OREGON REAL ESTATE ROUND TABLE

Tag: Portland

  • Market Update: $1,000,000 Houses in Portland, Betty Jung, All About Portland Blog


    The other day in a post, I said the low end and the extreme high ends homes are selling. This Million $ market segment is doing better overall than some of the other price ranges have been doing in Portland’s metro areas. Although total market time for areas such as Lake Oswego (268 days), West Portland (169 days), and Tigard (180 days) are high, this $1,000,000 price range has had shorter market times per RMLS™. These stats do not include condominium, attached or townhouses, they only include single-family residential properties.

    Below are the stats from RMLS™ at the Million $ price point and higher in areas 147 Lake Oswego (zip codes 97034, 97035), 148 SW Portland, and 151 Tigard (zip codes 97223, and 97224):

    MILLION DOLLAR HOUSES 147-Lake Oswego
    148-SW Portland
    151-Tigard
    2008-2009 Y.T.D.

    # Houses for Sale 131 98 7
    # Houses Pending 5 2 0
    # Houses Sold 47 57 2
    High List Price $19,500,000 $4,988,850 $3,999,000
    Low List Price $1,049,950 $1,080,000 $1,200,000
    Average List Price $1,956,593 $1,783,814 $2,423,800
    $ Sq. Ft. List Price $418 $331
    Average Sq. Ft. Listed 4679 5383 4751
    High Sold Price $3,150,000 $4,300,000 $3,749,000
    Low Sold Price $1,030,000 $1,000,000 $1,200,000
    Average Sold Price $1,496,919 $1,447,144 $2,474,500
    $ Sq. Ft. Sold Price $337 $280 $454
    Average Sq Ft. Sold 4646 5319 4951
    Average Days On The Market 85 122 121
    % Of Sold to Original List Price 89.93% 77.86% 88.9%
    2007-2008 Y.T.D.

    # Houses Sold 118 122 1
    High Sold Price $5,250,000 $4,000,000 $1,100,000
    Low Sold Price $1,000,000 $1,010,000 N/A
    Average Sold Price $1,467,497 $1,441,579 N/A
    $ Sq. Ft. Sold Price $332 $296 $394
    Average Sq Ft. Sold 4426 4866 2792
    Average Days On The Market 110 85 11
    % Of Sold to Original List Price 91.52% 91.92% 79.14%
    Source: RMLS™

    Use of this article, photos and images without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws. (Copyright applies fully and automatically to any work — a photograph, a song, a web page, an article, pretty much any form of expression — the moment it is created. This means that if you want to copy and re-use a creative work in another format, that you find online, you have to ask the author’s permission to re-use their information.)

    (For more national and local real estate information, go to my website at http://www.bettyjung.com)

  • Portland Development Commission Announces Home Buyer Workshops


    The Portland Development Commission announced 11 home buyer workshops in 2009. They’ll cover below market rate loans, home buyer tax credit programs and down payment assistance loans. They targeting moderate income buyers who need help reducing the cash they need to close the purchase or lower their payment. For more information, call 503-823-3400. Here’s a list of the workshops. All sessions start at 6 p.m.

    Jan. 13, 2009 – Kenton Firehouse, 8105 N Brandon
    Feb. 5, 2009 – Lents Baptist Church, 5921 SE 88th
    March 5, 2009 – Portland Development Commission, 222 NW 5th
    April 9, 2009 – Kaiser Town Hall, 3704 N Interstate
    May 14, 2009 – Lents Baptist Church, 5921 SE 88th
    June 11, 2009 – Portland Development Commission, 222 NW 5th
    July 9, 2009 – Kaiser Town Hall, 3704 N Interstate
    August 13, 2009 – Lents Baptist Church, 5921 SE 88th
    Sept. 10, 2009 – Portland Development Commission, 222 NW 5th
    Oct. 8, 2009 – Kaiser Town Hall, 3704 N Interstate
    Nov. 12, 2009 – Lents Baptist Church, 5921 SE 88th

    For More Information Portland Development Commission Neighborhood Housing Program
    http://www.pdc.us/housing_services/home_buyer/default.asp

  • In Foreclosure? Say No To Fakes and Frauds


     

    It is amazing that just as we move out of an era of fraudulent loan officers, fake “Mortgage Planners” and Financial Trusted Advisers we are now being over run by a hoard of “Foreclosure Experts”.   Could these people be one in the same.  Just the times and the opportunities are different?

