Homebuilder confidence up but still low

An index measuring homebuilder conference rose for the first time in five months during October, but showed the vast majority of builders view the current level of sales as poor.

Although more builders are expecting sales to pick up in the next six months, they remain in the minority, and traffic from prospective buyers remains low.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index asks builders builders to rate current single-family home sales, sales expectations for the next six months, and traffic from prospective buyers.

The index gauging current sales conditions rose three points in October, to 16. The index gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose five points, to 23. The index gauging traffic of prospective buyers rose two points, to 11.

The new-homes market is finally moving past the lull that occurred when the homebuyer tax credits expired and economic growth stalled this summer," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe in a press release.
Challenges to homebuilders include competition from foreclosures, inaccurate appraisal values, and "general consumer uncertainty about the economy and job market," Crowe said.

The toughest obstacles are credit-related, Crowe said: the scarcity of construction credit for builders and tighter mortgage requirements for consumers.

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Mortgage Rates Ease Again

Mortgage rates are at new lows for a third consecutive week as investor demand for mortgage-backed securities that fund most home loans continues to be more than adequate to satisfy demand for mortgages.

Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.19 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Oct. 14, down from 4.27 percent last week and 4.92 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

That's a new low in Freddie Mac's records, which date back to 1971. Rates haven't been lower since April 1951, according to another set of data based on FHA rates that goes back to 1948.

Rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.62 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 3.72 percent last week and 4.37 percent a year ago. That's a new low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1991.
Rates for 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans averaged 3.47 percent with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from a week ago but down from 4.38 percent a year ago. Rates on 5-year ARM loans have never been lower since Freddie Mac began tracking them in 2005.

"September's employment report held no big surprises to financial markets, allowing long-term bond yields and fixed mortgage rates to continue to ease," said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. "As a result, both the 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage rates hit all-time record lows for the third consecutive week."

Although the latest slide in mortgage rates has sparked another refinancing boom, demand for purchase loans remains down 37.1 percent from a year ago, according to a separate survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Via Inman News

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Home-sale discounts jump 24%, Chicago 5th Highest Share of Discounted Listings

Sellers cut asking prices on 2.1 percent more homes last month compared to August -- a total of 323,316 homes.

Meanwhile, total inventory rose 0.6 percent from August and 13.6 percent from September 2009 to a total of 675,872 homes. The share of discounted homes is therefore 47.8 percent, up from 43.8 percent in September 2009 when 260,358 homes had experienced a price cut.

On average, sellers had reduced their list prices twice last month. Median list price last month was $245,265, down 1.8 percent from August and 15.3 percent lower than in September 2009.

Markets with the highest share of discounted listings (of 26 markets surveyed):

1. Jacksonville, Fla. (55.8 percent)
2. Phoenix, Ariz. (55.4 percent)
3. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. (53.2 percent)
4. Orlando, Fla. (52.8 percent)
5. Chicago, Ill. (52.1 percent)
6. Tucson, Ariz. (51.7 percent)
7. Baltimore, Md. (51.3 percent)

Markets with the lowest share of discounted listings (of 26 markets surveyed):

1. Denver, Colo. (34.4 percent)
2. Los Angeles (39.1 percent)
3. Richmond, Va. (42.9 percent)
4. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach, Fla. (43.3 percent)
5. San Francisco (45.2 percent)
6. Charlotte, N.C. (46 percent)

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Title Companies Asking For Reassurance from "Robo-Signing" Lenders

In addition to satisfying federal and state regulators that they're following the letter of the law, lenders embroiled in the "robo signing" scandal may soon have to provide warranties to title insurers in order to continue selling foreclosed homes.

Bank of America has already agreed to provide warranties to Fidelity National Financial Inc. that cover the title insurer's costs if employees processing foreclosure documents for the bank make mistakes, Bloomberg News reports, and is in talks with other title insurers to do the same.

