Home Prices Decline But Not In All Markets

 

12 Month Change By Top 30 CBSAs (Core Based Statistical Areas)	As of October 2007
Honolulu, HI	17.91%
Salt Lake City, UT	11.63%
Austin-Round Rock, TX	8.62%
San Antonio, TX	7.89%
Raleigh-Cary, NC	4.56%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX	4.52%
Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC	4.47%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	3.92%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	2.18%
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA	1.73%
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI	-0.22%
Philadelphia, PA	-0.61%
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA	-1.83%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	-2.13%
St. Louis, MO-IL	-2.76%
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI	-3.16%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	-3.33%
New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ	-4.13%
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL	-4.85%
Boston-Quincy, MA	-6.01%
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH	-8.10%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	-8.11%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	-9.21%
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	-10.08%
Orlando-Kissimmee, FL	-10.16%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA	-10.45%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL	-10.89%
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA	-11.44%
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV	-11.65%
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	-14.01%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	-15.70%

Data provided by First American LoanPeformance.

SAWS Special Service Fees Effective Jan. 1, 2008

Special Service Fees Approved

San Antonio City Council recently approved the implementation of new San Antonio Water System special service fees. These new fees will become effective Jan. 1, 2008.

Many of these fees have not been updated in nearly a decade and fall short of covering the actual costs of the services provided. Increasing the fees will help make sure SAWS ratepayers do not subsidize the cost of services they do not use.

While most of the fees are industrial and commercial in nature, the meter trip fee and account deposit fee will affect some residential customers as well.

Among the fee adjustments are:

• Account-Related Fees, which cover costs for itemized statements and account deposits required to manage delinquent bills.
• Meter-Related Fees, which cover costs for special, non-routine trip requests to turn on and turn off meters.
• Industrial-Related Fees, which cover costs for industrial water discharge permits; discharge sample collection, analysis and laboratory testing; and liquid waste hauling permits.
• Development-Related Fees, which cover costs for lift station use and maintenance, fire flow testing, fire hydrant meter flow rates, well inspections, and right-of-way encroachment processing.

View a Summary of Special Service Fee Schedule.

Texas Homeowners Insurance Premiums still the highest in U.S.

Insurance Costs

Average premiums for the most common homeowners insurance policy, according to data from 2005:

Top 5 States	Premium
Texas	$1,372
Louisiana	$1,144
Florida	$1,083
Oklahoma	$996
Mississippi	$939
National Average	$764

Read the entire article at The Dallas Morning News.

San Antonio Real Estate #1 place to invest by NuWire

The Top 10 Places to Invest in Real Estate:

1. San Antonio, Texas
2. Garland, Texas
3. Montgomery, Alabama
4. Lubbock, Texas
5. Laredo, Texas
6. Fort Wayne, Indiana
7. Baton Rouge, Lousiana
8. Fort Worth, Texas
9. Wichita, Kansas
10. Shreveport, Louisiana

Average of All 98 Cities Analyzed

• Population Growth, 2000-2006: 4.2%
• Population Density: 4,613.27 per square mile
• Median Home Value: $248,228
• Monthly Owner Costs (upkeep only): $441
• Monthly Mortgage Payment (80% LTV, 30-year at 6.5%): $1,255.17
• Median Household Income: $44,656
• Homeowner Vacancy Rate: 2.9%
• Rental Vacancy Rate: 8.8%
• Median Gross Rent: $788
• Unemployment Rate: 7.6%
• Job Growth, 2000-2006: 5.15%
• Affordability, on a scale of 1-10: 6
• Rent Strength, on a scale of 1-10: 5

Read the entire article at NuWire Investor.

President Bush Signs Foreclosure Tax Relief Bill Into Law

President Bush signed into law today a new measure to provide tax relief for homeowners facing foreclosure or bankruptcy. The bill eliminates federal taxes due from homeowners who have had mortgage debt forgiven as part of a foreclosure or the renegotiation of a loan. Currently such debt forgiveness has been treated as taxable income.

