June home sales in Southern Nevada up - median price down

Las Vegas homeowners and real estate observers have been looking for clear direction the local housing market could be happy about but it's refusing to cooperate. It seems to have settled on a typically erratic path that markets display when they reach the bottom on a downward cycle - or are very near it - and just can't decide how to shake the gloominess off and embark on a climb out for better days. Last month's real estate statistics reflect that rather well.

GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, recounts for its rapt audience that 3,360 resale homes were closed in June, a nice 16.5% uptick from May. That reverses two consecutive months of modest declines. However, it's about an 11% drop from June of 2009, a cause for some concern.

Las Vegas homeowners are carefully monitoring price movement that has been so negatively aggressive in the valley, dragging scores of them underwater, an occasion where property value dips below the underlying mortgage balance. The median price in June parked at $140,000, a $2,000 retreat from May, and the same as it was in May of 2009. For now it appears that prices have stabilized, giving the disappointed Sin City homeowners some hope of sunnier days ahead.

Please click on the above link to access the entire blog.

Foreclosure filings drop - short sales incrrease - mortgage distress lumbers on

Real estate market observers have mixed feelings about RealtyTrac's Midyear 2010 Foreclosure Report. It says that 1,654,634 homeowners were sent at least one mortgage foreclosure filing from January through June. That translates to over 3,000,000 by the end of the year and RealtyTrac forecasts that over 1 million of them will eventually become repossessions, or REOs - real estate owned. The number by itself is of course alarming, but the current six month number actually is a drop of 5% from the second half of last year. Ordinarily in any housing enterprise that would be something to feel upbeat about.

On closer look the mortgage picture isn't all sweet grapes and chocolate treats after all. Home loan lenders and servicers have lately changed course to give a short sale a chance to work before filing foreclosure notices. The government has aggressively promoted its mortgage loan modification programs that have had a preventive impact despite the private sector's reluctance to get fully engaged. Yet, these initiatives have been a disappointment when measured by their originally announced goals. Moreover, mortgage lenders often are disorganized and undermanned to handle the torrent of foreclosures and their workforces seem to lack the necessary training to be effective, therefore foreclosure action can be delayed for months.

These factors have shifted the emphasis away from mortgage foreclosure statistics and are obviously responsible for the 5% decrease. In the meantime distressed properties continue to saturate unabated the landscape from Las Vegas to the shores of Florida. A great many are underwater and are hard-pressed to find any meaningful relief in the near future. The job situation is slowly improving at least in some regions but still isn't strong enough to decisively begin lifting struggling homeowners to their feet.

Please click on the above link to read the entire blog.

Washington's control of real estate market disturbing

The housing industry is relying heavily on government-backed mortgage organizations like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA for supplying financing to home buyers, filling a gaping void left by the private home loan sector still applying remedial salve to its festering wounds. Without them the real estate arena would be uniquely anemic. And the government is slowly gaining even more control over housing in a different but quite influential capacity, whether it likes it or not.

As mortgage foreclosures keep steadily spilling onto the ravaged real estate market, GSEs - Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's official designation - and its federal cousins like FHA and VA pick up repossessed homes by the thousands. Radar Logic - a real estate research boutique - reports that the government now holds about 46% of all U.S. REO inventory, a large share that has been continually growing over the past several years.

What's alarming is that it's going to increase from there for the foreseeable future. 2.3 million homeowners are currently 30-90 days behind on their mortgages, as Zillow and Lender Processing Services have figured out. Radar Logic calculates that 69% of these home loans are guaranteed or owned by the various government agencies. The situation is worse than that, though. About 5 million mortgage borrowers are either 90 days past due or are already in the foreclosure pipeline. The Treasury reports that 56% of these are in some shape or form under the government's umbrella. Radar Logic estimates that roughly 35% of mortgages in these two categories will avoid foreclosure via modification efforts or short sales.

Please click on the link to read the entire blog.

Angle Park Golf Glub in the picture.

Appraisal changes made by mortgage lenders get closer scrutiny from Fannie Mae

The real estate market meltdown has exposed many painful and game-changing weaknesses in how business was conducted in the years past. In the quest to make as much money as possible scores of mortgage files were pushed through with incomplete or doctored information. Now, with foreclosures the topic of the day, mortgage lenders are receiving growing demands from investors like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy back loans they originated haphazardly. That can be devastating to the bottom line.

