Today’s News Synopsis:
Housing starts showed disappointing numbers last month with a 5.8% drop from February. The Lender Processing Services reported more short sales than foreclosures with banks agreeing to sell houses below the mortgage amount. Housing permits increased 4.5% last month, bringing them to their highest level in four years.
In The News:
Bloomberg – “Short Sales Surpass Foreclosures as Banks Agree to Deals” (4-17-12)
“he number of U.S. home short sales surpassed foreclosure deals for the first time as banks became more agreeable to selling houses for less than the amount owed on their mortgages, according to Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS).”
Housing Wire – “Housing starts fall 5.8%, disappointing analyst estimates” (4-17-12)
“Starts on new homes fell 5.8% in March to 654,000 units, compared to 694,000 in February, the government said Tuesday. Analysts surveyed by MarketWatch anticipated stronger home construction levels of 703,000 starts for March, but activity levels remained well below that point.”
Inman – “Top 10 metros with greatest drop in for-sale inventory” (4-17-12)
“U.S. housing market trends tracked by Realtor.com show a trifecta of promise: a shrinking number of homes on the market, fresher inventory, and an increase in median list price.”
DS News – “Housing Permits Hit New Four Year High; Starts Sputter” (4-17-12)
“Housing permits surged another 4.5 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 747,000, the highest level since September 2008, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Tuesday.”
San Francisco Chronicle – “Calif. drops property tax deduction campaign” (4-17-12)
“On the eve of tax-filing deadline, the Franchise Tax Board abandoned its campaign to get California property owners not to deduct a portion of their real estatetaxes.”
Housing Wire – “U.S. Bancorp sees 28% profit jump as mortgage unit numbers improve” (4-17-12)
“U.S. Bancorp ($31.16 0%) saw its profit rise 28% in the first quarter of 2012 as the bank reported new commercial real estate lending and $25.1 billion in mortgage and other retail loan originations.
DS News – “Moody’s Ranks Subprime Servicers Based on Cash Flow” (4-17-12)
“Based on a metric devised by Moody’s, GMAC, SLS, and American Home performed better compared to other subprime servicers in terms of cash collected relative to losses on delinquent loans.”
Bloomberg – “Morgan Stanley Signs Lease to Expand at 1 New York Plaza Tower” (4-17-12)
“Morgan Stanley, the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, signed a lease for almost 1.2 million square feet (111,480 square meters) of space at Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (BPO)’s 1 New York Plaza in lower Manhattan.”
Housing Wire – “Goldman Sachs 1Q net income falls 23%, still beats estimates” (4-17-12)
“Goldman Sachs ($117.93 0.2%) reported a first-quarter profit of $2.11 billion, or $3.92 a share, a 23% drop from a year earlier when the firm earned $2.74 billion, but still beating analysts’ estimates.”
Hard Money Loan Closed
Taft, California hard money loan closed by The Norris Group private lending. Real estate investor received loan for $54,000 on a 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom home appraised for $88,000.
California Real Estate Investor Events:
Bruce Norris of The Norris Group will be at All In or Fold on Saturday, April 28, 2012.
The Norris Group posted a new event. Bruce Norris of The Norris Group will be at the Real Estate Investor Rewind for SJREI at Dublin on Wednesday, May 02, 2012.
For more information about The Norris Group’s California hard money loans or our California Trust Deed investments, visit the website or call our office at 951-780-5856 for more information. For upcoming California real estate investor training and events, visit The Norris Group website and our California investor calendar. You’ll also find our award-winning real estate radio show on KTIE 590am at 6pm on Saturdays or you can listen to over 170 podcasts in our free investor radio archive.