Tag Archives: South Salem Homes for Sale

Stricter rules make mortgages hard to get | South Salem NY Real Estate

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A new set of tighter mortgage rules designed to prevent the kind of lending frenzy that led to the 2007 housing crash are being established, but some worry they could dampen Southwest Florida’s budding housing recovery.

that is because the new rules, aimed at protecting consumers from abusive lending practices, could wind up making it even harder for some borrowers to obtain mortgages.

“Lenders are very careful now. People who should get loans are getting loans, but it is a more difficult process for everyone,” said David Hunihan, director of sales at homebuilder Neal Communities.

“My fear is that the legislation is too far reaching, that people who should get loans won’t be able to, and that’s not good for anyone,” he said.

Borrowers already are facing uphill battles for mortgage loans, a reaction to free-wheeling lending practices that pushed consumers to buy homes they could not afford during the real estate boom of the mid-2000s.

Cash buyers, meanwhile, who have been key players in the revival of the region’s housing market, also are elbowing out those who must borrow money to buy a home, said Lois Seropian, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker on Siesta Key.

“Most of our deals are cash,” she said. “Mortgages are very hard on us. Even though rates are great, you have to have perfect credit.

“When those buyers go up against a cash buyer, the seller will take the cash. A mortgage is going to take six to eight weeks, while with cash you close in 10 days,” she said.

via heraldtribune.com

 

Housing Market Still Needs Fannie Mae, Says Chief Economist Doug Duncan | South Salem Homes

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No matter what indicator you look at, the housing market is improving. New and existing home sales are rising. So are home prices. Even foreclosures are declining. In the latest housing data release, the National Association of Home Builders Wednesday reported that the housing recovery has spread to 70% of the 361 metro markets tracked by an NAHB/First American index compared to just 3% in September 2011.

Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise which buys and packages mortgages into securities for investors, says its own survey of consumers shows increasing optimism about the housing market, and the broader economy.

“We ask one question that nobody else asks,” Chief Economist Doug Duncan tells The Daily Ticker. “Is it a good time to sell a house [because] five out of six people who buy a house have to sell one first. That’s been a steady climb month over month.”

And the rebound in housing “will be the support” for the broader economy, says Duncan.

Some analysts like David Stockman worry that the housing is forming another bubble financed once again by extremely low interest rates maintained by the Federal Reserve. Duncan says that could be the case in some selected housing markets where prices are rising at a faster rate than the local economy is improving and building exceeds demand, but it’s not broad based. He expects home price appreciation will slow as a result of some overbuilding.

via finance.yahoo.com

Housing Recovery Hits a December Speed Bump | South Salem Real Estate

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Home prices in January were unchanged from December and they barely remained in the black compared to a year ago, but rebounded in January, according to the most current national market report.

National home prices in January rose 5.4 percent over the prior year, a continuation of 2012’s positive trajectory, according to Clear Capital’s Home Data Index. The main driving force in markets across the U.S. continued to be the lower tier price segment, those homes selling for $102,000 and less, of which many are REO sales. While the national REO saturation rate in January held at 18.4 percent, well off the peak of 41.0 percent in March 2009, REO properties remain attractive to investors and homebuyers alike. REO sales continue to make an impact on the overall health and recovery of the housing market. The HDI’s equal weighting of REOs alongside fair market transactions provides the most accurate picture of the current state of the housing market.

The West recorded the highest yearly growth of all the regions, at 12.9 percent. As the market adjusts to a higher price floor and declining REO saturation, its likely future price trends will moderate. REO saturation in the West in now at just 17.2 percent, drastically improved from the peak of 52.5 percent in March 2009. The correlation between price trends and REO saturation continues to be a key indicator of market performance.

The South also continued to make progress, with yearly gains of 4.5 percent in January. The recovery in the South has a long way to go before total losses of 33.1 percent are recouped. January home prices in the Northeast rose 2.4 percent over the last year. While this rate of growth is the lowest out of all the regions, it’s an impressive jump over December’s yearly rate of growth of 1.5 percent.

Yearly price gains of 2.7 percent in the Midwest retreated slightly when compared to last month’s 3.0 percent rate of growth. Similar to quarterly trends, some large markets in the Midwest, like Chicago, haven’t fueled yearly growth. Meanwhile Detroit, with yearly gains of 7.1 percent, aided the region’s yearly gains overall

via realestateeconomywatch.com