To deal with the costly buyback menace many mortgage shops have commenced tinkering with appraisals, of all things. As an appraisal comes in some home loan providers will run an electronic valuation model based on public records - it involves no actual physical inspection - to see how close the two numbers are. They are double checking on the appraiser's work, is what they are doing. If the appraiser's report is higher the underwriter can randomly cut back on the value, so that the lender can't be blamed for using inflated figures should the loan go bad. Of course, many a deal has blown up into many little pieces as a result. This likely happens more in the hard-hit areas - Las Vegas comes to mind, as does Arizona, California and Florida - where values have eroded the most and where all the mortgage foreclosures and short sales can seriously trample with the price structure.

Please click on the link to read the entire article.

Southern Nevada single-family house prices fairly stable - May sales slide

Las Vegas real estate statistics continue on an unsteady path, as they’ve been for the past several months. One sector could show a bit of sunshine peeking through while anther struggles with a curve heading in the wrong direction. But anyhow, let’s go right to the cold, hard numbers.

The median price for a single-family house came in at $142,000 for May which equals the figure for the previous month, so reported GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. When placed side by side with May of 2009 it’s up 1.4%, a tentative improvement but nothing much to trade hugs and kisses over. Nevertheless, the real estate values are holding on at least for now while talk about the ominous housing double-dip on a national scale is gathering momentum.

In addition, GLVAR bravely informs that 2,884 single-family houses were closed in May, signaling a 2.3% drop from April and a second consecutive monthly deficit this year. It certainly is a concern. And more so when the decline of 11.4% from May of 2009 is reluctantly hustled into focus. Those who have been quietly praying for an impending real estate turnaround in Vegas should scale back their anticipation. It isn’t over until the fat lady sings.

Please click on the above link to read the entire blog.

Las Vegas effective homeownership rate perilously low, per Fed study

Southern Nevada homeowners were dealt a hand in the real estate and mortgage tragedy for the ages that had very little chance of keeping them in the game for long. Severe price erosion has yanked tens of thousands way underwater – a suddenly everyday term in Sin City where the mortgage balance is higher than property value – that has pushed them to reconsider the merits of continuing to honor the original home loan agreement. Making payments on a, say, $400,000 mortgage when the house is only worth $200,000 is bothering increasingly many as something they probably should not be doing. Renting is becoming a viable option.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has taken the underwater factor into account in its recent study on homeownership in the U.S. The Census Bureau supplies quarterly the official numbers on it, for instance reporting that the all-time high of 69% was reached in 2006. At the end of 2009 it leveled off at 67.2%, clearly pulled lower by the adverse effects of the housing meltdown. But with the underwater dynamic included, the Fed estimates the national “effective” homeownership rate should be 5.6% less over the next several years. It means then that the number ought to be around 61.6%. In itself, nationally, it’s not that drastic.

But the issue is about to spawn a cardiac arrest-like impact when Las Vegas figures are flashed up on the wide screen, at least among those residing in the desert entertainment oasis. In August of 2009 the Census Bureau’s official homeownership rate in Southern Nevada showed 58.6%, the peak being 65% a few years ago. And here comes the numbing shocker; per the Fed’s calculations the “effective” rate here now is a mere 14.7%. Ouch. Due to the underwater metric the gap widened by over 40%. Case-Shiller home price index was employed to come up with an estimate for the count of underwater mortgage borrowers in Vegas.

Please click on the above link to gain access to the entire blog.

Mortgage foreclosure protection bill moves ahead in California - Nevada eyes it with some interest

Homeowners in distress have encountered a myriad of challenges when trying to save their properties from foreclosure. Many have successfully navigated around all the different shoals and rocks strewn along the way. Others, far too many actually, have not. Mortgage lenders and servicers often lack the staff to handle the volume the housing meltdown has thrown at them, industry training of staff is suspect, their systems are in many cases inadequate and it’s also evident that their commitment has been at best lukewarm. The frustration level among struggling mortgage borrowers is understandably high.

California just introduced a fresh mortgage foreclosure protection bill addressing some glaring shortcomings in the state’s current rule book. One provision gives homeowners recourse if they were foreclosed on due to a home loan servicer’s error. They could collect limited damages based on the seriousness of the mistake and in some situations even repeal the foreclosure sale altogether.

The other noteworthy provision prevents mortgage lenders from beginning a foreclose process until the borrower has received a decision on a loan modification application and been properly notified of it.

Please click on the above link to access the entire blog.

The Fed could make a bundle on mortgage-backed securities

When the housing market began recently unraveling at warp speed and quickly lugged the overextended mortgage industry along with it things looked quite bleak for the U.S. economy. Housing, after all, is one of its major components and should it be hit with a serious medical condition, taking a simple pain killer wouldn't help much. Then if ever, when the fury of the real estate sector's downturn became better understood, drastic action was called for.

