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The Norris Group Real Estate News Roundup 9/2/10

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

Servicers made over 120,000 proprietary loan modifications in July, and 36,695 HAMP modifications. Pending home sales increased 5.2 percent in July, according to the NAR. MBA reports 30+ day commercial delinquencies increased to 8.22 percent in the second quarter. Freddie Mac’s weekly survey shows mortgage rates dropped again to a rate of 4.32%.

In The News:

The Press Enterprise – “New ways of viewing the housing meltdown” (9-1-10)

“At a meeting last night of the Inland Empire Investors, Norris said the federal government’s apparent agreement to allow banks to delay foreclosing on homes where the owners have ceased paying their mortgages for months on end is probably helping to hold up the economy. After all, the money that isn’t paying mortgages is going into the homeowners’ pockets and being spent on goods and services. Ironic, huhn?”

Mortgage Orb – “Proprietary Mods More Than Triple HAMP Mods” (8-31-10)

“Servicers completed more than 120,000 proprietary loan modifications in July – more than three times the number of mods completed through the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), HOPE NOW reports. As reported by U.S. Treasury Department, servicers executed 36,695 HAMP modifications in July.”

Mortgage News Daily – “HUD Secretary Tiptoes Around Another Tax Credit, Pushes Balanced Housing Policy” (8-30-10)

“Donovan said that the dip in house sales in July was not unexpected because it would mark the end of the homebuyers’ tax credit that had been successful in spurring those sales. But, he said, the numbers were clearly worse than expected. The Secretary said, in response the Administration would be launching two additional critical tools in the next few weeks. The first will be an FHA refinancing effort to help borrowers who are underwater in their homes, the second is an emergency homeowners’ loan program to help unemployed borrowers to in their homes.”

NAR - “Pending Home Sales Rise” (9-2-10)

“The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator, rose 5.2 percent to 79.4 based on contracts signed in July from a downwardly revised 75.5 in June, but remains 19.1 percent below July 2009 when it was 98.1. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.”

Mortgage Bankers Association – “MBA: Commercial Delinquencies Up for CMBS, Flat for Banks in Second Quarter” (9-2-10)

“Between the first quarter and second quarter 2010, the 30+ day delinquency rate on loans held in CMBS rose 1.39 percentage points to 8.22 percent. The 60+ day delinquency rate on loans held in life company portfolios decreased 0.02 percentage points to 0.29 percent. The 60+ day delinquency rate on multifamily loans held or insured by Fannie Mae rose 0.01 percentage points to 0.80 percent. The 60+ day delinquency rate on multifamily loans held or insured by Freddie Mac increased 0.03 percentage points to 0.28 percent. The 90+ day delinquency rate on loans held by FDIC-insured banks and thrifts remained unchanged at 4.26 percent. ”

Inman - “Communities get ‘First Look’ at many REOs” (9-2-10)

“Federal housing officials have reached an agreement with mortgage lenders that will give nonprofit organizations and state and local governments right of first refusal to purchase foreclosed homes in certain targeted neighborhoods. Lenders participating in the ‘National First Look Program’ represent about 75 percent of the real estate owned (REO) marketplace, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday.”

Housing Wire – “Weekly jobless claims down 1.25% to 472,000″ (9-2-10)

“The Department of Labor said Thursday seasonally-adjusted initial claims fell to 472,000 for the week ended Aug. 28, down from an upwardly revised 478,000 for the previous week. The consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Briefing.com expected claims to drop to 475,000 last week.”

Housing Wire – “Freddie 30-year FRMs set record low at 4.32%” (9-2-10)

“The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) at 4.32% with an average 0.7 origination point for the week ending Sept. 2, down from last week’s average of 4.36% and a year ago, when the average was 5.08%. This is the lowest rate the survey has recorded since its inception in 1971.”

Housing Wire – “Bernanke says stopping housing bubble was not an option” (9-2-10)

“Speaking before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission this morning in Washington, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said if steps could have been taken three years ago to stop the bubble in the economy, which eventually lead to today’s recession, it would not have been a prudent decision to do so.”

Housing Wire – “OCC: lending standards loosen somewhat from year earlier” (9-2-10)

“The 2010 survey of credit underwriting practices by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency showed 65% of banks tightened standards for commercial products and 74% tightened up retail lending. The survey measures the most-common types of credit offered by 51 of the largest national banks for the 12 months ended March 31. The value of the loans surveyed was $4 trillion, or more than 93% of all outstanding loans in the national banking system, according to the OCC.”

Housing Wire – “Serious HFA delinquencies decline in Q110: S&P” (9-2-10)

“Overall delinquency rates for HFA loans remained high, increasing 1.67% between Q409 and Q110 to 6.05%; however, seriously delinquent HFA loans decreased to 6.05% from 6.57%.”

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 event 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 9/1/10

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

The MBA’s weekly survey shows mortgage applications increased 2.7% this week. SB1275, the foreclosure/modification bill, was rejected by congress in a 36-30 vote. Fannie Mae’s new rule regarding appraisal cutting takes effect today. Construction spending decreased 1 percent in July, according to the Commerce Department.

In The News:

Mortgage Bankers Association – “Mortgage Applications Increase as Rates Hit New Low in MBA Weekly Survey” (9-1-10)

“The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 27, 2010.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 2.3 percent compared with the previous week.”

Reuters - “Loan picture improves but troubles remain: FDIC” (9-1-10)

“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp revealed some encouraging figures about the bank industry, saying the sector earned $21.6 billion during the quarter largely due to banks putting away less money to cover expected loan losses. During the first quarter, the industry earned $17.8 billion.”

San Francisco Chronicle – “Assembly rejects foreclosure/modification bill” (9-1-10)

“SB1275, which was rejected 36-30 late Monday, would have required lenders to provide homeowners with a fully considered loan modification decision prior to foreclosing. Unlike federal initiatives, it would have given homeowners the right to sue the lender if that process did not occur.”

