In the past few months I have received dozens of emails being forwarded around the internet warning of a new “3.8 percent real estate tax” or “tax on home sale” coming as a result of Obamacare. Given there seem to be many misconceptions out there about this topic I decided to address it this morning. For starters, there is not a 3.8 percent house sale tax in the health care legislation per se. There is, however, a 3.8 percent on unearned income for high-income individuals and couples that could end up being applied to the sale of one’s home. Continue Reading →
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Here’s some good news to end our week with: In St. Louis the number of homeowners that are underwater on their mortgage (owe more than their home is worth), otherwise known as being in a “negative equity” position, dropped to 90,196 homeowners, or 16.1 percent of all St. Louis homeowners with a mortgage, in the first quarter of this year, down from 101,829 St Louis homeowners, or 18.1 percent during the prior quarter, according to a report just released by Corelogic. Continue Reading → This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for June 2012 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 1,785 properties in St. Louis during the month, a 4.65 percent increase from the previous month and an increase of 7.27 percent from June 2011. During the month, 1 out of every 699 homes in St. Louis had a foreclosure filing. For the first half of 2012, there have been 9,672 St. Louis foreclosure filings, up from 8,786 from the 2nd half of 2011 and up from 8.933 from the first half of 2011. Continue Reading → This week Clear Capital® released its Home Data Index™ (HDI) Market Report with data through June 2012 which showed home prices in the U.S. grew both on a quarterly and yearly basis 1.7 percent from the prior period. This report shows further support for a housing price recovery, which is very good news! Continue Reading → Below is a video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that I prepare monthly. In this video I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the month as well as an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed. (Check out all our market update videos on our YouTube Channel – click here. Continue Reading → According to a report just released by Lender Processing Services, the foreclosure inventory in the U.S. remains near all-time highs, with 4.12 percent of all active mortgages in the foreclosure pipeline in addition to the 3.2 percent that are 90 days or more delinquent but have not yet begun the foreclosure process. Continue Reading → According to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) that was just released, there are 84 cities in the U.S. where the housing markets are improving as of July, which is an increase from 80 cities the month before. The cities in the report are from 32 states. Continue Reading → At present it looks as though 2012 may again be a year to remember for foundation issues. To date, this has been a very dry year. At present we are somewhere around 5-6 inches behind in rainfall. You can see the cracks beginning to develop in the grounds. We have also been in the growth cycle for trees during this time and the growing season was advanced due to the unusually warm March throughout most of the country Continue Reading → Interest rates have been strong all year, last week however, we saw mortgage backed securities rally each day and with the release of unemployment figures on Friday we are now officially sitting at historic lows! If you have not taken advantage of these rates…what are you waiting for? Maybe you have been told that you don’t have enough equity in your home due to the housing market trending down over the past few years? Continue Reading → A report just released by Trulia today which is based on the for-sale homes and rentals listed on Trulia, shows that asking prices for Saint Louis homes for sale decreased 2.4 percent from a year ago however Saint Louis rental rates increased 3.2 percent during the same period. Continue Reading → A report released today by CoreLogic, one of the nations leading providers of property information, shows that U.S. home prices increased in May by 2.0percent from the year before and increased by 1.8 percent from the month before marking the third-consecutive month U.S. home prices have increased on both a year-over-year as well as month-over-month basis. St. Louis home prices, on the other hand, moved opposite the U.S. trend with St. Louis home prices decreasing in May by 2.2 percent from the year before and St. Louis home prices in May decreased 1.7 percent from April, according to the report. Continue Reading → According to a report released today by CoreLogic, there were 63,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in May 2012, down from 62,000 the month before and down almost 20 percent (18.18) from May 2011. Since the real estate market meltdown began in September 2008 there have been about 3.6 million homes that had forecloses completed upon. Continue Reading → The sale price for a house is $200,000, but the appraisal comes back at $190,000. Should the borrower still try to purchase this property or just leave it be? This is not unusual circumstance common in today’s real estate market; appraisals are coming in conservatively. What action should the borrower take when there is a mismatch between the seller’s asking price and the home’s appraised value? Remember, the maximum loan amount is based upon the lower of the sale price or the appraised value, whichever is less. Continue Reading → The percentage of first-lien mortgages that were current and performing at the end of the first quarter of 2012 increased to the highest levels in three years, according to a report published today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Continue Reading → he National Association of REALTORS released it’s Pending Home Sales Index for May today showing an increase of 5.9 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), a 13.3 percent increase from a year ago and is now at the highest level it’s been since April 2010. Continue Reading → A survey conducted by Zillow compiled from 114 responses by a diverse group of economists, real estate experts and market strategists, reveals that economists expect home prices to decline only slightly in 2012 (0.4 percent for the year) and then be on the rise. According to Zillow, this is the first time the individual economists surveyed were largely in agreement on where U.S. home prices are headed, signaling that a true bottom may be imminent. Continue Reading → Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for May 2012 showing an increase of 7.6 percent from the month before, and an increase of 19.8 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for May was 369,000 homes, up from a revised rate of 343,000 homes the month before. The supply of new homes on the market decreased to a 4.7 month supply from a revised 5.0 months the month before. The median new home price decreased slightly to $234,500 