The Federal Reserve bravely stepped forward intent on showing how it's done. Right on the heels of the private investor vanishing from the secondary mortgage market the Fed knew that to avoid an utter disaster with global consequences it had to quickly fill the vacuum. It began buying MBS, or mortgage-backed securities, insuring that home loan interest rates wouldn't shoot through the roof. That was essential to keep the housing market on its wobbly feet, giving it something concrete to rely on. There was some early howling against this vast government interference but it soon abated as stark reality set in. Without the Fed's decisive action Stone Age would have been right around the corner.

Please click on the above link to read the entire blog.

Housing gloom could be with us a while longer - Mortgage applications drop

When the government introduced the first-time home buyer tax credit program - later it included move-up buyers as well - many real estate and mortgage movers and shakers blessed it with applause. Others weren't so sure it would work that well. The Housing research firms are predictably right now working on overdrive to put their data together and announce soon what they found out as to the initiative's effectiveness. One thing is for sure, though; it did add a respectable dose of demand to the otherwise lethargic real estate arena. It concentrated largely on the lower half of the market, Las Vegas being a good example of that, but in this uncertain environment any demand is peachy.

Mortgage Bankers Association provides an early indicator on this intriguing issue. In the first week after the tax break closed out mortgage applications dropped 14% and to make matters worse, in the second week they nosedived 27%. Reuters came out to call these declines the worst since 1997.

The significance here is that this is happening in the middle of the traditional spring buying season. Sellers and buyers of course are not looking at a standard real estate market where to conduct business. These figures, though, seem to show that obviously the tax credit did play a big role in generating sales the way it did over the past year or so. Mortgage money also remains surprisingly affordable, supposedly drawing applicants in droves to go for it. But the numbers from the last two weeks prove otherwise. Home loan underwriting guidelines are stricter now which does leave some borrowers out of the hunt.

Please click on the link to access the entire blog.

Las Vegas standard home sales draw top dollar - short sales and REOs lag

The current real estate chaos has introduced even the timid to the exotic avenues of unloading a home. Before, the industry experts were usually the only ones well-versed on REOs and foreclosure and short sales and even auctions. This generation of mortgage borrowers and homeowners has been, whether they liked it or not, put through a crash course on various "creative" methods of selling a property. Some have been personally involved in the paperwork-laden processes when delinquency was knocking on the door, while others have followed from the sidelines through media the often hair-raising developments. It has been for everyone a unique learning experience hard to forget anytime soon.

Southern Nevada - home to Summerlin, Mountains Edge, Spanish Trail, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Silverstone Ranch - is undeniably at the epicenter of the unusual sales method. What's intriguing about it all is how prices differ among them, as was reported by SalesTraq, a real estate information boutique.

In April SalesTraq counted 4,323 existing home closings in the Las Vegas housing market. Regular owner-initiated sales drew a median price of $135,000 on a volume of 1,383 units. REOs, or real estate owned by banks, brought $125,000 per home with 1,636 sales. Short sales, on the other hand, garnered the lowest median price at $122,000, with 969 closings. Based on these figures REOs, or mortgage lender foreclosures, and short sales in Southern Nevada lag about 8-10% behind the standard, untainted home sale.

Please click on the link to read the entire article.

Home loan applicant treats - Las Vegas mortgage borrowers beware

When a consumer fills out a mortgage application to purchase a home, or do a refinance, it means that obtaining his credit report will follow. It's part of the process and readily accepted. Something else may also happen, though, that can cause bewilderment in the home loan applicant, maybe even anger of various decibels.

This action actually permits credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion - to peddle the mortgage borrower's information to third party vendors, among which can be other home loan providers. The phone at the consumer's pad can start ringing with unwanted solicitations that probably were not penciled in on his calendar. If so, the mortgage broker who took the original application likely will receive heated questions about it, giving his otherwise ordinary day a new twist. Sometimes a brief, to-the-point explanation will suffice, sometimes the matter will spiral in a new, unwanted direction from which recovery can take time.

Please click on the link to access the full blog.

Las Vegas resale stats all over the map for April

If the median price of a single-family house is used as a sole indicator for the health of a real estate market, then Sin City would be hailed as being on the mend. According to GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, Southern Nevada's median price grew to $142,000 in April, a strong 4.4% improvement from March. Not only that, it also is 0.2% higher from the same month last year, for the first time the year-over-year number is positive since 2007. Single-family house prices peaked in Las Vegas in February of 2007 at $310,000. The slide without a doubt has been blood-thinning.

That, however, is only part of the monthly housing picture here in Southern Nevada.

Single-family house sales tallied up 2,951 units in April, a surprising decline of 224 closings from March. Adding to the weakness in this category is the fact that it's also a 7.7% setback from last year. March showed solid strength and it was widely believed in Las Vegas real estate circles April would follow along those lines, supported by inexpensive mortgage money. But that didn't happen. Puzzlement is painted across faces of everyone who has a stake in the local housing market.

Please click on the link to read the entire article.

Mortgage fraud on the rise despite new HVCC rules - Nevada way down sin list

When the real estate chaos engulfed the nation one of the alleged causes to it was how mortgage brokers were pushing appraisers around to "hit the number." Home loan professionals were smooth-talking them - in some cases supposedly being even rather loud about it - to value a property at what their contract said it should be. In those go-go years it commonly meant many appraisals came in high. This practice, in some shape or form fraud, had to be put under a large microscope the big mortgage banks were telling everybody who would listen and eventually were able to convince the government it all really was true and should be remedied yesterday. The rumor has it Wall Street does have some pull in Washington.

As a result the HVCC was born. The Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac embraced last year. It bans mortgage brokers and loan officers from picking appraisers and basically handed the valuation process to appraisal management companies. The birth wasn't all that joyous, however. It instantly drew a lot of sharp flak from mortgage brokers, real estate agents, appraisers themselves and the home building industry, undisputed key elements in the real estate realm.

How is the HVCC doing nowadays?

MARI, or Mortgage Asset Research Institute, a LexisNexis shop, sheds quite a bit of light on this. According to its research - using data gathered from over 600 mortgage wholesalers - the number one fraud generator remains the mortgage borrower who supplies bad data - for instance on income, assets and employment - on the application. This amounts to 59% of all reported mortgage fraud cases in 2009, easily the dominant category.

Please click on the above link to access the entire blog.

Strategic mortgage defaults growing - Las Vegas mortgage borrowers tempted

Despite sporadic indications that the real estate market is settling down homeowners still feel antsy. They are now considering a strategic default - a tactic generally used when the home loan balance is higher than the property's value - more often than before. This is being done even when they can afford the payments.

University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management conducted a study on strategic mortgage defaults and the numbers they arrived at are harsh. In March roughly 31% of foreclosures were labeled strategic, up 9% from March of 2009. So, now about one third of them dominate the foreclosure talk in the banking industry and among policy makers in Washington, a scary trend.

One major reason to the increase is that mortgage borrowers in general believe lenders wouldn't track them down for what they are owed. Whether they will or will not depends on many variables, among them state laws, their own policies and the spread between outstanding balance and home value. Regardless, 56% of homeowners are betting that it's safe to do, according to the universities' research.

Please click on the link to read the entire blog.

Southern Nevada housing may not be as affordable today as it seems

The real estate market bust in Las Vegas valley - home to communities like Summerlin, Silverstone Ranch, Henderson, Mountains Edge, North Las Vegas and Rhodes Ranch - has taken down with it homeowners, mortgage lenders, real estate agents and builders, and a host of others closely tied to the industry. It has been as brutal a segment collapse as any in history. One of the most plundered victims has been the price. Homes in some of the newer subdivisions have lost as much as 60% of their value in just a few years.

To scores of once-happy and optimistic homeowners the word underwater has suddenly become a hot topic, as their property value now is much less than the underlying mortgage. On the other side of the coin are first-time buyers who are drooling over the current housing affordability in Las Vegas, seeing a unique opportunity to grab a home for mere pennies, it seems. A nice home in a solid neighborhood can be purchased for under $150,000, essentially at a price from 10 years and beyond ago.

NAR, or National Association of Realtors, national affordability index bravely backs the trend and soared to a record territory in 2009, reaching 171.6. A household with a median income thus had 171.6% of the income to be approved for a home loan on a median-priced property. This puts it way above what is required. In comparison, the same index stood at 115.4 in 2007, making home buying those days a fair contest.

Please click on the above link to read the entire article.

White House solicits ideas for mortgage finance reform

The home loan market has evolved over the decades into a colossal and thoroughly complicated system that is so hard to get one's arms around with any authority. One of the latest additions to it were the otherworldly subprime mortgages and their subsequent securitization that eventually grew so tricky that few, if anyone for that matter, can today decipher what they actually look like. A fair part of the blame for the current real estate collapse can be squarely allocated to this out-of-control creativity.

