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Although the economy has been growing lately, fallout from the recent recession continued to negatively impact commercial real estate sectors in the fourth quarter, but there is hope for some improvement next year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said commercial real estate almost always lags the economy. “Because of [...]

Daily Real Estate News | February 25, 2010 | Share
Fed: Interest Rates to Remain Low
Investors breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday when Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke told Congress that interest rates are likely to remain low for an extended period. The economy, he said, “still requires support [...]

WASHINGTON – Sales of new homes plunged to a record low in January, underscoring the formidable challenges facing the housing industry as it tries to recover from the worst slump in decades.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new home sales dropped 11.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 309,000 units, [...]

At the end of 2009, foreclosures were definitely “in the news.” And for good reason. The number of foreclosures rose from 1.8 million at the end of 2008 to about 2.5 million at the end of 2009. According to RealtyTrac, at the end of 2009, there was a total of 2,824,674 properties involved in foreclosure [...]

California, Florida and Arizona posted the three highest state totals in terms of properties receiving foreclosure filings in January, and together those states accounted for more than 44 percent of the national total.
Illinois posted the nation’s fourth highest total in January, with 18,120 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — a nearly 2 [...]

Overall Activity Up 15 Percent From January 2009, REOs Up 31 Percent From January 2009
More Than 300,000 Properties Receive Foreclosure Filings for 11th Straight Month
IRVINE, Calif. – Feb. 11, 2010 – RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its January 2010 U.S. [...]

Getting a home loan or refinancing your existing home will require a better FICO
score than before. The Federal Housing Administration is trying to limit its
exposure, and our nation’s, to bad mortgage debt and therefore, implementing
tighter controls for lender approval. Below are the 4 major highlights of the new
FHA rules.
It’s anticipated that these rules will go [...]

The new credit card reform laws were created to protect consumers. The majority
of these reforms prohibit credit card issuers from changing the terms of a
consumer’s credit card. Below is a summary of the changes you can expect as a
result of the credit card reform.
The majority of new regulations go into effect Feb. 22, 2010.
Significant changes [...]

For the first time ever the Trends In California Real Estate Newsletter is now FREE for Members of THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
Members can download the latest issue of Trends by clicking here.
Success in today’s Real Estate Market depends on people, technology, and a competitive edge! TRENDS Newsletter provides you the competitive edge with the [...]

Accountants at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are auditing mortgage files to uncover loans with improper documentation about a borrower’s income, and then forcing banks and savings and loans to buy the loans back.
Freddie required lenders to buy back $2.7 billion of loans in the first nine months of 2009. Fannie Mae won’t disclose its [...]

Beginning Feb. 1, the Federal Housing Administration will provide mortgage insurance for some purchases in which the seller bought the property and held it for fewer than 90 days.
The agency is changing what is known as the “anti-flipping rule” to speed up sales of renovated homes in communities with too many bank-owned and foreclosed homes, [...]

Forbes housing reporter and analyst Francesca Levy makes some thought-provoking predictions in the latest issue of the magazine.
She predicts:
Real estate will be an attractive investment strategy in 2010 with wealthy investors devoting an increasing segment of their portfolios to it.
Loan modifications will result in more people who should probably be facing foreclosure slipping deeper into [...]

New Measures Will Help FHA Better Manage Risk, While Maintaining Support for the Housing Market and Access for Underserved Communities
WASHINGTON – Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner David Stevens today announced a set of policy changes to strengthen the FHA’s capital reserves, while enabling the agency to continue to fulfill its mission to provide access to [...]

For three years, California has offered homeowners financial incentives to install solar panels that generate electricity. Now, solar water heaters will get their moment in the sun.
California energy regulators on Thursday approved a $350 million rebate program for homeowners and businesses that install solar thermal water heaters, which use the sun’s warmth to heat water [...]

