Welcome to the "Z" Team!

Start of a new trend? Banks are agreeing to more short sales, and for the first time, short sale transactions are exceeding foreclosure deals, according to the most recent housing data from Lender Processing Services (LPS) Inc. “It’s a fairly recent phenomenon that short sales have been increasing,” Jonathon Weiner, a vice president with LPS, told Bloomberg News.

So why are banks getting more agreeable to short sales? Banks are realizing that short sale transactions usually sell for higher prices than foreclosures. In fact, foreclosed homes tend to sell for 29 percent less, on average, than comparable non-distressed properties. Short sales tend to sell at a 23 percent discount, according to Lending Processing Services data from January.

Banks and government agencies in recent weeks have taken steps to speed up the short sale process, setting new timelines for how long mortgage servicers have to respond to short sales offers. Also, some banks, such as Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, are even offering some home owners cash incentives — up to $35,000 — if they agree to do a short sale instead of let the home fall into foreclosure.

Source: “Short Sales Surpass Foreclosures as Banks Agree to Deals,” Bloomberg News (April 17, 2012)

How the real estate market will fare in the spring home-selling season will prove a test for housing demand and show which markets will lead a housing recovery, economists say in a recent article at USA Today. Our spring selling season is March through June and the regional Placerville market is showing an increase for housing demand.

Existing home sales and pending sales are up about 9 percent compared to the same time year ago, according to recent data by the National Association of REALTORS®.

Paul Dales of Capital Economics told USA Today that he expects the spring selling season to “be the best in four or five years” for the real estate industry.

Our housing supply of for-sale homes has dropped the most and is more balanced which should be the potential of prices gaining this year. So, we’re optimistic!

Source: “Spring Home Sales Could be Omen,” USA Today (April 2, 2012)

Good news to share! Concerns over housing and the economy are subsiding, according to Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey from February.

An improving job market is a big part of what’s behind Americans feeling more confident about the housing market and the direction of the economy, according to the survey.

“The pickup in the pace of hiring over the past few months has helped soothe consumer concerns, lifting their moods regarding their personal finances, the direction of the economy, and their views on the housing market,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist of Fannie Mae. “As a result, we’ve seen more potential for economic upside, creating a more balanced near-term outlook.”

The survey found that 28 percent of Americans expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months while 53 percent say prices will likely stay the same. Fifteen percent say they expect home prices to decline.

With low mortgage rates and falling home prices, 70 percent of those surveyed say now is a good time to purchase a home. Also, more Americans surveyed say now is a good time to sell, rising to 13 percent in February, which is the highest level in more than a year but still low by historic standards. Please share your thoughts.

Source: Fannie Mae

“Good News” to share with you! The number of home owners behind on their mortgage payments dropped to the lowest level in three years, according to a report of data from the fourth quarter of 2011 released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

“Mortgage performance is also improving faster than the overall economy,” says Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist. (We’re finding this is not true with some lenders.)

According to MBA, 7.6 percent of residential mortgages were at least 30 days past due on their payments in the fourth quarter of 2011. Last year, the percentage was 8.3, and the peak of 10 percent was reached in early 2010. Mortgage delinquencies usually hover around 5 percent in more stable markets. Let’s hope this trend continues.

Still, while the lower delinquencies serve as an important sign needed for a healing housing market, MBA still cautions that the number of loans in foreclosure remains high. About 4.4 percent of all loans were in foreclosure in the fourth quarter. The peak reached one year earlier was 4.6 percent.

Source: “Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Three-Year Low,” The Wall Street Journal (2/16/12)

Fallen home prices and record-low mortgage rates have pushed housing affordability to a 40-year high. Meanwhile, rental prices are continuing to rise at a fast pace, according to a new report released by Hotpads.com, a rental listing service. 

Rental prices in many areas like ours in the Placerville, CA. increased about 3.5 percent in 2011, and prices are expected to continue to rise in 2012. Meanwhile, home prices fell by about 1.5 percent in 2011 but are expected to level out in 2012. 

“In a lot of cases it’s getting to a point where it makes more sense for people to buy because rent has been going up significantly faster, while home prices have been falling,” Paul Gleger, author of the report, told AOL Real Estate. 

Source: “U.S. Rental Market Stays Hot in 2011,” Hotpads.com (January 2012) and “Rental Prices Climb, Buying Remains More Affordable,” AOL Real Estate News (Jan. 18, 2012)

More news from the “Sierra Foothills” of El Dorado, Placer, Amador and Sacramento Counties of California at: www.sierraproperties.com or email: zeller@realtor.com

New programs and “housing policy interventions” are needed to help the real estate market rebound and boost growth in the overall economy, three Federal Reserve policymakers said Friday. 

The latest statements join a range of calls by the Federal Reserve in the last week urging for more government intervention to help the housing market. Last week, the Fed released a 26-page white paper  providing an outline on how the government needs to take more aggressive action to prevent home values from falling further, seek solutions to the foreclosure crisis, and loosen stringent underwriting standards that are keeping borrowers from securing mortgages or refinancing. 

New York Fed President William Dudley said on Friday that the housing market is “only one factor behind the frustratingly slow” economic recovery, but it’s an “important one that deserves our attention.”

“Forceful and effective housing policies have the potential to significantly influence the speed and strength of our recovery,” Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke said in separate comments made last week at an event in Virginia. 

Source: “Fed Officials Focus on Housing ; Emphasis put on Importance of Sector to Overall Economy,” Bloomberg News (Jan. 9, 2012) and “Fed Officials Push More Stimulus for Housing,” Reuters News (Jan. 9. 2012)

A new report by Real Capital Analytics shows the number of distressed commercial properties is plateauing and expected to continue to do so in the new year. Distressed properties — which include commercial properties that are in default, foreclosure, or repossessed by lenders — had totaled $171.6 billion in October 2011, a decrease from topping off at $191.5 billion in March 2010, according to Real Capital Analytics.

The real test of commercial propertiesis likely to be seen in 2012 and 2013, when about $300 billion in loans comes due each year,” according to a recent article in the Washington Post. 

At $41.9 billion, the office sector continues to have the largest number of distressed commercial properties. But that number has been steadily declining — about 11.8 percent less than its peak reached in October 2010. 

 More information at source: “Amount of Distressed Real Estate Could be on Way Down,” Washington Post (Dec. 26, 2011)

More news about “Commercial and Income Properties” from the El Dorado, Placer, Amador or Sacramento Counties of California regions at: www.sierraproperties.com or www.dougandbudzeller.com

The multifamily market continues to post gains. 

“Rents are rising, vacancies are falling, household formations are growing and rental supply is limited,” according to a recent report, “2012: The Year of the Landlord,” issued by Morgan Stanley. “We believe the demand for rental properties will continue to grow.”

Vacancies of rental properties dropped to 9.8 percent in the third quarter of this year compared to 10.3 percent earlier this year. 

Led by strong gains in multifamily housing, groundbreaking for new-housing market soared 9.3 percent in November. Construction of multifamily homes of at least two units increased 25.3 percent in November, the Commerce Department reported last week. Starts for structures with five or more units has increased more than 30 percent from October and is nearly double year-over-year levels, Reuters reports.

Rental costs are also on their way up, increasing 2.4 percent over last year compared with an increase of 0.6 percent in 2010, Reuters reports.

Source: “America Becoming a Nation of Renters,” Reuters (Dec. 27, 2011)

More news from the “Sierra Foothills” of El Dorado, Placer, Amador,  Sacramento Counties  of  California  at: www.sierraproperties.com or www.dougandbudzeller.com

Economic growth, an improving job picture, greater consumer spending, and slight improvements in the housing market are all recent indicators that 2011 is ending on a much brighter note, Fannie Mae reports in its fourth-quarter report. 

“It’s important to recognize that we’re ending 2011 on a stronger note than we’ve seen throughout the year,” Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan said in a statement. “Unfortunately, however, our 2012 outlook is not as rosy as our forecast for the fourth quarter of 2011.”

Fannie Mae’s Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group predicts that despite recent improvements, the housing market will remain “subdued next year — a reflection of the winter season, an expected slowdown in economic activity, and a potential increase in distressed sales.” The nation’s fiscal problems as well as the European debt crisis are also expected to threaten the nation’s economic recovery in 2012.

Source: Fannie Mae

We hope your activity has picked up like ours has here in the Sierra Foothills regions of Placerville, El Dorado County, California.

The recession officially ended in June 2009, but the big dent to most households’ pocketbook didn’t happen until the years following it, according to a new study. 

Household income has posted some of its biggest drops in the last two years, moreso than during the recession itself, according to the study by two former Census Bureau officials. 

From June 2009 to June 2011, median household income dropped 6.7 percent to $49,909. Yet, during the recession (December 2007 to June 2009), household income fell only 3.2 percent. 

In total, household income has dropped 9.8 percent since the start of recession to June of 2011 — the largest drop in decades.  

There has been “a significant reduction in the American standard of living,” wrote Gordon W. Green Jr., who wrote the report. 

Since the recession and beyond, the number of unemployed persons has risen and the hourly pay of employed people has not kept up with the pace of inflation, the authors note. 

Source: “Recession Officially Over, U.S. Incomes Kept Falling,” The New York Times (Oct. 9, 2011)

Other Placerville, El Dorado County, California information at: www.dougandbudzeller.com