The bill arose in response to the current mortgage crisis and is anticipated to reduce taxes on strapped homeowners by $650 million. “When you’re worried about making your payments, higher taxes are the last thing you need to worry about,” Bush said at the bill-signing ceremony. With some 2+ million adjustable-rate mortgages scheduled to reset through 2008, the new law will be a nice holiday gift for many homeowners facing tough times ahead.

If you fall into this group, be sure to have your paperwork in order including mortgage documents and/or sales contracts and then discuss the situation with your tax preparer to make certain you have filed the proper forms with your tax return.

Read the entire Press Release at WhiteHouse.gov 

Foreclosure Activity Decreases 10% in November 2007

RealtyTrac®, the online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its November 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 201,950 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported during the month, down 10 percent from the previous month but still up nearly 68 percent from November 2006. The national foreclosure rate for the month was one foreclosure filing for every 617 households.

“The 10 percent drop in November is the first double-digit monthly decrease we’ve seen since April 2006,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “This could indicate that foreclosure activity has topped out for the year, but the true test of whether this ceiling will hold will come at the beginning of next year — when we anticipate that a seasonal surge in foreclosure filings and another possible wave of resetting mortgages could place further pressure on the housing market. But if the trend of flat or decreasing foreclosure activity we’ve seen over the past three months continues in the first quarter, it would certainly bode well for 2008.”

Read the entire article at RealtyTrac.com

Changes to Regulation Z to Protect Consumers

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday proposed and asked for public comment on changes to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive home mortgage lending and advertising practices. The rule, which would be adopted under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), would restrict certain practices and would also require certain mortgage disclosures to be provided earlier in the transaction.

The Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act amended the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Under HOEPA, the Board has the responsibility to prohibit acts and practices in connection with mortgage loans that it finds to be unfair or deceptive.

“Our goal is to promote responsible mortgage lending, for the benefit of individual consumers and the economy,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. “We want consumers to make decisions about home mortgage options confidently, with assurance that unscrupulous home mortgage practices will not be tolerated.”

The proposal includes four key protections for “higher-priced mortgage loans” secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling:

• Creditors would be prohibited from engaging in a pattern or practice of extending credit without considering borrowers’ ability to repay the loan.
• Creditors would be required to verify the income and assets they rely upon in making a loan.
• Prepayment penalties would only be permitted if certain conditions are met, including the condition that no penalty will apply for at least sixty days before any possible payment increase.
• Creditors would have to establish escrow accounts for taxes and insurance.

The rule would define “higher-priced mortgage loan” to capture loans in the subprime market but generally exclude loans in the prime market. A loan would be covered if it is a first-lien mortgage and has an annual percentage rate (APR) that is three percentage points or more above the yield on comparable Treasury notes, or if it is a subordinate-lien mortgage with an APR exceeding the comparable Treasury rate by five points or more.

“Unfair and deceptive practices have harmed consumers and the integrity of the home mortgage market,” said Federal Reserve Board Governor Randall S. Kroszner. “We have listened closely and developed a response to abuses that we believe will facilitate responsible lending.”

The following protections would apply to all loans secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling, regardless of the loan’s APR:

• Lenders would be prohibited from compensating mortgage brokers by making payments known as “yield-spread premiums” unless the broker previously entered into a written agreement with the consumer disclosing the broker’s total compensation and other facts. A yield spread premium is the fee paid by a lender to a broker for higher-rate loans. The consumer’s written agreement with the broker must occur before the consumer applies for the loan or pays any fees.
• Creditors and mortgage brokers would be prohibited from coercing a real estate appraiser to misstate a home’s value.
• Companies that service mortgage loans would be prohibited from engaging in certain practices. For example, servicers would be required to credit consumers’ loan payments as of the date of receipt and would have to provide a schedule of fees to a consumer upon request.

The proposed revisions to TILA’s advertising rules require additional information about rates, monthly payments, and other loan features. The amendments also would ban seven deceptive or misleading advertising practices, including representing that a rate or payment is “fixed” when it can change.

