Over the past year or so there have been dozens, if not hundreds, of stories questioning the manner in which lenders were handling the servicing of their loans, particularly those of underwater borrowers, as well as the foreclosure practices of many including “robo-signing” of foreclosure affidavits. Next came the lawsuits and now, this week, the Federal Reserve Board announced formal enforcement actions requiring 10 banking organizations to address “a pattern of misconduct and negligence related to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing.”
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Private Transfer fees have been something of a hot topic in the real estate community of late and something that has many professionals in the industry in opposite corners. This week, former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros, weighed in with his support for private transfer fees in a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The 800 pound gorilla in the room has finally lost some weight! RealtyTrac released their foreclosure report for the first quarter of 2011 which shows foreclosure filings were reported on 681,153 U.S. properties during the quarter, a 15 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a 27 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2010. St. Louis did not see as big of a decrease but still the numbers are looking better! St. Louis had 5,023 properties with foreclosure filings during the first quarter 2011 which works out to one in every 248 St. Louis properties and represents a Continue Reading → The VA loan program was designed to make home ownership more obtainable for eligible veterans. Home purchases with VA loans must be the veteran’s primary residence. There is no down payment required; no mortgage insurance requirement and VA loans do not incur a pre-payment penalty. Fannie Mae announced today that people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath property will receive up to 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance. The initial offer must be submitted on or after April 11, 2011; and the sale must close on or before June 30, 2011 to be eligible for the incentive. Additionally, buyers must reside in the home as their primary residence (sorry, nothing for investors). Forty three years ago today, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which included Title VIII, the Fair Housing Act which, as described on HUD’s website, “prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and handicap (disability).“ UPDATE Jan, 2013 – Congress approved extending the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 through the end of 2013. I first wrote an article on this topic a little over two years ago as the foreclosure rate was rising and borrowers were concerned about where they stood with the IRS with regard to “mortgage forgiveness”. Well, here we are today with the same issues looming over many people, so I thought I would do an update. For those of you who do not know me, I have been in the home inspection profession for the past 35 years. I have served as National President of ASHI® and have also served on the Examination Board for Professional Home Inspectors. I offer the following comments and opinions on HB 553: According to a report released this morning by CoreLogic, St. Louis home prices (including distressed sales) declined by 8.29 percent in February 2011 from the year before. The prior month showed home prices had declined 7.24 percent from the year before, so the bad news is this shows home prices are continuing to trend downward. The good news is, if you remove the distressed sales from the mix then St. Louis home prices in February only declined by 1.07 percent from the year before and in the month before declined by 2.38 percent from the year before showing that home Continue Reading → Yesterday, four fair housing organizations released their findings of a year-long undercover investigation of 80 loan modification companies, which reveal an industry rife with corrupt practices. The National Fair Housing Alliance, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, Inc., and the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center issued a report entitled, “Have I Got a Deal for You! An Undercover Investigation of Mortgage Loan Modification Scams,” which documents the tactics mortgage modification scammers use to take money from vulnerable homeowners. My guess is you read the headline, chuckled and said to yourself “no way”. After all, the idea of sending people that could not pay their debts to prison went away over a century ago in the U.S., right? Yes and no….In 1833 the United States abolished Federal imprisonment for unpaid debts and most states did as well around the same time. However, Missouri Representative Gary L. Cross, representing the Kansas City area, has introduced legislation that would subject tenants that do not pay their rent to a criminal charge, a Class A Misdemeanor to be exact. For those fence sitters who are thinking about buying or refinancing a home, be advised that FHA will be raising the annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) by a quarter of a percentage point (.25) on all 30- and 15-year loans. Dennis Norman The St. Louis foreclosure rate increased 1.7 percent in January to 1.79 percent, according to a report published by CoreLogic. On a positive note, the report shows that the rate of serious mortgage delinquencies in St. Louis (90+ days delinquent) decreased slightly to 5.14 percent in December from 5.18 percent the month before. Most Americans are opposed to the idea according to recent survey There have been several stories published on this site concerning borrowers that are “underwater” (owe more on their home than it is currently worth) and whether they should simply “walk-away” or do a “strategic default” in order to get out from under their problem. We have published views from both sides of this argument and both sides have made good points in support of their position. However, according to a survey conducted by FindLaw.com, it is clear that the majority of Americans, 60 percent to be exact, believe it Continue Reading → According to a study, the Community Preference Survey, conducted