Posts Tagged ‘National Association Of Realtors’
Home Sales Contracts Rise, But Cancellations Run High
The chief economist at the National Association of Realtors said he was baffled by it, but ask any agent working the nation's neighborhoods, and they'll tell you it is all about confidence and financing—specifically, a lack of both.
Realtors Slam Lack of HUD Funds in Foreclosure Deals
Today's bullish report on pending home sales came with a caveat from the National Association of Realtors that if banks began lending to more creditworthy borrowers, recovery in the housing sector would be faster.
Is the Mortgage Market Too Tight? Or Just Right?
The message from the National Association of Realtors today, or at least from its chief economist as he released lackluster sales results for October, is that the mortgage market is now largely to blame for the lack of real recovery in housing.
Existing Home Sales: Read Between the Numbers
Noise. There's an awful lot of it in today's report on September existing home sales from the National Association of Realtors. Even the markets could hear the noise, as they didn't react all that much to the 10 percent jump in sales that completely beat expectations.
Sales of foreclosure properties on the rise
Foreclosures accelerated in the second quarter, driving down home prices and accounting for nearly half of all sales in several states. Nationally, homes sold at foreclosure accounted for 24 percent of all residential sales in the second quarter of 2010, RealtyTrac reports. The average price of properties sold while in some stage of foreclosure was more than 26 percent below the average for properties not in the foreclosure process. “It’s obvious foreclosures remain a major drag across the U.S.,” says Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group. “Pioneering buyers with low mortgage rates will continue to take advantage of these properties. It’s going to take quite awhile to work through this inventory. It will take a few years, not months.” A total of 248,534 U.S. properties in some stage of foreclosure – default, scheduled for auction or bank-owned – were sold to third parties in the second quarter. That’s up almost 5 percent from the first quarter, but down 20 percent from second-quarter 2009. Some states were especially hard hit. Foreclosure sales accounted for nearly 56 percent of all sales in Nevada in the second quarter, the highest percentage of any state. Ranked second was Arizona, where foreclosure sales accounted for 47 percent of all sales. In California, 43 percent of sales were foreclosure properties. Other states where foreclosures were large shares of all sales were Rhode Island, 37 percent; Massachusetts, 35 percent; Florida, 34 percent; and Michigan, 33 percent. The uptick in foreclosures comes despite a federal effort to help homeowners struggling to retain their homes get modified mortgages with more affordable payments, as well as efforts by lenders to reduce payments for some borrowers. “It’s clear this will be with us for some time,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors. Foreclosures used to be rising because so many borrowers had taken on mortgages they couldn’t afford, he says. “The further we go, more foreclosures will be related to the job market rather than people who overstretched,” Yun says. “There will be more traditional reasons for the foreclosures.” Foreclosure sales could pick up now that a federal tax credit for home buyers has expired, economists say. The credit gave borrowers the flexibility to bid on houses at higher prices. Without the credit, demand for lower-priced foreclosed homes could pick up. And that could pull down overall prices further. “Prices will fall and will put more people into negative equity, which causes more people to (go into) foreclosure,” says Mark Zandi at Moody’s Analytics.com. Copyright 2009 USA TODAY
Florida sees increase in international buyers
A number of factors contributed to the decline in home sales nationally and in Florida specifically, but the growing importance of foreign homebuyers has offset some of the damage. Roughly two out of every three Realtors in the state had at least one international transaction within the past year. While U.S. buyers continue to struggle, foreign buyers generally see U.S. real estate as a desirable, profitable and secure investment. In addition, a weak U.S. dollar has made Florida real estate even more attractive recently. The National Association of Realtors®, in cooperation with Florida Realtors, conducted a survey of Florida members, asking them about their experience working with international clients. The survey was conducted in July-August 2010. A total of 936 responses were received. Report highlights • 65 percent of survey participants – members of Florida Realtors – worked with an international client in the past 12 months. One in five worked with two international clients, and 18 percent working with three or more. • Half of the respondents said that international clients accounted for 25 percent or less of their business; 15 percent reported that international homebuyers accounted for more than half of their business. • One in three said that international clients were an increasing share of their customers in the past two years, while just under half (48 percent) noted that their share of international clients stayed about the same. • Canada had the largest share of buyers, accounting