Just added a search engine for the local real estate multiple listing service to the web site. http://www.sgrealty.us/
Tag: Washington County
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Multnomahforeclosures.com: Updated Notice Of Default Lists and Books
Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back over 2 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com documents the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st centry. The lists are of the raw data taken from county records.
It is not a bad idea for investors and people that are seeking a home of their own to keep an eye on the Notice of Default lists. Many of the homes listed are on the market or will be.
All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.
Multnomah County Foreclosures
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Is Debt Really The Problem… or is it something else?, By Bill Westrom, Truthinequity.com
Mainstream media, the Government and consumers themselves vilify debt as the root of the consumer’s financial plight and the root of a weakening country. Debt is not the problem; it’s the management of debt and the way debt is structured that is creating the problem not the debt itself. Unless you win the lottery, invent a cure for cancer or get adopted by Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, debt will be something you will have to face somewhere along the course of your adult life; it’s a natural component of our society.
In today’s economic environment hard working American’s are experiencing a level of fear and financial uncertainty they have never been faced with. This is keeping them up at night wondering how they are going to sustain a life they have worked so hard to build. Americans are also wondering why those we have trusted for all these years; the banks, money managers and politicians, are thriving financially, but don’t seem to be contributing anything of real value to the public? Today, the predominant questions being asked by the American public as it relates to their financial future are; what am I going to do, what can I do, how am I going to do it? We all work way too hard to be faced with these questions. The answers to these frightening questions are right in front of us. The answers lie in the use of the financial resources we use every day. You just need to know how to use them to your advantage.
The crux of the problem for consumers and the country alike lie with misaligned, improper or a shear lack of education on the use of the banking tools we use every day. The three banking tools that we use every day; checking accounts, credit cards and loans are simply being used improperly. The solution lies in educating consumers and institutions to use these tools in the proper sequence and function to manage debt properly, regain control of income and possess the authority to control the repayment of debt. It’s as simple as that. By exposing the failed business model of conventional banking and borrowing practices, realigning them into a model that actually helps consumers get more out of what they own and what they earn, we can once again grow individually, as a society and a nation.
The Truth Is In The Proof.
TruthInEquity.com -
Federal Housing Stimulus: How Much More?, Diana Olick, CNBC
New reports are rolling around Wall Street and Washington today that the Obama Administration is considering yet another economic stimulus package; this round would be for small businesses. This comes just one week after increased chatter about more government stimulus for housing.
Congress returns the week of September 13th, and as Democrats face an uncertain election this November, you know they’re going to be looking to make average Americans feel more secure about their finances.
But how much has housing stimulus really helped?
Through July 3, 2010, the IRS reports a bill of $23.5 for the home buyer tax credit, according to a letter dated yesterday (September 2nd) from the Government Accountability Office to Rep. John Lewis, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight. $16.2 billion for the first time and move-up credits and $7.3 billion for interest-free loans which recipients will begin repaying in January.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has also already allocated nearly $6 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which gives state and local governments and non-profit housing developers funds to acquire property, demolish or rehabilitate foreclosures and offer assistance to low- to middle-income homebuyers for down payments and closing costs. In the coming weeks it will add $1 billion to that. Just this week HUD Secretary Donovan gave NSP grantees a leg up over investors, by providing a first right of refusal for those grantees to buy foreclosed homes.
The talk around Washington is for yet another home buyer tax credit, this time perhaps for short sale and foreclosure buyers. Unfortunately every time we get a short-term stimulus, we get an inevitable drop off in sales and prices, as we’re experiencing now. Yes, we saw a mini burst of buying from credits last fall and this spring, but the overall numbers are still way down, and inventories are still far too high.
The one steady in gauging housing is confidence, and until we get that back, sales will remain weak for the foreseeable future.
Government stimulus, arguably, sells houses, and we need that to bring down our currently record-high inventories.
But Government stimulus is also temporary, and everyday buyers and sellers recognize that, which doesn’t add to their already faltering confidence.
Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com
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Refinance Demand Up as Mortgage Interest Rates Maintain Low Levels, by Rosemary Rugnetta, Freerateupdate.com
September 2, 2010 (FreeRateUpdate.com) – As mortgage interest rates continue to maintain low levels, refinance demand continues to increase across the nation. According to the Mortgage Banker’s Association, refinances have reached a 15 month high, the highest point since May of 2009. Rates are at the lowest point than any other time since Freddie Mac began keeping track in 1971. Mortgage applications rose for the fourth straight week with refinances accounting for the bulk of the demand. This is due to mortgage interest rates that continue to remain low with the 30 year fixed rate at 4.125% and the 15 years fixed rate at 3.625%.
The current refinance demand is not surprising considering the record low mortgage rates that have continued for the past several weeks. After a slow start, these low mortgage rates are finally spurring home owner interest. Unfortunately, not all home owners can refinance with these historic rates. Those who are underwater due to the depressed housing market and those whose credit has been compromised will not be able to take advantage of the market’s record low interest rates. On the other hand, for others, especially those who have refinanced within the past two years, it is a great time to do it again. In addition, those home owners who currently have adjustable rate mortgages that are about to reset, could benefit from refinancing at this time into a fixed rate mortgage.
The demand for refinances, which has continued to increase each week, could also be a positive sign for the weak economy. The current low mortgage interest rates have made it possible for home owners to refinance into a better interest rate loan or a shorter length loan. Many with higher interest 30 year loans are finding that, at today’s rates, it is in their best interest to refinance into a 15 year mortgage which is, in many circumstances, cheaper. By putting extra cash in consumers hands, they are able to pay off outstanding debts, money can be saved or just put back into the economy through spending. Although it is not certain if this refinance boom will do anything to stimulate the economy, this just might be the boost that the sluggish economy is in need of.
It is anyone’s guess at which way mortgage rates will go from here. If mortgage interest rates maintain these low levels or drop even lower, refinance demand should go up with more home owners deciding to refinance during the fall months just in time for the Holiday season. In the meantime, home owners probably should not wait for rates to go much lower since anything can happen with such a volatile market.
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Tax Credit Uncertainty Not Benefiting Housing Market, by CJ Moore, Technorati.com
Could the home buyer tax credit be returning?
That’s the hot topic right now in housing, as secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan wouldn’t squash the idea when he was asked about it Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I think it’s too early to say after one month of numbers whether the tax credit will be revived or not,” Donovan said. “All I can tell you is that we are watching very carefully. … We are going to be focused like a laser on where the housing market is moving going forward, and we are going to go everywhere we can to make sure this market stabilizes and recovers.”
If Donovan were to follow his own advice – making sure the market stabilizes – he would be smart to provide some certainty to housing. By leaving the possibility open, Donovan could be postponing any chance of a recovery.The housing market certainly needs a boost after the news last week that new home sales and existing home sales in July dropped to record low levels.
The tax credit certainly influenced these numbers. Many prospective homebuyers rushed to meet the April 31 deadline so they could receive the tax credit, and that undoubtedly interrupted the month-to-month flow of housing. By leaving the possibility open for another tax credit, it could have the opposite effect. Prospective buyers might hold out and wait to see if the credit returns.
With Donovan’s wishy-washy response on Sunday, the Obama administration had a chance to give a clearer answer on Monday, and White Press Secretary Robert Gibbs failed to do so, saying that bringing back the tax credit “is not as high on the list as many other things are,” but still leaving the possibility open.
Another tax credit could provide a boost, but it’s debatable whether that boost would really be beneficial in the long term. It could be best to sit back for a while and see what happens and focus on other areas that could benefit housing, such as unemployment. -
Borrowers Take Advantage of FHA-Refinance After Inability to Sell Homes, by Vanessa Rodriguez, Freerateupdate.com
August 31, 2010 (FreeRateUpdate.com) – Homeowners are finding it particularly difficult these days to sell their homes. According to the National Association of Realtors, demand for single family residences has dropped to a 15-year low. Home purchases fell 12 percent in June. In July, they more than doubled the previous month by plunging 27 percent. It is reported that 1 in 5 homeowners is behind in his or her payment. As if the news weren’t bad enough, foreclosures are expected to rise severely this year and next. With these disheartening statistics, homeowners are not left with many options. Fortunately, however, refinancing current mortgage loans is one option, and a viable one at that. Moreover, various government programs are making refinances possible, even for underwater mortgages, and borrowers do not have to have an FHA-insured loan to qualify. Low mortgage rates are definitely strong factors that fuel the refinancing boom. Conforming rates, as of this writing, are 4.125 percent, which is slightly higher than last week’s record low of 4.00 percent, with 0.7 to 1 point origination. As mortgage loan officer Jason Paul from AmCap Mortgage observed, “[We are] absolutely seeing a significant rise in applications for refinances because mortgage rates are so low.” The Mortgage Banks Association reported that refinance applications increased by 17 percent and caused a surge of 13 percent in overall mortgage applications. Last year, the Obama Administration released a new program, the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP,) to help homeowners refinance their mortgage loans. This program allows homeowners who owe more on their house than its current value to refinance into better loan terms. The program does not reduce principal amount owed. However, it does permit homeowners to take advantage of ultra low mortgage rates. HARP is also beneficial for interest-only borrowers, adjustable rate mortgage borrowers, and balloon payment borrowers because it allows them to reduce the amount of interest they would pay over the life of the loan.
To be eligible, the residence must be owner-occupied and the homeowner must be current on his or her mortgage payments. This means that he or she has not missed any payments, does not have more than one 30-day late in the past 12 months. If the loan was originated in less than 12 months, then the homeowner should have never missed a payment. The amounts owed on the mortgage should not exceed 125 percent of the current market value of the property. For example, if a home appraises for $200,000 but the homeowner owes $275,000, then he would not qualify for HARP. However, if he owes less than $250,000, he does qualify. The loan must be owned or guaranteed by one of the GSEs, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The homeowner must also have the reasonable means to afford the new mortgage payment (i.e. steady income.) The program is set to expire June 10, 2011.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) just announced that it is expanding its refinance program. Starting September 7th, 2010, the Federal Housing Administration, which is regulated by HUD, will offer non-FHA borrowers who are underwater on their loans and current on payments the opportunity to refinance into an FHA Short Refinance option. In order for prospective borrowers to qualify, lenders must agree to write off at least 10 percent of the unpaid principal of the mortgage, which should bring the borrower’s combined loan-to-value ratio less than 115 percent. Borrowers must meet standard FHA underwriting requirements, occupy the property as a primary residence, and their credit score must be equal to or better than 500. This is exciting news especially for homeowners who are denied a loan modification through their banks. Interested borrowers typically foresee financial hardship, primarily due to loss of income, and would greatly benefit from an FHA Short Refinance.
FHA Commissioner, David Stevens, believes the new program is a much needed “lifeline” for American families. Although the success of the FHA Short Refinance has yet to materialize, many have high hopes because it gives borrowers and lenders another weapon to battle negative equity in the current flagging housing market.
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Another Home Buyer Tax Credit?, by Diana Olick, CNBC
Just when I thought the housing market was finally being left to correct on its own, I’m starting to hear talk regarding yet another home buyer tax credit. From HUD to the hedge funds, it sounds as if it is gaining steam yet again. This one could involve not just first time/move-up buyers, but a credit for buyers purchasing foreclosed properties or short sales (when the bank allows you to buy a home for less than the value of the outstanding mortgage).
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, appearing on CNN’s State of the Union this weekend, didn’t rule out another tax credit. He did say it’s “too early to say,” but then added that “we’re going to be focused like a laser on where the housing market is moving going forward, and we are going to go everywhere we can to make sure this market stabilizes and recovers.”
After that several Congressional candidates in Florida threw their voices behind the possibility, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist then chimed in on the same show, saying that another tax credit, “would stimulate the economy. It would increase home sales in Florida.” He finished with: “I would absolutely encourage the president to support that because it would certainly help my fellow Floridians.”
So of course then I went the official route and followed up with a HUD spokesperson who responded: “No news here…there are no discussions underway to revive the credit.”
Is it all political? And is another tax credit the answer? “I don’t think it’s all political,” says housing consultant Howard Glaser. “I think they are panicked that the economy/housing got away from them.” Glaser doesn’t sound convinced the tax credit is really on the table. “They can do a lot off budget with the GSE’s and FHA with no Congress.”
I know a lot of you out there would argue that a housing market correction, as painful as it is, is necessary for housing to truly find its footing again and recover for the long term. Another artificial stimulus could just prolong the agony and set us up for the same drop off in sales and prices that we’re seeing right now.
But it could also move some inventory quickly. With inventories of new and existing homes dangerously high, and the shadow supply of foreclosures pushing that volume even higher, more stimulus could be a necessary evil. I liken it to what I’m doing with my lawn this week. All summer I fought the weeds, pulling them, using the organic sprays and repellents, spreading mulch to deprive them of any air. And then I gave up. I called the lawn service and told them to bring every chemical in their arsenal. Shock the overgrown mess into submission once and for all, so that I can start fresh again and reseed this fall.
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Obama Plans Refinancing Aid, Loans for Jobless Homeowners, HUD Chief Says, by Holly Rosenkrantz, Bloomberg
The Obama administration plans to set up an emergency loan program for the unemployed and a government mortgage refinancing effort in the next few weeks to help homeowners after home sales dropped in July, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said.
“The July numbers were worse than we expected, worse than the general market expected, and we are concerned,” Donovan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program yesterday. “That’s why we are taking additional steps to move forward.”
The administration will begin a Federal Housing Authority refinancing effort to help borrowers who are struggling to pay their mortgages, and will start an emergency homeowners’ loan program for unemployed borrowers so they can stay in their homes, Donovan said.
“We’re going to continue to make sure folks have access to home ownership,” he said.
Sales of U.S. new homes unexpectedly dropped in July to the lowest level on record, signaling that even with cheaper prices and reduced borrowing costs the housing market is retreating. Purchases fell 12 percent from June to an annual pace of 276,000, the weakest since the data began in 1963.
Sales of existing houses plunged by a record 27 percent in July as the effects of a government tax credit waned, showing a lack of jobs threatens to undermine the U.S. economic recovery.
House Sales Plummet
Purchases plummeted to a 3.83 million annual pace, the lowest in a decade of record keeping and worse than the most pessimistic forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed last week. Demand for single-family houses dropped to a 15-year low and the number of homes on the market swelled.
U.S. home prices fell 1.6 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier as record foreclosures added to the inventory of properties for sale. The annual drop followed a 3.2 percent decline in the first quarter, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said last week in a report.
Donovan said on CNN yesterday that it is too soon to say whether the administration’s $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit tax credit, which expired April 30, will be revived.
“All I can tell you is that we are watching very carefully,” Donovan said. “We’re going to be focused like a laser on where the housing market is moving going forward, and we are going to go everywhere we can to make sure this market stabilizes and recovers.”
Reviving the tax credit would “help enormously” in the effort to fight foreclosures and revive the economy, Florida Governor Charlie Crist said on the same CNN program. Florida has the third-highest home foreclosure rate in the country, with one in every 171 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington athrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net.
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Flipper Cash Propping Up Housing Market, Brett Neely, NPR
It was a bleak week for anyone looking for signs that the housing market is recovering. New home sales in July were at the weakest levels since the government began keeping records 47 years ago. Existing home sales weren’t much better.
But in all that news, there’s a number that jumps out: Almost one-third of the home sales were in all-cash deals. Before the housing bust, less than 10 percent of sales were in all cash, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Who buys houses with a big stack of cash? Often, people like Craig Fuhr. He’s been investing in real estate around Maryland for the past seven years. The license plate on his SUV defines his style of investing. It reads: “flippin.”
At a time when the housing market is so anemic that it threatens to send the economy back into a recession, Fuhr is a reminder that there are still people who make money investing in real estate.
And they tend to be very serious about it.
Turning $63,000 Into $250,000
Fuhr paid $63,000 in cash for a boarded-up, four-bedroom house on Diller Avenue in the Beverly Hills neighborhood of Baltimore. It’s a pretty neighborhood with lots of big trees and houses from the 1920s, but it’s no Southern California.
Inside, there’s debris everywhere from where Fuhr’s contractors have ripped out drywall. Once the place is fixed up, Fuhr thinks he and his investors may be able to get $250,000 for it.
Potential rewards like these are drawing investors into the real estate market right now, says Kenneth Wenhold of the real estate research firm Metrostudy.
“When you’re putting all cash into a particular transaction, it’s an indication that you believe that this is a good price for this home,” Wenhold says, “and [that] you don’t think it’s going to depreciate more, and you’re willing to bet a considerable amount of money that it’s going to start to appreciate again.”
In cities across the country, there are investors like Fuhr taking advantage of depressed housing prices to snap up dozens of properties on the cheap. When they’re not flipping those houses, they’re turning them into rentals.
Cash Is King When There’s No Credit
Cash sales have become a big part of the market because banks are issuing fewer mortgages. House flippers like Fuhr could once rely on bank loans to finance their deals. But no longer, Fuhr says. Now he has a group of investors who bankroll him.
