As lenders continue to try to modify delinquent mortgages or offer foreclosure alternatives, like short sales or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, the number of loans entering the foreclosure process are falling.

So-called “foreclosure starts” were down 2.6 percent in April from the previous month, according to a new report from Lender Processing Services.

But it’s not all good news.

FHA loans, those insured by the federal government, saw a huge spike in foreclosure starts, up 73 percent during the month, according to the LPS report. Loans originated in 2008 and 2009 are primarily to blame, although all FHA vintages did see some, albeit far smaller, increases.

“In 2008, when the loan origination market virtually dried up, the FHA stepped in to fill the void,” explained Herb Blecher, senior vice president for LPS Applied Analytics. “FHA originations tripled that year, and increased to five times historical averages in 2009. High volumes like that, even with low default rates, can produce larger numbers of foreclosure starts.”

Still the numbers mean a big hit to the FHA, which is already operating at well below its congressionally mandated two percent capital reserve ratio. “The 2008 vintage alone represents some $14 billion of unpaid balances in foreclosure, and the overall FHA foreclosure inventory continues to rise,” adds Blecher.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/47634203?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) December 23, 2011

The fourth quarter of 2011 is seeing a rising trend in the San Francisco rental market, and Zephyr Realty agent Tim Gullicksen, one of the firm’s top real estate agents, advises would-be renters and others looking for space in the Bay Area that purchasing property now is a viable alternative.

“Rents are soaring and vacancy rates are shrinking, making the rental market in San Francisco more brutal and competitive than ever. The spillover effect has driven many would-be renters into the purchase market,” Gullicksen said. “So far this has not resulted in increased housing prices, but if this pressure on the sales market is sustained then it will inevitably lead to increased purchase prices.”

This spike in the rental market is largely due to the influx of highly paid high-tech and bio-tech workers employed in the area by gigantic corporations, such as Google, Apple and Genentech, which have started running private shuttles from San Francisco to their offices. The decreasing supply of available rental spaces has caused rents to rocket, leaving some people opting to buy homes instead.

At the moment, purchasing real estate in San Francisco presents both a practical and secure option for even a first-time home buyer.

“Interest rates on 30-year fixed loans are still at a historic low, and with FHA loans allowing buyers to put as little as 3.5 percent down, the time has never been better to get into the real estate market,” Gullicksen said.

To learn more about housing trends in the Bay Area or to seek advice from a top-rate realtor who has a concrete understanding of the area, call Tim Gullicksen at 415-674-6500, view him on the web at www.timgullicksen.com, or contact him personally at Zephyr Real Estate’s Pacific Heights Office at 2523 California St., San Francisco, CA 94115.

About Zephyr Realty

Zephyr Realty has been one of San Francisco’s best real estate firms for more than 30 years. It is the largest and most successful independent real estate firm, and its longevity has equipped Zephyr Realty with an in-depth knowledge of the San Francisco market. Zephyr Real Estate features real estate experts and more than 200 reliable agents working in six neighborhood locations.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebreal-estate/san-francisco/prweb9062305.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/12/23/prweb9062305.DTL

“Sales are subpar, prices mainly flat and I don’t anticipate much change,” said Andrew LePage, an analyst with San Diego’s DataQuick, which produced the report. “Lots of people are stacked up on the sidelines, waiting for a better time to buy or sell when things are more certain.”

The median price for all homes – resale, new and condos – sold across the nine Bay Area counties in November was $363,500, down 4.3 percent from a year ago.

The total number of properties changing hands edged up 3.4 percent to 6,317, compared with last year.

Not much inventory

Low inventory remains an issue as many people are reluctant to sell, said Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker’s Bay Area region.

“The home seller who becomes a move-up buyer is almost like a missing generation,” he said. “We have some people out there with an appetite (to buy) who have a down payment and can qualify, but because of the ho-hum market, there isn’t inventory for them.”

Turley said he sees about 4 1/2 months’ worth of inventory for high-end homes and just a few weeks’ worth on the low end.

Cindi Hagley, managing broker at Prudential California Realty in San Ramon, observed similar dynamics.

“We have multiple offers on almost everything we sell for under $400,000,” she said.

But at the other end, “People who could theoretically afford to buy bigger homes are hunkering down a bit,” Hagley said. “People are downsizing” rather than moving up.

High-end sales are also taking a hit from a change in the conforming loan limit, which eliminates most government-backed mortgages between $625,501 and $729,750. Lawmakers restored FHA loans in that bracket, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages are no longer available.