for 36 percent of recent sales. Buyers from the United Kingdom accounted for 15 percent, and the rest of Western Europe accounted for an additional 14 percent. Latin America, defined for the purposes of the report to include Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, accounted for 16 percent. Other countries with a small but significant share of sales included Germany (5 percent), Venezuela (3 percent), Brazil (3 percent) and France (3 percent). • 11 percent of foreign buyers bought a new home, while the remaining 89 percent purchased a previously owned home. • 51 percent purchased a detached single-family home; 37 percent purchased a condo, 11 percent purchased a townhouse and 1 percent purchased some other type of home. • 38 percent purchased in a suburban area; 30 percent purchased property in a resort area; 25 percent purchased in a central city; and 7 percent purchased in a small town or rural area. • 15 percent of buyers plan to use their property less than one month per year; 21 percent expect to use it one to two months; and 34 percent three to six months. • 19 percent bought a home in the Orlando-Kissimmee area; 17 percent chose Miami-Ft. Lauderdale; 13 percent opted for Bradenton-Sarasota; and Tampa, Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Naples rounded out the top six with at least 5 percent of purchases. To read the complete report, which includes information on why buyers choose Florida as well as why they don’t, visit floridarealtors.org at: https://www.floridarealtors.org/Research/index.cfm
NAR: Bill could speed up short sales
Homeowners underwater on their mortgage may find relief through a bill strongly supported by the National Association of Realtors®. The bill, if passed by Congress and signed by President Obama, would force lenders to respond to a short sale request within 45 days. The legislation, H.R. 6133, “Prompt Decision for Qualification of Short Sale Act of 2010,” was filed yesterday in Congress by U.S. Reps. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.). “The short sale, which requires lender approval, is an important instrument for homeowners who owe more than their home is worth,” says NAR President Vicki Cox Golder. “While the lending community has worked to improve the size and training of their short sales staffs, they still have a long way to go on improving response times. As the leading advocate for homeownership issues, NAR believes that quicker attention to the short sales process is vital to help homeowners … as well as the nation’s economy.” The number of potential short sale properties is rising across the country. According to NAR data, in the second quarter of 2010, four states have a significant share of properties with short-sale potential: Florida has 27 percent, Nevada 32 percent, California 28 percent, and Arizona 24 percent. “Unfortunately, homeowners who need to execute a short sale are severely hampered because lenders (loan servicers) are unable to decide whether to approve a short sale within a reasonable amount of time,” Golder said. “Potential homebuyers are walking away from purchasing short sale property because the lender has taken many months and still not responded to their request for an approval of a proposed short sale price. Many consumers have mentioned that the delay in short sale price approval exceeds 90 days, and in many cases never arrives.” Golder says she commends Reps. Andrews and Rooney for their efforts on the bill and urges Congress to pass the bill quickly. © 2010 Florida Realtors®
Few results in attempts to ease short sales
Despite industry and government efforts to make short sales - transactions in which the lender agrees to accept less than the mortgage amount owed by the homeowner – easier and more quickly accomplished, improvements are coming up, well, short. In some cases, the difference between the two numbers is being forgiven by the mortgage lender. In others, the homeowner must arrange with the lender to settle the rest of the debt. Theoretically, short sales are less costly to a lender than foreclosures. There are fewer legal costs involved, for example. But the chief attraction of a short sale is that there is a buyer for the house, while a foreclosed property can sit in a lender’s portfolio for months. That’s why the Obama administration in March appended short sales to its efforts to reduce foreclosures for homeowners who fail to make the grade for the federal Home Affordable Modification Program. The new program, known as Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative, is set to end Dec. 31, 2012. Under its terms, a lender must offer a short sale in writing to a borrower within 30 days after the borrower either is ruled ineligible for mortgage modification or has been deemed unable to sustain payments in a trial plan. Lenders are offered incentives for each completed sale. So far, the results have been less than definitive. “We haven’t heard of any noticeable shifts” in the process that would indicate an improvement, said National Association of Realtors spokesman Walt Molony. Anecdotally, the association has received fewer complaints about delays, he said, but there are no data to back that up. Twenty-three percent of residential property owners nationally are “underwater” on their mortgages - that is, they owe more than their homes are now worth, according to CoreLogic Inc., of Santa Ana, Calif., which tracks foreclosure