Here we are again. It seems like every governmental agency has it’s favorites. Remember the huge governmental bail outs, well here’s another example of government unfairness. RESPA seems to also have favorites too. Is this really going to help consumers?
The California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) is administering $2 billion in federal funds for borrowers who are at risk of losing their homes. Borrowers who took out loans after January 1, 2009 are eligible for 4 different programs as long as the property is a primary resident, meet income requirements, and face a documented financial hardship.
The four programs are the following:
- The Unemployment Mortgage Assistance Program (UMA) which will help homeowners with their mortgage payments.
- The Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program (MRAP) which provides funds for homeowners who have fallen behind in their payments
- The Transition Assistance Program which provides relocation assistance
- The Principal Reduction Program (PRP) which provides funds to reduce the outstanding principal balance.
GMAC, Guild Mortgage, CalHFA, and California Dept. of Veterans Affairs are the organization that offers all 4 programs.
Home prices declined 3.8% in February compared to last year, however they are up 4.2% from two years ago. Could this be a sign of our recovery or maybe the double dip is about to happen? It’s hard to say but it is a great time to purchase a property. Interest rates are still at all time lows, prices have gone down, there are a lot of properties to choose from, and you still have some tax benefits. When you’re ready, there are a lot of things to consider.
Lenders have foreclosed on 78,133 properties in January, which is up by 12% from the previous month but it is 11% less then a year ago. Although there has been an increase in default notices, auctions, and bank repossessions in January, it is encouraging to know that the increase is 17% less then a year ago.
5 states are responsible for more then 50% of the nation’s total foreclosure activity; California, Florida, Michigan, Arizona and Illinois. Nevada was the hardest hit state with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Bank repossessions increased 16% from December which is more then 5 times the national average. Even though we are seeing more foreclosures, they are less then what it was a year ago. Let’s hope that this is a good sign that we might be on the right track to recovery.
Wow!! It’s almost the end of January and boy did it fly by. Since the beginning of the year, the rates have been going up. In November of 2010, the 30 year fixed loans were at a 40 year low of 4.17% the 15 year rate was 3.57%. Now it’s at 4.8% and the 15 year rate is 4.09%. I don’t think we will ever see the November rates ever again. There will probably be less borrowing, in 2011, due to the economic conditions.
So what do you think prices of homes will do? Well, most of the country will continue to see declines or stablize in prices except for 10 cities. Unfortunately, Florida and parts of the Western parts of the US will see the largest drops in home values.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Foreclosures are down 21% of the previous month and 14% below November of last year. This is great news but I think we will see another wave of foreclosures and short sales in 2011. It could be as early as January 2011. We probably will see another wave of distressed properties on the market in the coming year.
If you remember in 2008-2009, the market was flooded with the first wave of distress properties for sale. There are still a lot of people having problems with their loan payments and the banks will have to follow through with their right to foreclose to recuperate the losses.
HUD has created a website for the public to be able to research a wide variety of economic and housing market data at the regional, state, metropolitan area and county levels. This information is being provided by the Census Bureau, Labor Dept., state and local government, housing industry sources, as well as HUD’s own economist. You’ll be able to look at “Market at a glance” reports, Regional Housing Market profiles, regional Narratives, and a Comprehensive housing market analysis.
Ever wonder why it takes so long to finish a short sale transaction? It could take 3 to 4 times longer then a regular sale and there is no guarantee that the sale will be completed. This process is really between the buyer and seller, however there is another party, a lender of record, that has to cooperate with the purchase. They have their own proceedures to approve the purchase and could take a long time.
Thinking of taking the pludge and make one of the biggest purchase in your life? Unless you have lots of cash, you’re probably going to finance the purchase. A big part of procuring a loan at the lowest interest rate posible is to have a good credit score. There are some things that you can do to improve your scores.
1/3 of americans can not qualify for a mortgage because of their credit scores.
Our government has said they would spend another $3 billion to help homeowners keep their home if they lost their job or have a medical condition that reduces their ability to work. Eligible homeowners could receive a no-interest loan up to $50,000 for as long as 24 months and stay in the home. This program is to prevent further home foreclosures, but will it help and make a difference? According to RealtyTrac, foreclosures have increased 8% to $1.65 million in the first 6 months of this year with the current programs, so will this help or are we digging a bigger hole in the money pit for the next generation to cover? I hope it does help and get us out of this mess. However, it’s going to take some time to see if the extra money spent will make a difference, but at least, the government is trying to help people keep their homes.
