Today’s News Synopsis:
Another bank just closed in Alabama, bringing the total now to 24. Delinquencies are on the rise again according to a preliminary report by the Lender Processing Services. In another big story, four states are back at their highest employment since the recession, these states being Alaska, North Dakota, Texas, and Louisiana.
In The News:
Housing Wire – “HUD multifamily handbook to get update after 20 years” (5-21-12)
“A crucial handbook that provides general guidance for tasks associated with the Department of Housing and Urban Development involvement in multifamily projects will be revised by October.”
DS News – “Four States Back at Peak Employment: IHS” (5-21-12)
“A report from Information Handling Services (IHS) showed that since the recession began, four states have reached or surpass previous employment peaks while several more are within 1 percent of making that goal.”
Bloomberg – “JPMorgan Europe Home-Loan Debt Raises Anxiety: Mortgages” (5-21-12)
“JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s holdings of home-loan bonds from outside the U.S. soared 35-fold in the past three years. Now, with its chief investment office facing scrutiny after a $2 billion trading loss, investors are raising concern the European market’s biggest buyer will pull back.”
Realty Times – “Real Estate Outlook: Housing to Play Key Role in Election” (5-21-12)
“Washington and the housing market are never far apart. Experts ranging from real estate professionals to the members of the Federal Reserve have reported that the state of the nation’s economic recovery relies heavily on a housing recovery.”
DS News – “Alabama Bank Closes, Tally Now 24″ (5-21-12)
“The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed down Alabama Trust Bank, National Association, of Sycalaugua, Alabama over the weekend, marking the first Alabama bank failure and the 24th national failure this year.”
Inman – “NAR weighs rules for mobile IDX listings” (5-21-12)
“A National Association of Realtors advisory committee that helps set policies for multiple listing services nationwide is recommending changes that would give brokers and agents more freedom to push shared listings data to mobile devices.”
Housing Wire – “NABE boosts forecast for housing starts” (5-21-12)
“Economists in a survey released Monday said they expect housing starts to grow considerably over the next two years. The latest National Association for Business Economics report forecasts housing starts to rise 18% to 720,000 from 2011, a slight upward revision from its February analysis, with continued growth to 850,000 in 2013.”
Bloomberg – “Manhattan Tenants Pay Top Office Rents for Midtown South” (5-21-12)
“Most landlords offering prestige Manhattan office space hate to be pinned down on their asking rents. Not Ed Minskoff.”
DS News – “Preliminary LPS Report Shows Slight Rise in Delinquencies After Declines” (5-21-12)
“Lender Processing Services (LPS) provided a peak into month-end data for mortgage performance in April, and reported after 9 months of declines, mortgage delinquencies increased.”
Housing Wire – “Real estate mogul lawsuit against Citi dismissed” (5-21-12)
“A federal district court judge in New York dismissed a lawsuit filed against Citigroup Inc. ($26.19 0.175%) and its CEO Vikram Pandit this week.”
DS News – “Prices Fall Monthly in April, 2-3 Bids Per Property: HousingPulse Survey” (5-21-12)
“If the buzz about bidding wars is true, such reports were not reflected in the Campbell Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Homes are selling below the list price, and homes sold in April received only two or three offers, according to the monthly Housing Pulse survey.”
Realty Trac – “A Shift Toward Short Sales in 2012″ (5-21-12)
“In January 2012 there were more than 35,000 pre-foreclosure sales — typically short sales — nationwide, on pace for more than 105,000 pre-foreclosure sales for the first quarter. If that trend holds, it would make first quarter short sales the highest quarterly total since the peak back in the first quarter of 2009.”
San Francisco Chronicle – “Goldman Sachs Spreads Tech Investments Following Facebook Payout” (5-21-12)
“Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the bank which last week doubled its money from a 2010 bet on Facebook Inc., is ramping up investments in Web startups, underscoring the allure of high-growth tech companies to financiers far from Silicon Valley.”
Hard Money Loan Closed
Victorville, California hard money loan closed by The Norris Group private lending. Real estate investor received loan for $48,000 on a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home appraised for $81,000.
California Real Estate Investor Events:
The Norris Group posted a new event. The Norris Group will hold its REO Boot Camp on May 22-24, 2012.
The Norris Group posted a new event. Bruce Norris of The Norris Group will be at the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce Economic Forecast on Thursday, May 31, 2012.
The Norris Group posted a new event. Bruce Norris of The Norris Group will be at the Cutting Edge Financial Tactics Brunch on Saturday, June 2, 2012.
For more information about The Norris Group’s California hard money loans or our California Trust Deed investments, visit the website or call our office at 951-780-5856 for more information. For upcoming California real estate investor training and events, visit The Norris Group website and our California investor calendar. You’ll also find our award-winning real estate radio show on KTIE 590am at 6pm on Saturdays or you can listen to over 170 podcasts in our free investor radio archive.
About Bruce Norris
Bruce Norris is an active investor, hard money lender, and real estate educator with over 30 years experience. Bruce has been involved in over 2,000 real estate transactions as a buyer, seller, builder and money partner.
Tags: Alabama Trust Bank, bruce norris, Citigroup, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Reserve, Goldman Sachs, Housing Pulse, Information Handling Services, JPMorgan Chase, Lender Processing Services, Manhattan, National Association for Business Economics, national association of realtors, short sales, the norris group