Housing Wire – “Fannie’s appraisal cutting ban takes effect” (9-1-10)

“Fannie Mae’s new policy to reduce appraisal cutting takes effect today. If a lender is trying to sell the GSE a loan, they are now prohibited from changing the market value of a home on the request form. Fannie Mae said Tuesday if a loan servicer does not properly handle a troubled mortgage loan in a timely manner, it will demand compensation from the servicer for the mortgage.”

Housing Wire – “Fed buys $900 million of Treasury debt” (9-1-10)

“Dealers offered to sell the Fed $25.79 billion in debt. The three slices of debt purchased by the Fed include $131 million maturing Nov. 15, 2012; $345 million maturing Dec. 15, 2012; and $424 million maturing Jan. 31, 2013. At its meeting from earlier this month, the Federal Open Markets Committee directed the New York Fed to maintain the total face value of domestic securities held in the system open market account at about $2 trillion.”

Housing Wire – “DebtX July CRE loan value up to 79.4%” (9-1-10)

“The value of commercial loans priced by The Debt Exchange in July that collateralize commercial mortgage-backed securities rose to 79.4% of the original balance. DebtX said the value is up from 77.4% in June, marking the fourth-straight month of increases, and is higher than the 71.1% for the year-ago July. The values are based on loans priced by DebtX. In July, the company priced 57,801 CRE loans with an aggregate principle balance of $679.5 billion that collateralize 623 CMBS trusts.”

Bloomberg - “Construction Spending in U.S. Declined Twice as Much as Forecast in July” (9-1-10)

“The 1 percent drop brought spending to $805.2 billion, the lowest level in a decade, after a revised 0.8 percent drop in June that wiped out a previously estimated gain, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Spending on federal government projects fell by the most in a year.”

Bloomberg - “Real Estate Premium Near Record to U.S. Bonds Signals Time to Buy Property” (9-1-10)

“Capitalization rates, a measure of real estate yields, averaged 7.22 percent in the second quarter, based on an index calculated by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. That was 429 basis points, or 4.29 percentage points, higher than the yield on 10-year government bonds as of June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s about 475 basis points higher than Treasury yields as of yesterday.”

Looking Back:

One year ago, the NAR reported that pending home sales increased 3.2 percent in one month. The average price of homes bought with mortgages funded by Freddie Mac increased 1.7% during the 2nd quarter of 2009. A wildfire north of Los Angeles threatened more than 12,000 homes and forced the evacuation of more than 4,300 people.

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The Norris Group Real Estate News Roundup 8/27/10

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

Nearly 900,000 loans that were current at the beginning of this year are now over 60 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of July. GDP growth in the U.S. slowed to an annual rate of 1.6% in the second quarter. Commercial property sales totaled $8.7 billion in July.

In The News:

Orange County Register – “Californians feeling a little rosier” (8-27-10)

“Californians are feeling a little better about the economy now, although their optimism about the future has dimmed, according to Chapman University’s August consumer confidence survey. The school’s California Composite Index of Consumer Confidence, conducted the first three weeks of August, rose to 84.2 this month from 82.7 in May — the fourth consecutive increase in the index.”

San Francisco Chronicle – “California foreclosure bill is losing steam” (8-27-10)

“SB1275 would require lenders to provide homeowners with a fully considered decision on a loan modification prior to starting foreclosure. The bill addresses what some say has become a far too common phenomenon for homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgages: While negotiating a loan modification, their lender forecloses. The proposed rules would allow the homeowner to sue if that occurs.”

Housing Wire - “Nearly 1m More Mortgages Go From Current to Delinquent: LPS” (8-26-10)

“Almost 900,000 loans that were current at the beginning of the year are at least 60 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of July, according to the July 2010 month-end report released by Lender Processing Services’(LPS). Although delinquency volume fell 2.3% month-over-month in July to 9.3%, it remains near historically elevated levels — and record high numbers of delinquent loans are still entering the system, according to LPS. The volume of delinquencies increased 1.4% year-over-year.”

Housing Wire – “Q2 GDP revised to annual rate of 1.6% growth, imports rose 32.4%” (8-27-10)

“Second-quarter economic growth in the US slowed to an annual rate of 1.6%, which is slightly better than what analysts were projecting but down from prior Commerce Department estimates.”

Housing Wire – “Bernanke outlines three options for additional economic stimulus” (8-27-10)

“Bernake said that the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) is unlikely to change in the coming months. He also doesn’t see any short-term risk of deflation. However, federal economic stimulus can only drive recovery temporarily. For a sustained expansion to take hold, growth in consumer spending and business fixed investment needs to come more into focus, he said.”

Housing Wire – “Fitch expects to keep downgrading CMBS through 2012″ (8-27-10)

“Downgrades on commercial mortgage-backed securities are expected throughout the next one to two years, according to Fitch Ratings’ managing director Mary MacNeill. She said this based on the approximately 1,900 bonds, a total of $71bn, that Fitch lists with negative future outlooks.”

Housing Wire – “Commercial real estate gets boost in July from strong office demand: RCA analytics” (8-27-10)

“July was the second most active month in commercial property sales this year, according to a Real Capital Analytics (RCA) report released today. Sales totaled $7.8bn, almost double the volume of July 2009 commercial real estate (CRE) sales.”

Housing Wire – “Fannie Mae July mortgage portfolio up 4.1% from year earlier, prices two-year deal” (8-27-10)

“Fannie Mae’s mortgage portfolio through July is up 4.1% from the year ago yet down somewhat from June, and the GSE issued nearly half the mortgage-backed securities during the month than in did last July. Fannie ended July with gross holdings of nearly $812 billion. That figure stood at $770.4 billion last year and $817.8 billion in June.”