The White House put forth seven questions for public comment in its quest to overhaul the mortgage finance system and it has to be commended for seeking ideas from the trenches. A bunch of sharp minds earn their living in there and can truly bring valuable mortgage input to the table. How much do their opinions matter at the end of the day is a different argument. Anyhow, these questions are rather academic-sounding - perhaps shaped by some Harvard PhDs on a mission - and cover a wide range of territory, essentially the whole industry, it seems. Does the entire system need to be overhauled? Not really. Many sectors in it work rather well, maybe needing just some updating to meet today's rapidly-shifting mortgage landscape.

Let's give it a go then.

Please click on the link above to read the entire article.

Photo by jdiggans.

Private mortgage insurers return to market - latimes.com

Private mortgage insurers return to market - latimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Las Vegas real estate prices considered stable by price-rent ratio

Price-rent ratio is one good way to gauge whether a particular housing market's values are stable or not. The popular ratio is figured by dividing a city's median home price by its median annual rent. A pretty basic calculation that will actually say a lot. The national historical average has been 15, according to Marcus & Millichap, a California commercial real estate brokerage. That's where it again stood at the end of the third quarter of 2009, having retreated there from almost 21 where it had soared to during the housing bubble's climax in 2005.


By many real estate yardsticks, a price-rent ratio under 15 translates into a market where home values are considered quite stable. On the other hand, anything over it, and especially higher than 18, signals that prices remain soft and are likely to erode further. Unless a large down payment is used, going underwater - mortgage balance is higher than property value - in the coming months becomes a real danger.

Please click on the above link to read the entire blog.

Washington Mutual created 'mortgage time bomb,' Senate panel says - latimes.com

Washington Mutual created 'mortgage time bomb,' Senate panel says - latimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Las Vegas upside down homeowners to recover by 2020? It's plausible

Many Southern Nevada - including Mountains Edge, Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Canyon Gate and Spanish Trail - mortgage borrowers are still dealing with the effects of the great real estate meltdown. Short sale has recently become a more acceptable avenue for home loan banks to address the lingering issue of delinquency, giving people a somewhat more palatable way out of a tight spot. Despite that, high mortgage foreclosure filings continue clouding the sandy landscape of Las Vegas valley. The once in a lifetime housing upheaval is by no means over and done with yet.

Sin City's homeowners have watched in horror as property values have taken a perilous plunge over the cliff, slamming them so low that scores are now in negative equity. An altogether regrettable situation. They are now spending quality time wondering about the future of housing here. More specifically, when the underwater label would be ceremoniously blacked out from the local real estate vocabulary.

First American CoreLogic, a real estate research boutique, has taken the brave step of trying to answer that tricky question. It took a close look at ten markets, one of which was Las Vegas, in order to arrive at a time frame when the average mortgage recipient would break surface and again breathe fresh air. It used unpaid principal balances, short-term housing forecasts, a standard measure of long-term value trends, amortization and predictably some other exotic proprietary data to make it happen.

To read the entire blog please click on the above link.

Mortgage fraud on decline thanks to tougher underwriting criteria

When the notorious housing bubble was forming some years ago a lot of factors were aiding and abetting its run to those dizzying, unsustainable heights. One of them was mortgage fraud. Banks were so busy crafting new and glitzy home loan products and making money hand over fist with them that often they overlooked questionable mortgage loan applications. When opportunity knocks, it has to be taken full advantage of, seems to have been the going motto then.

But things have changed drastically in the mortgage world since the air rapidly hissed out of the bubble. Investors, who bought mortgage-backed securities, or MBS, have increasingly requested lenders take back fraudulent loans. That has prompted them to tighten their mortgage guidelines, as it really hurts their bottom line to buy back all sorts of wayward paper. Besides tougher guidelines, application information is also more carefully verified for a change.

First American CoreLogic recently released a study stating that one in 200 mortgages closed in 2009 was fraudulent. In money terms it added up to $14 billion. It sounds like a lot, but it is actually down roughly 25% from a historical high in 2007, now progressing steadily south. It's also predictable that this trend will continue in the coming years, at least as long as mortgage lenders keep hurting the way they do today.

Please click on the link to read the entire blog.

