and males, refusing to allow tenants to have African-American visitors, sexually harassing female tenants and retaliating against tenants who complained about such discrimination.

Continue Reading →

And now for the other side of the coin on the home-buyer tax credit

By , on November 11th, 2009

Publishers note: If you have been reading our blog for a while you are probably aware we have been supporters and advocates of the home-buyer tax credit as well as the extension and expansion of the credit, which happened last week. We realize however, there are people that do not support the credits for a variety of reasons. I came across the article below which was written prior to passage of the extension of the credit by Ted Gayer. I think this is a well written piece and does present the “other side of the coin”…Ted agreed to allow us Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News – St Louis mortgage rates drop this week below 5 percent

By , on November 10th, 2009

St. Louis mortgage rates dropped this week to almost record lows according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company.

Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – November 10, 2009 *

Continue Reading →

St Louis Real Estate News: St. Louis foreclosure rate increases, again

By , on November 10th, 2009

Dennis Norman

Foreclosure rates in St. Louis increased for the month of September over the same period last year according to a report released by First American CoreLogic. The report showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate of 1.26 percent in September, up just slightly from August’s rate of 1.24 percent, but up over 59 percent from a year ago when the rate was 0.79 percent.

The national foreclosure rate for September was over double the rate of St. Louis at 2.93 percent and was an increase of 75 percent from a year Continue Reading →

Fewer home owners are underwater on their homes according to Zillow report

By , on November 9th, 2009

Dennis Norman

The percent of American home owners with mortgages in a negative equity position fell to 21 percent in the third quarter of this year, down from 23 percent in the second quarter, as home values stabilized in the short term and more underwater homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

Year-over-year home values in the U.S. declined for the 11th consecutive quarter, falling 6.9 percent to a Zillow Home Value Index of $190,400. However, the rate of year-over-year decline shrank for the third quarter in a row, meaning Continue Reading →

New alternative for some homeowners facing foreclosure; Deed for Lease

By , on November 6th, 2009

Dennis Norman

If you are a homeowner facing losing your home in foreclosure but you do not qualify for or have not been able to sustain other loan-workout solutions, such as a modification, you may have another alternative: The Deed for Lease program announced yesterday by Fannie Mae for homeowners with loans insured by Fannie Mae.

“The Deed for Lease Program provides an additional option for qualifying homeowners who are facing foreclosure and are not eligible for modifications,” said Jay Ryan, Vice President of Fannie Mae. “This new program helps eliminate some of the uncertainty of foreclosure, keeps Continue Reading →

Home buyer tax credit extension update; House Passes Bill…On to President for approval

By , on November 5th, 2009

Dennis Norman

UPDATE 11/06/09 5:14 p.m. – Thanks to Denis T who was commenting on this post, click here to go to the IRS site with information on the new tax credits.

UPDATE 11/06/09 1:00 p.m. – I just heard that a short while ago President Obama signed the bill into law. IT’S OFFICIAL! So if you are in the market for a home .. Go For It!

Continue Reading →

St. Louis Real Estate News – St Louis mortgage rates drop this week

By , on November 4th, 2009

St. Louis mortgage rates dropped this week according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company.

Low interest rates and the homebuyer tax credit, which is close to getting extended beyond the current expiration date of November 30th, should be tempting to buyers.

St. Louis Mortgage Rates – November 4, 2009 *

Continue Reading →

Home buyer tax credit extension update; Senate Passes Bill

By , on November 4th, 2009

Dennis Norman

UPDATE 11/05 2:00 pm – The House has passed the bill by a vote of 403 – 12 – It now goes to the President who is expected to sign today or tomorrow.

UPDATE 11/05, 12:35 pm- To read the section of H.R. 3548 that contains the details concerning the first-time home-buyer tax credit click here.

If you care to read the entire bill click here.

UPDATE: At 5:28 p.m. by a vote of 98 to 0 the Senate Passed H.R. 3548 – It now will go to the House where it is expected to pass Continue Reading →

Setting Up the Next Leg Down in Housing

By , on November 4th, 2009

Loose lending standards in government-backed mortgages is setting up the next wave of defaults and sharp declines in housing prices.

Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds

Beneath the hype that housing has bottomed is an ugly little scenario: lending standards are still loose and the low-down payment, high-risk loans being guaranteed by government agencies are setting up the next giant wave of defaults and foreclosures.

You might have thought that the near-demise of risky-mortgage mills Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have cooled the supply of highly leveraged Continue Reading →

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