“This coming week, market participants will be focused on Friday’s jobs report as an indicator of whether the economic recovery is strong enough to withstand an earlier-than-expected withdrawal of Fed stimulus.”

Mortgage rates are up about a full percentage point from where they were at the beginning of May. That translates into about a 15 percent jump in monthly payments for the average home buyer, or 15 percent less purchasing power, depending on how you look at it. That can certainly be make or break for some buyers, especially first-time home buyers who may have been stretching in the first place.

“Applications for new home purchases have continued to move sideways over the last month, but that may be people are rushing to buy or lock in mortgage rates before rates move even higher,” said Michelle Girard of RBS Securities. “It may be that there is going to a bit of a lag effect. I still think rates are historically low, and we are in an improving economy, although a gradual one, the recovery can continue, maybe the pace will moderate—but I do not think the back up in mortgage rates is going to derail the housing recovery.”

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100862969

“This coming week, market participants will be focused on Friday’s jobs report as an indicator of whether the economic recovery is strong enough to withstand an earlier-than-expected withdrawal of Fed stimulus.”

Mortgage rates are up about a full percentage point from where they were at the beginning of May. That translates into about a 15 percent jump in monthly payments for the average home buyer, or 15 percent less purchasing power, depending on how you look at it. That can certainly be make or break for some buyers, especially first-time home buyers who may have been stretching in the first place.

“Applications for new home purchases have continued to move sideways over the last month, but that may be people are rushing to buy or lock in mortgage rates before rates move even higher,” said Michelle Girard of RBS Securities. “It may be that there is going to a bit of a lag effect. I still think rates are historically low, and we are in an improving economy, although a gradual one, the recovery can continue, maybe the pace will moderate—but I do not think the back up in mortgage rates is going to derail the housing recovery.”

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100862969

While prices continue to improve, there are still headwinds, specifically a relatively weak employment picture and a tight mortgage market. Existing home sales are also recovering far faster than new home sales, and much of the gains in new home construction is in multi-family apartments, as single family housing starts lag.

(Read More: Record High New Home Prices to Grow)

“Housing is making a positive impact on the economy, if one goes through the GDP numbers, residential construction is adding to economic growth,” said Blitzer. “But when you look at this, buying and selling existing homes, is recognized, we all feel good, the prices are going up, it doesn’t add anything to GDP.”

—By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick or on Facebook at facebook.com/DianaOlickCNBC

Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100769361

I remember learning in high school science class that equilibrium is a state of “no force or disturbance in any one direction.” Applying this concept to real estate, one might say that a balanced market – one with “equilibrium” – would have roughly the same number of buyers as it would properties for sale.

Not that many months ago, many parts of the Bay Area’s real estate market were saturated with properties for sale. It was, in many areas, a buyer’s market – buyers had their way when it came to selecting from a wide range of properties in nearly every corner of every market. But now, as the economy has been coming back, and real estate along with it, the pendulum has swung and we have shot past that real estate equilibrium point in a nanosecond.

Today we have many more buyers than we have properties for sale. (Potential sellers, take note! It hasn’t been this good for sellers in a long time – but that’s fodder for another article.) Our market has gone from having too many properties on the market to not having nearly enough.

The “inventory” of properties for sale has suddenly become so slim that the supply is now far below the demand almost everywhere. The average time a property spends on the market has decreased by 40% over a year ago.  That makes life for hopeful real estate buyers really tough.

If you’re a buyer right now, you are probably in competition now for almost every property, and although your agent might tell you that you are a SPECIAL buyer (and I’m sure you ARE), it’s more than likely that every other buyer out there is just as special. And it’s just as likely that all of those special buyers are competing for the same property, creating a “multiple offer” situation.

What’s a buyer to do? For starters, be honest with yourselves about your expectations. Expect there to be multiple buyers for the same property and talk to your agent about what will make your offer stand out.  Understand also that an offer is not just about price. There are lots of other factors in a purchase contract that might appeal to a seller as well. Things like length of escrow, minimal contingencies, and even who you choose as your mortgage company can make a seller happy or have them quickly flipping to the next buyer in their stack of offers.

In some areas as recent as a few months ago, it was possible to ask for seller concessions and give-backs, but we are now in a time where those factors will send your offer to the circular file faster than almost anything else.

