Category Archives: Real Estate

Home Equity Rebound

Two statistical studies released last week offered a glimpse of where the country is in terms of homeowner equity, seven years after real estate began to tumble and crash. The first was the Federal Reserve’s quarterly “flow of funds” report. Among many other segments of the economy it toted up, the Fed found that homeowner equity has rebounded to its highest level in eight years — though it’s still not quite back to the $12 trillion it was during the hyperinflationary high point of the housing boom in 2005.

Has the value of your home increased or need a real estate appraisal?  Thinking of a home equity loan to purchase a new car, pay for college, or pay off credit cards; contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your home value questions.

The second study, from real estate analytics firm CoreLogic, focused on the flip side — the impressive shrinkage of negative equity. According to researchers, nearly 43 million owners with mortgage debt have positive equity. Roughly 6.5 million owners are still in negative equity positions, however, down from more than 10 million a year ago and 12 million in 2009.

Who are they and where are they? Not surprisingly, they are heavily concentrated in areas that saw the wildest price run-ups, the heaviest use of toxic loan products and the steepest plunges during the crash. In Nevada, 30.4 percent of all owners with mortgages are underwater. In Florida, it’s 28.1 percent. Arizona, 21.5 percent. Still, all three areas have improved sharply over the past two years.

Read entire article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/15/3995012/big-rebound-in-home-equity.html#storylink=cpy

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Foreclose and Default Trends Stay Near Low – San Diego

Foreclosures and default notices in San Diego County edged up in January, but are still hovering around post-Great Recession lows.

Last month, lenders foreclosed on 149 properties in San Diego County and issued 490 default notices, which kick off the 90-day foreclosure process, real estate tracker DataQuick reported Tuesday.

While the overall trend is down, January’s default notices jumped 58 percent above January 2013’s tally of 310. They were also up from the 387 filed in December.

“That’s disconcerting and something to keep an eye on,” said Mark Goldman, a loan officer and real estate lecturer at San Diego State University.

“It’s probably too early to blame it on something like Congress deciding not to extend unemployment benefits. If that were a factor, we’d see that coming up in the next 60 days.”

A year ago, default notices dropped from 878 in December 2012 to 310 in January 2013. They were back up to 551 in February.

Andrew LePage, an analyst for San Diego-based DataQuick, said the reason for last year’s low number could have been due to the initiation of the Homeowner Bill of Rights, which mandated banks not file a default notice while a short sale or loan modification was in progress.

That also could be why the January 2013 to January 2014 year-over-year change looks high.

In foreclosures, lenders repossessed 149 homes in January, up from 136 in December.

read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/19/tp-foreclose-and-default-trends-stay-near-lows/

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Fannie Mae Has Deals on Foreclosed Homes

If you’re planning to shop for a home in the coming few weeks, here’s an early spring buying season come-on that just might save you some money if you qualify.

Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage investor in the country, has a bulging portfolio of houses acquired through foreclosures nationwide. Roughly 31,000 of these properties are listed on its “HomePath”

Take the guesswork out of trying to guess the value.  Contact the real estate appraiser at www.scappraisals.com  to assist with sale price negotiations.

homepath.com resale marketing site. To move them quickly out of inventory, Fannie temporarily is offering qualified owner-occupant purchasers — but not investors — cash incentives toward closing costs of 3.5 percent of the purchase price. But you have to submit your initial offer no later than March 31 and close by May 31.

Visit the site and you’ll see the houses run the gamut — from a one-bedroom condo unit in San Diego to a four-bedroom, four-bath single family home in suburban Montgomery Village, Md. Some states have thousands of HomePath listings online: Florida has nearly 12,000; California, more than 2,300. Asking prices range from $30,000 to $600,000 or more. On a $400,000 house, the 3.5 percent closing cost incentive would amount to $14,000.

read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/23/tp-fannie-has-deals-on-foreclosed-homes/

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only