According to Bloomberg, a big story in the news is the real estate property for several market chains, including Ruby Tuesday and Cracker Barrel, is actually worth more than the restaurants themselves.  In the next several years, Bank of America plans on cutting 30,000 jobs.  Housing Wire reported Standard & Poor’s parent company will no longer only be McGraw-Hill, but will be splitting into two smaller companies: McGraw-Hill Markets and McGraw-Hill Education.

In The News:

Housing Wire - “Standard & Poor’s parent company splits” (9-12-11)

“Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is moving under a smaller umbrella corporation.  Parent company McGraw-Hill is bifurcating operations, with each separate company renamed. The two companies will be called McGraw-Hill Markets and McGraw-Hill Education.”

DS News - “Distressed Real Estate Makes Its Way Into Obama’s Jobs Plan” (9-12-11)

“In addition to refinancing assistance for mortgage holders, President Barack Obama’s proposed American Jobs Act includes a handful of elements that relate to the distressed real estate market, all part of what the administration has labeled Project Rebuild.”

Mortgage Bankers Association - “Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Delinquencies Down in Second Quarter for Four of Five Major Investor Groups” (9-12-11)

“Commercial/multifamily mortgage delinquency rates among four out of five major investor groups decreased in the second quarter of 2011, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Delinquency Report.”

O.C. Register - “BofA to cut 30,000 workers” (9-12-11)

“Bank of America plans a sweeping overall of its nationwide operations — cost-cutting endeavors that will trim is payrolls by 30,000 positions over the next several years.”

DS News - “Mortgage Fraud Declines: Report” (9-12-11)

“Mortgage fraud grew in the second quarter of the year but was still down from where it was a year earlier, according to the Second Quarter 2011 Mortgage Fraud Index, released Monday by MortgageDaily.com.”

Housing Wire - “Fitch downgrades homebuilders as housing market softens” (9-12-11)

“Fitch Ratings issued a negative outlook for several publicly traded homebuilders, including KB Home (KBH: 5.68 +0.18%) and said housing is expected to remain soft through at least 2012.”

Realtor Magazine - “12 Housing Markets Seeing the Biggest Turnarounds” (9-12-11)

“The National Association of Home Builders is debuting a new economic index that highlights metro areas that are seeing the most improvement in their housing markets. The First American Improving Markets Index reveals 12 metro areas that have seen a turnaround for at least six months in three core economic areas — housing permits, employment, and housing prices.”

Bloomberg - “Rush to Restaurant Real Estate Brings 53% Increase in Valuation: Real M&A” (9-12-11)

“The cheapest restaurants in America are luring activist investors who are betting companies from Ruby Tuesday Inc. (RT) to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (CBRL) can make more money selling their own real estate than food.”

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.

Sources:
California Housing Starts Post Decline in September, CBIA Announces
September Existing-Home Sales Show Another Strong Gain
Foreclosures increase in 65% of MSAs in 3Q: RealtyTrac
Commercial Property Prices in U.S. Decline to Eight-Year Low, Moody’s Says
California Mortgage Defaults Rise in Third Quarter
Banks `Want to Sit Down’ With States to Discuss Foreclosures
Wells Fargo Will File More Foreclosure Affidavits After Lapses
NYC Judge Foreclosure Smackdown Shows Problems With Bank “Technicalities” Defense
Title insurers seek to insulate themselves from foreclosure losses
Insurers Ease on Amnesty
FICO Mortgage Score

Today’s News Synopsis:

Fannie Mae intends to end the Payment Reduction Plan. McGraw-Hill Construction (MHP: 37.65 +0.32%) expects construction starts in 2011 to increase 8%. According to a survey from the Washinton Post, 1/3 of Americans are concerned about their ability to continue making their housing payments. The U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the 3rd quarter.

In The News:

Inman - “Most are worried about housing payments” (10-29-10)

“More than half of Americans are worried about not having enough money to pay their mortgage or rent, according to a survey from the Washington Post released today. A third of respondents were ‘very concerned’ about their ability to make housing payments, while a fifth were ‘somewhat concerned,’ adding up to 53 percent of respondents. This contrasts to the results of similar surveys the newspaper conducted in February 2009 and December 2008.”

San Francisco Chronicle – “U.S. Economy Picked Up in Third Quarter on Consumer Spending” (10-29-10)

“The U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter as consumer spending climbed the most in almost four years, a sign the expansion is developing staying power. The increase in gross domestic product matched the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed a 1.7 percent gain the prior three months, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington.”

The Sacramento Bee – “$8.3 million available in Cash for Appliances” (10-29-10)

“California’s Cash for Appliances program had about $8.3 million in rebate funds remaining as of Tuesday night.”

Housing Wire – “LPS: no defects in related foreclosures, no fee-splitting” (10-29-10)

“Lender Processing Services (LPS: 28.84 +4.87%) began reducing its foreclosure signing services back in 2008 and stands by its mortgage processing services. Further, when the firm caught a manager robo-signing foreclosure documents, the only such case it says it found, that manager was immediately dismissed and documents remediated.”