Bank of America announced Friday that it would temporarily halt foreclosure sales in all 50 states until it completed a review of its foreclosure procedures, which so far "shows the basis for foreclosure decisions is accurate."

At least four other loan servicers have slowed or halted some foreclosure proceedings in 23 judicial foreclosure states, following allegations that employees handling court filings for the companies signed affidavits that contained information they had not personally verified.Other loan servicers taking action, to date, are GMAC Mortgage, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Litton Loan Servicing.

In addition to mollifying state and federal officials, lenders that want to sell properties they have foreclosed must also convince title insurers they have followed the proper procedures.

ALTA, the title insurance industry's trade group, continues to maintain that flaws in documentation filed in the foreclosure process should ultimately have little adverse impact on buyers of "real estate owned" (also known as bank-owned or REO) properties or on title insurance claims.

Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. has reportedly stopped insuring title for properties foreclosed on by JP Morgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage. The Associated Press reported Friday that Stewart Title Guaranty Co. has issued guidelines to agents that include restrictions on insuring title for properties foreclosed on by JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, OneWest Bank and GMAC Mortgage.
In arguing against a foreclosure moratorium, Peter Swire, an Ohio State University law professor who until August was a special assistant to President Obama for economic policy, said senior corporate officers at banks should instead personally certify that they have checked their internal foreclosure processes.

The scope of such certifications could vary, based on the what the senior bank official can actually promise, Swire said.

The Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, saved financial firms hundreds of millions of dollars by reducing paperwork involved with reassigning loans, the Washington Post reports. "If you read nothing else," Pfotenhauer advised, "check out MERS's response to speculation about their role in the foreclosure process."

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Nancy Pelosi Pushes For Forclosure Fraud Investigation

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the other California Democrats are calling for an investigation into the foreclosure fraud scandal that has forced the nation's biggest banks to halt foreclosures in 23 states.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Ally Financial (formerly known as GMAC) halted foreclosures in 23 states after employees admitted in sworn depositions that they didn't verify information in thousands of foreclosure documents. Their use of false affidavits to prove they have the right to foreclose is an eerie reminder of the predatory lending and “liar’s loans” that created the housing bubble and bust to begin with.

Menendez and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate as well, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sent a similar request to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan on Monday.

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"Robo-signing" Controversy Continues

The "robo-signing" controversy over lenders' allegedly lax foreclosure procedures is picking up momentum, with the Office of Comptroller of the Currency ordering the nation's largest lenders to review their foreclosure processes.

Attorneys general in California, Florida, Colorado, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina and Connecticut are also looking into lenders' foreclosure procedures. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today asked the state's Judicial Department to freeze all home foreclosures for 60 days.

GMAC Mortgage and JP Morgan Chase have already halted foreclosure proceedings in 23 states, following allegations that workers the companies employed failed to follow the proper legal procedures in filing paperwork related to judicial foreclosure proceedings.

While lawyers representing homeowners in foreclosure proceedings have challenged lenders on such grounds before, they have mostly succeeded only in delaying, not stopping, foreclosure proceedings. The "robo-signing" controversy could slow the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners, which some analysts say might help stabilize prices in distressed markets.

The Times reported that Old Republic National Title has instructed agents not to issue title insurance policies on properties foreclosed on by GMAC Mortgage (A spokeswoman for Old Republic told Inman News the company has a "policy of not speaking to the press.")

Is it safe to buy a foreclosed home now? Foreclosure laws vary from state to state, so it is difficult to make a blanket statement on issues involved with purchasing foreclosed and REO homes, the spokesman said.

In a statement, the American Land Title Association said flaws in documentation filed in the foreclosure process should ultimately have little adverse impact on new owners of REO properties, or on title insurance claims.

"If a new homeowner’s title is challenged because of a faulty foreclosure, the title insurer may have an obligation to defend the challenge," said Kurt Pfotenhauer, chief executive officer of ALTA. Laws vary from state to state, but homeowners who have purchased properties that have been through foreclosure have "numerous defenses available to assure their continued ownership," ALTA said.

