Police Arrest Two Women for Burglary at Open Houses
Two women posing as wealthy home buyers are accused of visiting at least six open houses in Manhattan and Upper Saddle River, N. J., on two recent weekends and stealing jewelry and other items worth more than $73,000, according to police.
The stolen items included Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and Coach handbags, a Tiffany alarm clock, fur coats, and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne.
Police say they identified Jessica Joyner and Jennifer Jones from security cameras and arrested them in connection with the thefts.
According to police, the women would arrive at the open houses in a Jaguar, one woman would distract the real estate practitioner, while the other looked for items to take. A doorman reported noticing the pair and wrote down their license plate number as they left one open house.
Both women have been charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property and were being held this week on a $30,000 bail. Most of the stolen items have been recovered.
Source: The Associated Press, David B. Caruso (11/29/07)
Existing Home-Sales in October Show Mixed Results
Single-family existing-home sales were stable in October while the condo sector was down, says the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS®. Lingering effects of the credit crunch were a drag on sales, but the mortgage situation has improved significantly.
Total existing-home sales — including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — eased by 1.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million units in October from a downwardly revised level of 5.03 million in September. Existing-home sales are 20.7 percent below the 6.27 million-unit pace in September 2006.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, expected the sluggish performance.
“As noted last month, temporary mortgage problems were peaking back in August when many of the sales closed in October were being negotiated,” he says. “We continue to see the biggest impact in high-cost markets that rely on jumbo loans.”
Mortgage availability has improved with much lower mortgage interest rates and a sharp jump in FHA endorsements for home purchases, Yun adds.
“A trend away from subprime mortgages to FHA loans, which often carry much lower interest rates, is a positive development for consumers and the housing market going forward,” Yun notes. “Still, it will take some time for the change to yield a measurably higher closed sales volume in the aftermath of the subprime collapse. In the near term, we expect home sales to remain fairly stable.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.38 percent in October, unchanged from September; the rate was 6.36 percent in October 2006. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed rate fell to 6.2 percent.
Median Price Falls Over the Year
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $207,800 in October, down 5.1 percent from October 2006 when the median was $218,900. But there is a downward distortion from the temporary problems with jumbo loans that slowed sales in high-price markets, and that dragged down the national median.
NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., emphasized that all real estate is local.
“Keep in mind that home prices are up in 93 out of 150 metro areas, and there is a lot of confusion in the market from reports about national data,” he says. “Broadly speaking, home prices in most areas are up modestly or fairly stable. Areas with population or job growth are seeing the strongest home price gains.”
Healthy Price Gains in Some Markets
Among the many metro areas showing healthy price gains are Charlotte, N.C.; San Francisco; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Green Bay, Wis.
Other NAR housing statistics include:
Total housing inventory: rose 1.9 percent at the end of October to 4.45 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 10.8-month supply at the current sales pace. That’s up from a downwardly revised 10.4-month supply in September.
Single-family home sales: unchanged from September at the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million in October, and are 20.8 percent below 5.52 million-unit level in October 2006. The median existing single-family home price was $205,700 in October, down 6.3 percent from a year ago.
Existing condominium and co-op sales: fell 9.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 600,000 units in October from 660,000 in September, but are 20.2 percent below the 752,000-unit pace in October 2006. The median existing condo price was $223,500 in October, up 4.9 percent from a year ago.
Regional Breakdown
Here’s how existing-home sales across the country fared:
Northeast: unchanged at an annual pace of 900,000 in October, and are 12.6 percent below October 2006. Median price: $258,700, up 1.3 percent from a year ago.
South: unchanged in October, at an annual rate of 2.03 million, but are 19.4 percent below a year ago. Median price: $171,400, down 6.7 percent from October 2006.
Midwest: slipped 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.18 million in October, and are 16.9 percent below October 2006. Median price: $164,000, down 1.6 percent from a year ago.
West: fell 4.4 percent in October to a level of 870,000, and are 33.1 percent below a year ago. Median price: $318,200, which is 6.9 percent lower than October 2006.
Top 10 Best Performing Housing Markets
As anybody who has ever sold real estate knows, there are no national markets, only local markets. That adage holds true when you look at the condition of the real estate business nationwide. Business may be tough in many places, but it’s not tough all over.
In Salt Lake City, Charlotte, N.C., and San Jose, Calif., prices have climbed relentlessly. In the Northeast, the biggest gainers are the gritty cities of Buffalo, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Philadelphia.