“We don’t know yet to what extent FHA and the private mortgage market can fill that void,” LePage said.

The tighter financing for high-end homes is reflected in declining sales volume.

Low-price purchases

For instance, in Santa Clara County, November sales of homes over $800,000 were down 18.2 percent from a year earlier, while sales of homes under $300,000 rose 22.3 percent compared with November 2010, LePage said.

Throughout the real estate downturn, sales of higher-end homes have declined dramatically. Mortgages above $417,000 accounted for about 29.7 percent of November’s purchase lending, DataQuick said. Before 2007, such “jumbo” mortgages represented almost 60 percent of local purchase loans.

Distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales sold for less than is owed on the mortgage – remain a potent force, accounting for almost half of all resales in the Bay Area in November.

Investor activity remains high, with absentee buyers snapping up 22.6 of all homes sold last month compared with a regular monthly average of 13.9 percent since 2000. All-cash buyers represented 27.9 percent of November sales.

Other national reports out this week underscored the market’s continued malaise:

– Real estate service Zillow.com said values nationwide were down 5.1 percent in October compared with a year earlier. In the San Francisco metropolitan area, it said, values fell 6.3 percent and are now 33.8 percent off their peak.

– Foreclosure service RealtyTrac said November foreclosure filings nationwide were down 14 percent compared with a year ago. But the company said that despite that seasonal slowdown, numbers suggest a new surge of foreclosures in coming months.

California foreclosure auctions hit a 10-month high in November and the state had the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rate (after Nevada) with 1 in every 211 properties receiving a foreclosure filing in the month. Bucking the national trend, California foreclosure filings rose 11 percent in November compared with 2010.

– Move.com, the nation’s largest online collection of for-sale listings, with data from all of the country’s 900-plus multiple listing services, showed national inventory down 21.3 percent in November compared with a year ago and median list prices up 4.05 percent.

In the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin, Move.com showed median list prices basically flat compared with a year ago and inventory down significantly. Homes in those counties sold much faster than those elsewhere in the country, with an average inventory age of 76 days versus 114 days nationwide.

E-mail Carolyn Said at csaid@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/15/BU6K1MCHQJ.DTL

Bay Area home sales dipped more than usual between June and July, falling 13.9 percent, compared to an average decline of 6.8 percent for the Northern California market, the report shows. Sales dropped most sharply in the high-end real estate market, with $500,000-plus transactions down 25.4 percent on a month-over-month basis.

Luxury home sales were strong during the early summer in Marin County, San Francisco and the Napa Valley, Coldwell Banker reported. John Walsh, DataQuick president, attributes the fall-off in this sector to overall economic uncertainty caused by the debt ceiling debate.

While high-end buyers sat on the sidelines, first-time homeowners accounted for more sales in July than June, as measured by the proportion of government-insured Federal Housing Authority loans used to finance purchases. FHA loans, often secured by first-time buyers, were used in 22.4 percent of all Bay Area July purchases, compared to 20.6 percent in June.

San Francisco is not a budget housing market, with a median sales price of $550,000, according to the National Housing Conference. However, the annual income needed to finance a median-priced home in San Francisco declined 7 percent between 2010 and 2011, NHC recently reported. 

Article source: http://www.upack.com/press/article/real-estate-news/first-timers-drove-san-franciscos-housing-market-in-july-800578613

Existing home sales were basically flat in April, down close to one percent month-to-month and down nearly 13 percent year-over-ear, but you have to remember last year we were heavily under the influence of the home buyer tax credit.

Now we are heavily under the influence of the mortgage market, or lack thereof.

It’s all in the numbers.

Let’s start with all-cash.

Thirty-one percent of buyers in April used all-cash, and that’s down from 35 percent the previous month. It’s likely because the number of investors buying in April also fell. Investors have been the only real fuel in this market, buying distressed properties at distressed prices.

Just look at the share of what’s selling at what price point:

The low end is moving (your investors), and the high end is moving because higher-end folks don’t always need a mortgage; neither investors nor high-end buyers were affected by the home buyer tax credit last year. The trouble is, the middle of the market makes up the lions share of home sales, over 60 percent, and it’s not moving.

What’s also juicing the lower end is the fact that the FHA raised insurance premiums on April 18th, so mortgage applications for FHA loans surged 20 percent in the four weeks before and then fell nearly 27 percent the week after. With that surge, you would have thought we’d see a lot more sales, but that wasn’t the case.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43094968?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS