Listing Detail #379637 - Condo/Coop/TIC/Loft
New BMR (Below Market Rate) Listing @ 177 Townsend #538, San Francisco, CA. Let me know if anyone is interested!
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Strong Rebound in Pending Home Sales
For more information, contact:
Walter Molony 202/383-1177 wmolony@realtors.org
Strong Rebound in Pending Home Sales
Washington, DC, December 02, 2010
Pending home sales jumped in October, showing a positive uptrend since bottoming in June, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator, rose 10.4 percent to 89.3 based on contracts signed in October from 80.9 in September. The index remains 20.5 percent below a surge to a cyclical peak of 112.4 in October 2009, which was the highest level since May 2006 when it hit 112.6.
Last October, first-time buyers were motivated to make offers before the initial contract deadline for the tax credit last November. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said excellent housing affordability conditions are drawing home buyers. “It is welcoming to see a solid double-digit percentage gain, but activity needs to improve further to reach healthy, sustainable levels. The housing market clearly is in a recovery phase and will be uneven at times, but the improving job market and consequential boost to household formation will help the recovery process going into 2011,” he said.
“More importantly, a return to more normal loan underwriting standards and removal of unnecessary underwriting fees for very low risk borrowers is needed and could quickly help in the housing and economic recovery,” Yun said. Recent loan performance data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac clearly demonstrates very low default rates on recently originated mortgages, much lower that the vintages of 2002 and 2003 before the housing boom.
The PHSI in the Northeast jumped 19.6 percent to 71.3 in October but is 27.3 percent below the tax credit peak in October 2009. In the Midwest the index surged 27.3 percent in October to 81.7 but is 24.8 percent below a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 7.1 percent to an index of 93.8 but are 18.4 percent below October 2009. In the West the index slipped 0.4 percent to 104.3 and is 15.6 percent below a year ago.
Near term, Yun expects home sales will continue to climb from their cyclical low this past summer. “Even so, we now have some consumer concerns regarding the mortgage interest deduction, an important component in housing affordability,” he said. “Preliminary results of a new survey show nearly three out of four home owners and two out of three renters consider the mortgage interest deduction to be extremely or very important to them. Home owners already pay between 80 and 90 percent of all federal income taxes and additional tax burden would hurt them and the economic recovery, so we have a reasonable hope that it will not be changed.”
The National Association of REALTORS®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
###
*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. There is a closer relationship between annual index changes (from the same month a year earlier) and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.
NOTE: The next Pending Home Sales Index will be released December 30 with release dates being moved up for 2011, and existing-home sales for November will be reported December 22; release times are 10:00 a.m. EST.
REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®. All REALTORS® are members of NAR.
Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the News Media section. Statistical data, tables and surveys also may be found by clicking on Research.
via realtor.org
Short sales: A better alternative to mortgage modification - Mar. 29, 2010
Don't foreclose! Do a short sale
This Virginia home was sold in a short sale. A new government program will make these transactions more common.By Les Christie, staff writerMarch 29, 2010: 2:30 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Short sales are the hottest thing going in the distressed-property market, and the trend is expected to get even hotter in coming weeks, when the government starts handing out cash to encourage lenders to close these deals.
"Banks have ramped up short sale approvals," said Duane Legate of House Buyer Network, which connects short sellers with buyers. "They're hiring a lot of the people who once worked in the mortgage-lending industry and moved them over to short sales."
These transactions, where lenders allow homeowners to sell their houses for less than they owe, accounted for 17% of all residential real estate sales in February, up from nearly 13% in November, according to a monthly real estate market survey by Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance.
And Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), the country's largest mortgage servicer, has more than doubled the number of short sales it processed in recent months.
Elizabeth Weintraub, a Sacramento, Calif.-area real estate agent who handles many short sales, was amazed at how quickly a recent deal went through. "Bank of America approved it in 24 days," she said. "That flipped me out."
This is a huge change from even just six months ago when the short-sale market was stalled and most people would describe the process has real estate hell. Because lenders stand to lose so much on these transactions, they have been reluctant to make short sales happen, often waiting months before getting back to potential buyers.
"In the past, many short sales would never come to fruition and the ones that did averaged over half a year to complete," said Chris Saitta, CEO of Equator, which produces short sale software.
"Things would just fall into a black hole and not come out again," added Weintraub.
And even when banks did agree to the sale, the process could be further complicated if the original owner had a second mortgage.
In most cases, the first lender is repaid in full before any money flows to a second-lein holder. And because most distressed borrowers are severely underwater, there's usually nothing left to send on. As a result, second-lein holders are left holding the bag and have been killing many deals.