In the West, business is brisk in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.
Here are the top 10 best performing housing markets, according to Forbes magazine, their third quarter median home sale prices, and the percentage that prices have risen compared to third quarter 2006.
Salt Lake City — median home sales price: $246,700; Percent change: 14.1 percent
Charlotte, N.C. — $220,000, 11 percent
San Jose, Calif. — $852,500, 9.4 percent
San Francisco — $825,400, 8.6 percent
Raleigh, N.C. — $229,500, 7.5 percent
Austin — $188,200, 7.2 percent
Pittsburgh — $127,700, 6.1 percent
Seattle — $394,700, 6 percent
San Antonio — $154,700, 5.7 percent
Portland, Ore. — $299,700, 5.2 percent
Source: Forbes, Matt Woolsey (11/21/07)
Most Metro Areas See Modest Price Gains
The vast majority of U.S. metropolitan areas showed rising or stable home prices in the third quarter, with most experiencing modest gains compared with a year earlier, says the latest quarterly survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
In the third quarter, 93 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas show increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, including six areas with double-digit annual gains and another 21 metros showing increases of 6 percent or more. Fifty-four areas had price declines, and three were unchanged. Regionally, prices rose in both the Northeast and Midwest, as did the national condo price.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the data underscores the fact that all real estate is local. “Some metro areas are hot while others are experiencing localized problems,” he said. “The report also shows that home prices in the vast midsection of America, from the Appalachians to the Rockies, are affordable and, perhaps, even undervalued.
Yun says the quarterly metro home price report is the most meaningful long-term series available on price performance because it looks at all of the available transactions in a given area.
Unlike other home price series that are based on county records and mortgage securities, which are collected well after the actual transaction date, NAR’s information comes directly from multiple listing services. The report includes actual market prices rather than just the percentage changes so people can compare housing values around the country, Yun says.
Even with most areas showing improvement, a disruption in higher-priced sales impacted the national median existing single-family home price, which was $220,800 in the third quarter, down 2 percent from the third quarter of 2006 when the median price was $225,300.
The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
Gaylord: Know Your Market
NAR President Richard Gaylord says consumers need to understand what’s going on in their own area. “There is no such thing as a national housing market – it doesn’t perform like the equities markets,” he says. “What’s really important for consumers is to make informed decisions based on individual needs, desires, and timelines in a given area. Most people plan to stay in a home for 10 years, and for buyers with a long-term view, housing is an excellent investment.”
Typical sellers purchased their home six years ago, with the median price in the third quarter of 2001 at $159,100. Despite the dip in the national median price over the past year, the median increase in value for home sellers who bought six years ago is 38.8 percent. “Nearly every market is showing positive long-term gains, with a home equity accumulation of $61,700 over the past six years for a typical U.S. home owner,” Gaylord says.
Even in most of the places that are undergoing a large price decline, long-term increases are quite respectable, he says. For example, the Sarasota area of Florida is showing a median rise in home value of $112,000 over the typical holding period, and ranks well above norm for overall gains.”
Biggest Price Gains, Biggest Drops
In the third quarter, the largest single-family home price increase was in Bismarck, N.D., area, where the median price of $161,600 rose 15.1 percent from a year ago. Next was the Salt Lake City area, at $246,700, up 14.1 percent from the third quarter of 2006, followed by Yakima, Wash., where the third quarter median price increased 13.6 percent to $163,200.
Median third-quarter metro area single-family home prices ranged from a very affordable $81,600 in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area of Ohio and Pennsylvania, to more than 10 times that amount in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, where the median price was $852,500.
The second most expensive area was San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, at $825,400, followed by the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area (Orange County, Calif.), at $700,700.
Other affordable markets include the Saginaw-Saginaw Township North area of Michigan, with a third-quarter median price of $84,900, and Decatur, Ill., at $85,900.
Condo Market Recap
In the condo sector, metro area condominium and cooperative prices – covering changes in 59 metro areas – show the national median existing condo price was $226,900 in the third quarter, up 2 percent from $222,500 in the third quarter of 2006. Forty-one metros showed annual increases in the median condo price, including six areas with double-digit gains; 18 areas had price declines.
The strongest condo price increases were in Bismarck, N.D., where the third quarter price of $133,300 rose 22.3 percent from a year earlier, followed by the Austin-Round Rock area of Texas, at $171,700, up 19.2 percent, and the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton area of Oregon and Washington, where the median condo price of $210,200 rose 14.9 percent from the third quarter of 2006.