for the National Association of Realtors®, Americans favor walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods, with 56 percent of respondents preferring smart growth neighborhoods over neighborhoods that require more driving between home, work and recreation. Weekly I produce a short (roughly 5 minute) video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then 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 Continue Reading → Weekly I produce a short (roughly 5 minute) video update on the St. Louis Real Estate Market that is published on various web sites. I do a quick recap of the news in the St Louis real estate market for the week, then 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 Continue Reading → HUD publishes “Market at a Glance” reports which give a great overview of the economic conditions, population information as well as real estate and housing information for a given area. I have generated the most recent report for the St. Louis metro area showing St. Louis area market conditions on dynamic charts. Highlights: St. Louis unemployment is declining slightly after peaking last spring. St. Louis area jobs are increasing slightly after dipping to a low last spring. Over the past couple of years more people have moved out of our area than in to our area. Home building activity is Continue Reading → More than half a million vacation homes were purchased last year, fueled by low real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates and the potential for price appreciation according to research done by the National Association of REALTORS for HomeAway. A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows that the current residential “shadow” inventory as of January 2011 declined to 1.8 million units, down slightly from 2.0 million units a year ago. This current shadow inventory represents a 9 month supply, same as the suply a year ago. In this tighter credit environment, FHA remains to be a great alternative for buyers with limited resources for a down payment and closing costs or past credit problems. Underwriting guidelines are more lenient than conventional guidelines. A report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, shows that while mortgage delinquencies continue to decline, an enormous backlog of foreclosures still exists and is expected to continue for some time. As of the end of February, foreclosure inventory levels stand at more than 30 times the monthly foreclosure sales volume. Dennis Norman When I take my kids out for an ice cream cone it’s pointless to ask if they want one or two dips, they always go for the double dip! What’s good for ice cream sales is not good for home prices though…..and, unfortunately, it appears that home prices are choosing to go for the double dip as well… Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for January was released showing home prices are off to a dismal start in 2011 and further proof that the housing market is headed toward a double-dip in home prices. The report shows Continue Reading → Dennis Norman The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for February shows an increase of 2.1 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 8.2 percent decrease from a year ago. There were some wide swings regionally in this months statistics as the Northeast region had a 10.9 percent decline from the prior month and the West had a 7.0 percent increase. RPX Composite Home Price Fell to Lowest Level since April 2003 Radar Logic published it’s Housing Market Report for January showing that it’s “RPX Composite Price” fell 3.8 percent from December and 3.4 percent from the year before. WHAT IS A CREDIT SCORE? Simply stated, credit scores are a statistically-based tool to assess the future performance of a borrower. Scores are derived from the history of a borrower as it is reported to the credit repositories from any creditor. Credit scores are a proven indicator of the likelihood to repay a loan or credit obligation. The lower the score; the more risk from a borrower to repay a loan, on time and in full. Scores range from 400 to 850. This process was started by Fair, Isaac and Co., which is why credit scores are also Continue Reading → Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for February 2011 showing a decrease of 16.9 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 28.0 percent from a year ago. The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for February was 250,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market increased from an adjusted 7.4 month supply the month before to a 8.9 month supply in February. The median new home price decreased for the month to $202,100, a 13.9 percent decrease from a revised median price of $234,800 the Continue Reading → Dennis Norman The St. Louis foreclosure rate increased 4.8 percent in December to 1.76 percent, according to a report published by CoreLogic. On a positive note, the report shows that the rate of serious mortgage delinquencies in St. Louis (90+ days delinquent) decreased slightly to 5.14 percent in December from 5.18 percent the month before. Radar Logic published it’s “RPX Year in Review 2010” for the U.S. real housing market which illustrates the significant negative impact distressed sales have on home prices and the real estate market as a whole. The report reveals that “motivated sales” (sales that include REO’s, sales by financial institutions, short-sales, etc) made up less than 5 percent of the home sales in the 25 major metropolitan areas covered by the report until 2007 when the rate rose above 5 percent, ultimately peaked in 2009 at around 38 percent and then last year settled in around the 31 percent mark. Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows mixed signals for the St. Louis Real Estate market as our rate of existing home sales is down 8.6 percent from a year ago, significantly higher than the 2.8 decline for home sales nationwide, however, on a positive note, St. Louis home prices were up 8.2 percent in February from a year ago, the highest increase of the 20 major metro markets covered by the report and much better than the 5.2 percent DECREASE in home prices for the U.S. as a whole! |
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