The Norris Group Blog

Sources:
One Georgia Bank Closed Friday; Tally Is Now 12
Foreclosure Sales Outpace Modifications for January
Real Estate Outlook: Pending Home Sales Trend Upward
Consumers shed debt, cut mortgage balances
Repeat foreclosures hit an all-time high in January
Reported Mortgage Fraud Filings Increased in Q3
Home price declines resilient against REO saturation: Clear Capital
Private sector adds 216,000 jobs in February
Initial Unemployment Claims Rise For Third Straight Week
Judicial Watch sues FHFA over MBS disclosures
FHA to Lower Insurance Premiums for Mortgage Refis
FHA to lower refinance premiums
Wells Fargo’s CFO Says Branches May Be Closed, Merged
BofA Makes a Deal on Side

Today’s News Synopsis:

In this week’s video, Aaron Norris gives the news of the week in the world of real estate and other big news of the week.  The pay for the chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was cut this week by the FHFA.  227,000 new jobs were added in February, although the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 8.3%.  Freddie mac asked for another $146 million from the Treasury.

In The News:

Housing Wire – “Government-held REO halved during robo-signing freeze” (3-9-12)

“The government cut its inventory of foreclosed homes by half in 2011.  Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Department of Housing and Urban Development held roughly 150,700 REO properties as of Dec. 31, down 49% from the 296,000 at the end of 2010, according to an analysis of their collective financial statements.”

Bloomberg – “Ghost of Fannie Mae Haunts Canadian Housing as Exposure Worsens: Mortgages” (3-9-12)

“The Canadian housing agency’s vulnerability to mortgage defaults has soared nine-fold in 20 years, approaching levels reached by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the U.S. at the height of the housing boom. Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. says its finances are secure unless the country plunges into deep recession for several years.”

Realty Times – “Fixed-rate Mortgages Remain at or Near All-time Lows” (3-9-12)

“In Freddie Mac’s results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), fixed-rate mortgages are at or near their 60-year lows helping to drive record high homebuyer affordability. The 15-year fixed, a popular choice among refinance borrowers, averaged a new all-time record low of 3.13 percent.”

DS News - “Payrolls Up 227,000 in February; Unemployment Rate Steady” (3-9-12)

“The nation added 227,000 jobs in February – the seventh straight month of 100,000-plus payroll gains, the longest such string since 2005 – as the unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning.”

San Francisco Chronicle – “Apple growth helps fuel Silicon Valley office boom” (3-9-12)

“Apple is helping fuel the biggest Silicon Valley office-leasing boom since the dot-com era, as the fast-growing company waits for its futuristic new “spaceship” headquarters to land.  Office occupancy in the region rose by 2.7 million square feet last year, the most since 2000, and rents may advance 11 percent to an average $36 a square foot in 2012, according to brokerage Cassidy Turley.”

Housing Wire – “FHFA axes executive pay at Fannie and Freddie” (3-9-12)

“The Federal Housing Finance Agency in its role as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac significantly reduced the amount of pay chief executive officers at the firm will earn in the future.”

DS News – “Florida MLS Requires Agents to State If Property Is Bank-Owned” (3-9-12)

“A multiple listing service (MLS) based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is requiring real estate agents to disclose if a property they are listing is bank-owned.”

Housing Wire – “Freddie Mac to request $146 million from Treasury” (3-9-12)

“Freddie Mac requested another $146 million from the Treasury Department for the three months ended Dec. 31.  The GSE reported $619 million in net income for the fourth quarter, plus an additional $887 million in other income.”

Inman – “Mortgage deduction limits: per residence, not per person” (3-9-12)

“Last week brought bad news for wealthy unmarried couples who own homes together. The U.S. Tax Court held that the $1.1 million limit on the mortgage interest deduction must be applied per residence, not per taxpayer, even where the co-owners are unmarried and file separate tax return.”

Los Angeles Times – “Bank of America to reduce principal for up to 200,000 homeowners” (3-9-12)

“Home prices and sales remain fragile as foreclosure starts ticked up in January, according to the latest housing scorecard from the Obama administration.”

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:

Bruce Norris of The Norris Group will be at the Evening with the Leaders of the Real Estate Industry on March 13, 2012

The Norris Group posted a new event. Bruce Norris of The Norris Group will be at the Downey Association of Realtors on March 14, 2012

Looking Back:

Mortgage applications increased 15.5% the previous week, according to the MBA. UCLA economists predicted California’s unemployment rate would remain above 10% until 2013. Freddie Mac’s level of REO properties grew 145.7% over the past two years. Obama threatened to veto bills terminating the Federal Housing Administration’s Short Refi and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Emergency Homeowner Loan Program.

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.