Metro area median existing-condo prices in the third quarter ranged from $114,000 in the Rochester, N.Y., area, to $663,700 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area. The second most expensive condo market reported was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, at $388,800, followed by the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area at $351,900.
Other affordable condo markets include Wichita, Kan., at $117,100 in the third quarter, and the Cincinnati-Middletown area of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at $117,500.
Sales Pace: State by State
Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.42 million units in the third quarter, down 13.7 percent from a 6.29 million-unit pace in the third quarter of 2006. “The housing market correction is clearly focused on transaction volume and not in home prices,” Yun notes.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate on a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage was 6.55 percent in the third quarter, up from 6.37 percent in the second quarter; the rate was 6.56 percent in the third quarter of 2006. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed rate was down to 6.24 percent.
Only two states showed annual gains in existing-home sales from the third quarter of 2006, while complete data for two states were not available. In North Dakota, the level of third-quarter sales rose 2.9 percent from a year ago, while Vermont increased 0.8 percent. “The biggest decline in sales appears to be concentrated in areas that had significant levels of speculative investment, including Nevada, Florida and Arizona,” Yun said.
Regional Price Trends
Northeast: The median existing single-family home price in the Northeast rose 3.2 percent to $286,300 in the third quarter from the same period 2006. Total existing-home sales in the region declined 7.3 percent to an annual pace of 973,000 units in the third quarter from the same period a year ago.
The strongest price increase in the Northeast was in the Binghamton, N.Y., area, at $119,600, up 11.4 percent from the third quarter of last year, followed by Reading, Penn., with a median price of $162,900, up 7.0 percent, and Atlantic City, N.J., at $273,100, up 6.2 percent.
Midwest: The median existing single-family home price increased 0.5 percent to $170,800 in the third quarter from the same period in 2006. Overall, existing-home sales in the Midwest fell 10.8 percent to a 1.27 million-unit annual level in the third quarter compared with a year ago.
After Bismarck, N.D., the strongest metro price increase in the Midwest was in the Green Bay, Wis., area, where the median price of $162,900 was 7.2 percent higher than a year ago. Next was Akron, Ohio, at $124,700, up 6.9 percent from the third quarter of 2006, and Gary-Hammond, Ind., at $144,300, up 6.7 percent.
South: The median existing single-family home price in the South was $180,800 in the third quarter, which is 3.6 percent below a year earlier. Total existing-home sales in the region were at an annual rate of 2.16 million units in the third quarter, down 14.3 percent from the third quarter of 2006.
The strongest price increase in the South was in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord area of North Carolina and South Carolina, at $220,100, up 11.0 percent from a year ago, followed by the Beaumont-Port Arthur area of Texas, with a 10.2 percent gain to $129,100, and Corpus Christi, Texas, at $140,500, up 7.6 percent.
West: The median existing single-family home price in the West was $338,100 in the third quarter, down 3.8 percent from a year ago. The existing-home sales pace in the West of 1.01 million units fell 21.5 percent from the third quarter of 2006.
After Salt Lake City and Yakima, the strongest metro price increase in the West was in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area, which increased 9.4 percent from a year ago, followed by the San Francisco-Oakland-Freemont area, up 8.6 percent from the third quarter of 2006.
Home Starts Up, Mostly Due to Multi-Family
U.S. home builders broke ground on more apartment buildings in October, driving housing starts up 3 percent to an unexpected seasonally adjusted rate of 1.229 million, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
But builders trimmed permits for future building projects by 6.6 percent. They also cut back 7.3 percent on single-family homes to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 884,000, the lowest level of single-family home building since the last recession in October of 1991.
The levels varied regionally. Home starts in the Northeast rose 8.5 percent overall, and starts of single-family homes rose 29.5 percent. Single-family starts in the Midwest were up 15.1 percent with the overall increase at 21.1 percent.
In the South, overall starts dropped 4.6 percent and single-family starts fell 19.5 percent. Starts in the West rose 5.8 percent overall but single-family home starts dropped 8.1 percent.
Source: Thomas Financial, Dennis Moore (11/20/07)
Letter Sent to Troubled Borrowers: Help Is On the Way
The Hope Now alliance, a partnership between mortgage companies and nonprofit housing counselors, began a nationwide mail campaign last week to offer help to home owners who are having trouble meeting their mortgage payments.
The effort is being backed by the Bush administration. Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel says the initial mailing would be followed by more outreach efforts in the months ahead.
