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California Real Estate Headline Roundup

Posts Tagged ‘Chris Dodd’

The Norris Group Real Estate News Roundup 5/14/10

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

Mark Zandi expects sales of new and existing homes to grow from between 5.5 million and 6 million this year to between 6 million and 6.5 million next year, and hit about 7 million in 2012. According to the IPD Quarterly Property Index, returns on commercial real estate investments reached 1.2% in Q110. Trulia reports real estate sellers made at least one price reduction on 22% of listings currently on the market in the US through April.

In The News:

NAR - “Commercial Market Still Struggling, But Realtors® Focus On Positive Trends” (5-14-10)

“While the commercial real estate market may not have fully recovered, National Association of Realtors® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun identified some developing, positive trends in the market that could eventually lead to recovery”

Inman - “Economist: Expect home-price weakness to persist” (5-14-10)

“With the economy on the mend, home sales could bounce back to their historical levels by 2012, although the bulging foreclosure pipeline is likely to keep prices in check, economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics told Realtors holding their annual midyear meeting in the nation’s capital. Zandi said he expects sales of new and existing homes to grow from between 5.5 million and 6 million this year to between 6 million and 6.5 million next year, and hit about 7 million in 2012.”

Housing Wire – “Congress Rejects Call to Axe Consumer Financial Protection Oversight” (5-14-10)

“Senators voted against an amendment by Sen. John Thune (R-SD), that would sunset the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, as the Senate rounds out its week tweaking the financial reform bill.”

Housing Wire – “Commercial Real Estate Delivers First Positive Return in 18 Months” (5-14-10)

“Returns on commercial real estate investments reached 1.2% in Q110, the first positive return in 18 months, according to the IPD Quarterly Property Index. The report monitors the trends in the underlying market value and returns of $76bn of assets held by real estate fund managers in the US. Returns fell to a record low in the 2009, bottoming out in Q109, according to IPD. Since then, US real estate has shown steady quarterly improvement. Pricing competition is even beginning to turn more aggressive amongst returning investors over the last two years, as the supply of prime real estate remains limited, according to IPD.”

Housing Wire – “Senate Votes to Impose Leverage and Risk-Based Capital Requirements” (5-14-10)

“As Congress continues to work through a growing list of amendments to S 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Senators approved on Thursday a measure to impose minimum leverage and capital requirements on both banks and nonbank financial firms. Senators unanimously consented to an amendment, sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), that mandates minimum leverage and risk-based capital requirements for insured depository institutions, depository institution holding companies, and nonbank financial companies under Federal Reserve supervision.”

Housing Wire – “Sellers Reduce Nearly 25% of List Prices on Trulia in 2010″ (5-14-10)

“Real estate sellers made at least one price reduction on 22% of listings currently on the market in the US through April, according to the real estate listings site, Trulia.com. The discounted listings through April increased 10% from March, when 20% of the properties received a price reduction. The average discount held at 10%, totaling $25bn in reductions.”

Housing Wire – “In California, Rates of Delinquency Vary, Mostly Driven by Negative Equity” (5-14-10)

“Mortgage performance in California — although not substantially different than that of the US — varies dramatically among regions within the state, according to a study of all securitized non-agency mortgages in the state by credit-rating agency Fitch Ratings.”

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.

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The Norris Group Real Estate News Roundup 5/13/10

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

According to RealtyTrac, the total number of national foreclosures decreased by 9 percent in March. Economists Lawrence Yun and Mark Zandi predict that mortgage rates will remain historically low over the next few years. CAR reports the minimum household income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $246,270 in California in the first quarter of 2010 was $41,540. Statistics from Freddie Mac show the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dipped to 4.93 percent.

In The News:

The Atlantic – “Foreclosures Declined 9% in April” (5-13-10)

“Fewer Americans lost their homes in April, though the numbers are still alarmingly high at 333,837 foreclosed properties nationwide, according to foreclosure data specialist RealtyTrac. This number was 9% lower than the record high hit in March. So April’s decline, while relatively good news, doesn’t quite get foreclosures back down to pre-March levels.”