“The big hurdle that everyone has these days is just finding the money to purchase and rehab. You know, not everybody has $150,000 sitting around, and the problem is … that no banks right now are lending,” he says.
Fuhr got into the real estate business at a time when banks lent to anyone with a pulse.
“You could do every single thing wrong and still make money. You could purchase the house for way too much. You could take way too long to rehab it. You could rehab it poorly and still sell it on the back end and make money,” he says.
A lot of house flippers got burned by the bubble — but Fuhr’s still flipping.
“You know, if you’ve been doing this as long as we have, you know that you make your money when you purchase the house — not when you sell it,” he says.
With banks still unloading their huge portfolios of foreclosed properties, houses remain very cheap these days.
Fuhr says he may spend close to $100,000 renovating the home he bought for $63,000. Even if the house doesn’t fetch the $250,000 he thinks it will, Fuhr isn’t worried.
“The market could literally correct itself $50- or $60,000, and we would still break even.”
Which means even if housing prices stay weak, investors like Fuhr could have plenty of chances to keep making money.
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The War on Housing, Posted by Vince, Realtor Magazine
There is a “war on housing” brewing in Washington. Homeownership seems to be under attack. As 2010 NAR First Vice President Moe Veissi pointed out in his recentblog, ill-informed views on homeownership are appearing more and more in the media.
Last week, industry leaders, executives and policy makers gathered in Washington, D.C., for a housing conference sponsored by the Treasury to discuss the future of the housing finance system and the fate of Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The conference featured panels moderated by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, as well as breakout sessions that focused on topics from the “Role of the Private Sector and the Government in a Reformed Housing Finance System” to “Managing the Process of Transition to a New Financial System”.
I was assigned to participate in the breakout session entitled, “Aligning Private Market Incentives in the Housing Finance Chain”, moderated by FHA Commissioner Dave Stevens. In recent weeks, long-term fixed rate mortgages have come under increasing pressure from pundits who believe this product is partly the crux of the nation’s housing finance problem.
During the session, I had the opportunity to briefly share NAR’s views regarding the importance of maintaining the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, which is an extremely safe mortgage product.
While some at the conference, advocated the need to support a mortgage market for all types of housing, in all market conditions, other speakers questioned the level of government support for the housing industry.
What did they say?
They asserted that taxpayer money is better spent on other industries with the greater promise of job growth and productivity for our economy.
The debate we’re starting to see over the government’s role in housing touches on many issues: over-housed citizens, the deficit, tax incentives (MID andcapital gains) the GSE’s, and other public incentives.
Homeownership is not for everyone, surely. But if you are prepared for its responsibilities, it’s an excellent way to invest your money and receive financial and social benefits in return.
At the conference, Secretary Geithner stated that: “Fixing our housing finance system is one of the most consequential and complicated economic policy problems we face as a country”.
REALTORS® know this to be absolutely true. We recognized this early on. In late 2008 we started formulating a reformation plan for the GSE’s.
While there is no clear consensus in Washington as to what needs to be done to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, participants at the conference generally advocated a need for some level of government support for the housing finance sector for the foreseeable future.
So as the Administration focuses its attention on the future of housing finance and the GSE’s, NAR-together with your support-will continue to espouse the virtues of homeownership and of providing a mechanism to ensure that qualifiedbuyers have access to the capital they need to become homeowners. This is how we will respond to the “war on housing.”
While we face one of our greatest industry challenges, it does provide us with a tremendous opportunity to energize and engage homeowners and prospective homeowners in this housing debate. Vince Malta, 2010 Vice President and Liaison to Government Affairs
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5 Reasons to Stop Worrying About Home Prices, by Eric Schurenberg, Huffingtonpost.com
The New York Times more or less pronounced the single family home dead as an asset this week. Data from the National Association of Realtors and theFederal Home Financing Agency hammered some nails into the coffin. But come now, folks. Let’s apply a little perspective:
- The pessimistic scenario isn’t all that pessimistic One downbeat economist quoted by the Times predicted that housing will rise at the rate of inflation for the foreseeable future. The rate of inflation happens to be roughly the long-term return on residential real estate over the past century, according to Robert Shiller, the Yale economist and real estate historian. So the bubble of 2000 to 2006 was the anomaly, not the “grim” long-term future foreseen by the Times. (Speaking of anomalies, Shiller in this interview warns against over-reacting to the lousy housing numbers that came out this week since they were skewed by the expiration of Uncle Sam’s homebuyer’s credit.)
- You can still make money on a house, even if the pessimists are right. If you put 20% down on a home and it rises by the rate of inflation, your equity appreciates at five times the rate of inflation. There’s no guarantee that there will be any appreciation at all–that’s the risk–and maintenance and taxes will take away some of your return. But you don’t need a bubble to be rewarded for taking the risk.
- You still get plenty of value from owning a home, even if you don’t make a killing. As my colleague Charlie Farrell points out, paying down a mortgage allows you to accelerate your single biggest housing expense into your peak earning years when you can best afford it. Once you’ve paid it off-at retirement, presumably-you’ve significantly pared your living expenses. And as my colleague Linda Stern points out, you also get a place to call your own for all that time-which is really the point, after all.
- If history is any guide, the Times story is a buy signal. These are the kinds of stories that tend to appear on front pages at market bottoms. Yes, the weak economy is keeping home buyers off the market. Yes, foreclosures are clogging the market, and smart people like Barry Ritholtz believe that homes have further to fall. There are dozens of reasons no one will ever buy a home again. But that’s how it always looks at a bottom.