from a revised median price of $236,000 the month before and increased 5.6 percent from a year ago when the median new home price was $222,000. Continue Reading → Lately the $64 question for many people is whether to rent or buy a home. I think by now everyone knows that, as a result of the collapse in home prices and dirt-cheap interest rates, buying a home is now more affordable than ever, but for a lot of people there are still doubts or concerns that need to be addressed before making the decision whether or not to buy. Many of these issues stem around financing including; how much down payment will be necessary, what can I afford, etc. The American’s Banker Association (ABA)came out with five questions every potential buyer should ask when deciding to buy or rent a home that, along with the helpful online calculators they offer, I think may be very helpful: Continue Reading → The mortgage delinquency rate (the percentage of home loans 30 or more days past due) increased in May 1.1 percent from the month before according to the latest “First Watch Report” from Lenders Processing Services (LPS). While it’s a modest increase, this marks the second consecutive month we’ve seen an increase in mortgage delinquency rates reversing the downward trend for the 9 months prior which is not good. Since delinquent mortgages are the precursor to forelcosures and foreclosures have wreaked havoc on home prices, this is something we definitely want to keep an eye on. Yesterday’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in May were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.55 million units which is a decrease of 1.5 percent from the month before, however, here in the Midwest we bucked the trend coming in with home sales at an annual rate of 1.04 million units, up 1.0 percent from the month before. The Midwest was the only region in May that saw an increase in the rate of home sales in May from the month before, all regions saw an increase from a year ago however. Home prices in the Midwest didn’t fare as well as the rest of the country however, coming in at 147,700 which is an increase of 6.4 percent from a year ago, less than the 7.9 percent increase seen at the national level, however the month over month increase of 5.6 percent in the Midwest did top the 5.1 percent month over month increase at the national level. Continue Reading → When applying for a mortgage, a borrower’s “Occupancy Type” is a major factor in determining maximum loan-to-value (equity), loan program available and mortgage interest rate. An Owner Occupied property will have better terms (less down payment, better rates) than a Non-Owner Occupied property. Three Types of Occupancy: Owner Occupied / Primary Residence -According to HUD, a principal residence is a property that will be occupied by the borrower for the majority of the calendar year. At least one borrower must occupy the property and sign the security instrument and the mortgage note for the property to be considered owner-occupied. According to a report just released by S&P Experian, the first mortgage default rate fell by more than a quarter of a percent (26 basis points) in May compared to April and is the lowest rate since May 2007. The second mortgage rate also fell during the month, by 5 basis points, and is at a seven year low. Mortgage defaults and delinquencies are the pre-cursor to foreclosures and foreclosures are the enemy of home prices so this is good news and a trend that, if it continues, should point the way to a housing recovery. The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued their report on New Residential Construction for May 2012 showing an increase in single-family home building permits from the year before of 19.9 percent and a 26.2 percent increase in new home starts for the same period. Continue Reading → According to a report released by Realtor.com, the inventory of homes, condominiums, townhouses and co-ops for sale in St. Louis dropped by almost 20 percent (19.79%) in May 2012 compared to a year ago Continue Reading → Yesterday, CoreLogic released their shadow inventory report which showed that the current residential shadow inventory (as of April 2012) had fallen to 1.5 million units, representing a supply of four months which is a 14.8 percent decline from a year ago when shadow inventory stood at 1.8 million units, or a six-months’ supply. Continue Reading → This morning, RealtyTrac released their U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for May 2012 which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) we’re reported on 1,872 properties in St. Louis during the month, a 4.41 percent increase from the previous month and an increase of 16.71 percent from May 2011. During the month, 1 out of every 667 homes in St. Louis had a foreclosure filing. Continue Reading → Below is a video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that I prepare monthly. In this video I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the month as well as an overview of the St Louis housing market itself. The update includes charts with up to the date data on the St Louis housing market including St Louis home prices, average time to sell a home in the St Louis area as well as other data and charts to show where the St Louis real estate market is and where it is headed. (Check out all our market update videos on our YouTube Channel – click here. Continue Reading → The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released their May Housing Scorecard, which collects key market data and tracks the administration’s recovery efforts. According to the May scorecard, recent market data contains a number of promising indicators and increasing signs of stability. In April, sales of existing homes increased in every region of the country and the number of new homes rose for the first time since 2007. Continue Reading → Are you ready to tackle that bathroom renovation you’ve been putting off? Before you pick up the phone and hire a contractor, why not save some cash and try your hand at it. Considering the cost of renovations for homeowners, DIY has gained popularity. The following list, created by Construction Management Degree.com, contains 100 of the top DIY websites to help guide your home improvement projects, in no particular order. We arrived at this list through our own research, and for the benefit of our readers. The list is organized by area of the home including; General Remodeling, Interior Decorating, Kitchen and Bathroom, Office and Workspaces, Landscaping and Exterior, Basement, Storage, and Closets. Continue Reading → This week Clear Capital® released its Home Data Index™ (HDI) Market Report with data through May 2012 which showed home prices in the U.S. grew both on a quarterly and yearly basis for the first time since August 2010. At the regional level home prices improved on a quarterly and yearly basis as well in all regions except for the Midwest which saw declines in home prices but not as large of declines as in the previous month. Continue Reading → |
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