NAR - “Two Economists Project Improving Housing Market but Timing Uncertain” (5-13-10)

“Both Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, and Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody’s Economy.com, agreed that job creation is key to an economic and housing recovery, with job creation expected as the year progresses, but they differed somewhat on the impact that foreclosures will have on home price stabilization. Both project that mortgage interest rates will remain historically low, the availability of jumbo loans will improve and home sales will rise over the next few years.”

CBIA - “California New-Home Sales Rise From February, CBIA Announces” (5-13-10)

“The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI) New-Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that sales in new-home communities of 10 units or more were 13 percent above February, but fell 31 percent below March 2009. During March, 2,189 new homes and condominiums were sold in the subdivisions tracked by Costa Mesa-based HWMI, compared to 1,938 in February and 3,192 in March 2009. Sales of single-family homes were up by 5 percent from the previous month, but down 36 percent from the same month a year ago. Sales of townhomes and ‘plexes’ – duplexes, triplexes, etc. – rose 24 percent from February but were off by 32 percent from March 2009, while sales of condominiums were up 37 percent from the previous month, but were 16 percent lower than a year ago.”

CAR - “Entry-level housing affordability stood at 66 percent in Q1 2010″ (5-13-10)

“The minimum household income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $246,270 in California in the first quarter of 2010 was $41,540, based on an adjustable effective interest rate of 4.33 percent and assuming a 10 percent down payment. First-time buyers typically purchase a home equal to 85 percent of the prevailing median price. The monthly payment including taxes and insurance was $1,380 for the fourth quarter of 2010. At $41,540, the minimum qualifying income was $3,910 greater than a year earlier when households needed $37,630 to qualify for a loan on an entry-level home.”

Sign On San Diego – “Mortgage rates drop to lowest level this year” (5-13-10)

“Mortgage rates fell this week to the lowest level of the year, as rates fell on U.S. government securities. Fixed mortgage rates closely track interest rates paid on long-term Treasury bonds. The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage dipped to 4.93 percent this week from 5 percent a week earlier, Freddie Mac said Thursday. It was the lowest level since mid-December, when rates averaged 4.81 percent.”

Housing Wire – “RealtyTrac’s Daren Blomquist Calls for Shadow Inventory Clearance” (5-13-10)

“I think the year-over-year decrease in national foreclosure activity in April is a definite sign that there is an end in sight, but on the other hand the record REO numbers show that we’ve got a lot of backlogged inventory stopped up in the foreclosure process that needs to be cleared before we can return to a balanced, healthy market.”

Housing Wire – “Dodd Bill Amendment Will Assign Credit-Rating Agencies to Deals” (5-13-10)

“The US Senate today approved in a 64-35 vote an amendment by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) on credit ratings to be added to S 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT). The amendment would instruct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish a self-regulatory organization to assign credit-rating agencies (CRAs) to provide initial credit ratings on financial products. It essentially creates a board to assign CRAs to securities, to prevent firms from ‘shopping around’ for the highest ratings.”

Orange County Register – “O.C. construction recovery 6 years away” (5-13-10)

“Orange County won’t get back to pre-recession levels of employment in the construction business until 2016, according the Cal State Long Beach’s 2010 forecast released today. Construction employment hit 107,175 at the peak in 2006. The forecast projects employment in the sector will drop to 66,691 this year before bottoming at 65,312 in 2011.”

Looking Back:

One year ago, the national share of home sales above $750,000 fell from 4.4 percent in 2007 to approximately 2.3 percent in 2009. The number of U.S. households faced with losing their homes to foreclosure jumped 32 percent in April 2009. General Growth Properties received approval for a $400 billion dollar loan to aid their recovery from bankruptcy. Fitch Ratings predicted that home prices would by 36 percent within 18 months of May 2009.

