Housing Prices Pick up in California

As the biggest residential property market in the United States, California often serves as a bellwether for the nation's economic health.

And new research from that state suggests that housing prices nationally could start to rebound relatively soon.

The latest data, including two consecutive monthly gains in the median price of existing homes, has some industry officials hopeful that the state housing market has finally reached a bottom and is poised to recover from a prolonged period of declining residential values.

In April, California's single-family median home price rose 1.4 percent to $256,700. While that is still off by more than 36 percent from April 2008, the 540,360 homes sales on a seasonally adjusted annual basis reflect an increase of almost 50 percent over the same period, according to the state’s REALTORS® group.

Source: Wall Street Journal, Jim Carlton (05/29/09)

More Details: Using the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit as Downpayment

FHA-approved lenders received the go-ahead to develop bridge-loan products that enable first-time buyers to use the benefits of the federal tax credit upfront, according to eagerly awaited guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on so-called home buyer tax credit loans that was released today.

Under the guidance, FHA-approved lenders can develop bridge loans that home buyers can use to help cover their closing costs, buy down their interest rate, or put down more than the minimum 3.5 percent.

The loans can't be used to cover the minimum 3.5 percent, senior HUD officials told reporters on a conference call Friday morning. Thus, buyers applying for FHA-backed financing with an FHA-approved lender that offers a bridge-loan program can get a bridge loan to bring down the upfront costs of buying a home significantly but would still have to come up with the minimum 3.5 percent downpayment.

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Coronado Best Buys List, 5.25

Greetings! In Coronado right now, there are 22 properties currently in escrow, and new listings coming up every day. We are also seeing a few more well-priced distress sales, including short sales. Here are the NEWEST ADDITIONS to our BEST BUY LIST!

Here are the new additions to the Best Buy List:
$495,000—1720 Avenida del Mundo, #1209, 0/1. This wonderful studio offer superb views of the Hotel del Coronado, Coronado and a peak of the sandy Coronado beach. The perfect beach getaway and/or a great rental property.

$550,000—PRICE DROP!--553 F Avenue, condo, 3/2. FELL OUT OF ESCROW! Least expensive 3 bedroom condo on the Island! Well maintained home, spacious floor plan. Great patio for entertaining. Balcony off master bedroom. Walking distance to all community amenities.

$600,000-$675,000—1052 Isabella, condo, 3/2. 2 Blocks from CORONADO BEACH Short walk to the Hotel DEL! OCEAN VIEW from Living Room & Kitchen, new Stainless Steel appliances, Granite counter tops, space for full size Washer & Dryer in unit, Ceiling Fans throughout. SHORT SALE.

$699,000—BACK ON THE MARKET, BUYER COULDN’T PERFORM--200 Orange Avenue, #304., condo, 3/2. Luxury 3 bedroom condo on the top floor with amazing views of the Coronado bridge. Views of downtown skyline from large deck. Just 2 blks from the water. New wood flooring, granite countertops & brand new stainless steel appliances. Plenty of closets & storage. Covered parking.

$899,000-310 Second Street, House, 3/2. BANK OWNED. Beautiful & bright, spanish-style home in prime location. Recent remodel kept original, old world charm, while adding to the character! Wood floors, updated kitchen, fireplace in LR, granny flat over garage and more. An enclosed backyard allows for optimum comfort and privacy. A MUST SEE!

$910,000-- 47 Antigua, condo, 2/2. Condo on the water with boat slip. Beautifully remodeled 2 bd/2ba downstairs features: bamboo hardwood flooring, granite kitchens & bathrooms, 2 car garage with lots of storage. Enjoy the views from the large patio great for entertaining. Hot tub off of master provides great get away. Boat dock accommodates up to a 46' boat. Great Location, Great Views, Great Price!

$935,000—PRICE DROP!--415 A Avenue, house, 3/2. Great house on a great street, Second story was addition was done in 1999 adding a large master bedroom and a large family room. Hardwood floors downstairs, carpet upstairs. Charming kitchen with glass door fronts on the uppers cabinets. Dining area large enough for a table.Lot is approx 3500 SQ ft. Large yard and basement for extra storage items. One off-street parking space in front and second space off alley. Easy access to bridge and bases. Walk to parks, library, schools.