    When in foreclosure there are experts out there that can help you develop a plan of action.  These people are beholden in one way or another to the state of Oregon as in they have an ACTIVE Real Estate license, Mortgage Certificate or member of the Oregon Bar.  Bottom line, if they rip you off they it is harder for them to hide.   Your legal representatives and the state of Oregon can track them down and hold them accountable.

    It is never good to be in foreclosure.  But remember you only make the situation worse by not seeking the information you need to develop a plan of action.   Maybe you can not keep your home.  Maybe you should sell and buy another home on seller contract or lease option.  Maybe you can work something out with the lenders.  You have to treat foreclosure as an problem that can be solved and not the end of the world.

    Information is power and with right power anything and everything is possible.   Do rot sit in place, do not allow shame to prevent you from doing what you can to resolve the problem for you and your family.

    Lastly, do not listen to anyone that does not hold an Oregon License, Mortgage Certificate or member of the bar that promises to save your home or help you make your payments.  Those people have nothing to lose and everything to gain by gaining your trust.   If it sounds to good to be true….it is.  If it sounds like it is not legal….there is a good chance is it not legal.   If that little voice in the back of your head says hang up the phone…..hang up.   Use your common sence and reach out to people that can help provide you with real solutions.

    Well that is enough ranting.  Keep an eye on this blog.  Will be posting possible solutions to the problems you are facing.   If they work for you….great.  If they won’t help you in your situation, feel free to send me an email or post the question on this message board. 

     

    Fred Stewart
    President
    Stewart Group Realty Inc.

  • Oregon Home Prices OFHEO DATA: Oregon Economics Blog


    The OFHEO has come out with its latest house price data. Remember that these cover much more of the US than the 20 cities of the Case-Shiller report, but are based home sales only with conventional mortgages. Anyway, we can see the data for Oregon cities, Oregon and the USA.

    Here (a bit messy) is the raw data since Q1 of 2004:

    Here (even more messy) is the quarter to quarter % change in home values:

    Here is the overall depreciation (so positive numbers are bad in the sense that they represent loss of value) since Q1 of 2007 when the market in Oregon really turned:

    Overall, it is bad, especially for Bend and Medford which are seeing collapses of California proportions, but overall the state is not doing too badly in relative terms.

    Here is a nice picture from their summary report that shows the national picture. Oregon is the 35th best state in terms of home value appreciation (or limited depreciation):

    Oregon Economics Blog

  • Portland realtors ranks may slim with economic downturn, KGW.com


    By ERIC ADAMS, kgw.com Staff

     

    PORTLAND — Area realtors are adjusting to new economic realities and cutting costs.

    The Metropolitan Association of Realtors announced its cutting marketing and other costs as it anticipates that as many as 1,100 of its 7,800 members may not renew their licenses.

    Realtors received their renewal notices earlier this month and have until Jan. 1 to pay their bill, which amounts to about $400 and includes local, state and national fees.

    Kathy Querin, the association’s chief executive officer, said there is no way to know until New Years Day just how many agents will not renew their memberships.

    She said sales have slowed, though, and that realtors may decide they can’t make a living selling houses in the metro area.

    “What we do know is the market has seen decline,” she said.

    Through September, 15,389 houses have been sold in the Portland area, a 32 percent drop from 2007, according to the association.

    The state reports a 3.5 percent drop in real estate licensing since 2005, which many consider was the high-mark year for home sales.

    Jim Homolka, president of Re/Max Equity Group, said he expects the number of realtors in the region to shrink by about 10 percent.

    Re/Max recently closed its Bend office, where 55 people were employed. Offices that have closed around the Portland Metro area include Tualatin, Raleigh Hills and Vancouver Salmon Creek.