Bloomberg – “Banks Need New Capital on Housing Dip, Whitney Says” (8-27-10)

“U.S. banks need more capital to withstand a renewed drop in the housing market, according to analyst Meredith Whitney. Banks aren’t prepared for a ‘double-dip’ in housing, which ‘it looks like we are having,’ Whitney said today on Bloomberg Radio”

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The Norris Group Real Estate News Roundup 8/26/10

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

 

 

Today’s News Synopsis:

The MBA’s second quarter survey shows the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on residential properties dropped to 9.85 percent. Freddie Mac reports that interest rates have dropped AGAIN to 4.36%. According to CoreLogic, 23 percent of residential homes with mortgages were in negative equity at the end of the 2nd quarter. Barclays Capital claims existing home sales decreased 30% last month.

In The News:

NAR - “Commercial Real Estate Remains Soft but Favors Business Expansion” (8-26-10)

“The SIOR index, measuring 10 variables, rose 2.8 percentage points to 41.0 in the second quarter, but remains well below a level of 100 that represents a balanced marketplace.  This is the third consecutive quarterly improvement after nearly three years of decline; the last time the commercial market was in equilibrium at the 100 level was in the third quarter of 2007.”

MBA - “Delinquencies and Foreclosure Starts Decrease in Latest MBA National Delinquency Survey” (8-26-10)

“The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties dropped to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.85 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the second quarter of 2010, a decrease of 21 basis points from the first quarter of 2010, and an increase of 61 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased two basis points to 9.40 percent this quarter from 9.38 percent last quarter.”

Los Angeles Times – “Home loan rates drop yet again to record low” (8-26-10)

“Freddie Mac said rates for both 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages dropped for the ninth time in the past 10 weeks. The mortgage giant’s weekly survey said the average rate that lenders were offering on the 30-year loan was 4.36% during the week that ended Thursday, down from 4.42% a week earlier and 5.14% a year ago. Borrowers would have paid 0.7% of the loan amount in upfront lender fees.”

Housing Wire – “Ranks of Underwater Borrowers Decline, Thanks to Foreclosure” (8-26-10)

“The number of Americans that owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth declined during the second quarter of 2010, but not because home prices have improved. Instead, according to a new report, increased foreclosures have helped flush underwater borrowers out of the nation’s housing markets. According to a report from information services provider CoreLogic (CLGX: 17.77 +0.28%) released Thursday morning, 11 million — or 23% — of all residential properties with mortgages were in a negative equity position at the end of the second quarter.”

Housing Wire – “Amherst Sees HARP Failing Over Fees” (8-26-10)

“The Home Affordable Refinance Program, which started early last year, was supposed to ’solve the key inhibitor to many borrowers refinancing in our current housing market – negative equity,’ the research firm’s MBS strategy group said in its most-recent mortgage insight report. However, high levels of due diligence and onerous fees for borrowers mean that those who should get the refi, likely won’t.”

Housing Wire – “Fed Buys $1.41bn of Treasuries” (8-26-10)

“The Federal Reserve purchased $1.41 billion of Treasury debt Thursday, including $1.14 billion of notes maturing in November 2021.”

Housing Wire – “Freddie Mac Mortgage Purchases and Issuances Fall in July, 2010 Total Pushes $207bn” (8-26-10)

“Mortgage purchases and issuance at government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac fell to nearly $28.4bn, from $30.9bn in June — bringing the year-to-date totally to $207.4bn so far in 2010. Refinance-loan purchase and guarantee volume at Freddie fell to $18.1bn in July, from $19.1bn in June, according to the firm’s monthly volume summary (download here). The aggregate unpaid principal balance of the GSE’s mortgage-related investments decreased by $13.6bn.”

Housing Wire – “Barclays Capital Expects Home Prices to Dip Another 7%” (8-26-10)

“Existing home sales plummeted 30% in July after the homebuyer tax credit brought forward 300,000 to 600,000 of housing demand, assuming 4 million homes sell annually, according to research today from Barclays Capital.”

Housing Wire – “Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Down 6.1% to 473,000″ (8-26-10)

“The Labor Department said Thursday that seasonally-adjusted initial claims slid to 473,000 last week, down from an upwardly revised 504,000 for the previous week. Briefing.com consensus had expected claims to drop to 485,000.”

Looking Back:

One year ago, the NAR reported nearly one-third of all existing homes sales were either short sales or foreclosures. Home sales in July 2009 increased by 30 percent from January 2009. Office space availability increased in the second quarter of 2009 in Orange County.

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 event 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 8/25/10

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

The MBA’s weekly survey shows that mortgage loan application volume increased by 4.9%. The Commerce Department reported new homes sales decreased 12.4% in July. According to Zillow, most Western states experienced a decrease in 20-year mortgage rates last week. California’s 30-year rate decreased to 4.30%.

In The News:

Mortgage Bankers Association - “Mortgage Refinance Applications Continue to Increase as Rates Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey” (8-25-10)

“The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 20, 2010.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 4.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4.5 percent compared with the previous week”

Washington Post – “New home sales hit lowest level” (8-25-10)

“The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new homes sold in July at an annual rate of 276,000, down 12.4 percent from June and down 32.4 percent compared with the same time last year”

Housing Wire – “Dow Closes Down Nearly 134 Points Following Bad Housing Data” (8-25-10)

“The American stock markets closed lower today following the news of homes sales dropping a staggering 27%. Stocks of big banks that have large mortgage-finance operations such as Citigroup (C: 3.68 -0.81%), Bank of America (BAC: 12.63 -0.08%), Wells Fargo (WFC: 23.4907 -0.63%) and JPMorgan (JPM: 36.179 -0.09%) closed lower despite doing large amounts of trading volume, according to the New York Stock Exchange”

Housing Wire – “Zillow: Rate on 30-Year Mortgage Remains Flat on Average” (8-25-10)

“Most western states saw a decline in rates: California’s current rate of 4.3% is down from 4.33% last week; Colorado’s at 4.17% is down from 4.19%; Washington’s at 4.29% is down from 4.33%; Illinois’ at 4.24% is down from 4.3%, and Florida’s at 4.2% is down from 4.21%.”

