Welcome to the "Z" Team!

“Good News” to share with you! The number of home owners behind on their mortgage payments dropped to the lowest level in three years, according to a report of data from the fourth quarter of 2011 released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

“Mortgage performance is also improving faster than the overall economy,” says Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist. (We’re finding this is not true with some lenders.)

According to MBA, 7.6 percent of residential mortgages were at least 30 days past due on their payments in the fourth quarter of 2011. Last year, the percentage was 8.3, and the peak of 10 percent was reached in early 2010. Mortgage delinquencies usually hover around 5 percent in more stable markets. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Still, while the lower delinquencies serve as an important sign needed for a healing housing market, MBA still cautions that the number of loans in foreclosure remains high. About 4.4 percent of all loans were in foreclosure in the fourth quarter. The peak reached one year earlier was 4.6 percent.

Source: “Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Three-Year Low,” The Wall Street Journal (2/16/12)

Here’s the “good news” from the weekly mortgage market survey. Rates continue to hover at record lows, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage staying at the record low of 3.87 percent since the first week of February, Freddie Mac reports. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular choice among home buyers, has been below 4 percent for the past 11 weeks. 

A closer look at mortgages rates for the week ending Feb. 16: 

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.87 percent, with an average 0.8 point, matching last week’s average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 5 percent. 

15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.16 percent, with an average 0.8 point, also matching last week’s average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 4.27 percent. 

5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.82 percent this week, with an average 0.8 point, dropping slightly from last week’s 2.83 percent average. Last year, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.87 percent. 

Source: Freddie Mac

“Mom and pop investors” are trying to capitalize on a depressed real estate market in the hopes of one day being able to cash in. An article in USA Today highlights this new breed of small-scale investors who like to buy and hold properties, opposed to the high-dollar large investment firms that once dominated the real estate market who preferred to buy and flip their property investments. 

For “mom and pop investors,” the strategy is to buy homes at rock-bottom prices, rent the properties out to cover costs of home ownership for several years, and then one day sell the homes when prices recover. “An unprecedented number of investors are looking into this,” John Burns, CEO OF John Burns Real Estate Consulting, told USA Today. We find some buy for eventual relocation to another area for retirement.

For investors in the rental market, an 8 percent annual return is fairly normal, according to Burns. “That means that someone who buys a $100,000 property — and pays cash for it — makes $8,000 a year after expenses, including maintenance and taxes,” the USA Today article notes. 

The threats of tenant or maintenance issues may be the potential to derail that potential profit, so investors need to be careful. Many of the investors we work with are cautious and seek advice from their real estate agent, property managers or other experts. 

Source: “Mom and Pop Investors Propping Up Home-Buying Market,” USA Today (Feb. 14, 2012)

Thought these points would be of interest to home sellers and their real estate agent to coordinate? We believe, marketing a home is a mutual effort of todays home selling! 

Do you want to increase buyer traffic at an open house? Instead of just a flyer or e-mail blast announcing the event, try to give buyers more reason to come out and tour?

A recent article at RISMedia offers some of the following ideas: 

1. Host a speaker:A guest speaker, such as a general contractor or home stager, may draw more of a crowd. Potential buyers may also be looking to sell their own homes, so a stager can offer tips to spruce up a home for sale. 
2. Offer a gift: Hold a raffle, such as by raffling off a gift certificate. Plus, with a raffle, buyers will have to share their contact information with you, which you can then use to follow up. If there’s ever a price change on the house, be sure to notify them. 
3. Involve the community:Invite the neighbors to come to the open house and share their thoughts about the school system or current events in the community, the RISMedia article suggests. You’ll not only be raising awareness about your listing but also helping “to unite the community on important issues,” the article notes. Just be sure to avoid political issues, which can polarize a crowd.

 Source: “5 Ways to Increase Open House Traffic,” RISMedia (Feb. 14, 2012)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it will offer nearly $1.8 billion to public housing authorities nationwide, allowing agencies to make large-scale improvements to public housing units. 

The funds also can be used to make energy-efficient upgrades to replace old plumbing and electrical systems, according to HUD. 

 “This funding will help housing authorities address long-standing capital improvements, but it only scratches the surface in addressing the deep backlog we’re seeing across the country,” said Hud’s Shaun Donovan. “Today, we are closer to helping housing authorities and our private sector partners undertake their capital needs over the long haul.”

Source: HUD 

Have you followed this program since it started as a solution to the housing problems? In 2007, 70% of the nations jobs were related to the housing related.  Have the Fed’s programs/ideas since then,  provided economic recovery? Is this just another “Smoke Screen”? Please provide your comments on how or if this may help your region?

A $25 billion mortgage settlement announced between major banks and state and government officials is supposed to bring aid to troubled home owners, but it could also bring a wave of new foreclosures, CNNMoney reports. 

During the year long negotiations, some banks slowed down repossessing homes, and now they may have a backlog of troubled loans on the books — loans that can’t be saved by the deal’s aid on refinancing or mortgage principal reduction. 

