Today’s News Synopsis:
Marcus & Millichap annual apartment report places San Diego in second place for stability and possible growth in 2010. Statistics from MDA DataQuick show that 18,621 California homes sold for over 1 million dollars last year. Freddie Mac reports that the rate for 30-year fixed rate mortgages increased to 5.01 percent. PMI predicts that home values are near to reaching the bottom.
In The News:
Sign on San Diego - “Apartment activity is on upswing” (2-4-10)
“San Diego County’s apartment market ranks second nationally after Washington, D.C., in its outlook for stability and possible growth in 2010, according to Marcus & Millichap’s annual apartment report covering 44 metro areas. Two other reports came to the same conclusion: San Diego’s rental market is on the way up.”
DQNews - “Million-dollar home sales plummet in Golden State” (2-4-10)
“A total of 18,621 Golden State homes sold for a million dollars or more last year. That was down 23.8 percent from 24,436 in 2008. In 2007 it was 42,506; in 2006 it was 50,010; and in 2005 it peaked at 54,773. Last year was the lowest sales count since 2002, when 15,703 were sold, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.”
Bloomberg - “Mortgage Rates on 30-Year U.S. Loans Rise to 5.01%” (2-4-10)
“The rate for 30-year fixed U.S. home loans rose to 5.01 percent for the week ended today from 4.98 percent, mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said in a statement. The average 15- year rate was 4.40 percent, according to the McLean, Virginia- based company.”
Housing Wire – “GMAC Loses $5bn on Mounting Mortage Woes” (2-4-10)
“GMAC Financial Services (GOM: 19.8199 -0.85%) posted an expected Q409 net loss of $5bn, as losses related to legacy assets in the company’s mortgage operations continue to mount. The Q409 loss compares to net income of $7.5bn in Q409 and net loss of $747m in Q309. For all of 2009, GMAC reported a net loss of $10.3bn, compared to net income of $1.9bn in 2008.”
Housing Wire – “Home Values Likely Reaching Bottom: PMI” (2-4-10)
“The risk of home prices dropping even lower in the next two years is stabilizing in most Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), according to the PMI Mortgage Insurance Risk Index. The decline in the risk of house values falling further may indicate a bottoming out of the market.”
Housing Wire – “FHFA Home Index Updates Help Smooth Price Volatility” (2-4-10)
“According to the FHFA, the updates to their purchase-only house price index (HPI) since Q404 show a tendency to dampen house price volatility. Indeed, the last monthly HPI from the agency showed national prices rose 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from October to November. That was after October’s previously reported 0.6% increase was adjusted to 0.4%.”
Housing Wire – “Home Prices Hit First Annual Gain Since 2006: Clear Capital” (2-4-10)
“Home prices in January increased 2.3%, marking the first year-over-year increase in more than three years, according to the Home Data Index (HDI) from Clear Capital, the real estate data provider. In all, prices gained 1.8% on the rolling-quarterly scale into January.”
Inman - “Feds to restrict foreclosure rescue firms” (2-4-10)
“Federal regulators say they intend to follow the lead of many states in banning for-profit companies from collecting advance fees from homeowners in exchange for promises to help them obtain loan modifications or avoid foreclosure. A rule proposed today by the Federal Trade Commission would bar for-profit companies that work with lenders and servicers on behalf of homeowners to modify loans or avoid foreclosure from collecting payment until after such services are provided, and impose other restrictions on their practices.”
Looking Back:
One year ago, the MBA reported that the mortgage application volume was significantly increasing. Pulte Homes, a large U.S. building company, reported 9 months of consistent profit loss. The HOPE lending program had only refinanced 25 loans since it began in October.
Tags: apartment, bruce norris, DataQuick, FHFA, freddie mac, GMAC, HPI, marcus & millichap, MDA, mortgage, PMI, real estate