Home prices dropped 4.1% annually, in 2010. Although there was an increase in prices, overall 70% of the major market prices experienced a decline and 8 had double digit declines. There were 6 markets in California that managed to have some price gain.
Unfortunately, 2011 will probably be the same, unless unemployment and distressed homes decrease. Until there are more jobs and less people loosing their homes, we will not see too many price gains.
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.
You probably have heard a lot information about foreclosures but don’t know to believe. Well here is some information about foreclosures. This should help you understand what foreclosures are all about.
With interest rates moving up, you should consider purchasing a property soon. There is more pressure for rates to go up then down. We have seen rates at it’s lowest rates historically and may not see them again.
Now that we are in the last part of the year, how is the real estate market? Well for the month of September, existing home sales were up by 10% from the month of August. However, sales are down by 19.1% compared to September 2009. This is a great opportunity for buyers to take advantage of the market. It’s no wonder that Americans still think about owning their own home. 80% of Americans believe in buying a home is a good financial decision.
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.
Where do you go after your home is foreclosed upon by the bank? Your credit is a mess and you may not make as much money as before, so where do you go?
The Center for Economic and Policy Research has a report, “The Gains from Right to Rent in 2010″, and has suggested to allow homeowners the right to rent their home, after foreclosure. By doing so, it may address the nation’s foreclosure problem.
HR 5028, under Right to Rent legislation, would allow the foreclosed homeowner to stay in the home as a renter for a substantial period of time. This would help the homeowners from being homeless and it will help the communities that are experiencing high numbers of foreclosures.
Have you had an experience working with a short sale? If you did, you’ll agree that there is no guarantee that the home will be sold to you, no matter how long it takes to get an approval and how frustrating it is to not know if you are going to be able to buy the home. Well, the HAFA program is designed to help with the frustrations homeowners, sellers, buyers, and agents experience when going through the short sale process. This program should help speed up the process and help people but there is no guarantee. Only time will tell.
How do you think the real estate market is doing? Is it better or is it worse then when the market went bust? I think the market place here in San Francisco and the Peninsula are doing better. We did go through a major price change in many areas but prices are stabilizing. We are much more fortunate then some other areas in the country.
The National Association of REALTORS have information about the real estate market, in general, and why it’s going to get better. How is your area? Doing better? I hope it is!