- At some price, people will still buy. A house in a reasonably viable neighborhood is not an AIG bond or a share of Lehman Brothers. It has an intrinsic value. People need somewhere to live, and prices have been falling faster than rents. The National Association of Home Builders Affordability Index is near record levels. The CoreLogic home price to rental ratio, which compares prices and rents, shows that the rents and ownership costs are coming back into line, even if they’re not historically cheap yet. But at some price, a home becomes so attractive compared to renting that it becomes foolish not to buy. That price may not be what you hoped. It may well be even lower than today’s price. But your home’s price now is far closer today to that intrinsic value than it was in 2007. Why wasn’t theTimes calling the housing market dead then?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-schurenberg/5-reasons-to-stop-worryin_b_696437.html
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Jumbo Mortgage Rates Continue to Fall, by Rosemary Rugnetta, Freerateupdate.com
Just as conforming mortgage rates continue to be unpredictable, the same can be said for the jumbo mortgage rate market. As the housing market continues to correct itself, mortgage rates across the board continue to get lower. Purchasing and refinancing higher priced homes just got a little easier as jumbo mortgage ratescontinue to fall to record lows at 5%.
Jumbo loans are those mortgages that are above the conforming loan limit of $417,000 and are not backed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. This conforming lending limit is higher in some high cost areas around the country. With jumbo loans popular in locations such as New York and California, the current low jumbo rates are making it an opportune time for many borrowers to refinance. In some areas where regular sized homes cost above $750,000, the low jumbo mortgage rate is spurring up home sales and refinances, thus bringing life to a stalled market.
Just a little over a year ago, jumbo mortgage rates were approximately 1.5% higher than today. With record low jumbo mortgage rates, many borrowers throughout the country are finding that this is the opportunity they have been waiting for to refinance from a higher interest jumbo loan. By refinancing a jumbo loan to the current lower rate, borrowers are saving hundreds of dollars each month. Most of these people will often reinvest these savings back into the economy which will help the economic recovery get off the ground. At this time, lenders are finding that the availability of money has improved while, at the same time, the price of that money has also improved. If banks continue to gain confidence with their lending in the jumbo mortgage market and do well with their returns, they may begin to ease up their lending in the remaining tighter markets.
Although jumbo mortgage rates continue to fall opening up new life to this niche housing market, qualifying still remains stricter than in the past. These large loans carry more risk to the banks than conforming loans. August 26, 2010 (FreeRateUpdate.com) – Those who wish to qualify for a jumbo loan will need excellent credit scores with the minimum score being at least 720. and sufficient income, relevant to the loan, that needs to be documented for at least 2 years. New purchases require a minimum of 20% down payment while refinances require a minimum of 20% equity in the existing home. After all of the calculations have been done, most jumbo loans require that the monthly mortgage payment not exceed more than 38% of income.
For anyone who can meet these qualifications, now is a good time to trade up to a bigger home that requires a jumbo mortgage or to refinance an existing one. By doing so, these borrowers will appreciate the savings by attaining a jumbo mortgage at such low rates for many years to come. Since no one can predict when the trend will stop and rates will start to rise, it’s time to get the process in motion as jumbo mortgage rates continue to fall and the jumbo loan business heats up.
http://www.freerateupdate.com/jumbo-mortgages/jumbo-mortgage-rates-continue-to-fall-6087
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New Low Cost Reverse Mortgage Product Coming in October says HUD, Reverse Mortgage News Daily
During a conference call with industry leaders on Thursday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it hopes to roll out a new reverse mortgage product on Oct. 4, 2010.
The new “HECM Saver” will be a low cost reverse mortgage product insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Unlike the standard HECM, which has a 2% upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP), the HECM Saver lowers the cost of entry for borrowers by charging only 0.01% upfront MIP. The product will also have an annual MIP of 1.25%.
Offered as both a fixed and adjustable rate, the HECM Saver will have principal limit factors roughly 11-23% lower than the standard product. While it doesn’t provide as much in proceeds to borrowers, it’s designed as low cost alternative to a home equity line of credit (HELOC).
During the call, HUD described the HECM Saver as “merely a different pricing option,” noting the rest of the product will remain the same as the HECM standard. However, many in the industry see it as a big opportunity to broaden the appeal of reverse mortgages by offering a low cost product to consumers.
HUD said a Mortgagee Letter describing the HECM Saver should be out before September 14th.
http://reversemortgagedaily.com/2010/08/26/new-reverse-mortgage-product-coming-in-october-says-hud/
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Procrastination on Foreclosures, Now ‘Blatant,’ May Backfire, by Jeff Horwitz and Kate Berry, American Banker
Ever since the housing collapse began, market seers have warned of a coming wave of foreclosures that would make the already heightened activity look like a trickle.
The dam would break when moratoriums ended, teaser rates expired, modifications failed and banks finally trained the army of specialists needed to process the volume.
But the flood hasn’t happened. The simple reason is that servicers are not initiating or processing foreclosures at the pace they could be.
By postponing the date at which they lock in losses, banks and other investors positioned themselves to benefit from the slow mending of the real estate market. But now industry executives are questioning whether delaying foreclosures — a strategy contrary to the industry adage that “the first loss is the best loss” — is about to backfire. With home prices expected to fall as much as 10% further, the refusal to foreclose quickly on and sell distressed homes at inventory-clearing prices may be contributing to the stall of the overall market seen in July sales data. It also may increase the likelihood of more strategic defaults.
It is becoming harder to blame legal or logistical bottlenecks, foreclosure analysts said.
“All the excuses have been used up. This is blatant,” said Sean O’Toole, CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com, a Discovery Bay, Calif., company that has been documenting the slowdown in Western markets.
Banks have filed fewer notices of default so far this year in California, the nation’s biggest real estate market, than they did 2009 or 2008, according to data gathered by the company. Foreclosure default notices are now at their lowest level since the second quarter of 2007, when the percentage of seriously delinquent loans in the state was one-sixth what it is now.
New data from LPS Applied Analytics in Jacksonville, Fla., suggests that the backlog is no longer worsening nationally — but foreclosures are not at the levels needed to clear existing inventory.