    Most of those realtors have shifted to nearby branches, Homolka said.

     

    http://www.kgw.com/business/stories/kgw_111108_business_realtors_out_of_business.1a1bbfd4f.html

     

  • Can Home Buyers Get Help When Still Making Their Payments?


    Must a Borrower Stop Paying in Order to Get Help?

    by Jack M. Guttentag

    Inman News

     

    “Is it true that mortgage servicers will not help borrowers who are in trouble until they stop making their payments? I am a home retention counselor, and I keep hearing from people referred to me that they have received no response from their servicer because they have not yet missed a payment. I would hate to advise people that they have to stop paying if they expect to get any help if it is not true.”

    There is certainly much truth to this because I have heard the same story from numerous people I have counseled, whose stories I have no reason to doubt. The most common thing I hear is that they were told by the servicer to come back when they were two payments behind.

    There are understandable reasons why borrowers who are delinquent on their payments receive more prompt consideration than those who are current. To the degree that servicers are faced with more requests for help than they can handle at one time, they have to set priorities. The number of borrowers in trouble has ballooned over the past year, outstripping the efforts of servicers to expand their capacity to deal with them.

    Setting Priorities

    A plausible way to set priorities is in terms of the degree of urgency of the problem. A borrower 60 days behind in his payment is closer to foreclosure, and if he is going to be saved, he needs faster action than a borrower who is current. So borrowers who are current get placed at the bottom of the list of borrowers requiring special treatment, if they are even placed on the list at all.

    This tendency is reinforced by the fear of free-riders. All borrowers would like to get a better deal on their mortgages, whether they have trouble making their current payments or not. If loans are being modified to help borrowers, some borrowers who are not in financial distress will try to take advantage of the situation by pretending that they are. But potential free-riders may not be willing to become delinquent because that would hurt their credit. By only considering modifications for borrowers who are already delinquent, the servicer reduces the number of potential free-riders.

    In addition, the practice of dealing only with borrowers who are delinquent keeps loans in good standing for longer periods. Consider the borrower who loses her job but has savings sufficient to cover the payments for some months. Investors would prefer that the borrower make the payment out of savings for as long as possible, since she might find another job during this period, avoiding the need for any modification of the mortgage.

    Moving Up on the List

    If I were a borrower with reduced income but with good prospects of recovery, I would make the payment out of savings, avoiding the hit to my credit. If I considered the prospects of recovery to be poor, however, I would stop paying and husband my savings. This would move me up on the servicer’s priority list for special treatment. While it also moves up the hit to my credit, that is something that would happen anyway as soon as my savings were exhausted.

    If I did not have a problem making the current payment but would have a problem dealing with an anticipated payment increase, I would handle it differently.

    First, I would determine exactly how large the payment increase would be. If the increase stemmed from an interest-only loan reaching the end of the interest-only period, the new payment could be found using any monthly payment calculator (including calculator 7a on my Web site) inputting a term equal to the remaining life of the loan. If the increase stemmed from an ARM (adjustable-rate mortgage) adjustment, the new payment wouldn’t be known exactly until a month or two before the adjustment, but an estimate based on the current value of the rate index would provide a good estimate.

    A Detailed Budget

    Step two is to develop a detailed budget which documents the point that the expected payment is not affordable. Use the form provided by Genworth to show your income, expenses, and assets.

    Submit your document to the servicer well in advance of the anticipated payment increase. There is no guarantee that it will lead to a contract modification before the payment increase materializes. However, it gives you a good shot to move up in the servicer’s queue by providing the concrete detailed information that servicers require. It also keeps you out of the hands of the modification hustlers who want to be paid upfront for doing what you can do yourself.

     

     

  • How Long Will it Be Before the Foreclosed Homeowner Feels Relief From the 700 Billion Dollar Bailout


    Not soon enough if ever. Let me explain.

    Bush announced that the first 250 billion dollar infusion is targeted for the banks. Which will take time to do and time to see if it works. Which will mean that the balance of the money will not be used (350 billion dollar) until the next president is inaugurated in January 2009.