Housing Wire – “Deutsche Bank Summarizes Future of GSEs, Government Guarantee” (8-25-10)

“Key elements included re-launching of the MBS guarantee business backed by catastrophe insurance from the US government. This guarantee would implicitly serve as a backstop to the TBA pass-through market. In a panel with investors in the space, both of these aspects were considered key to maintaining adequate liquidity at the GSEs.”

Housing Wire – “House Prices Begin to Climb, Up 0.9% in Q2 in FHFA Index” (8-25-10)

“The agency said its second quarter HPI – calculated using information from mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – rose 0.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the prior quarter, yet fell 1.6% from the year ago. Still, prices of other goods and services in the second quarter were 3% higher than the year earlier. This puts the second quarter inflation-adjusted home price about 4.4% higher than last year, according to the FHFA.”

Housing Wire - “Americans Continue to Deleverage with Credit Card Debt Below $5k per Person” (8-25-10)

“The average national credit card borrower debt slid downward for the fifth consecutive quarter by 4.1% to $4,951, marking the first time the average has been below $5,000 since 2002, according to a report released today by TransUnion. This, coupled with the fact the national credit card delinquency rate for borrowers 90-plus days delinquent plummeted to 0.92% in Q210 (down 17.1% from the first quarter and 21.3% from last year) suggests that borrowers are saving more and spending more responsibly.”

Orange County Register – “Thinking of a refi? Tips for borrowers” (8-25-10)

“This summer’s bout of falling mortgage rates has sparked yet another frenzy of homeowners looking to refinance their loans. Now could be a good time to do it, too, with interest rates at their lowest in decades — lower than in 2001, lower than in 2003 and even lower than in 2004, when we last told you rates were at record lows. They’re lower now.”

Orange County Register – “O.C. housing risk 9th highest in U.S.” (8-25-10)

“Orange County home prices have 99.7% chance of price loss in two years, or by the winter of 2012. PMI Group doesn’t say how big of a price drop that would be, so the declines could be small or large. Nationwide, the average risk for price drops was 51.9% — down from 53.8% the previous quarter.”

Looking Back:

One year ago, the CAR reported Home sales increased 12 percent in July in California. Nationally home prices fell 6.1 percent in the second quarter from 2008, claimed the FHFA.

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 event 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 8/18/10

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

HAMP’s permanent loan modifications increased 5.9% by the Bank of America, while the number of applications for mortgages increased 13%.  On the same note, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association the number fo refinancings for mortgages increased 17.1% in the previous week, while the amount of people filing for bankruptcy increased 20%.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began searching for any bad loans or dishonest loan applications, while in other news Barney Frank believes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should no longer be allowed to operate.  However, there are no current plans for this to happen as the White House is trying to fix the problems.  Also, as the demand on homes decreases, the merging and aquisition of homebuilders may rise.  On a similar note, Veri-tax is now owned by  Blue Horizon Capital.  Finally, the Fed’s have come up with a plan to prepare for an increasing decline in the economy by using money made from securities to buy Treasuries.

In The News:

Housing Wire – “Bank of America Permanent HAMP Modifications Increase 5.9% in July” (8-18-10)

“Bank of America (BAC: 13.4305 +1.67%) pushed its total number of permanent mortgage workouts under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to 76,300 in July, a 5.9% increase from June.”

Bloomberg - “U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications Index Rose 13% Last Week on Refinancing” (8-18-10)

“The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. increased last week, propelled by a surge in refinancing as borrowing costs hovered near record lows.  The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index rose 13 percent in the week ended Aug. 13, the Washington-based group said today. Refinancing jumped 17 percent to reach the highest level since May 2009, while purchases fell 3.4 percent.”

DSNews -“MIT Commercial Property Price Index Posts 17% Gain in Q2″ (8-18-10)

“Transaction prices of commercial properties sold by major institutional investors surged over 17 percent in the second quarter of 2010, according to an index developed and published by the Center for Real Estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).”

CNBC - “Phase Out Fannie & Freddie Over Time: Rep. Frank” (8-18-10)

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be abolished but this has to be done over a period of time, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee, told CNBC on Tuesday.  Frank agreed that phasing out the housing behemoths would help bolster private mortgage financing, but stressed that the process would take time.”

Bloomberg - “Homebuilder Mergers Loom as `Elephant in Room,’ Citigroup Says” (8-18-10)

“Homebuilder takeovers may increase as tumbling demand for new houses and a faltering U.S. economic recovery spur companies to consolidate to gain market share, according to Citigroup Inc.”

RisMedia - “The Real Estate Book Introduces New Search Tool for House Hunters on the Go, Launches App for iPhone, iTouch, iPad” (8-18-10)

“For on-the-go home buyers, The Real Estate Book / RealEstateBook.com, the leading publisher of real estate information online and in print in North America, launches a new application that provides iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users with access to all its listings – millions of homes for sale across the U.S. and around the world.”

DSNews - “Private Investment Firm Acquires Veri-tax” (8-18-10)

“Blue Horizon Capital, a private investment firm based in Los Angeles, California, acquired Tustin, California-headquartered Veri-tax LLC late last month.  A provider of tax verification and fraud management solutions for the mortgage lending and consumer credit industry, Veri-tax clients include two of the nation’s top four banks, as well as a slew of other lenders, originators, and financial institutions.”