Under the proposal, creditors would have to provide a good faith estimate of the loan costs, including a schedule of payments, within three days after a consumer applies for any mortgage loan secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling, such as a home improvement loan or a loan to refinance an existing loan. Currently, early cost estimates are only required for home-purchase loans. In addition, consumers could not be charged any fee until after they receive the early disclosures, except a reasonable fee for obtaining the consumer’s credit history.

The Federal Reserve has engaged in extensive outreach efforts with consumer groups, the financial services industry, lawmakers, and others to ensure that the proposed rules are likely to achieve the goal of protecting consumers from unfair practices without shutting off access to responsible credit. The proposal takes into consideration testimony given at four public hearings the Board held in the summer of 2006, and a hearing held in June 2007, as well as public comment letters received in connection with those hearings. The Board also consulted with other federal and state agencies and its own Consumer Advisory Council.

The Federal Register notice is attached. The comment period ends ninety days after publication of the proposal in the Federal Register, which is expected shortly.

Highlights of Proposed Rule to Amend Home Mortgage Provisions of Regulation Z

Statement by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke

Statement by Governor Randall S. Kroszner

Board meeting materials

2007 Banking and Consumer Regulatory Policy

Current Market Brings New Rules for Pricing a House

How do you price a home in this market? Pat Hiban of the Pat Hiban Real Estate Group in Ellicott City, Md., says comparables are irrelevant these days.

“You want to price it less than the active competition,” he advises.

He dismisses the notion that someone who is less eager to sell a home quickly can set the price a little higher. In this market, the lower price is “realistic,” Hiban says.

He suggests looking at the three most competitive active listings that the seller will be up against. If there are no real differences between those houses and your seller’s home, undercut the competition on price. If the house you’re trying to sell has something that the competition doesn’t — say a finished basement — then go with the same price.

Source: The Baltimore Sun, Jamie Smith Hopkins

FHA Reform Bill Passes The Senate

The Senate has just passed legislation that would open the door for FHA to become more competitive in the marketplace! The FHA Modernization bill, which now heads back to the House for “reconciliation” before heading to the White House, had been stalled in the Senate for weeks.

Details still to be worked out include the increasing of loan limits, term (up to 40 years), risk-based MIP pricing, lowering the down payment requirements and a few other details, but is expected to happen quickly. This is good news for the industry, consumers and FHA, as we battle with increasing pressure from the sub-prime fallout.

I expect the bill will be reconciled fairly quickly, and signed quickly by the President as well, however we may face a delay due while the lenders figure out what to do with it. FHASecure has had the same problems as many lenders took months to put the program into effect and some haven’t yet.

You can read the statement just put out by Barney Frank.

Or, read the Reuters report.

7 Tips for Selling a Home Faster

1. Don’t overprice your property. According to a 2002 academic study of 3,490 California listings, homes without a price reduction sold for 97 percent of the initial list price, whereas homes with a price reduction sold for 88 percent of the initial list price.

2. Set your price to show up in Web searches. A September 2007 Redfin study analyzed how online search filters affect traffic to a listing. Because real estate sites filter on price in $25,000 or $50,000 increments, listings priced at or below these thresholds — $250,000 rather than $251,000, or $325,000 rather than $326,000 — get as much as 7.1 percent more online visits.

3. Debut on Friday. A December 2007 Redfin analysis of its online traffic for 119,079 listings across seven markets found that listings that debut on Friday get on average 7.7 percent more visitors in their first seven days than those that debut on the worst day, Thursday.

4. Get sellers engaged with your agent. According to several academic studies, motivated, active sellers are able to sell their property as much as 30 percent faster.

5. Market the property online. Promoting a listing on Web sites beyond the local Multiple Listing Service can drive a significant number of new online visits to a property. A December 2007 analysis of 121 Redfin listings found that promoting the listings on Craigslist resulted in an average of 6.8 online visits to the property for each Craigslist promotion.

6. Have sellers stay put. The study of 3,490 California listings, cited earlier, found that vacant homes were 9.5 percent more likely to undergo a price reduction.

7. Wait to list your property until neighboring foreclosures are off the market. According to a November 2007 report from the Center for Responsible Lending, a foreclosure costs neighboring home owners an average of $5,000 when listing their property.

Source: Redfin