Critics are calling this effort “too little too late” and are urging the administration to endorse a proposal made by Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Bair has said that mortgage companies should consider making broad-based conversions of adjustable-rate mortgages to fixed-rate loans if the borrowers are current on their payments.
Source: Dow Jones International News (11/19/07)
Lenders Must Prove Ownership of Foreclosures
Courts are cracking down on lenders that introduce foreclosure proceedings without having proof of ownership.
It has long been a common practice for lenders to do this, since tracking the documentation of ownership is challenging because of securitization, or the pooling of mortgages into trusts that are subsequently sold to investors.
A recent study of 1,733 foreclosures by Katherine M. Porter, an associate professor of law at the University of Iowa, found that 40 percent of the creditors foreclosing on borrowers did not show proof of ownership.
Source: The New York Times, by Gretchen Morgenson (11/17/07)
Bargain Smartly to Get the Best Deal
Bargaining is an art, particularly when the buyer wants to make a rock-bottom bid without insulting the seller.
“The offer has to be palatable and show you’ve done your homework,” says Deb Greene, president of the Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS® and an associate with Coldwell Banker Burnet in Plymouth.
Sheri Fine, an associate with Edina Realty in Minneapolis, agrees. “Sometimes an unreasonably lowball offer can make a seller so angry they won’t make a counter offer or deal with a buyer.”
Here are their suggestions for coming up with a number that is competitive and compelling.
Point out to your buyer that an offer that is more than 10 percent off the list price isn’t customary and is likely to be rejected.
Make sure the buyer realizes that there are other attractive homes on the market and won’t be shattered if the sellers reject their lowball offer.
Help the buyer recognize the home’s strengths as well as its weakness.
Make a list of reasons to share with the seller for offering less than list price.
Instead of asking for the price to be lowered, negotiate other tangibles such as repairs, closing dates, and closing costs.
Encourage the buyer to be respectful whenever he or she is around the seller.
Source: Star-Tribune, Lynn Underwood (11/17/07)
House Committee Passes Mortgage Reform Bill
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved legislation on Tuesday creating new consumer protection standards in the mortgage industry.
The bill drafted by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) would:
Ban lenders from making loans that borrowers don’t have the ability to repay.
Prohibit lenders from steering home owners into refinanced mortgages that don’t provide any benefit.
Make Wall Street banks that package mortgage securities into investments liable for violations of lending laws
Create a nationwide licensing system for mortgage brokers and bank loan officers.
The bill now moves to the full House. Similar legislation was introduced in May by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), but has been stalled in the Senate.
Source: The Associated Press, Alan Zibel (11/06/2007)
Rule Would Keep ‘MLS’ From Becoming Generic Term
Rule Would Keep ‘MLS’ From Becoming Generic Term
Is it the end of MLS as we know it? Not exactly. But a movement is afoot to protect the sacred system that has facilitated real estate sales for more than 50 years.
The MLS Committee approved a recommendation for a new model MLS rule that will go before NAR’s board of directors Friday. If it passes, NAR will create a model provision that MLSs could adopt locally that would prohibit MLS participants, subscribers, and licensees affiliated with participants from using “MLS” in their company name, Web address, or other venue.
The recommendation would also prohibit those groups from suggesting to consumers that they’re giving direct access to the MLS.
The recommendation grew from a discussion at the REALTORS® Midyear Meetings in May 2007 about widespread use of the term MLS across the Internet.
Ann Bailey, a former MLS executive and co-founder of the San Clemente, Calif., consulting company, Pranix, told forum participants at the time that if they didn’t start educating members to stop using “MLS” as a synonym for “listings display,” MLS would cease to have meaning as a venue for broker cooperation.
At a Multiple Listing Service Forum before the committee meeting, a standing-room-only audience vigorously debated the recommendation. Supporters of the provision said the rule would prevent “MLS” from becoming a generic term.
Opponents said the cart was already out of the barn; any MLS that adopted the prohibition would put its members at a competitive disadvantage to nonmember practitioners in the area.
Meanwhile, a few MLSs around the country are starting to rebrand themselves altogether. Because REALTORS® can’t trademark the term MLS (an attempt to do so was rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office some years ago), some MLSs have come up with altogether new names. In Indianapolis, there’s the new Brokers Listing Cooperative, or BLC. And in Northern California, six MLSs recently announced plans to consolidate and form the Northern California Real Estate Exchange, or NCREX.
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