Wall Street Journal - “Banks Face Fight Over Mortgage-Loan Buybacks” (8-18-10)

“While mortgage delinquencies are easing, banks are facing a new round of losses from loans made just before the financial crisis, and the fight to keep them off their balance sheets is intensifying.  Leading the charge to make originators repurchase their loans are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-owned finance agencies that guaranteed the mortgages. The firms are sorting through delinquent loans for signs of any violations of the representations and warranties, known as “reps and warranties.” In essence, they are looking for lies made by borrowers or lenders in loan applications.”

DSNews - ”Industry Stakeholders Descend on Washington to Debate GSE Reform” (8-18-10)

“Will Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still be here in three years? Or will they be replaced by a new federal mortgage agency? Will the government begin a grand exodus from the housing market and leave the American Dream to the private sector?”

Orange County Register - “Realogy CEO Takes Part in U.S. Government Conference on the Future of Housing Finance” (8-18-10)

“Lenders seized fewer homes in July for a third straight month, repossessing nearly 10% fewer homes than in June.  Meanwhile, default notices filed against homeowners who have missed three or more house payments increased 9% last month from June’s levels.”

DSNews - “Rapidly Rising Inventory, Home Price Pressures in Store: Altos Research” (8-18-10)

“Real estate data provider Altos Research says its newest housing market report confirms what the company has been saying for some time: the mini “boom” of this spring was created by seasonal demand, with some extra help from the federal homebuyer tax credits.”

Housing Wire – “Falling Housing Prices Drag Down Consumer Spending for 3rd Straight Month: Deloitte” (8-18-10)

“The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index, which tracks consumer cash flow to predict future spending, declined for the third straight month in July due to weaknesses in the post-tax credit housing market.”

DSNews - “TransUnion: Mortgage Delinquencies Drop for Second Straight Quarter” (8-18-10)

“The national mortgage loan delinquency rate – measuring the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days behind on their home loan payments – fell again in the second quarter of 2010, suggesting the credit conditions in the housing sector have begun to stabilize, according to TransUnion.”

RisMedia - “Builders Shrink Homes to Fit Buyers’ Newly Modest Tastes” (8-18-10)

“Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services, announced that its chief executive officer Richard A. Smith traveled to Washington, D.C., today to participate in the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance. The invitation-only event is being hosted by Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan.”

“The Fed’s move to begin buying long-term Treasuries with proceeds from maturing mortgage-backed securities opens up the possibility of quantitative easing if the economy declines further, according to Deutsche Bank.”

CNBC - “Call for Careful Overhaul of US Mortgage Lending” (8-18-10)

“The US does not intend to wind down completely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the large government-sponsored mortgage companies that are eating up billions of taxpayer dollars, given the fragile state of the housing market.”

CNBC - “White House Taking Steps to Fix Fannie and Feddie” (8-18-10)

WebCPA - Bankruptcy Filings Jump 20 Percent (8-18-10)

“Bankruptcy filings rose 20 percent in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2010, the highest number of bankruptcy filings for any period since many of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 took effect.”
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 8/17/10

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

Statistics from MDA DataQuick show 18,946 new and resale homes were sold in Southern California in July. Frank Nothaft of Freddie Mac announced that refinancing activity has accounted for over 80% of conventional loan activity. National housing starts increased by 7.1 percent last month, according to the NAHB. The MBA expressed concerns that recent policy changes restricting seller concessions went too far and may damage the industry.

In The News:

DQNews - “Southern California Home Sales and Median Price Dip in July” (8-17-10)

“A total of 18,946 new and resale homes were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in July. That was down 20.6 percent from 23,871 in June, and down 21.4 percent from 24,104 for July 2009, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.”

NAHB - “Housing Starts Rise 1.7 Percent in July” (8-17-10)

“Nationwide housing starts inched up 1.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000 units in July from a downwardly revised figure in the previous month, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures released today. The gain occurred entirely on the multifamily side, with single-family housing production falling 4.2 percent to 432,000 units.”

Housing Wire – “MBA Prefers FHA Seller Concessions Lowered to 4%” (8-17-10)

“In a letter to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the MBA said its members urge the federal agency ‘to ensure policies do not reach too far and needlessly discourage home buying at a time when the housing market is still fragile.’ Last month, HUD announced possible policy changes within the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) aimed at boosting capital reserves. The changes include reducing the limit on seller concessions to 3% from 6%; using a FICO credit score of 500 as a minimum for consideration in FHA programs; and lowering the maximum loan-to-value to 90% for all borrowers with credit scores less than 580.”

Housing Wire – “Fannie Mae Sees Housing Activity Flat in 2H” (8-17-10)

“The GSE also said continued uncertainty and a slower-than-normal recovery points to overall GDP growth of 2.5% for the rest of the year. In July, analysts at Fannie Mae’s economics and mortgage market analysis group projected growth of 2.8%, which was down from a June estimate of 3.2%. The agency expects the low, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages to boost refinance activity but not result in any sort of refinance boom. The current average rate of 4.5% is expected to remain throughout 2010.”

Housing Wire – “John Burns: GSE Renting Options Will Increase Demand and Limit Supply” (8-17-10)

“The government should create an apartment real estate investment trust (REIT) to rent out foreclosed properties — a method that would avoid flooding the housing market with foreclosed properties, a real estate consultant said as President Obama’s ‘Future of Housing Finance Conference’ kicked off Tuesday. John Burns, CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting, said the government-created REIT would be self-sustaining via rental fees. The government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, would hire outside property-management firms to manage the rental properties, Burns said.”

Housing Wire – “Refinancing Accounts for 80% of Loan Activity over Last 2 Months: Nothaft” (8-17-10)

“Over the last two months, refinancing activity has accounted for more than 80% of all conventional loan activity, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac. In a Featured Perspectives report out Monday, Nothaft said Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have purchased 1.4m refinance loans, including nearly 200,000 loans that have gone through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).”

