Alex Veiga, AP Real Estate Writer, On Thursday July 15, 2010, 12:17 am EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than 1 million American households are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans.
Nearly 528,000 homes were taken [...]

International home buyers are increasingly attracted to property in the U.S., according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2010 Profile of International Home Buying Activity. Several factors, including the strength of the dollar, the value and desirability of U.S. real estate, and the emerging economic recovery, continue to drive international interest in owning a home [...]

While borrowers with “super prime” credit scores accounted for just 5 percent of the mortgage delinquencies, about 28 percent of their defaults were calculated and strategic.
This relatively small actual number is nevertheless causing the credit industry to look at new ways to evaluate walk-away risk even among the very creditworthy.
Credit bureau Experian reports that [...]

By Julie Haviv
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nearly one out of every three U.S. home sales in the first quarter was a foreclosure property as steep price discounts boosted demand for distressed real estate, RealtyTrac said in a new report on Wednesday.
Foreclosure homes accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales in the first quarter of [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — Home prices in April rose for the first time in seven months as government tax credits bolstered the housing market. But the rebound may be short-lived now that the incentives have expired.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday posted an 0.8 percent gain. It had fallen in each [...]

June 15, 2010 – Snapping a string of two consecutive monthly gains, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes fell back to February levels, before the beginning of the home buyer tax credit-related surge, according to results of the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. [...]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Most borrowers who have had their mortgages modified through a government-sponsored program will redefault within 12 months, according to a report released Wednesday.
Between 65% and 75% of loans that are modified through the Home Affordable Modification Program but not backed by the federal government are likely to go bad, according to [...]

By Paige Tepping
RISMEDIA, June 17, 2010–As the temperatures continue to rise this summer, so does the cost of keeping your home cool. While homeowners across the country come to depend on air conditioners to keep the temperature down during the warm summer months, there are other options that will keep you cool while keeping your [...]

US, HOUSING, REAL ESTATE,
The New York Times | 17 Jun 2010 | 04:24 AM ET
Before the recession, people simply looked for a house to buy. Later they got squeamish just thinking about buying. Now they are on a quest for perfection at the perfect price.
Exacting buyers are upending the battered real estate market, agents and [...]

For Immediate Release
May 26, 2010
Contact: corprel@freddiemac.com
or (703) 903-3933
McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) announced today that its Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (CMHPI) Purchase-Only Series for the United States registered a 1.1 percent decline from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010. In the first quarter of 2010, the U.S. [...]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The foreclosure plague may have finally reached its peak in April 2010 — but don’t expect delinquency statistics to plummet anytime soon.
The total number of foreclosure filings — notices of default, auction notices and bank repossessions — fell by 9% from March to April, and 2% compared with April 2009, according [...]

One out of seven U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on mortgage payments or in the foreclosure process, although the pace has ebbed now that unemployment appears to have peaked, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
While the rate of new foreclosure actions has eased, a stockpile of loans that are [...]

Just as one government homebuyer tax credit program ends, another begins.
The homebuyer tax credit signed into law in March by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is available effective today.
Assembly Bill 183 established a tax credit of $10,000 or 5 percent of the purchase price of a newly built home and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time purchasers [...]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — New home sales improved in March at the fastest single-month rate in 47 years, according to a government report released Friday, as buyers snatched up properties ahead of the tax credit that’s set to expire.
New-home sales rose 26.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 last month, compared to [...]

Brought to you by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
$18,000 IN COMBINED HOMEBUYER TAX CREDITS FOR A LIMITED TIME
Californians have a brief window of opportunity to receive up to $18,000 in combined federal and state homebuyer tax credits. To take advantage of both tax credits, a first-time homebuyer must enter into a purchase contract for [...]

More than 51 percent of all borrowers whose mortgage loans were modified in the first quarter of 2009 defaulted again by the end of the year, reported the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision in a joint report.
Modifications are “clearly not working well and it’s not a surprise,” [...]

Nearly 14 percent of all mortgages were in trouble in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a report released Thursday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.
More than 4.7 percent of all mortgages were more than 90 days past due in the fourth quarter, a 21.1 [...]

President Obama is announcing an expansion of foreclosure-prevent tactics, including a plan to reduce principal balances and special aid for unemployed borrowers.
The bulk of the responsibility for carrying out the new program will be assigned to the Federal Housing Administration, which will insure lenders against part of the losses.
The plan asks banks to write down [...]

Brought to you by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
March 25, 2010
Dear C.A.R. Member:
I’m gratified to report that late this afternoon, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 183, the Homebuyer Tax Credit legislation, into law. His actions today are the result of our efforts in Sacramento over the last several weeks as [...]

The inventory of foreclosed homes that banks are sitting on is rising, threatening to push home prices down further in some parts of the country.
Analysts at Barclays Capital estimated that banks and mortgage investors held about 645,800 foreclosed homes in January, up 4.6 percent from December. That is down significantly from the peak of 845,000 [...]

Some of the nation’s top economists believe the housing market has turned and better days are on the way for the housing industry.
Increases in jobs, credit, and affordable homes will overcome impediments such as rising interest rates, and the expiration of the Federal stimulus program to push the housing market toward recovery, says Dean Maki, [...]

March 15, 2010 – Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes fell back two points to 15 in March as poor weather conditions and distressed property sales posed increasing challenges to both builders and buyers, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today.
“Unusually poor [...]

(Reuters) – California’s economy faces more hard times this year and will not grow until late next year, weighed down by the ongoing housing slump and the state government’s need to slash spending, a UCLA Anderson Forecast report released on Tuesday said.
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California, the country’s most populous state with roughly 38 million people, also faces a [...]

http://sacrealstats.blogspot.com/

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 [...]