The simple explanation is that banks are averse to realizing losses on foreclosures, experts said.
“We can’t have 11% of Californians delinquent and so few foreclosures if regulators are actually forcing banks to clean assets off their books,” O’Toole said.
Officially, of course, this problem shouldn’t exist. Accounting rules mandate that banks set aside reserves covering the full amount of their anticipated losses on nonperforming loans, so sales should do no additional harm to balance sheets.
Within the last two quarters, many companies have even begun taking reserve releases based on more bullish assumptions about the value of distressed properties.
Now there is widespread reluctance to test those valuations, an indication that banks either fear they have insufficient or are gambling for a broad housing recovery that experts increasingly say is not coming.
Banks did not choose the strategy on their own.
With the exception of a spike in foreclosure activity that peaked in early-to-mid 2009, after various industry and government moratoriums ended and the Treasury Department released guidelines for the Home Affordable Modification Program, no stage of the process has returned to pre-September 2008 levels. That is when the Treasury unveiled the Troubled Asset Relief Program and promised to help financial institutions avoid liquidating assets at panic-driven prices. The Financial Accounting Standards Board and other authorities followed suit with fair-value dispensations.
These changes made it easier to avoid fire-sale marks — and less attractive to foreclose on bad assets and unload them at market clearing prices. In California, ForeclosureRadar data shows, the volume of foreclosure filings has never returned to the levels they had reached before government intervention gave servicers breathing room.
Some servicing executives acknowledged that stalling on foreclosures will cause worse pain in the future — and that the reckoning may be almost here.
“The industry as a whole got into a panic mode and was worried about all these loans going into foreclosure and driving prices down, so they got all these programs, started Hamp and internal mods and short sales,” said John Marecki, vice president of East Coast foreclosure operations for Prommis Solutions, an Atlanta company that provides foreclosure processing services. Until recently, he was senior vice president of default administration at Flagstar Bank in Troy, Mich. “Now they’re looking at this, how they held off and they’re getting to the point where maybe they made a mistake in that realm.”
Moreover, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have increased foreclosures in the past two months on borrowers that failed to get permanent loan modifications from the government, according to data from LPS. If the government-sponsored enterprises’ share of foreclosures is increasing, that implies foreclosure activity by other market participants is even less robust than the aggregate.
“The math doesn’t bode well for what is ultimately going to occur on the real estate market,” said Herb Blecher, a vice president at LPS. “You start asking yourself the question when you look at these numbers whether we are fixing the problem or delaying the inevitable.”
Blecher said the increase in foreclosure starts by the GSEs “is nowhere near” what is needed to clear through the shadow inventory of 4.5 million loans that were 90 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of July 31.
LPS nationwide data on foreclosure starts reflects the holdup: Though the GSEs have gotten faster since the first quarter, portfolio and private investors have actually slowed.
“What we’re seeing is things are starting to move through the system but the inflows and outflows are not clearing the inventory yet,” he said.
Delayed foreclosures might be good news for delinquent borrowers, but it comes at a high price.
Stagnant foreclosures likely contributed to the abysmal July home sales, since banks are putting fewer homes for sale at market-clearing prices.
Moreover, Freddie says a good 14% of homes that are seriously delinquent are vacant. In such circumstances, eventual recovery values rapidly deteriorate.
Defaulted borrowers were spending an average of 469 days in their home after ceasing to make payments as of July 31, so the financial attraction of strategic defaults increases.
One possible way banks are dealing with that last threat is through what O’Toole calls “foreclosure roulette,” in which banks maintain a large pool of borrowers in foreclosure but foreclose on a small number at random.
O’Toole said the resulting confusion would make it harder for borrowers to evaluate the costs and benefits of defaulting and fan fears that foreclosure was imminent.
http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/175_165/foreclosures-modifications-california-1024663-1.html
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Multnomahforeclosures.com: Updated Notice of Default Lists
Multnomahforeclosures.com was updated today (August 24th, 2010) with the largest list of Notice Defaults to date. With Notice of Default records dating back over 2 years. Multnomahforeclosures.com documents the fall of the great real estate bust of the 21st centry. The lists are of the raw data taken from county records.
It is not a bad idea for investors and people that are seeking a home of their own to keep an eye on the Notice of Default lists. Many of the homes listed are on the market or will be.
All listings are in PDF and Excel Spread Sheet format.
Multnomah County Foreclosures
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Foreclosure rate soars in suburbs, Steve Law, Portland Tribune
While Portlanders continue to be plagued by home foreclosures, the number of distressed homeowners is spiking even faster in the suburbs these days.
Foreclosure actions filed against homeowners in upscale Lake Oswego mushroomed 20 percent the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year, and rose 10 percent in jobs-rich Hillsboro, according to RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, Calif., real estate data services company. RealtyTrac counted nearly 300 Lake Oswego properties socked with foreclosure actions from January through June and more than 500 Hillsboro properties.
Foreclosures also shot up at a rate faster than Portland in suburban Oregon City, Milwaukie, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood and St. Helens.
“The foreclosure activity that is occurring in suburban markets in Oregon is unprecedented,” says Tom Cusack, a retired federal housing manager in Portland who continues to track the issue via his Oregon Housing Blog. “It’s affecting not just rural areas, not just inner-city neighborhoods, but suburban neighborhoods, probably more substantially than any time in the past,” Cusack says.
From January through June, foreclosure filings grew 6.5 percent in the city of Portland, compared with a year earlier, and 8.5 percent in Portland suburbs, not counting Clark County, according to RealtyTrac data.
In 10 different local ZIP codes — three in Portland and seven in the suburbs — foreclosure actions were filed against more than 2 percent of all properties the first six months of 2010.
