Archive for April, 2009
Obama Administration Announces New Details on Making Home Affordable Program
April 29th, 2009 categories: Our Market
WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration today announced details of new efforts to help bring relief to responsible homeowners under the Making Home Affordable Program, including an effort to achieve greater affordability for homeowners by lowering payments on their second mortgages as well as a set of measures to help underwater borrowers stay in their homes.
“With these latest program details, we’re offering even more opportunities for borrowers to make their homes more affordable under the Administration’s housing plan,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “Ensuring that responsible homeowners can afford to stay in their homes is critical to stabilizing the housing market, which is in turn critical to stabilizing our financial system overall. Every step we take forward is done with that imperative in mind.”
“Today’s announcements will make it easier for borrowers to modify or refinance their loans under FHA’s Hope for Homeowners program,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “We encourage Congress to enact the necessary legislative changes to make the Hope for Homeowners program an integral part of the Making Home Affordable Program.”
The Second Lien Program announced today will work in tandem with first lien modifications offered under the Home Affordable Modification Program to deliver a comprehensive affordability solution for struggling borrowers. Second mortgages can create significant challenges in helping borrowers avoid foreclosure, even when a first lien is modified. Up to 50 percent of at-risk mortgages have second liens, and many properties in foreclosure have more than one lien. Under the Second Lien Program, when a Home Affordable Modification is initiated on a first lien, servicers participating in the Second Lien Program will automatically reduce payments on the associated second lien according to a pre-set protocol. Alternatively, servicers will have the option to extinguish the second lien in return for a lump sum payment under a pre-set formula determined by Treasury, allowing servicers to target principal extinguishment to the borrowers where extinguishment is most appropriate.
Separately, the Administration has also announced steps to incorporate the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Hope for Homeowners into Making Home Affordable. Hope for Homeowners requires the holder of the mortgage to accept a payoff below the current market value of the home, allowing the borrower to refinance into a new FHA-guaranteed loan. Refinancing into a new loan below the home’s market value takes a borrower from a position of being underwater to having equity in their home. By increasing a homeowner’s equity in the home, Hope for Homeowners can produce a better outcome for borrowers who qualify.
Under the changes announced today and, when evaluating borrowers for a Home Affordable Modification, servicers will be required to determine eligibility for a Hope for Homeowners refinancing. Where Hope for Homeowners proves to be viable, the servicer must offer this option to the borrower. To ensure proper alignment of incentives, servicers and lenders will receive pay-for-success payments for Hope for Homeowners refinancings similar to those offered for Home Affordable Modifications. These additional supports are designed to work in tandem and take effect with the improved and expanded program under consideration by Congress. The Administration supports legislation to strengthen Hope for Homeowners so that it can function effectively as an integral part of the Making Home Affordable Program.
Making Home Affordable, a comprehensive plan to stabilize the U.S. housing market, was first announced by the Administration on February 18. The three part program includes aggressive measures to support low mortgage rates by strengthening confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; a Home Affordable Refinance Program, which will provide new access to refinancing for up to 4 to 5 million homeowners; and a Home Affordable Modification Program, which will reduce monthly payments on existing first lien mortgages for up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners. Two weeks later, the Administration published detailed guidelines for the Home Affordable Modification Program and authorized servicers to begin modifications under the plan immediately. Twelve servicers, including the five largest, have now signed contracts and begun modifications under the program. Between loans covered by these servicers and loans owned or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, more than75 percent of all loans in the country are now covered by the Making Home Affordable Program.
Continuing to bolster its outreach around the program, the Administration also announced today a new effort to engage directly with homeowners via MakingHomeAffordable.gov. Starting today, homeowners will have the ability to submit individual questions through the website to the Administration’s housing team. Members of the Treasury and HUD staffs will periodically select commonly asked questions and post responses on MakingHomeAffordable.gov. To submit a question, homeowners can visit http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/feedback.html. Selected questions from homeowners across the country and responses from the Administration will be available at www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov/asked-and-answered.html.
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Home Builder Confidence Posts Biggest Gain In Five Years
April 22nd, 2009 categories: Our Market
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April Data Suggests Market At or Near Bottom |
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| April 15, 2009 – Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose five points in April to the highest level since October 2008, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. This gain was the largest one-month increase recorded since May of 2003, and brings the HMI out of single-digit territory for the first time in six months – to 14. Every component of the HMI reflected the boost, with the biggest gain recorded for sales expectations in the next six months.
“If you’re a potential buyer who’s been sitting on the fence waiting for a sign that now is the time to act, this is it,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “Some of the most favorable buying conditions in a lifetime are now in place, and they are drawing more consumers back to the market.” “This is a very encouraging sign that we are at or near the bottom of the current housing depression,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “With the prime home buying season now underway, builders report that more buyers are responding to the pull of much-improved affordability measures, including low home prices, extremely favorable mortgage rates and the introduction of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit.” Crowe cautioned, however, that a key issue that still must be addressed is the ongoing lockdown on builder acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) financing. “Restoring health to our nation’s economy will require a substantial housing recovery, and that recovery is contingent on breaking the logjam in AD&C lending that presents an ever-increasing obstacle for home builders,” he said. Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations in the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor. Each of the HMI’s component indexes recorded substantial gains in April. The largest of these gains was a 10-point surge in the component gauging builder sales expectations for the next six months, which brought that index to 25. The component gauging current sales conditions and the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers each rose five points, to 13 and 14, respectively. The HMI also rose in every region in April, with an eight-point gain to 16 in the Northeast, a six-point gain to 14 in the Midwest, a five-point gain to 17 in the South and a 4-point gain to 9 in the West. |
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Housing Prices Level Out- San Diego Business Journal Excerpt
April 21st, 2009 categories: Our Market
San Diego home prices did a funny thing in late winter. They stabilized.
Median home prices were unchanged at $285,000 in February and March, even as sales volume increased, according to MDA DataQuick, a La Jolla-based research firm.
Analysts caution there is still a glut of unsold foreclosures that banks have yet to list for sale, which is likely to keep prices low.
Also, so-called jumbo loans, or loans greater than $417,000, have yet to return, leaving many buyers unable to shop in more expensive neighborhoods.
Homes in older, more costly neighborhoods have come down in value by half as much as homes in newer, more affordable neighborhoods, said DataQuick president John Walsh.
San Diego saw 3,020 new and existing homes sold in March, a big jump from 2,473 sales in February and 2,108 sales in March 2008.
DataQuick spokesman Andrew LePage said there are usually seasonal increases between February and March.
“Nothing unusual about that — you’re just starting to pull out of the winter/holiday doldrums,” he said.
Foreclosure activity in San Diego increased in March, according to ForeclosureRadar.com, which is based in Northern California.
There were 3,892 notices of default sent in March, the first step in the foreclosure process; another 2,499 notices of trustee sales were sent and 662 properties sold at auction.
That’s up from February, which saw 3,353 notices of default, 1,443 notices of trustee sales. Some 1,276 properties sold at auction.
“I expect in general many starts and stops, and foreclosures are likely to go up before they peak,” said Norm Miller with the University of San Diego Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. “There is an awful lot of lender inventory being held out of the market.”
DataQuick will release first quarter statistics on San Diego foreclosure sales the week of April 20.
— Ned Randolph
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Design Tour 2009
April 13th, 2009 categories: Our Market
Get ready for the ASID Design Tour, this year held at one of our favorite new communities, Astoria at Central Park West in Irvine. The Orange County chapter of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) is showcasing the talents of local designers and tickets are available online at http://asidocc.org.
This year’s exciting 2009 ASID Design Tour: Urban Living at Astoria showcases contemporary living styles featuring four luxurious Penthouse lofts and two fabulous flats in Astoria — a newly constructed high-rise complex located in Irvine’s Central Park West. We are proud to announce the Orange County Performing Arts Center as our benefit charity, one of Orange county’s premier art centers, which enhances our community with a diverse array of world-class performances and educational programs. Orange Coast magazine, celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2009, is the exclusive magazine partner for the Design Tour and will publish a commemorative Tour Program, which will appear in the May 2009 issue of Orange Coast magazine.
Come and enjoy the amazing talents of the area’s hottest interior designers as they transform these unique spaces into breathtaking urban retreats; amble along the boutique marketplace for those hidden treasures after a sumptuous meal provided by Turnip Rose Catering, all while supporting your local community! Come be inspired by the talents of Orange County’s best Designers – April 21-May 17, at Orange County’s premier design tour.
Astoria at Central Park West features homes with one to three bedrooms with views that range from overlooking the resort-style pool deck and the community of Central Park West to the rolling slopes of the Saddleback Mountains. Amenities found at Astoria are fine and rare. State of the Art interiors feature Fisher and Paykel kitchen appliances, marble and granite floors and counters and contemporary styling that is perfectly set in the upscale neighborhood of Irvine California.
Community amenities truly set these homes apart and include a wine vault and tasting room, a community room for parties with friends and family, a business center conference room and a private exercise facility all within the confines of the Astoria Towers. Also within the community of Central Park West is ‘The Club’; a southern California dream of Relaxation and Rejuvenation. You really must see this incredible retreat. Builder and broker incentives make this the Deal of the Decade. Certain restrictions apply so contact JB Home Sellers to learn more about owning a home at Astoria at Central Park West. Go to the Contact page and leave a message referencing Astoria. We will be thrilled to introduce you to this exquisite home ownership opportunity.
Design Tour Hours
- Tuesday – Sunday – 10am – 5pm (last entry 4pm)
- Friday evenings until 8pm (last entry 7pm)
- Closed Mondays
Go to asidocc.org for details!
Astoria Model Tour Hours
- Seven days- 10am – 5pm. (Call JB Home Sellers for an appointment).
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