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The Norris Group Real Estate News Roundup 5/7/10

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Looking Back:

Analysts are claiming that an increase in the average family size could reduce demand for housing. The US Senate is proposing many new changes to the Restoring American Financial Stability Act. The Department of Labor reports that national unemployment levels increased to 9.9 percent. According to the US Census Bureau, the homeownership rate fell to 67.1 percent in the first quarter.

In The News:

USA Today – “Increase in household size could slow economic recovery” (5-7-10)

“The number of people living under one roof is growing for the first time in more than a century, a fallout of the recession that could reduce demand for housing and slow the recovery. The Census Bureau had projected the average household size would continue to fall to 2.53 this year. Instead, the average is likely to hit 2.63, a small but significant increase because it is a turnabout.”

Housing Watch – “Housing Bubble Was Whose Fault? Not the Fed’s, Says New Study” (5-7-10)

“Don’t blame the Federal Reserve for the country’s housing troubles. At least that’s what a controversial new study claims. Economic researchers from Harvard’s Kennedy School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania believe they’ve proved that reduced interest rates and lax regulations were not the primary cause of the housing bubble. The authors of the study instead point to the currently allowable mortgage interest tax deduction as the main culprit.”

Housing Wire – “GSE Wind-Down, Derivatives Reform Amendments Await Senate” (5-7-10)

“The US Senate added a number of amendments this week to S 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), that aim to reform regulation of the financial markets. Many more amendments await consideration by the Senate, which plans to return to voting on Tuesday.”

Housing Wire – “Despite Job Growth, Unemployment Rises to 9.9%” (5-7-10)

“Payrolls in the US added 290,000 workers in April, according to data released today by the Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics. It marks an increase from the 162,000 jobs added in March. Despite the gain in employment, the overall unemployment rate rose to 9.9%. Additionally, the U-6 measure of both un- and under-employment continued to rise — inching up to 17.1% in April, from 16.9% last month.”

Bloomberg - “Beazer Homes Sells Debt as Issuance Falls to Lowest This Year” (5-7-10)

“Sales of U.S. corporate bonds fell 86 percent this week to the lowest this year amid rising investor concern that Greece’s debt crisis will spread to other European countries and beyond. Beazer Homes USA Inc., the Atlanta-based homebuilder, sold $300 million of notes and Lennox International Inc., the maker of heating and air-conditioning systems, issued $200 million of debt to lead $2.55 billion in corporate bond offerings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”

Orange County Register – “Hear why builders now focus on price” (5-7-10)

“Homebuilding is on the upswing, which is not terribly surprising considering how slow things had been in recent years. So we asked Mark Buckland, CEO of Southern California builder CityVentures, what he was seeing in the new-home market. Buckland tells ocregister.com in a podcast interview that this is clearly no boom. The region’s home pricing has stabilized at levels that are as much as half off the peak. That’s because builders have to actively compete with the resale housing market. What’s helping builders’ bottom line is that land prices and construction costs have come down so low that new homes can now be very price competitive.”

Housing Wire – “Falling back to 2000: Homeownership rate sinks” (5-7-10)

“The nation’s homeownership rate fell to 67.1 percent in the first quarter, a rate not seen since first-quarter 2000, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S Department of Commerce. The rate reached its peak in 2004, when it was at 69.2 percent for both the second and fourth quarters.”

Housing Wire – “Clash over NAR’s MLS rules for photos, disclosures” (5-7-10)

“Multiple listing services are asking the National Association of Realtors to stand behind them if they choose to require that brokers submit photos or property disclosure forms with their for-sale listings. Many MLSs have had such rules in place for years, particularly for photos. But NAR staff members say the trade group’s existing MLS policy does not expressly grant MLSs such authority.”

Looking Back:

One year ago, the Federal government declared the California wage cuts, which would have saved $74 miilion, to be in conflict with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Fannie Mae reported a first-quarter loss of $23.2 billion. The Labor Department reported that payrolls fell by 539,000 in April 2009.

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