Housing Wire – “Fannie Mae retires HAMP option for mortgage payment reductions” (10-29-10)

“Fannie Mae will end its Payment Reduction Plan (PRP), a program designed to give borrowers ineligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program temporary payment relief while the servicer works toward another foreclosure alternative.”

Housing Wire – “Construction market to rise 8% in 2011: McGraw-Hill” (10-29-10)

“McGraw-Hill Construction (MHP: 37.65 +0.32%) said construction starts in 2011 are expected to advance 8% to $445.5 billion, with single-family and multifamily starts leading the way.”

Housing Wire – “Barclays Capital sees limited impact to CMBS from MERS litigation” (10-29-10)

“Barclays Capital analysts don’t expect potential lawsuits against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems to result in any significant issue in commercial mortgage-backed securities valuations.”

Inman - “Risk and rewards in Fed’s plan” (10-29-10)

“Monetary ‘easing’ is a central bank’s standard antidote to recession, tried and effective hundreds of times here and elsewhere. The central bank cuts its cost of money and ‘injects’ reserves into banks by buying Treasurys from them with invented money. These operations ignite lending and borrowing, and we recover.”

Looking Back:

One year ago, Moody’s estimated that prices would continue to decline until Q3 of 2010. According to Freddie Mac, interest rates on 30-year fixed rate loans increased to 5.03 percent. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of vacant properties rose to 18.7 million, but the homeownership rate maintained at 67.6 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 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.

A Rasmussen survey finds that 31% of homeowners expect their home prices to fall over the next year, while 50% expect their home values to increase over the next 5. According to the NAHB, builder confidence increased for the first time in 5 months. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports over 66%  of small businesses experienced declines in sales and revenue during the first half of the year. Robert Curran believes demand for housing will not return any earlier than late winter.

In The News:

MSNBC - “Qualified? Home lenders saying not so fast” (10-17-10)

“Banks are a lot pickier today. To protect themselves from defaults, they have sharply increased underwriting requirements — and paperwork — needed to get a loan. They’ve adopted less agreeable views on credit cards and other forms of revolving debt, investor properties and income history.”

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis – “32% of Homeowners Expect Home Prices to Drop Next Year, Highest Short-Term Pessimism Ever; Recognition Phase Underway” (10-16-10)

“A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 32% expect the value of their home to decrease over the next year, the highest finding since Rasmussen Reports began asking the question regularly in December 2008. Just 21% believe the value of their home will go up over the next year.”

NAHB - “Builder Confidence Improves in October” (10-18-10)

“Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose three points to 16 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for October, released today. This was the first improvement registered by the HMI in five months, and returns the index to a level last seen in June of this year.”

Housing Wire – “Fannie issues appraiser guidance ahead of looming HVCC replacement” (10-18-10)

“Fannie Mae released appraiser independence guidance as the Federal Reserve continues work on a replacement for the Home Valuation Code of Conduct due in October. When President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank bill into law in July, regulators had 90 days to write new rules replacing the HVCC.”

Housing Wire – “NY Fed study shows limited lending to small businesses” (10-18-10)

“Data from a recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed more than two-thirds of small businesses experienced declines in sales and revenue during the first half of the year, implying a broad weakening of finances in the industry. But only half of loan applicants were approved.”

Housing Wire – “Homebuyer tax credit casts shadow on mortgage market until next year” (10-18-10)

“During a Fitch Ratings teleconference Monday titled: Can U.S. Housing ‘Normalize’?, lead homebuilding analyst Robert Curran put the earliest return of demand for homes at late winter, with any substantial improvement not expected until the spring.”

Housing Wire – “Home construction numbers show a little optimism in residential building” (10-18-10)

“Residential building increased 6% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $116.7 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.”

Bloomberg - “Obama’s Foreclosure Inaction Is Katrina Redux: Kevin Hassett” (10-18-10)

“Delayed foreclosures and litigation regarding how they are carried out might cost U.S. lenders $10 billion, according to one new estimate.”

Bloomberg - “Bank of America Plans to Revive Foreclosure Process on 102,000 U.S. Homes” (10-18-10)

“Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank by assets, said it will start resubmitting foreclosure affidavits next week in 102,000 cases in which judgment is pending.”

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.

Statistics from the Federal Reserve show the median borrower who ‘strategically’ defaults doesn’t walk away from the mortgage until the amount owed exceeds the value of the home by 62%. McGraw-Hill Construction reports new construction starts increased 3% in April. According to CoreLogic, more than 11 million borrowers currently owe more on their mortgage than it is worth. Experian statistics show that 19 percent of all defaults in 2009 were strategic.

In The News:

Press Enterprise – “Crash opens market for luxury apartments” (6-26-10)

“While homebuilders are aiming at a more frugal consumer by cutting frills, some apartment developments in San Bernardino and Riverside counties are going upscale with features like granite countertops and hardwood floors and rents comparable to a home mortgage. The Lewis Group of Cos., an Upland-based developer of master-planned communities and apartments, figures that partly because many people have been burned by the housing crash, there is demand from prospective tenants moving out of houses who want and can afford a house-like apartment experience.”

Chicago Tribune – “Moral bankruptcy?” (6-27-10)

“Some have struggled unsuccessfully to keep their homes, and others have just walked away. Phillips decided he wanted revenge and was willing to ruin his credit record for it. When a short sale didn’t work out as planned, the 32-year-old Chicagoan opted for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, a move that will leave Phillips with little except for the scant possessions in his one-bedroom condo. It also will leave his lender, Chase, with little except for, eventually, a condo that has lost value. Meanwhile, Phillips continues to live there, mortgage-free.”

Los Angeles Times – “Undone by their dreams” (6-26-10)

“In the last four years, according to the San Bernardino County assessor’s office, 373 of the 941 single-family homes in Mission Crest — nearly 40% — have been foreclosed on. Thirty-five have gone through foreclosure more than once. Properties that once sold for nearly $400,000 are worth less than $200,000.”

Mercury News – “Santa Clara County assessor adds Web tools to help homeowners” (6-28-10)

“More than 100,000 residents will be given access to a special website — tracking home sales by neighborhood — where they can see precisely why the assessor’s office decided to assign a particular home its worth.”

Wall Street Journal – “How Far Underwater Do Borrowers Sink Before Walking Away?” (6-28-10)

“At what point do borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth decide to stop paying the mortgage? A new study from economists at the Federal Reserve Board aims to answer that question. The research found that the median borrower who ‘strategically’ defaults doesn’t walk away from the mortgage until the amount owed exceeds the value of the home by 62%.”

Housing Wire – “Monday Morning Cup of Coffee” (6-28-10)

“The House Financial Services Committee issued a statement Sunday urging ‘bold action’ on the Dodd-Frank bill, the reconciled financial reform bill agreed to by a Congressional committee last week and named after Sen Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Rep Barney Frank (D-MA). The final bill now travels to separate House and Senate votes and then, upon passage by Congress, to a Presidential signature into law.”

Housing Wire – “Surge in Nonresidential Building Boosts May Construction Starts” (6-28-10)

“New construction starts increased 3% from April to May, according to a monthly survey by McGraw-Hill Construction. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of total construction starts was $406.3bn in May, up 3% from $392,988bn in April. For the first five months of 2010, the unadjusted value of total construction starts was $162bn, down 2% from $165bn during the same period of 2009.”

Housing Wire – “The Slippery Slope of Short Sales” (6-28-10)

“More than 11 million borrowers currently owe more on their mortgage than it is worth, according to CoreLogic (CLGX: 18.11 +0.28%)—and this group of borrowers would love nothing more than to replace their current underwater mortgage with whatever the accepted ‘short sale price’ is deemed to be. I don’t know that such a response on the part of borrowers could be deemed irrational, either. Many will ask themselves why they have a mortgage at a higher amount, especially if the bank is willing to sell the house to another buyer for less money.”

Housing Wire – “G20 Applauds Dodd-Frank Bill in Pushing its own Global Financial Reform” (6-28-10)

“The meeting of G20 nations concluded this weekend in Toronto with communiqués reflecting a strong support for the US financial reform, called the Dodd-Frank bill. Indeed, information released from the summit show a mix of ambitious plans for growth, mixed with further calls to reduce spending, especially among countries with higher debt burdens.”

Housing Wire – “Experian Finds 19% of Mortgage Defaults in Q209 are Strategic” (6-28-10)

“Of all mortgage delinquencies in the second quarter of 2009 (Q209), nearly one in five — or 19% — were considered strategic defaults, according to the latest study of default trends by information services firm Experian.”

Bloomberg - “Commercial Mortgages Fail to Pay as Lending Increases” (6-28-10)

“Between 50 percent and 60 percent of loans on skyscrapers, hotels, shopping malls and apartment complexes failed to refinance within a few months of their maturity date this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a report. That compares with 15 percent to 20 percent in 2008, according to the analysts led by Roger Lehman in New York. About $11 billion in loans, or one-third of the 2010 total, had hit their expected maturity dates through late May.”

Bloomberg - “Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Should ‘Unwind’ Portfolios, Pimco Says” (6-28-10)

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the housing-finance companies supported by U.S. taxpayers, should take advantage of demand for government-backed mortgage debt and sell their holdings, according to Pacific Investment Management Co. ‘Since the government’s going to want to unwind them at some point anyway, why not do it at the best levels ever?’ Scott Simon, the mortgage-bond head at Newport Beach, California-based Pimco, manager of the world’s biggest fixed- income fund, said in a telephone interview.”

Inman - “Top 10 states for pending tax credit closings” (6-28-10)

“NAR estimates as many as 180,000 homebuyers who were under contract by April 30 may miss the June 30 closing deadline. To prod lawmakers into find a way to extend the deadline, NAR released a breakdown of how many home purchases are affected in each state.”

Looking Back:

One year ago, Freddie Mac estimated that sales of new and existing homes might increase to an annual pace of 5.1 million in the 3rd quarter. Real Capital Analytics forecasted that $16 billion of office transactions would be completed by the end of 2009. The number of Orange County property owners disputing their taxes jumped 23% near last year’s deadline.

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.