    However, the Bush Administration has unveiled additional mortgage assistance for homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The HOPE for Homeowners program will refinance mortgages for borrowers who are having difficulty making their payments, but can afford a new loan insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA). There are a lot of issues to be dealt with, plus pre-qualifications needed by the homeowner, which means it will take time to be effective.

    So what is offered by both candidates and when will it start?

    Barack Obama proposed more immediate steps to heal the nation’s ailing economy, including a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures at some banks. Obama proposed that banks participating in the federal bailout should temporarily postpone foreclosures for families making good-faith efforts to pay their mortgage.

    Sen. John McCain proposed a plan to help millions of people around the country facing foreclosure by ordering the Treasury secretary to purchase and renegotiate faulty home loans.

    The plan is aimed at homeowners who owe more than their houses are worth or who are otherwise in danger of foreclosure. The government would use Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and private mortgage brokers to pay off the troubled loans and refinance the homeowners, making their payments more affordable.

    Again, this will take time and concerted effort by the powers to be to implement any program before relief is felt by the homeowner who is facing foreclosure or who is in foreclosure.

    The common thread above is TIME, no matter what you like or dislike about the government, the presidential candidates, or what is going on in Washington (D.C.).

    Bankers/ Lenders, realtors, real estate investors, and all scam artists want you to believe that you do not have enough time and, especially, they do not want you to know how the foreclosure process works.

    You are nothing more than a new profit center for them, and they only have their best interest at heart (not yours).

    I have a short video that will show you how scam artists work, and it may help you understand what not to do. Check it out: http://www.AvoidForeclosurePain.com/Now.htm

  • Betty Jung’s Blog: Market Update: Building Permits 2007 vs. 2008


    And, here are some more numbers:

    According to the Construction Monitor www.constructionmonitor.com and the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland, here is the 2008 Year-to-Date Building Permit activity by county.  It is at its lowest since 1991.

    Many small builders haven’t built anything new in several months and in some cases more than a year.  If you read my recent post “Market Update:  New Construction“, you will see there is still a large inventory of new homes that builders need to unload.  Remodeling is also lagging.

    In addition, many of the local builders here have filed for bankruptcy protection as I reported in my “Top 50 Builders in Oregon” post.  This weekend, I happened to notice another one of our larger local builders, whom I won’t name, is selling some of his lot inventory.  Is he in trouble or is he just making sure he won’t be? 

    2008 Year-to-date Building Permit Activity by County

    2008

    2007

    Difference

    WASHINGTON COUNTY

     

     

     

    Single Family

    650

    1,681

    -1,031

    Duplexes/Twin Homes

    0

    0

    0

    Other Residential Structures

    23

    96

    -73

    Residential Remodels

    291

    442

    -151

    MULTNOMAH COUNTY

     

     

     

    Single Family

    643

    1,249

    -606

    Duplexes/Twin Homes

    23

    84

    -56

    Other Residential Structures

    29

    66

    -37

    Residential Remodels

    1,004

    1,312

    -308

    CLACKAMAS COUNTY

     

     

     

    Single Family

    619

    1,361

    -743

    Duplexes/Twin Homes

    4

    9

    -5

    Other Residential Structures

    91

    209

    -118

    Residential Remodels

    417

    606

    -189

    YAMHILL COUNTY

     

     

     

    Single Family

    256

    370

    -114

    Duplexes/Twin Homes

    30

    13

    +17

    Other Residential Structures

    32

    154

    -122

    Residential Remodels

    91

    95

    -4

    Source:  Construction Monitor (www.constructionmonitor.com) and David Nielsen, Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland.

    Copyright ©Betty Jung 2008.  All Rights Reserved.

    Disclaimer: All information in this post is subject to change without notice. Subject matter is an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be time sensitive, and may be based on information collected from several sources which may or may not be reliable at the time of sourcing.  

    (For more local and national real estate news, click on my monthly newsletter – JUNG’S JOURNAL – on my website www.bettyjung.com).
    Betty Jung
    Broker
    RE/MAX equity group, inc.
    503-495-5220 or email:bettyjung@remax.net