Test your knowledge of credit scores - latimes.com

Test your knowledge of credit scores - latimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Foreclosed? Here comes the tax man

Foreclosed? Here comes the tax man

Posted using ShareThis

Freddie Mac reports rise in mortgage rates

Freddie Mac reports rise in mortgage rates

Posted using ShareThis

Should You Buy or Rent? - Kiplinger

Should You Buy or Rent? - Kiplinger

Posted using ShareThis

Las Vegas real estate prices firming up in February

Southern Nevada homeowners should be mildly encouraged about the direction housing prices are going nowadays. Well, they aren't actually going much of anywhere, and that's what's good about it. They have put the breaks on the slide that seemed to go on forever and are seemingly stabilizing. Mortgage borrowers whose property is underwater can now hope that values will soon start heading in the other direction, up that is. And eventually lift them from the painful, wallet-busting submersion, whenever that'll be.


GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, just released its latest stats for February to show that the median price stood at $135,694, a hard-fought $769 hike from January, or 0.6% improvement. The significance is that it's up at all. It's 12.8% below from February of 2009, though, a stark reminder of how tough the housing and mortgage markets have been, and still are.

Please click on the above link to get access to the entire blog.

Real estate sales could be burdened by private transfer fees

The present housing and mortgage overload is by some estimates only halfway through its painful cycle, still desperately looking for traction to solve high mortgage foreclosure numbers, underwater homeowners by the millions, home loan providers with books still loaded with toxic paper and persistent oversupply. The complexity and severity of the collapse is testing the skills, creativity and persistence of the public and private sectors alike. Progress has been made on many fronts, but a lot more needs to be done.

While the focus now is largely on turning the pummeled housing and mortgage markets around, a new fee is quietly being introduced to be part of a real estate transaction. Here are the basics of it. Whenever a home sale is closed in the next 99 years, a 1% fee of the price is paid to the original developer or can be split between other parties and investors. The seller pays it to a third-party trustee, and if he doesn't do so, the deal is off. The reason is that a special lien is attached to the underlying land, called a private transfer fee covenant. It stays with any home tied to the program for the set period of time. It has nothing to do with a government transfer tax, HOA fee or environmental protection concerns.

If a home covered by this setup is sold 15 times during this 99 year run, the 1% transfer fee is paid 15 times. That of course generates an inspirational stream of income to the developers and investors at the receiving end. For what, some may ask? From the looks of it there is no economic benefit anywhere in the program, so the sole purpose seems to be to create a 99-year money machine for them. Many real estate industry experts are already calling it a scam or a fancy pyramid scheme. The program is promoted by Freehold Capital Partners out of New York who supposedly have a "patent pending" structure in the works. And its website declares that it has so far signed up partners with real estate projects worth about $488 billion on their drawing boards. That's very impressive, except that none of them are actually named.
 
To read the entire article, please click on the above link.

Short sales gaining market share - Henderson mortgage borrowers have extra options

Mortgage foreclosure statistics of late are showing that the persistently increasing trend seems to be waning, which is good news indeed. However, it is only part of the whole real estate picture. The economy remains weak and the stubbornly high unemployment level continues to worry many housing observers, suggesting that homeowners would still be vulnerable. So, how is it that home loan foreclosures are losing steam?

The answer to that attention-grabbing question appears to be that mortgage banks are changing strategy to favor short sales over mortgage foreclosures. Campbell/ Inside Mortgage Finance survey just concluded supports that theory. It says that in January nationwide short sales added up to 15.9% of all home purchases while move-in-condition REOs - or real estate owned - clocked in at 13.8% and wrecked REOs held a 13.4% share of the housing market. As recently as in November of 2009 these same categories rode along neck and neck at around 12%. Clearly there is a shift.

For access to the entire blog, please click on the above link.

Vegas mortgage borrowers get federal attention

The current mortgage and housing meltdown has been particularly brutal to property owners here in Southern Nevada, home to communities like Henderson, Silverstone Ranch, Anthem, Summerlin, Southern Highlands and Mountains Edge. Nevada has held the lead in most foreclosures by any state for months and that statistic is heavily influenced by Las Vegas valley, the most populous area in the state. Many of those who are still in their homes are often in some stage of the foreclosures process, trying to do a loan modification or have started a short sale campaign. Scores of others are hanging in there, but are trapped because being underwater - the home's value is less than the underlying mortgage - prevents them from selling or even doing a refinance. No one could have imagined that things in the Vegas real estate market could get this severely tangled.

Washington has tried many remedies to help the national housing market, with less than stellar results. It just announced another effort in that regard, this time a more focused one. The new foreclosure-prevention program just announced by President Obama is giving money to the most-affected states - Nevada, Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan - to help them deal with the still roiling housing tsunami. The money, $1.5 billion, comes from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, that is being phased out. The basic guidelines are to help homeowners who are either unemployed, are underwater or have second liens that prevent them from doing anything useful. Other than that, each recipient can shape up its own program, so it appears there aren't too many strings attached.