Dominating local market
Realtors say a record number of foreclosures dominates the area housing market, depressing home prices but also attracting bargain-hunters looking for distressed properties.
“Either you’re helping people get into them or helping get out of them,” says Fred Stewart, a Northeast Portland Realtor who operates a website listing foreclosed homes for sale in Multnomah County.
Distressed properties account for “40 percent of the business right now,” says Dale Kuhn, principal broker for John L. Scott Real Estate in Lake Oswego.
Every suburb is a unique real estate market, so it’s hard to generalize why some are experiencing more foreclosures now than before. In West Linn, for example, foreclosure filings were down the first six months of the year compared to a year earlier, while things are going in a different direction in its affluent neighbor to the north, Lake Oswego.
Explanations vary
One factor could be that many borrowers of modest means took out subprime loans, which were the first to go through foreclosure when those loans “exploded” and reset to much-higher interest rates. Working-class neighborhoods had the highest foreclosure rates in the early months of the Great Recession.
“They got hit the hardest first,” says Rick Skaggs, a real estate broker at John L. Scott in Forest Grove.
In the Portland area, an unusually high number of middle-class and affluent borrowers took out interest-only loans and Option ARM or negative-amortization loans. Option ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) allowed the borrower to pay a minimum monthly mortgage payment — akin to a credit card minimum payment — while tacking more principal onto the loan. Option ARMs and other alternative loans took longer to unravel than subprime loans, and many are now winding up in foreclosure. And those mortgages were more common for more expensive properties.
They were ticking time bombs, like subprime loans, but they had longer fuses, says Angela Martin, of the Portland public interest group Our Oregon.
Stewart offers another reason for the surge in suburban foreclosures. He’s noticing a larger pool of buyers now for closer-in Portland neighborhoods, as people seek to avoid long commutes. People selling distressed properties in Northeast and Southeast Portland have more options to sell than someone saddled with an unaffordable mortgage in a suburb, Stewart says.
Tables turned
Recent state and national statistics also reveal a counterintuitive trend — affluent homeowners are going into foreclosure lately at a higher rate than others.
Cusack recently analyzed data for Oregonians who took out traditional 30-year Federal Housing Administration loans since mid-2008. He found that the greater the loan amount, the greater the chances those became problem loans.
“The default rate and the seriously delinquent rate were higher for higher-income loans,” Cusack says.
Business owners and other affluent homebuyers who settled in suburban markets also had more resources available to hold onto their homes than lower-income homeowners, at least during the earlier stages of the Great Recession. That may explain why places such as Lake Oswego are seeing such an upsurge in foreclosures now.
“If you paid a half-million for anything in Lake Oswego in 2007, you’re ‘under water,’ ” Stewart says. That’s the term for people who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.
Portland bankruptcy attorney Ann Chapman, of the firm Vanden Bos & Chapman, is seeing an uptick in affluent clients coming to her office.
They had been turning to pensions, savings and family money to hold onto their homes and businesses, Chapman says. But as the economic downturn grinds on, some clients see the best option as dumping their home and filing for bankruptcy reorganization.
Affluent homeowners make a more sober assessment when they realize their homes aren’t going to be worth the mortgage amount for many years, she says. “They’re going to potentially be less emotionally involved when it comes to stopping the bleeding.”
It’s often a different story for lower-income homeowners who hope to hold onto the only homes they’ve ever had, or hope to have. “They get blinded by their optimism or their paralysis,” Chapman says.
Little relief in sight
Many Realtors say it’s a great buyer’s market now for those who have steady jobs, because interest rates are low and prices have fallen so much. But don’t expect the onslaught of Portland-area foreclosures to end any time soon.
“We are nowhere near the end if you look at the number of homeowners that will ultimately be at risk,” says Martin, citing a new study by the North Carolina-based Center for Responsible Lending. Based on that study, she figures Oregon is only halfway through the foreclosure crisis, in terms of the number of people affected by foreclosures.
Skaggs says he wishes he could be more positive, but he doesn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. He just spoke with an investor last week who is about to walk away from five rental homes and let the bank take them back. Three of the homes are in the Beaverton area, one is in Bend and one is on the Oregon Coast.
“I probably know at least 15 people that in the next month or two are going to walk away from their homes.”
stevelaw@portlandtribune.com
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=128216600543594000
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New Fed rules aim to protect home buyers
WASHINGTON • In a move long sought by consumer advocates, the Federal Reserve issued on Monday rules intended to prevent brokers and lenders from unfairly profiting from new mortgage loans.
The rules ban the abuse of the yield-spread premium, a practice that often put buyers into unstable and expensive loans simply to generate extra commissions.
“This is a real milestone,” said Michael Calhoun of the Center for Responsible Lending, which had long argued against the premiums.
“People didn’t just happen to end up in risky loans during the boom,” Mr. Calhoun added. “Mortgage brokers and other people on the frontlines were getting two to three times as much money to push buyers into those loans than they were into 30-year fixed-rate loans. So what do you think happened?”
In some cases, borrowers never knew they were paying more in interest than they needed to. In others, they thought they were saving money by exchanging lower fees for a higher rate. But consumer groups argued that the borrowers often ended up paying both higher fees and a higher rate.
While the new rules prohibit payments to a lender or broker based on the loan’s interest rate, they allow for compensation based on a fixed percentage of the loan amount.
The Fed rules take effect in April. Similar and in some ways more comprehensive rules are in the financial reform bill that passed Congress this summer. Those rules will take effect later.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in spotlight • The administration of President Barack Obama will bring together bankers, investors, housing experts and policymakers today for the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance. The goal is to address the problems of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Practically all new U.S. mortgages are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. Since the credit crisis began the Federal Reserve has purchased $1.1 trillion in agency mortgage securities as a means of propping up the market and keeping loan rates low. This creates great risk for the taxpayers.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “are quite profoundly broken,” economist Raj Date of the Cambridge Winter Center told CNN. “But no one wants to disrupt the only thing that’s working right now in the mortgage market.”