Housing Wire – “Bank of America Merrill Lynch: Bearish Sentiment Eases” (8-17-10)

“BofAML, a unit of Bank of America, said the bearish sentiment for the global economic outlook and corporate earnings has eased. The most recent data show 5% of survey respondents expect the global economy will improve in the next year. In July, 12% percent of respondents predicted the world economy would deteriorate, BofAML said. But recession fears seem to have subsided, as 78% of fund managers surveyed last week don’t expect a double-dip recession. Still, 73% continue to see ‘below-trend growth and inflation.’”

Housing Wire – “TransUnion: Housing Begins to Stabilize as Delinquent Loans Fall in Q210″ (8-17-10)

“National mortgage loan delinquency rates for loans delinquent 60 days or more fell for the second quarter in a row to 6.67%, according to TransUnion’s quarterly trend analysis released Tuesday; a sign the housing sector is beginning to stabilize. The 1.48% drop in Q210 follows an 18.52% drop in Q110 for loans delinquent 60 days or more. Delinquent loans accounted for 6.77% of the all loans in Q110. The current delinquency rate is still up 14.8% from the same quarter last year when the rate was 5.81%.”

Housing Wire – “Private Sector Modifications Increase 10% in June” (8-17-10)

“The housing industry conducted 123,000 permanent modifications through private programs in June, a 10% increase from the 112,000 done in May, according to Hope Now, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, insurers and nonprofit counselors.”

Housing Wire – “Bankrate: Loan Closing Costs Jump 36.6% Year-Over-Year” (8-17-10)

“The average origination and third-party fees on a $200,000 mortgage increased 36.6% to $3,741 from last year’s average of $2,739, according to Bankrate’s annual mortgage fee survey. Lender origination fees increased to $1,463, or 22.8%, in 2010 from $1,192 in 2009, while the average total third-party fees rose 47.2%, to $2,277 from the year-ago average of $1,547.”

Housing Wire – “Homebuyer Demand All But a ‘Standstill’: Altos Research” (8-17-10)

“The average national house price was $474,946 in July, according to the Altos 10-city composite price index. The index fell ’significantly’ from its high in the summer of last year, when buyers were taking advantage of the homebuyer tax credit. It has declined for the past 11 months. The tax credit expired in April.”

Bloomberg - “Home Depot Profit Tops Analysts’ Estimates as Sales Increase” (8-17-10)

“Net income increased 6.8 percent to $1.19 billion, or 72 cents a share, in the quarter ended Aug. 1, from $1.12 billion, or 66 cents, a year earlier, Atlanta-based Home Depot said today in a statement. Analysts projected 71 cents, the average of 23 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.”

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 8/11/10

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

The MBA’s weekly survey shows mortgage application volume increased by 0.6 percent. The Obama will provide the Treasury Department and HUD with $3 billion for aiding homeowners. The NAR reports that most U.S. metro areas experienced a decrease in home prices during the second quarter, and distressed homes accounted for 32 percent of second quarter sales.

In The News:

Mortgage Bankers Association – “Mortgage Applications Essentially Unchanged Despite Lowest Rates in MBA Weekly Survey” (8-11-10)

“The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 6, 2010.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week.”

Associated Press - “Obama administration to provide $3B in housing aid” (8-11-10)

“The Treasury Department says it will send $2 billion to 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average for a year. They will use the money for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states have already designed such programs. Another $1 billion will go to a new program being run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It will provide homeowners with emergency zero-interest rate loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.”

NAR - “Broad Stabilization in Second Quarter Metro Area Home Prices with Strong Sales” (8-11-10)

“In the second quarter, 100 out of 155 metropolitan statistical areas1 (MSAs) had higher median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the second quarter of 2009, including 14 with double-digit increases; two were unchanged and 53 metros showed price declines. In the first quarter of this year 91 areas had higher prices, while only 26 MSAs experienced annual price gains in second quarter of 2009. The national median existing single-family price was $176,900 in the second quarter, up 1.5 percent from $174,200 in the same period of 2009. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less. Distressed homes accounted for 32 percent of second quarter sales, down from 36 percent a year ago.”

Sign on San Diego – “Price reductions on San Diego homes increase” (8-11-10)

“As of Aug. 1, 23 percent of all the homes for sale in the City of San Diego had seen a price reduction, says a report by Trulia.com, a real estate website. That’s compared to July where 20 percent of the homes for sale in San Diego had experienced a price cut. The average price reduction was 8 percent. On a national level, Trulia estimated that 25 percent of all home listings have had at least one price reduction. The average size of the cut was 10 percent of the original list price, chopping an estimated $30.1 billion in value.”

Housing Wire – “Foreclosures Down 5% in First Half of 2010: Foreclosure Listings Nationwide” (8-11-10)

“Foreclosure Listings Nationwide said second-quarter foreclosures rose 1% from the year ago and declined 4% from the prior quarter. More than 1.6m properties began the foreclosure process during the six months ending June 30, representing a nearly 7% decline from a year ago.”

Housing Wire – “Fitch Sees $100bn in Special Servicing CMBS Loans by Year End” (8-11-10)

“Commercial real estate loans that require special servicing continue to climb with the total volume projected to reach $100bn by the end of 2010. These loans are used as collateral in commercial backed mortgage securitizations (CMBS).”

Housing Wire – “FHA Postpones Premium Changes until October” (8-11-10)

“Last week, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner David Stevens announced plans for implementing FHA’s new mortgage insurance premium structure. Based on industry feedback to the announcement, the FHA postponed the premium fee changes on all new case numbers for one month, and will now implement them on Oct. 4, 2010.”

Housing Wire – “Most Borrowers Choose Fixed-Rate Mortgages for Refinancing, Freddie Says” (8-11-10)

“Borrowers who are refinancing their homes are taking advantage of the lowest fixed-mortgage rates in the past 50 years, according to Freddie Mac’s quarterly Product Transition Report today. The report indicates 95% of refinance loans completed in Q210 were processed with a fixed-rate mortgage (FRM).”