Go ahead and click on the link above to read the entire article.

Shared-appreciation mortgage new kid on the block

Home loan modifications have the potential to remedy the housing market swoon currently severely affecting most of the nation. They have to be done right for them to work, though. Thus far the government has been the driving force behind loan mods, urgently pushing the private mortgage sector to follow its lead. But the response has been disturbingly lukewarm, so far.

Innovation in the home loan business has been robust in the past but somehow now that new ideas are desperately needed there isn't much to write home about. Option ARMs, Alt-As, NINA products and many others flooded the real estate market not so long ago and smoothly fueled a tremendous bubble. To be truthful, the subsequent Armageddon wasn't entirely their fault. These exotic programs were practical in certain niche situations, but were roundly abused and flat out over-hyped.

Now it appears that the mortgage industry is slowly getting into gear to find creative solutions to this meltdown. One idea to go along with loan mods is a shared-appreciation mortgage, or more affectionately SAM. In its present simple form it lowers the borrower's payments in exchange for a share of any future appreciation going to the lender, conditional on the home's value climbing over the existing balance. That's basically it. For the homeowner it would avert a foreclosure that has many undesirable side effects. The mortgage bank would sidestep high carrying costs and possibly pick up a slice of equity down the ways. And reap some goodwill, too. They sure haven't got much of that lately.
 
To read the entire blog, please click on the link above.

Las Vegas real estate stats down in January

Southern Nevada - including Summerlin, Rhodes Ranch, Anthem, Southern Highlands, Mountains Edge and Spanish Trail - housing market has shown some stability over the last several months, essentially all through last fall and in December. The important numbers cautiously moved in the right direction, or at least didn't get much worse. Appealing mortgage rates continue to excite buyers, as do enticing prices especially in the lower half of the Las Vegas real estate spectrum. The new year started a little bit on an iffy note, though.

There were 2,608 existing single-family homes sold in January, 864 less than in December, adding up to an almost 25% drop, so reports GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. That has got the attention of everyone who follows the housing market here. It could be just an odd departure from the generally positive direction of late. Hopefully so. On the other hand, these resales were a respectable 17.3% higher from the same month a year ago.

The single-family median price gave ground to the tune of 0.8% from December, settling in at $134,925. Nothing major here. It has actually been bouncing for months between a narrow range, and is obviously trying to set the true bottom, which might be within sight. However, this does signify a 15.7% decrease from January of 2009.

To read the entire article, please click on the link above.

Mortgage establishments Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on death row?

House honcho Barney Frank feels that it's time to let these two GSEs, the home loan superstars that have for a long time dominated the secondary mortgage market, expire. Instead of trying to fix them, they should be strapped down and given some liquid that puts them to sleep.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in all honesty, have had their problems lately. Years ago they were rocked by management shenanigans, including cooking the books to allow top leaders pocket fatter bonuses. Sounds familiar? More recently they have suffered heavy losses as the real estate market flew right over the cliff and were eventually taken over by the government. But just about every mortgage lender or investor out there is taking it to the chin now, so it's quite common these days.

Regardless, debate has been underway for a while about the future of these important mortgage organizations and now it may be coming to a head. One way or another. There is quite a bit of support in Washington and elsewhere for their outright dismissal. Frank wants nothing less than wipe them off the face of the mortgage scene and bring in a brand new replacement structure. Okay. Perhaps everyone ought to take a deep breath and think this thing through before rushing into anything totally new.

Please click on the link to read the entire blog.

Las Vegas real estate market faces shadow inventory dilemma

Southern Nevada - with communities of Summerlin, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mountains Edge, Silverstone Ranch, Spanish Trail and Charleston Heights - real estate arena is showing some green sprouts coming up from the soil that has been pretty dormant for a long while. So, there is hope. Quite affordable mortgage money and shamefully low prices are largely behind the modest trend to turn things around. But a potential obstacle to the budding recovery could derail a promising start.

The lately much-discussed words shadow inventory are back on the lips of housing observers in Las Vegas and throughout. Shadow, or phantom, inventory entails foreclosed homes mortgage banks keep in their books while they try negotiate loan modifications and short sales. Or they may not do any of that, instead have decided to hold back and wait for the market to one day get better.

To rad the entire blog, lease click on the link.