“The bottom line is that 2012 will see a lot of foreclosures that should have taken place in 2011 and didn’t,” Rick Sharga, executive vice president for Carrington Holdings, told CNNMoney.

Last year, foreclosure filings dropped 34 percent. This year, Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, estimates that new foreclosure filings will increase to between 2.2 million and 2.5 million compared to last year’s 1.9 million filings in 2011. 

The mortgage deal is aimed at helping home owners avoid foreclosure. One million struggling home owners may see their mortgage principal reduced as part of the deal. But the home owners must be able to afford new, lower payments. The banks will have no choice but to foreclose on home owners who stop making payments altogether or cannot afford a new payment structure on their loan.  

The backlog of foreclosures may not be all bad for the housing market, some experts say. We believe the “Short Sale” trend may come to the rescue? What do you think?

 Source: “Mortgage Deal Means More Foreclosures,” CNNMoney (Feb. 10, 2012)

The Appraisal Foundation’s Appraisal Practices Board is seeking public comment on a proposal about how to adjust comparable sales for seller concessions when making valuations.  

“A common tool used to help facilitate a property transaction is to have the seller provide financial assistance or incentives to the buyer,” the board’s proposal states. “Such assistance may be considered a seller concession or financing concession and this is important because it may have an influence on the contract price. The purpose of this guidance is how to identify, verify, analyze and adjust sale comparables for both seller and financing concessions.” 

You can view the appraisal board’s second draft at the Appraisal Foundation Web site, and submit public comment on the draft proposal through Feb. 29. 

We believe financial assistance or incentives often help families buy a home. Appraisers can reflect and adjust for concessions in their analysis. This has been our experience here in the “Sierra Foothills” region of Placerville, El Dorado County, California.   What comments or recommendations could you offer?

Source: REALTOR® Magazine Daily News

With Marcus & Millichap’s National Apartment Report showing that the U.S. average for asking rents in 2011 came in at $1,061 a month, housing analysts believe more tenants will look to own. 

Some expect the average monthly rent to rise to as much as $1,101 this year, which Paul Bishop of the National Association of REALTORS® says should prompt more potential home buyers to “think twice before renting.”

Plus, another reason some consider buying is that a limited supply of rentals exist fitting their needs. This has been the case in our Placerville, El Dorado County region of California for the past few years.

 Source: “High Apartment Rents Seen Pushing People to Buy Homes,” Investor’s Business Daily (Jan. 27, 2012

 More news at: www.sierraproperties.com or email: zeller@realtor.com

Many in the real estate industry were concerned that a change announced last year to the maximum seller contributions allowed for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans have made more sales to fall apart. The FHA announced last year that it would cut seller contributions from 6 percent to 3 percent for purchases using FHA-insured loans. Seller concessions, such as seller assistance to buyers in closing costs, can play a big part in FHA-financed home sales and in closing transactions.

We believe the previous higher seller contributions helped a lot of families buy a home. Our suggestion is to reinstate 6 percent for the “Sierra Foothills” region of Placerville, El Dorado County, California. What would you recommend for your area? 

Inman News reports that the FHA may be rethinking its seller contribution cap and will likely announce changes to its policy in April. 

“Rather than an across-the-board 3 percent ceiling on all FHA mortgages, the new policy would permit higher seller contributions, probably between 4 and 5 percent, on smaller loan balances,” Inman News reports. “Meanwhile, the 3 percent cap would be mandatory on all loan amounts above some yet-to-be-specified limit.”

Inman News also speculates that a dollar ceiling on seller concessions might be announced, like a maximum cap of $6,000 instead of a percentage.

Source: “FHA Concessions on Seller Concessions?” Inman News (Jan. 25, 2012)

When you compare the cost of owning a home to renting, you’ll find that buying may soon make more sense, Paul Diggle, a housing economist at Capital Economics, told MSNBC.com. 

Diggle’s analysis of the housing market showed a 33 percent drop in home prices, record-low mortgage rates (with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages available under 4 percent now), and a 15 percent rise in rents since the housing market turned sour are making more consumers take a closer look at buying. We find this is applicable to the “Sierra Foothills” of El Dorado, Placer, Amador and Sacramento Counties of California.

“The median monthly mortgage payment of about $700 has fallen to about the level of a median monthly rent check,” an article at MSNBC.com notes about Diggle’s analysis. “If mortgage rates keep falling and rents keep rising, the equation will tip even further toward owning.”

Case in point: Diggle says that a buyer who purchases a median-priced home and stays there for at least seven years would likely come out ahead by about $9,000 than if they chose to rent for those seven years. Diggle’s calculations factor in rents continuing to rise 3 percent a year. Plus housing prices staying flat for the next two years before rising in 2014. 

But while more Americans may be motivated to buy, many still can’t, Diggle notes. Home owners who lost their home to foreclosure may be forced to wait on the sidelines before owning again, other Americans may not have a 20 percent down payment that more lenders are wanting, lack a high credit score to qualify for the best financing, or have steady employment. 

Source: “Home Buying Could Soon Beat Renting,” MSNBC.com (Jan. 23, 2012)

 More assistance at: www.sierraproperties.com or email: zeller@realtor.com