Bloomberg - “Fed Reverses Exit Plans, Sets $2 Trillion Floor for Holdings” (8-11-10)

“Officials directed the New York Fed’s trading desk to reinvest what economists estimate will be $15 billion to $20 billion a month in maturing agency and mortgage-backed securities back into U.S. Treasuries. The purchases will help keep Treasury yields and mortgage costs low and prevent the level of monetary stimulus from shrinking further.”

Realty Times – “Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Self-Directed IRAs” (8-11-10)

“IRAs Can Purchase Almost Anything. A common misconception about IRAs is that purchasing anything other than CDs, stocks, mutual funds or annuities is illegal in an IRA. This is false. The only prohibitions contained in the Internal Revenue Code for IRAs are investments in life insurance contracts and in ‘collectibles.’ Since there are so few restrictions contained in the law, almost anything else which can be documented can be purchased in your IRA. A ’self-directed’ IRA allows any investment not expressly prohibited by law. Common investment choices include real estate, both domestic and foreign, options, secured and unsecured notes, including first and second liens against real estate, C corporation stock, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, trusts and a whole lot more.”

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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186-TNG Radio – Daniel Phelan 8-7-10

Friday, August 6th, 2010

daniel-phelan

Daniel Phelan

CEO of Pacific Southwest Realty Services


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September 17th, 2010, The Norris Group returns with its award winning event I Survived Real Estate 2010. The Norris Group has assembled an incredible line up of industry experts to discuss the state of REO from the inside. Topics will include regulatory intervention and aftermath, bulk buying, myths and facts, and opportunities emerging for real estate professionals. 100 percent of the proceeds support the Orange County affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This event would not be possible without generous help from the following platinum partners: Foreclosure Radar and Sean O’Toole, the San Diego Creative Real Estate InvestorsAssociation and Bill Tan, Investors Workshops and Shawn Watkins and Angel Bronsgeest, Invest Club for Women and Iris Veneracion and Bobby Alexander, San Jose Real Estate Investors Association and Geraldine Barry, Claudia Buys Houses, Frye Wiles, MVT Productions, and White House Catering.

This week Bruce is joined by Daniel Phelan. Daniel is the CEO of Pacific Southwest Realty Services. He is responsible for this company’s mortgage operations. Pacific Southwest Realty Services is an investment firm focused on commercial real estate. It represents and advises both real estate clients and institutional investors in debt. It is involved in equity placement, strategic planning, property sales and loan administration.

In 2006, Daniel’s company was heavily involved in the financing of commercial real estate. His company financed $1.5 billion of commercial real estate per year for every year of the boom.

Daniel does not think that investors perceived a high level of risk in the prices they were paying for real estate during the boom. Prices had been steadily increasing since July 1993. Commercial real estate had a continuous growth pattern all the way to 2007. If you had only been in the business for 15 years and had only seen positive growth, then you probably wouldn’t feel at risk.

The lending side was probably looking at the boom similarly. There was a lot of competition, because Wall Street entered the market. There was a tremendous amount of debt capital in the market, and it was extremely competitively priced. These prices made real estate investments that much more enticing. People saw the need to get their capital invested in some form, and commercial real estate was perceived to be a safe investment.

In 2006 to 2007, down payments were reduced because of the confidence of the market. Borrowers were getting into commercial properties with only 20 percent. Historically, you could probably get most properties financed with 25 to 30 percent down. However, 75 percent is considered to be a more appropriate and safe number.

There are two tiers of debt. Most banks is recourse, but most non-bank debt is nonrecourse. 99.9 percent of the debt for life insurance companies and pension funds is nonrecourse. Because Daniel’s company works with these kinds of firms, they could only look to the real estate for satisfaction of a debt following a default. From 2005 to 2007, many banks backed off their recourse loans and went nonrecourse.

The source of capital during the boom came from portfolio lenders, such as life insurance companies and banks, and nonportfolio lenders, such as securitized lenders and Wall Street lenders. If you were trying to accomplish high loan to value with lower rates, then you probably got involved in the commercial mortgage backed securities market. You would expect a rate of 110-120 over treasuries. Those loans would be pooled into $2 billion pools, and then sold on Wall Street.

Mortgages made near 2006 are not doing well right now. Underwriting standards were very loose at that time. The default rates for those issuances are above 5 percent, and sometimes above 10 percent.

Mezzanine financing can be compared to second trust deed. It is a debt placed behind a first trust deed. It is used for taking cash out of a property, cover tenant improvements, or buy out existing partners to recapitalize the partnership.

During the boom, mezzanine debt could be taken at a 7 to 8 percent rate on the low end. The mezzanine debt today is going for above 10 percent. It is not available for the same loan to value rate. In 2006, you could get 90 percent loan to value. Today, you would be lucky if you got mezzanine debt for 65 percent loan to value. You may not be able to get it at all.

If you intend to occupy a commercial building, you could get 90 percent financing from a bank loan. This is only available to owner occupants, and it is only available in a purchase situation, not a refinance situation. If you were buying a multi-tenant investment property, you probably would get financing from life insurance companies. Banks are beginning to come back to the commercial investment market. With these deals, banks are looking for a full relationship with bank accounts and operating accounts. During the second quarter, the commercial mortgage backed securities market starting coming back. However, this market is not coming back quickly. Daniel’s company funded its first two cmbs loans since 2007.

Daniel’s company always looks at the operating history and income of a property, and then he makes a reasonable expectation of how well that property will operate over time. The projection for those properties is typically not very good. In 2006-07 we had not been hit by unemployment. Most tenants were performing well, and occupancy rates were above 90 percent.

Many commercial loans are coming due in 2012. These loans were underwritten in 2002. These loans are going to cause a big problem. In 2002, underwriting standards were not that “out of wack”. Prices have come down a lot, but they are still greater than what they were in 2002. Daniel think there is plenty of capital to refinance the debt on those properties, and in many cases, lenders are willing to roll over those loans. The bigger problem comes in during 2014 to 2017. During these years, you will have loans on properties with significantly diminished values. At that time, you may start having tenant default issues.