FHA mortgages in Vegas soon to cover wider range

Southern Nevada - with communities like Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mountains Edge, Rhodes Ranch, Summerlin and Anthem - real estate purchases have recently been financed increasingly with FHA products that offer mortgage applicants more considerate underwriting guidelines and lower down payments than the conventional ones. Without FHA it is hard to imagine what a darker place Las Vegas housing market would otherwise be in right now. And things are going to get even better soon.

HUD just announced an adjustment to the FHA home loan program. Presently, with some exceptions, FHA outlaws insuring a mortgage on a property owned by the seller less than 90 days. The change is going to take place on February 1, 2010 and will be in effect for one year, although it can be either extended or mothballed with a magic flip of a switch by the FHA corner office. In other words, it's temporary.

Please click on the link to read the entire article.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to get further Treasury support - Las Vegas mortgage borrowers to benefit?

The giant GSEs - or Government-sponsored Enterprises - have been mandated to provide liquidity to the mortgage marketplace and over the years they have fulfilled that role very successfully. They grew to dominate the conventional conforming home loan segment. But when the world-famous housing bubble began gathering steam Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac somehow got caught in its frenzy, were thoroughly ill-treated when it burst and eventually ended up being put into a government conservatorship. Their total failure was not an option.

These mortgage companies are still reeling, absorbing heavy blows as the battered real estate market spawns more foreclosures.

The Treasury Department just made a daring decision on their behalf. See, under the original conservatorship arrangement Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a $400 billion war chest from which to draw liquidity when needed. Thus far they have used about $112 billion of it. Now the Treasury has removed the limit and actually pledges to pour in as much funding "as necessary" to keep them going. Obviously the Treasury is anticipating something unpleasant waiting around the bend, so it's getting ready for that. Being pro-active is a good thing.

Please click on the above link to read the entire article.

Las Vegas new home prices drop more

Southern Nevada resale housing market - covering subdivisions in Summerlin, Henderson, Southern Highlands, Anthem, Silverstone Ranch, Rhodes Ranch and Green Valley - has proved in the past several months that it does have a pulse. Motivated by affordable mortgage money, shamelessly low prices and eye-catching tax incentives people - mostly first-time buyers and real estate investors that is - have waltzed into the market to stir the pot. Homes are moving rather well specifically in the lower end of it, pricewise from roughly the $200,000 mark on down.

Las Vegas new home segment, however, has been nonchalantly elbowed to the sideline during this otherwise nascent trend up. It really hasn't had much of a chance to do anything but observe and fume about its bad fortune. The simple reason is that it's not price competitive at all. Let's look at some numbers while we are at it.

New homes in November were $73,000 more expensive than existing ones, so reported SalesTraq, a Las Vegas research boutique. It's easy to see what type of a home currently dominates the sales data. Actually, this spread was a jaw-dropping $91,000 in August. It's now narrowing and obviously will give the segment a little better chance to compete.

To read the entire article, please click on the link.

Home ownership sliding according to New York Fed report - Las Vegas housing taking flak

The mortgage and real estate markets are in the midst of a major overhaul on the heels of the current housing embarrassment. The home loan sector has already seen major regulatory changes, some needed and some of dubious value. And in this climate of political gamesmanship and Wall Street lobbying more is conceivably on the way to favor large financial institutions. Mortgage lenders have also tightened considerably underwriting standards to align their operations to better handle the new market realities.

The economically significant housing sector is absorbing changes unimagined just a few years ago. One of them is the fact that homeownership is on a downward slide. The recent New York Fed's study points out that homeownership crested at a respectable 69% in 2006 and now stands at 67.3%. At this point it's down only fractionally, but this meltdown still seems to have enough legs to go another year or two. Perhaps even longer. As a result it probably will sink several more percentage points.

Please click on the link to read the entire article.

Real estate jam helps cure marital troubles

The housing market is a mess. The home loan industry is limping along. The economy is on an IV drip. Bernanke makes Time magazine's Man of the Year. Tiger, well, nuff said.

But there are also some goods news sprinkled in somewhere there. Here's one.

The real estate meltdown is now credited with bringing down the U.S. divorce rate. That's right. The National Marriage Project just reported that last year this important statistic dropped 4%. See, couples on the ropes in the past used to quarrel over who gets to stay in the house and how to split the accumulated equity. When money is in play, there usually is a fight. But now so many married homeowners have no equity to battle over, so they decide to hang onto the holy matrimony and sail through the storm together while holding hands. When the housing market eventually comes back - could be a long wait in some areas - they can then drop the gloves and go at it. Or they may have managed to work things out during this cooling-off period and will stay hitched after all.

Please click on the link to read the entire article.