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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
By Dennis Norman, on February 15th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Last week a friend emailed me a link to a video titled “The Indymac Slap in Our Face” that was created by Think Big Work Small. I watched the video which gave a recap of the failure of Indymac bank back resulting in it’s seizure by the FDIC in July, 2008, and the ultimate sale by the FDIC of Indymac Bank to One West Bank in March, 2009.
According to the video, One West Bank received a cushy, “sweetheart deal” and implied it was related to the fact that the owners of One West Bank include Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
By Dennis Norman, on February 9th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Appeals Court Strikes Down Bellefontaine’s Ordinance Affecting Real Estate For Sale Signs
At the end of January the Missouri Court of Appeals-Eastern District handed down a decision on a case that I think is a significant victory for St. Louis property owners and strikes down part of an ordinance that violates our property rights as well as our First Amendment Rights to free speech.
The case involves Mark Scatizzi, a local REALTOR® who, after listing a home for sale at 1027 Addision, in the City of Bellefontaine Neighbors, advertised the property for sale and posted a Continue Reading →
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 →
By Dennis Norman, on February 5th, 2010 Dennis Norman
In spite of what is being said in the press about the real estate market improving and the effectiveness of the government’s programs to help keep people in their homes, the rate of foreclosure just keeps increasing.
A report released today by First American CoreLogic showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate of 1.43 percent up slightly from November’s rate of 1.35 percent and an increase of 66.67 percent from the year prior when the rate was 0.87 percent.
The national foreclosure rate for December was again over double the rate Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
By Dennis Norman, on January 27th, 2010 Even in Tough Times, 77 Percent of Americans View Homeownership as a Part of Their Own Personal American Dream
A national survey released yesterday by Trulia shows that many Americans feel that President Barack Obama has not lived up to the hope he created during his campaign and his first 30 days in office. In Trulia’s latest American Dream survey conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive from January 19-21, 2009 President Barack Obama scored considerably lower marks on the topic of restoring the American dream of home ownership compared to a survey conducted February 20-24, 2009 after his Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
By Dennis Norman, on January 18th, 2010 Dennis Norman
MortgageDaily.Com tracks mortgage company failures on it’s website The Mortgage Graveyard. According to The Mortgage Graveyard 225 mortgage-related firms in the U.S. ended operations or failed in 2009, higher than any year since they began tracking data in 1998. This was an increase of over 80% from 2008 which saw 124 firms fail.
The annual surge was fueled by a spike in bank failures — which increased more than 400 percent. Banks account for most of the country’s residential originations. Credit union failures, including corporate and state-regulated institutions, were up by more than a third.
Here in Continue Reading →
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