Construction on commercial real estate is not going to perform well. Daniel does not know of any bank that did a commercial construction loan in 2008-09. However, there are some banks now that are willing to loan on a multifamily property now.

Residential real estate is beginning to experience a large number of strategic defaults. Commercial loans are also beginning to default, but not as badly. Commercial property owners can make their payments so long as 70 percent of the tenants are making their payments. Commercial loans are made based on the ability of a property to make income. The commercial property owners that will experience difficulty are the ones that have let go of workers. They may have a large amount of space, but are only using a small portion of it. When their leases come due, these owners will probably move out to a smaller space. This will hurt larger commercial properties.

Most cap rates during the peak were around 6 to 7 percent. For multifamily properties and apartments, cap rates were around 5 percent. As of last year, most cap rates have moved up to 8 to 9 percent. The reason why we have not experienced a dramatic change in cap rates is because of Fannie and Freddy’s involvement.

Daniel believes we are going to see more problems in 2010 rather than improvement. Sales are going to start again, but they are going to have to pay 35 percent down rather than 25 percent.

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.

Thank you for being a Gold Sponsor for I Survived Real Estate 2010: Delmae Properties, Elite Auctions, Entrust California, Inland Empire Investors Forum, Keystone CPA, Las Brisas Escrow, Leivas Financial Services, Mike Cantu, North San Diego Real Estate Investors Association, Northern California Real Estate Investors Association, Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine, Realty 411 Magazine, San Jose Real Estate Investor Association, Tony Alvarez, and Westin South Coast Plaza.

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The Norris Group Real Estate News Roundup 8/5/10

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Today’s News Synopsis:

Freddie Mac reports 30-year fixed mortgage rates have fallen below 4.5%. Home prices increased 8.1% from this time last year, according to Clear Capital. Statistics from the Department of Labor show initial unemployment insurance claims rose 19,000 last week.

In The News:

Los Angeles Times – “Home loan rates decline again as inflation fears abate” (8-5-10)

“Record low mortgage rates are still declining, according to Freddie Mac, which said lenders were offering 30-year fixed loans at less than 4.5% this week and 15-year loans at less than 4%. ”

Inman - “Agent, broker confidence hits low point” (8-5-10)

“Real estate broker and agent confidence fell to a new low in July, according to a survey by real estate marketing and technology provider Point2 Technologies. Point2’s Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) fell 8.85 percent last month to 5.24, from 5.76 in June. The index is based on survey responses on a 10-point scale; one equals ‘bad’ or ‘pessimistic,’ and 10 equals ‘good’ or ‘optimistic.’”

Mortgage Bankers “MBA Applauds Senate Passage of Bills to Help Stabilize FHA Multifamily and Single Family Programs” (8-5-10)

“The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today lauded Senate passage of H.R. 5872, a bill to increase the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) multifamily commitment authority, and H.R. 5981, which would allow FHA to increase its annual premiums for its single family program. Both bills passed the Senate last night and will now go to the President for his signature.”

Housing Wire - “Valuation Partners CEO: HVCC Will Have Lasting Impact” (8-5-10)

“While HVCC is ending, it will have a lasting impact. Important tenets of the HVCC were clearly reinforced by the recent Dodd-Frank legislation, such as appraiser independence, and the separation between appraiser engagement and loan production activities remains. In fact, this separation has been further embedded in the seller servicing guidelines of the GSEs and with most major acquirers of mortgage loans. I would expect future oversight, guidelines, and legislation to largely parallel these fundamentals.”

Housing Wire – “Tax Credit Tailwind Lifts July Home Prices 8%: Clear Capital” (8-4-10)

“July house prices gained 8.1% from the same point last year, slowing somewhat from the 8.8% growth measured in June as the effect of the homebuyer tax credit begins to fade, according to data provider Clear Capital. Clear Capital’s Home Data Index Market Report tracks housing prices along a rolling quarter-by-quarter basis. July house prices increased 7.9% from the previous three months, an improvement from the 5.2% growth seen in June. Alex Villacorta, senior statistician at Clear Capital said home prices are continuing their growth from the beginning of the year.”

Housing Wire – “Weekly Jobless Claims Rise More than Expected, to 479,000″ (8-5-10)

“Initial unemployment insurance claims rose 19,000 in the week ending July 31, marking a departure from market expectations of a small decline last week. Jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised figure of 460,000, according to new data today from the US Department of Labor. The four-week moving average rose 5,250 to 458,500.”

Inman - “7 sales strategies for any market” (8-5-10)

“Van Stensel says she has no problems obtaining seller permission for price reductions. The reason is simple. To work with her, the sellers must agree to reduce their price by 3 percent after every 10 showings or every three weeks — whichever comes first.”

Inman - “FHA premiums face new restructuring” (8-5-10)

“Faced with rising losses on FHA-guaranteed loans, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) hiked upfront premiums in April, raising them from 1.75 percent of the loan being insured to 2.25 percent. Applications for FHA-guaranteed loans fell nearly 20 percent after the increase went into effect, according to a weekly survey conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association.”

Orange County Register – “Home-price gains called ‘anomaly’” (8-5-10)

“One clear weak point is the housing market, which crammed two years of sales into six months (in response to tax credits). Even those recent gains in median home prices grossly overstate the reality. Home prices are up from a year ago, but the gains in median prices is a statistical anomaly, driven primarily by the shift in the sales mix. In early 2009, home loans were only available up to $417,000, which meant almost no homes sold for over $500,000. The return of jumbo mortgages has dramatically increased the sales of higher priced homes while the inventory of lower prices homes evaporated in response to the homebuyer tax credit.”

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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