The alleged deficiency in the foreclosure process may not have harmed the previous owner, for example. Mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employ loan servicers who are handling hundreds of thousands of delinquent mortgages, and both companies have large inventories of REO properties they are trying to dispose of.

Their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), issued a statement today acknowledging that accounts of problems with GMAC Mortgage and Chase's handling of foreclosures "raise concerns for homeowners and mortgage investors alike."

FHFA said it supports efforts by Fannie and Freddie to remind loan servicers to process foreclosures "in accordance with their seller-servicer agreements and applicable laws and regulations." Terry Edwards, Fannie Mae executive vice president for foreclosure process compliance, said in a statement that the company is disturbed by reports of servicers failing to follow proper procedures in the administration of foreclosure cases.

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It's a Great Time to Buy!

A survey by Fannie Mae shows seven out of 10 Americans now agree with half of the proposition put forward by the National Association of Realtors in a notorious 2006 advertising campaign -- that "It's a great time to buy or sell a home."
Seventy percent of Americans polled in June and July think it is a great time to buy a house, compared with 64 percent in a similar survey conducted in January 2010. But 83 percent believe it's a bad time to sell, Fannie Mae said.  And while 78 percent believed that home prices will either remain flat or go up in the next year -- up five points from January -- the number of Americans who think housing is a safe investment has fallen from 83 percent in 2003 to 67 percent today.
The number of respondents saying they would be more likely to rent their next home if they were to move increased from 30 percent in January to 33 percent in the latest survey.

"Although most Americans believe that home prices have bottomed, they are adopting a much more cautious approach toward buying," said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan in a press release. "Homeowners and renters alike continue to be wary of taking on risk, and they are less confident in the long-term outlook for housing."
People with mortgages (74 percent) and even underwater borrowers (69 percent) were more likely to say owning a home is a safe investment than delinquent borrowers (57 percent) and renters (54 percent).

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History Suggests That Recoveries from Debt-fueled Financial Bubbles are Bound to be Slow

If your waiting for the market to return before you sell your home then you may be in for a long wait, we are still in a declining market and have not seen the end of the tunnel yet!  Consider getting out now while interest rates are still at record low for buyers.  Not ready to sell, have you considered renting?  

"With uncertainty hovering over the economy like a gray cloud, we don't visualize a return to trend growth to approach 3 percent or so until late 2011," said David Shulman, a senior economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast.
"In this environment, the unemployment rate will remain extraordinarily high, ending this year at 9.7 percent and 2011 at 9.5 percent."

That's about where unemployment is now -- 9.6 percent was the official rate reported for August.

The UCLA Anderson Forecast anticipates that housing starts, which plummeted from a peak of 2.07 million in 2005 to 554,000 last year, will total only 606,000 this year and 815,000 next year. It will be 2012 before housing starts break through the 1 million mark again, the forecast predicts, when they are expected to reach 1.2 million.

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Agent Responsibilities

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Want To Sell Your Condo But Your Association Isn't FHA Approved?

Have you recently read about FHA providing a lifeline to new Manhattan luxury condominiums after sales stalled? The Federal Housing Administration agreed in March to insure mortgages for apartments at the 98-unit Gramercy Park development and several other developments. This enables buyers to make a down payment of as little as 3.5 percent in a building where apartments are listed at $820,000 to $3 million.

Buildings featuring pet spas, concierges and rooftop lounges are applying for agency backing to unlock bank financing for purchasers. Developments where sales began more than two years ago had 10 units go into contract with FHA backing since approval in March.

It’s no secret. If a buyer has to put down 5-10-20% on a condo there are going to be less buyers than just putting 3.5% down to purchase a home.

Not sure if your building will qualify for FHA and you want to make your building more MARKETABLE? Smart Property is partnered up with a lender that has an internal department that takes care of all the paperwork to see if the development is eligible for FHA approval. Sohail and his lender are experts in FHA Condos and want to help you take advantage of this service to make your unit more marketable.

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