information. For such homeowners, a short sale can also be the best option, real estate experts say, because it may not hurt their credit history as much as a foreclosure would. As a result, the homeowners may be able to qualify for another mortgage sooner once they get back on their feet financially. Yet real estate agents continue to have problems getting short sales through the pipeline. “It depends on the lender,” said Art Herling, Long & Foster vice president for the Philadelphia region. Some are more willing to work with agents and underwater sellers than others. Carolyn Sabatelli, an agent for Weichert Realtors in Media, Pa., with 37 years’ experience, said she had so much trouble bringing short sales to the settlement table, she thought she was doing something wrong. Then she attended a short-sale seminar sponsored by Wells Fargo & Co., “and after listening to the complaints of about 200 agents, I realized that it was not me but the system.” Recently, Sabatelli said, she wrote a $299,000 offer from a qualified buyer for a $289,000 short sale. The lender rejected it. “I know a lot of agents make their living doing short sales, but most of my business is referrals, so I do not need to waste hours on something that can’t seem to find the finish line,” she said. Difficulties aside, short sales can be great opportunities, said Long & Foster agent Cheryl Miller. “Listings have to be priced attractively in order to generate activity; otherwise, buyers pass over them,” said Miller. Even as short sales continue to lag, the number of agents with special credentials for handling such transactions is building. “There’s been a rapid growth in the number of Realtors with the ‘Short Sales and Foreclosures Resource’ certification,” Molony said. Though the certification was launched at the Realtors association’s November convention, by the end of February, 20,000 members had received it, he said. By Aug. 31, he added, that number exceeded 50,000, making it the “fastest-growing and most popular NAR certification.” © 2010 The Philadelphia Inquirer, Alan J. Heavens. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
Tips to help owners spot foreclosure scams
Last year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission identified 71 companies running suspicious foreclosure rescue ads. This year, the Better Business Bureau named foreclosure rescue rip-offs among its top 10 scams. Here are just two common scams identified in the September “Foreclosure Resource Guide” now available at the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Realtor Content Resource: • A representative of a so-called foreclosure rescue company promises to negotiate a deal with your lender, instructing you not to contact your lender, lawyer or credit counselor during the supposed negotiations. After you pay an up-front fee or a few months of mortgage payments, the scam artist disappears. • A scam artist promises to fend off foreclosure in exchange for an up-front fee. Instead of getting you legitimate relief, the fraudster pockets the fee and secretly files a bankruptcy case in your name. Also covered in the “Foreclosure Resource Guide” are free tips on what to do immediately if you’re facing foreclosure, five foreclosure pros you need on your team, what foreclosure counselors can and can’t do, and website resources for foreclosure help. NAR’s Realtor Content Resource is an exclusive member benefit that entitles Realtors to download free homeownership content from HouseLogic to your consumer website, blog, or e-newsletter. HouseLogic is NAR’s consumer website geared to helping homeowners make smart decisions to enhance, maintain and protect the value of their home.
Almost 65,000 Floridians claim tax credit
A report by the Government Accountability Office finds that Florida ranked third in the number of first-time buyers who qualified for one of the three IRS tax credits, with 64,879 buyers making the claim. The study includes all three credits authorized by Congress. In dollars and cents, that means Florida residents received $455,565,365 offered under the Housing, Recovery and Assistance acts. Still, the amount pales compared to No. 1 ranked California that had almost 117,000 claims and over $814 million returned to residents. Texas, which ranked No. 2, saw almost 100,000 claims and over $680 million in federal money. Nationwide, Americans collected about $23.5 billion and submitted 3.32 million claims, which is about $1.5 billion higher than original estimates. Congress had passed three different versions of the credit to help stimulate the housing market. • The Housing Act version provided a refundable tax credit, equal to 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to a maximum of $7,500. Taxpayers must repay the credit. • The Recovery Act version provided a refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of the purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000 with a waiver of the repayment provision. • The Assistance Act version extended the timeframe in which homebuyers could claim the credit to April 30, 2010, and included several modifications, such as allowing certain long-term homeowners purchasing new homes to claim a tax credit up to $6,500. According to the National Association of Realtors, the tax credit had a strong impact on home sales, and the last version’s expiration led to a significant drop in July home sale numbers. © 2010 Florida Realtors®