$1,100,000--120 C Avenue, #201, condo, 2/2. Originally listed at 1.7 million! Never-lived in condo in prestigious Regetta Bay. Huge—over 2,300 square feet—built to the highest standards with top-of-the line finishings. You must see to believe! Ultra private and ultra luxurious.

Best Buys that have recently sold:
41 Saint Christophers, House, 3/3, $785,000
844 C Avenue, House, 3/3, $1,050,000
730 Coronado, House, 3/2, $1,100,000

Contact me at christinevt@prusd.com for more info or to view any of these listings.

San Diego County Home Prices RISE in April!

San Diego County home prices inched up $5,000 in April to a median $290,000, MDA DataQuick reported Monday, as sales continued to rise.

Prices have now climbed $10,000 from a low of $280,000 in December and January, although it is unclear whether the increase is due to rising values or a change in the mix of properties changing hands.
The April median was still 27.5 percent below year-ago levels and off 44 percent from the all-time high of $517,500 in November 2005.
Single-family resale homes rose from a low of $319,000 in March to $325,000 in April. The latest median was 24.4 percent below April 2008's $430,000.
Resale condos were up $2,000 to $182,000 from their low, also set in March, and down 39.3 percent from a year ago, when the median stood at $300,000.

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MSNBC: First Time Buyers Benefit from Housing Slump

First-time buyers in many areas are finding that favorable home prices are enabling them to buy homes that previously may have been out of reach. According to the March report from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), 53 percent of all properties sold during March 2009 were purchased by first-time home buyers, an increase from the usual 40 percent or less level.

In addition to favorable home prices in most areas, federal tax credits for first-time home buyers are motivating many “fence sitters” to enter the market. NAR estimates that tax credits could motivate as many as 300,000 first-timers to purchase homes this year.

Another factor that may contribute to first-time buyers entering the market is their ability to use the $8,000 federal tax credit for a down payment. According to Shaun Donovan, housing secretary for the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Housing Administration will soon publish a policy that will allow FHA-approved lenders, HUD-approved nonprofits, and state and local housing finance agencies to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans.

Many first-time buyers are taking advantage of foreclosures, short sales and bank-owned homes listed in some of the hardest-hit areas of the country. According to one homeowner who recently purchased his first home, he did not have reservations about purchasing a foreclosed home in a neighborhood with many foreclosures and bank-owned homes. He believes that mostly primary owners -- not speculators or investors – will buy in today’s market.

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® today released its First-time Buyer Housing Affordability Index (FTB-HAI) for Q1 2009. During the first quarter, 69 percent of households in California could afford to purchase an entry-level home in the state. The FTB-HAI has risen 23 percentage points from 46 percent in Q1 2008.

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Short Sales to Get Easier?

Are short sales--which are the most difficult, time-consuming sales for home buyers and sellers--going to get easier? According to the U.S. Treasury, YES!

Extensive delays in the short-sale process has caused many buyers to go elsewhere and have left would-be sellers with no option but foreclosure. But the picture is improving. This week the U.S. Treasury announced that it would be providing incentives for borrowers and mortgage services to pursue short sales and other foreclosure alternatives.

The program includes a standard short-sales process flow, minimum performance timeframes, and standard documentation, the U.S. Treasury says. (More information is available on the Treasury Web site and in this PDF document posted at REALTOR.org.)

The incentives and process guidelines are part of a larger initiative called Making Home Affordable, which helps home owners refinance to avoid losing their home. “NAR is pleased that the government is stepping in to help prevent foreclosures by streamlining the short-sale and deeds-in-lieu process,” NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® President Charles McMillan said in a statement. “NAR has been calling for uniform short sales procedures and other initiatives that will help today’s home owners in challenging economy.”