During his State of the State address, Governor Schwarzenegger today announced his 2010 proposals for California. Included in the proposals is a recommendation to set aside $200 million for a new round of $10,000 state tax credits for first-time home buyers. The proposal expands upon the initial $10,000 state tax credit by including [...]

Expected to contribute approximately $22 billion to the economy, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan measure this week extending the $8,000 home buyer tax credit to April 30, 2010.
The legislation, which is part of a larger bill that also extends unemployment benefits, was signed into law by President Obama today.
More people are now eligible to [...]

Brought to you by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
The conclusion of the first half of the 2009-10 legislative session has brought many new laws that may affect California REALTORS® and their clients. Not surprisingly in the subprime aftermath, prominently featured among the new laws is stricter regulation of the mortgage lending industry. [...]

Effective October 11, 2009, the Buyer’s Choice Act prohibits an REO lender selling residential property up to four units from directly or indirectly requiring the buyer to purchase escrow services or title insurance from any particular company. A buyer, however, who has received written notice of the right to make an independent selection, may [...]

source: realtor.org
The median home price in California will rise 3.3 percent to $280,000 in 2010 compared with a projected median of $271,000 this year, according to C.A.R.’s “2010 California Housing Market Forecast,” presented today at CALIFORNIA REALTOR® EXPO 2009 in San Jose . Sales for 2010 are projected to decrease 2.3 percent to 527,500 [...]

The National Association of REALTORS® is calling upon its 1.2 million members to urge Congress to extend the successful homebuyer tax credit into next year.
Since its inception earlier this year, the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit has brought 1.2 million new buyers into the market—350,000 of whom would not have purchased a home without the [...]

Fresno, Calif.
Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla.
Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
Stockton, Calif.
Tacoma, Wash.
Tucson, Ariz.
In the following markets, home values are expected to remain level this year but increase in value next year:
Baton Rouge, La.
Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas
Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.
Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa
Pittsburgh, Pa.
San Antonio, Texas
Syracuse, N.Y.
source: realtor.org

Real estate professionals and home builders are pushing for an extension and an increase in tax incentives to encourage homebuying. Otherwise, they argue, that it is very likely that the current housing uptick will end on Dec. 1, when the tax credit does.
“The giddiness we see out there [about a recovery] is without merit,” says [...]

In the second quarter, the number of homeowners behind on payments or in foreclosure rose along with the jobless rate, with California among states leading the way.
By E. Scott Reckard And Ronald D. White  August 21, 2009
Widespread joblessness is causing more Americans to fall behind on their house payments, triggering a new round of foreclosures [...]

The pace of home sales at California new-home communities continued to level off in June, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) reported this week.
Sales in new-home communities of 10 units or more declined 26 percent in June 2009 compared with a year ago, the same percentage decline as in the prior month, according to the [...]

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Starting tomorrow, July 30, you could see transactions slowed as lenders try to navigate changes to rules (”Reg. Z”) on consumer disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). By being aware of new time pressures lenders are under, you can help your clients understand what’s going on if [...]

Fear of overpaying for property is common these days, especially in places like New York where prices continue to be unstable.
If you encounter potential buyers who are frozen because they are concerned that they will pay too much, here are some factors to point out:

Waiting for the right time can be expensive. Some buyers would [...]

The Southland’s unemployment will rise and personal income will fall as construction keeps sinking and the aerospace, textile and motion picture industries absorb blows, Jack Kyser predicts.
Unemployment in California and Los Angeles County will increase well into 2010, continuing to exceed the highest levels since at least the end of World War II, according to [...]

The Federal Reserve regulations require lenders to provide consumers with initial disclosures of their mortgage costs within three business days of their loan applications, among other changes.
Reporting from Washington — If you’re applying for a loan to buy a primary or secondary home, or planning to refinance, you should be aware of a little-publicized set [...]

The Obama administration recently sent a letter to the chief executives of the 25 lenders who have signed up for the Making Home Affordable program, urging them to move quicker to help troubled homeowners.
In the two-page letter, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Secretary for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan, asked the servicers [...]