But that has been changing. For one thing, banks realize that they make out far better financially with a short sale than a foreclosure. "The lenders lose 50% on a foreclosure and only 30% on a short sale," said Glenn Kelman, founder of the real estate Web site Redfin. "And short sales offer a way to get distressed properties off their books quickly."
And on April 5, lenders and mortgage investors will have even more incentives to offer troubled borrowers short sales instead of foreclosing.
Under the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, borrowers will earn a $3,000 "relocation incentive" and servicers will get $1,500 for handling a short sale.
The investors who actually own the mortgage notes will get $2,000 in exchange for sharing proceeds of the short sales with any second-lien holders. And, finally, those second lien holders will receive up to $6,000 for releasing their claims.
Lenders participating in the program must also determine the market values of properties early on and inform the owners of just what price they're willing to accept. Then, if owners come back to the lenders with bonafide offers, they have to be accepted within 10 days.
Equator's Saiita anticipates a short sale explosion in response to the new program. "The challenge will be handling all the volume," he said.
The company has already tweaked its software, which 58 servicers use, to handle the new HAFA rules. And that should help reduce the time it takes to execute a sale, which currently averages 88 days.
The boom in short sales may accelerate the end to the foreclosure crisis by cleaning out the overhang of borrowers in distress and replacing them with more stable homeowners.
Plus, these sales are better for distressed borrowers because their credit scores suffer less. Going through a foreclosure can knock 200 points off a FICO score, twice as much as the penalty for a short sale.
First Published: March 29, 2010: 3:46 AM ET
via money.cnn.com
It's a much better alternative than foreclosure!
Matrix
Recovering Lazyholic l Photography & Stuff by Erin Hanson
Check out this website I found at recoveringlazyholic.com
Just gotta learn to want less and focus on what I need instead!
JailbreakMe 2.0
What's a jailbreak? Why jailbreak?
A jailbreak is simply the ability to run apps and use themes and tweaks not approved by Apple. Jailbreaking doesn't slow down your device or use any extra battery, and is fully reversible (just restore in iTunes). A jailbreak lets your device be how you want it.
via jailbreakme.com
This might be the easiest way to Jailbreak your iPhone/iPad....
Virtual Tour - 849 Lakebird Drive, Sunnyvale, CA
via idx.imprev.net
New listing coming up. 3 beds 2 baths in Sunnyvale for $389,000. Let me know if you know someone interested! Thanks!
Home Buyer Tax Credit: Side by Side Comparison Chart (Credit: California Association of Realtors)
To help stimulate home sales, both the federal and state governments are offering tax credits for Californians purchasing their piece of the American dream. Federal law offers up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 for long-time residents. California law offers up to $10,000 for first-time homebuyers or buyers of properties that have never been occupied. Here’s a handy summary of the two tax credit laws:
|
HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT |
FEDERAL |
CALIFORNIA |
|
Amount of Tax Credit |
10% of purchase price not to exceed $8,000 for First-Time Homebuyers or $6,500 for Long-Term Residents. |
5% of purchase price, not to exceed $10,000 for first-time homebuyers or buyers of properties that have never been occupied. (See also Maximum Credit for All Taxpayers.) |
| Date of Purchase | By June 30, 2010, but taxpayer must enter into a written binding contract by April 30, 2010. | From May 1, 2010 to July 31, 2011, but an enforceable contract must be executed by December 31, 2010. |
|
Principal Residence |
Yes. Property purchased must be the taxpayer’s principal residence which is generally the home the taxpayer lives in most of the time (26 U.S.C. § 121). |
Yes. Property purchased must be a qualified principal residence and eligible for the homeowner’s exemption from property taxes (Cal. Tax & Rev. Code § 218). |
|
Type of Property |
House, condominium, townhome, manufactured home, apartment cooperative, houseboat, housetrailer, or other type of property located in the U.S. |
Single-family residence, whether detached or attached. |
| Eligibility | 1. First-Time Homebuyer: Up to $8,000 if buyer (and buyer’s spouse if any) has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period before date of purchase; OR 2. Long-Time Resident: Up to $6,500 if buyer (and buyer’s spouse if any) has owned and used existing home as a principal residence for 5 of the last 8 years. |
1. First-Time Homebuyer: Up to $10,000 if the buyer (or buyer’s spouse if any) has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period before date of purchase; OR 2. Never-Occupied Property: Up to $10,000 for a principal residence if the property has never been previously occupied as certified by the seller. |
|
Income Restriction |
Yes. Tax credit begins to phase out for modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over $125,000 (or $225,000 for joint filers). No tax credit at all for MAGI over $145,000 (or $245,000 for joint filers). |
No |
| Maximum Purchase Price | $800,000. | N/A |
|
Refundable |
Yes. Any amount of the tax credit not used to reduce the tax owed may be added to the taxpayer’s tax refund check. |
No |
|
Repayment |
No repayment required if the buyer owns and occupies the property for at least 36 months after purchase. |
No repayment required if the buyer owns and occupies the property for at least two years immediately following the purchase. |
|
Multiple Buyers |
Tax credit may be allocated between eligible taxpayers in any reasonable manner. |
Tax credit must be allocated between eligible taxpayers based on their percentage of ownership. |
|
Maximum Credit for All Taxpayers |
N/A |
$100 million for first-time homebuyers and $100 million for never-occupied properties, both on a first-come-first-served basis. |
| Reservations of Credit | N/A | Yes. Buyer may reserve credit before close of escrow for a property that has never been occupied by submitting a certification signed by buyer and seller stating they have entered into an enforceable contract between May 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010, inclusive. |
|
When to Claim |
Full tax credit may be claimed on 2009 or 2010 tax returns. |
1/3 of total tax credit may be claimed each year for 3 successive years (e.g. $3,333 for 2010, $3,333 for 2011, and $3,333 for 2012). |
|
Tax Agency |
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). |
Franchise Tax Board (FTB). |
|
How to File |
First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit (IRS Form 5405) to be filed with tax returns |
To Be Announced. The FTB may prescribe rules and procedures to carry out this law. |
|
Other Restrictions |
Cannot be an acquisition from related persons as defined; cannot be an acquisition by gift or inheritance; and buyer cannot be a non resident alien. |
Cannot be an acquisition from related persons as defined; buyer or spouse must be 18 years old; buyer cannot be another taxpayer’s dependent; credit is allowed for only one qualified principal residence; and credit allowed cannot be a business credit under Cal. Tax & Rev. Code § 17039.2. |
|
Legal Authority |
26 U.S.C. section 36. |
Cal. Rev. & Tax Code section 17059.1 (as added by Assembly Bill 183). |
|
Date of Enactment |
November 6, 2009 (as revised). |
March 25, 2010. |
|
More Information |
IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id= |
FTB Web site at http://www.ftb.ca.gov/ individuals/ New_Home_Credit.shtml. |
This chart is just one of the many legal publications and services offered by C.A.R. to its members. For a complete listing of C.A.R.'s legal products and services, please visit car.org.
Member Legal Services
525 S. Virgil Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90020
Governor Expected to Sign Homebuyer Tax Credit
Governor Expected to Sign Homebuyer Tax Credit
On Monday, the legislature passed AB 183 (Caballero & Ashburn) which would provide $200 million for homebuyer tax credits. The Governor is expected to sign AB 183 into law before the end of the week. C.A.R. supported this important legislation.
AB 183, formerly SB 4 of the sixth extraordinary session (Ashburn), is part of a package of four bills, passed at the request of the Governor, designed to help stimulate the economy and create jobs. The bill allocates $100 million for qualified first time home buyers of existing homes and $100 million for purchasers of new, or previously unoccupied, homes. The eligible taxpayer who closes escrow on a qualified principal residence between May 1, 2010 and December, 31, 2010, or who closes escrow on a qualified principal residence on and after December 31, 2010 and before August 1, 2011, pursuant to an enforceable contract executed on or before December 31, 2010, will be able to take the allowed tax credit. This credit is equal to the lesser of 5% of the purchase price or $10,000, taken in equal installments over three consecutive years. Under AB 183 purchasers will be required to live in the home as their principal residence for at least two years or forfeit the credit (i.e. repay it to the state).
via car.org
http://www.car.org/governmentaffairs/stategovernmentaffairs/homebuyertaxcredit/#
Bank of America Refinance Mortgage Rates – Home Loans Drop on March 24 : Subprime Blogger
Bank of America Refinance Mortgage Rates – Home Loans Drop on March 24
Posted on | March 24, 2010 | No Comments
drop as the 10 year treasury rate yield continues to remain below its 50 day moving average.
Bank of America refinance mortgage rates remain below 5% for the 30 year fixed rate mortgage. The 5% barrier has not been broken since the beginning of 2010. On March 24, we are seeing home loan rates
Over the last several weeks we have seen the 10 year treasury rate yield stabilize between 3.55% and 3.8%. At the present time the 50 day moving average is around 3.68%. If the 10 year treasury rate yield breaks this to the upside we could see higher mortgage rates in the future.Bank of America and most mortgage lenders have greatly benefited from the current low interest rate environment. These lenders have had the opportunity to gain new customers as they are offering low interest rates on mortgages and all types of loans.
With this being the case it is a win-win situation for both borrowers and banks. If you are looking to save some money then it might be a wise decision to consider refinancing your current home loan. If you can save one full percentage point on your home loan rate then it would be wise to consider refinancing today.
Author: Jeremy North
Category: Uncategorized-->Comments
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