Work with your agent as any effective team would work together. Be sure that your agent knows your situation and your personality so that he/she can tailor their approach to each property that you choose to purchase.  Be honest and open with them, and don’t be afraid of what he or she will think. Ask your agent how you can best work together, and understand that while you really can’t do this by yourself, no agent is “Super(wo)man” and none of us bat 1000 in multiple offer situations.

Lastly, be patient. It will probably take a while, and very possibly more than a few offers before you win in a multiple situation. But keep trying, and listen to your agent. We do this every day. And yes, you ARE special.

A Bay Area native, Mark Penn has been a REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker since 2004. He is also active in animal welfare, and is a former educator, facilitator, and air traffic controller. Mark can be reached at mark@MyHomeInSonoma.com 

Article source: http://www.sfbaytimes.com/?sec=article&article_id=17489

(Read More: Home Buyers Are Back, but Where Are the Houses?)

“What’s holding people back from buying a property is a fear of selling their property and not being able to find one. That’s what the problem is,” noted Herrera.

The Las Vegas market is being fueled by investors, but even the investors can’t find the great bargains anymore. While the economy has improved some, the drop in foreclosures is really due to a new law that went into effect in Nevada last year; it criminalizes faulty foreclosures. Banks have therefore tried to do more short sales and loan modifications. Foreclosures in Nevada dropped 36 percent in 2012 from the previous year, according to RealtyTrac, but the distress is still there.

“People in Las Vegas talk about shadow inventory to the point where nobody really wants to talk about it anymore, said Mike Brunson, a local appraiser. “People will argue and say it isn’t, but I can name a dozen people off the top of my head who have been in their houses for over three years without a payment.”

Brunson called Las Vegas the Titanic of the real estate market. It was once thought unsinkable, and even now that the worst is over, he still thinks the market is on a well-provisioned life raft, not on solid ground.

“The only thing that concerns me is that we have been here before and the market itself is not what is driving the price increases. It’s not that we have new employers coming in and creating tens of thousands of new jobs that are leading to people buying new houses. It’s ‘Las Vegas is on sale,’ and investors are buying up everything they can in the used market.

Whatever the cause, the result is new construction and new life breathed into the nation’s home builders.

“There’s been a lot of talk about shadow inventory. It’s gone on for years, and the reality is there’s not enough inventory out there to meet demand today. Demand has increased, certainly our buyers see that, and we’re getting a lot of buyers because of that,” argued Andrews, whose company is, he said, building 150 percent more homes than a year ago.

(Read More: Home Buyers Are Back, but Where Are the Houses?)

Brunson acknowledged there is no question the demand is real. The sales are real. But he still worries about the fundamentals, such as the slow economic growth and the fact that so much of the funding for new home sales is coming from low down payment, government-backed mortgages.

“We have been here before,” said Brunson.

What remains to be seen is if history will repeat itself or if this recovery is as unique as the collapse that preceded it.

—By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick or on Facebook at facebook.com/DianaOlickCNBC

Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100522314

With such high real estate prices, it’s no surprise that Bay Area residents earn some of the highest incomes in the country.  After all, how else will you pay for that million dollar house?

Households in the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas have some of the highest incomes in the country.

The U.S. Census Bareau recently announced the results of a study that looked at household incomes over a 5 year period, from January 2006 to November 2011.  The San Jose metro region had the 2nd highest concentration of households with incomes in the top 5%, which was defined as earning more than $191,469  per year.  In the South Bay, 15.9% of the households are in the top 5%.  The San Francisco metro area, defined as “San Francisco – Oakland – Fremont” followed closely, being the 4th on the list of high income earners, with 13.0% of the households’ income in the top 5%.  The Stamford, CT and Washington, DC metro areas squeezed in between our two Bay Area regions, taking the #1 and #3 spots, with 17.9% and 14.1% of their households in the top 5%.

As the results only included data up through November 2011, it won’t be shocking if the incomes of Bay Area residents continue to rise given the strong local economy, thanks in large part to the burgeoning tech industry.  Will it only push up the real estate markets in these two metro areas?

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/02/20/south-bay-and-sf-residents-are-amongst-highest-earners-in-the-nation/

“I think it will be a pretty good report for Toll. The high-end and move-up markets is where it’s at right now,” said David Goldberg, a home builder analyst at UBS. “Pricing is improving.”

(Read More: Home Builders Get Jitters for First Time in a Year.)

Toll reported very strong earnings last quarter, with big jumps in both sales and income and a drop in cancellation rates. There had been concern that the looming “fiscal cliff” would hit Toll’s higher-end customers, but that did not come to pass.

While other home builders have seen big jumps in their stock prices over the past year, Toll is up just under 3 percent from a year ago. However, it is up nearly 25 percent from last November, when it had taken it a big dip.

(Read More: Mortgage Mess Still Mires US Housing Recovery.)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100470583

Last week the CEO’s of 18 home building companies, who collectively build 30 percent of the nation’s new homes, sent a letter to President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner urging them to avoid the fiscal cliff, even if it means raising taxes on the builders:

“We support a comprehensive agreement in Washington to avoid the fiscal cliff that includes revenue increases (including tax rate adjustments) together with meaningful entitlement reforms. We believe that a properly balanced agreement will breed confidence in the political system and the U.S. economy, will enable the housing market to continue its recovery, and, in turn, will promote broader economic growth.”

The letter was signed by the CEOs of publicly traded builders including Beazer Homes, Hovananian Enterprises, KBHome, Lennar, MDC, and Meritage.

(Read More: Best US Housing Markets for Buyers and Sellers)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100324311

A colleague who was looking to refinance his mortgage to today’s record low interest rates, just told me that he opted instead for a “modification.”

No, he’s not behind on his monthly payments, nor even struggling to make them. He is current, and modifications on current loans have been around for years, though they are increasingly rare and consequently few people know about them.

My colleague’s bank, New Jersey-based First Niagara, allowed him to do the modification to a lower interest rate. Here’s the best part: My colleague had to pay just $500 for his 7/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) to go from 4 percent to 3.125 percent, which is an eighth of a percentage point above the going rate, but still a great move. No principal payment, no new underwriting, no nothing.

I called First Niagara and asked if they do mortgage recasts. The first agent said yes, but when I asked to be transferred to a mortgage specialist, and then identified myself as a reporter, I was disconnected … three times.

On the fourth try, I did finally get a nice agent, who called another department and said yes, they do modifications, but more often do “recasts,” in which case a sizeable principal payment is required. Hmmm. Then she said she had to leave a message for someone to give me more details. Still waiting.

Apparently mortgage recasts do exist.

Page 1 of 4 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

European Shares Seen Edging Higher as Investors Bargain Hunt

JPMorgan CEO Dimon to Apologize in Senate Testimony

Full-Scale Bailouts for Italy, Spain in 6 Months: Egan-Jones

Why India’s Economy Isn’t as Bad as Headlines Suggest

Seeds of Anger Sown in a Greek Soup Kitchen

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/47783706?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

It is not exactly a trend, but for the second-straight month, U.S. home prices saw year-over-year gains.

Including distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales), prices rose 1.1 percent in April, according to a new report from analytics firm CoreLogic.

Excluding distressed sales, prices rose 2.6 percent. Prices have not been up two months in a row since June 2010, when the home buyer tax credit was in force.

The national gains, however, belie a deeply disparate state-to-state housing market.

Home prices rose dramatically in markets where distressed homes make up the majority of sales, like Arizona, up 8.8 percent annually and Florida, up 5.5 percent. That’s because inventories of foreclosures have shrunk due to more slowdowns in bank processing.

Meanwhile other states with relatively smaller shares of distressed sales saw prices plunge: Delaware, down 10 percent, Alabama down 4.4 percent and Connecticut down over 2 percent, according to CoreLogic.

The spring sales season, while not exactly robust, was busy, especially for investors in distressed properties.

As for the summer, the numbers do not look as strong. After two months of gains, asking prices on for-sale homes, a two-month leading indicator, were unchanged in May month-to-month, according to a new report from sale site Trulia.com.

Page 1 of 2 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

Europe’s Fade Becomes Drag on Sales for U.S. Companies

Wall Street’s (Other) Great Deleveraging

Home Prices See Gains, But That’s Not the Whole Story

Germany Is Open to Pooling Debt, With Conditions

Estonia Uses the Euro, and the Economy is Booming

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/47689898?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS