Today’s News Synopsis:
Rismedia reported that new home sales increased 17.5% in December of last year. However, the Obama Administration reported that sales were still lower than levels at the beginning of the year. According to Bloomberg, the rate of unoccupied homes increased to 2.7%, making the number of people who own homes the lowest it’s been in 10 years. Standard and Poor announced that home prices are still declining and most likely will continue, according to the Realty Times.
In The News:
Housing Wire - “White House finds home sales, foreclosure activity depressed in December” (1-31-11)
“Both the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit in the spring and the robo-signing scandal in the third quarter left their marks on the market in December,
according to the Obama administration’s most recent housing scorecard.”
Realtor Mag – “Fannie-Backed Loans to Get Costlier” (1-31-11)
“Borrowers with Fannie Mae-backed loans will face higher borrowing costs and interest rates, even if they have a perfect credit score, starting on April 1.”
Bloomberg - “Home-Vacancy Rates Rise as Ownership at 10 Year Low” (1-31-11)
“The U.S. home-vacancy rate, measuring the share of properties empty and for sale, rose to 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter as more residences stood unoccupied after being seized by banks.”
Realty Times - “Real Estate Outlook: Home Prices Decline” (1-31-11)
“The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index reveals that home prices, unfortunately, are still down and weakening. According to Standard & Poor’s, “The 10-City Composite was down 0.4% and the 20-City Composite fell 1.6% from their November 2009 levels.”
Orange County Register - “O.C. 6th worst for construction-job losses” (1-31-11)
“Orange County construction bosses cut 5,000 jobs in the year ended in December — sixth largest regional cut in the nation, according to a study of employment trends in building industries by Associated General Contractors of America.”
Housing Wire – “CMBS market opens up on improving economic data, renewed investor demand” (1-31-11)
“Gradually improving economic data and investor’s increasing appetite for risk should boost demand for new issuance within commercial mortgage-backed securities, according to JPMorgan Securities.”
Inman - “FICOs and FHA: 2 big lenders loosen up” (1-31-11)
“Here’s some unexpected good news for anybody working to get buyers into houses, especially first-timers who don’t have much down payment cash on hand:
The door to an FHA-insured mortgage just opened a little wider.”
Housing Wire - “Homeownership rate lowest since 1998″ (1-31-11)
“Almost 11% of all housing units are vacant all year round and the homeownership rate in America is at the lowest rate in 12 years, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau.”
The Wall Street Journal - “Home Prices Sink Further” (1-31-11)
“Home values are falling at an accelerating rate in many cities across the U.S. The Wall Street Journal’s latest quarterly survey of housing-market conditions found that prices declined in all of the 28 major metropolitan areas tracked during the fourth quarter when compared to a year earlier.”
Rismedia - “New Home Sales Increase; Seasonality Should Drive Improvements into Spring” (1-31-11)
“New home sales increased 17.5% month-over-month in December 2010 to 329,000 units, after being flat month-over-month in November.”
Realtor Mag - “GOP Bill Attempts to End Foreclosure Program” (1-31-11)
“House Republicans called the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program “a colossal failure” and have introduced a bill to end it.”
Inman – “FHA extends ‘anti-flipping’ waiver” (1-31-11)
“Homebuyers relying on FHA-insured financing will still be able to buy homes that have changed hands in the last 90 days, thanks to a decision by the Federal Housing Administration to extend a temporary waiver of its “anti-flipping” rule through the end of the year.”
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