Congress under pressure • Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the House Financial Services Committee would hold hearings in September on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac situation.
Lawmakers agree that Fannie and Freddie should stop borrowing heavily from the capital markets. Beyond that, there is little agreement.
Democrats seem to be moving in the direction of turning Fannie and Freddie into much smaller entities that buy individual mortgages, pool them and sell them back into the market to private investors. Republicans who don’t back a fully private market are likely to push for a government guarantee that is available for any corporate mortgage investor packaging loans, not just Fannie and Freddie.
However, some sort of government guarantee is likely, largely because of the influence of the housing lobby, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders.
“The housing industry is dead set on having guarantees,” said Mark Calabria, of the CATO Institute in Washington.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/article_36fd938b-22ec-518b-a5ec-73b2b104ec24.html
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Oregon’s homeownership program to receive an additional $49.2 million, by Jeff Manning, The Oregonian
Though it’s months away from awarding a single dollar to struggling homeowners, Oregon’s newly established foreclosure-prevention program keeps growing.
Oregon’s Homeownership Stabilization Initiative is in line to receive another $49.2 million, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday. That’s on top of the $88 million already awarded by the Treasury.
Oregon officials are still refining the details of its program and won’t be ready to begin dispensing money until the end of the year, said Michael Kaplan, director of the program.
“We’re thrilled,” Kaplan said. Even with the addition of the new money, he said, “we have so much more demand than we have resources.”
The foreclosure epidemic has claimed thousands in Oregon, largely due to the state’s high unemployment. Though it remains far behind foreclosure epicenters like Nevada and California in sheer numbers of foreclosures, Oregon is now seeing new mortgage defaults increase at the third-fastest rate in the country.
The new funding comes amidst a heated debate in Washington, D.C. about government spending and the spiraling federal deficit. While many economists argue the government needs to increase spending to jumpstart the economy, others maintain the country is drowning in red ink.
With the new anti-foreclosure money, the Obama administration is sending a clear signal it intends to continue to inject public money into the economy.
In addition to the new foreclosure prevention money, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday the launch of new $1 billion short-term loan program for at-risk homeowners.
The 24-month loans will be available to homeowners facing foreclosure in part due to “a substantial reduction in income due to involuntary unemployment, underemployment or a medical condition,” HUD announced.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who has emerged as a vocal advocate for individuals slammed by the economic crash, hailed the new programs. “This funding will help Oregonians who have lost a job through no fault of their own while they get back on their feet,” said Merkley.
Obama first announced formation of the Hardest-Hit Fund in February, steering money to the 17 states most impacted by the foreclosure wave. The Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it is sending another $2 billion to the program, aimed at states where unemployment has remained high.
Qualifying standards for Oregon’s program are still being worked out, as are many of its details. Tentatively, the state envisions four different types of aid:
Loan modification assistance will help homeowners who are on the verge of successfully modifying their existing mortgages but require a small amount of additional financial resources to do so.
Mortgage payment assistance will help economically distressed homeowners pay their mortgages for up to one year.
Loan preservation assistance will provide financial resources that a homeowner may need to modify a loan, pay arrearages, or clear other significant financial penalties after a period of unemployment or loss of income.
Transitional Assistance will help homeowners who do not regain employment during the period of mortgage payment help with the resources needed to move to affordable, most likely rental, homes.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/08/oregons_homeownership_program.html
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Oregon gets federal money to help unemployed avert foreclosures, Charles Pope, The Oregonian
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration released $600 million Wednesday to help unemployed homeowners in Oregon and four other states avoid foreclosure.
Oregon, where one in every 76 homes is facing foreclosure, qualifies for $88 million.The money will be used to help distressed homeowners.
The money will be available to state housing authorities in Oregon, Ohio, South Carolina, Rhode Island and North Carolina “to support local initiatives to assist struggling homeowners in these five states that have high percentages of their population living in areas of economic distress due to unemployment,” the Treasury Department said.
According to Treasury, the money will augment “targeted programs to expand options for homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments because of unemployment, as well as programs to address first and second liens, facilitate short sales and/or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, and assist in the payment of arrearages.”
State officials in Oregon estimate that up to 7,400 homeowners will be helped.Among other things, Oregon will:
— provide funds to assist with loan modifications, including through principal reduction and arrearage payments.
— provide up to six months of mortgage payment assistance for an unemployed borrower or a borrower experiencing other financial distress. Lenders or servicers would be required to match for up to an additional six months.
— offer funds to ensure a successful modification or pay arrearages or other fees incurred during unemployment or financial distress once a homeowner has regained employment or recovered from that financial distress.
— provide assistance to borrowers who participated in the state’s Hardest Hit Fund unemployed borrower program but did not subsequently regain employment in order to facilitate a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. This assistance would be matched by lenders or servicers.
In all, states estimate that approximately 50,000 struggling homeowners will receive aid.
Wednesday’s announcement is only the latest in the Obama administration’s efforts to dent the foreclosure crisis.
The money is part of the $2.1 billion is directing from its existing $75 billion mortgage assistance program to a total of 10 states. Each state designed its own plan. Treasury approved money in June for Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada.
In the latest package of aid, Ohio will receive $172 million — the largest amount of money. That could aid around 15,000 homeowners by helping borrowers pay their mortgage for up to a year while they search for jobs. It could also provide incentives for mortgage companies to reduce borrowers’ mortgage balances.
North Carolina is receiving $159 million, and South Carolina is in line for $138 million while Rhode Island is receiving $43 million.
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/08/oregon_gets_federal_money_to_h.html
OREGON REAL ESTATE ROUND TABLE 