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Home Price Falls Near Bottom, Report Says

Although 2009 will be a “throwaway year” for San Diego County, with double-digit unemployment, growing office vacancies and declining retail sales, local housing prices will hit bottom this fall, heralding an eventual recovery, UCLA's Anderson Forecast predicted in a report to be released today.

The Anderson Forecast, one of the state's most followed teams of economic analysts, predicted that housing prices will start rising steadily by the second quarter of the year, starting with a rebound in the price of existing single-family homes.

“When it is generally perceived that selling values have reached a bottom, sideline buyers will enter the market and conventional home sales will dominate the real estate recovery,” UCLA economist Mark Schniepp said. “Reported selling values for homes will reverse, slowly at first, and then rise more convincingly.”

The median price, which is projected to average $325,374 this year, will rebound to $490,966 by 2013, according to the forecast. That would return the median price to its levels of early last year, but would be well below the inflation-adjusted 2005 peak average of $602,327.

Some local real estate analysts say the predictions jibe with a recent uptick in home sales, although most of those sales have involved foreclosed properties.

“It's beginning to seem like we're flat-lining at the bottom of a 'U' and that things could be getting better by the end of the year,” said Gary London, president of San Diego's London Group Realty Advisors. In a U-shaped move in the marketplace, prices drop sharply and then bounce around the bottom for a while before heading up sharply.

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Source: San Diego Union Tribune, 5/15/09.

Buyers Can Now Use $8K Tax Credit for Downpayment!

Great news for San Diego's first time homebuyers: the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.

Previously, most buyers wouldn't receive the funds until after they filed their tax return, and that deterred some people from using the credit. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS has been calling for the change.

"We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the home buyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a down payment," says Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He says FHA's approved lenders will be permitted to "monetize" the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. This will allow eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table.

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Market Shift: More Houses Get Multiple Offers

Experts say markets hit hard by foreclosure are seeing more multiple offers, as residential price declines make homes more affordable and banks low-ball asking prices on distressed properties. This is especially true if a house is in a good neighborhood, is maintained and is a good value.

Although many markets are far from fully shaking off the downturn, the pick-up in multiple offers is a reason for optimism.

"When you begin to see people willing to fight for a property, that's a good sign," says Beth Peerce, treasurer of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. "We are beginning to see the beginning of the end of a disaster time."

Source: USA Today, Julie Schmit (5/6/09)

5 Maintenance Issues Owners Shouldn't Ignore

Consumer Reports magazine advises home owners not to put off important maintenance projects, noting that waiting until the economy rebounds could end up making the repairs more costly while putting a family's health at risk. The magazine identifies five crucial maintenance issues:

• Check the gutters: Clogged gutters, broken fasteners and separations where the gutters meet the fascia board will lead to roof leaks if they haven’t already.
  Inspect the roof: Cracked, curled and mussing shingles mean a roof is nearing the end of its useful life. Cracks around chimneys, skylights, and roof valleys can also suggest the roof might be leaking.
• Look for bugs: Termites and carpenter ants can bore through a home in a few short years. Probe the sill plate on top of the foundation with a screwdriver to check for rotten wood. Also look for carpenter ants and termites along windowsills and walls.
• Avoid mold: Mold and mildew can cause musty odors, dank air, and make residents sick. Check under carpets and around windows for visible mold or mildew.
• Don’t ignore cracks: Foundation cracks wider than 3/16 of an inch can be a problem. These require examination by a structural engineer.

Source: Consumer Reports (05/04/2009)

Economic Woes Near End, Says Bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that the heart-stopping economic free fall of the past nine months was nearing an end and that the United States should begin a fragile recovery by the end of this year.

In his most upbeat assessment in a long time, Bernanke said a wide array of indicators, from consumer spending and home sales to a revival in the credit markets, now suggested that the economy was stabilizing.

But the Fed chairman also warned that the recovery would be slow. He predicted that job losses would probably continue until sometime in 2010, and that unemployment is virtually certain to climb from its current rate of 8.5 percent.

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Downtown Condo Project called Vantage Point in Big Trouble

News in San Diego real estate...

The developer of downtown San Diego's largest condominium project is facing the possibility of losing dozens of its buyers if it doesn't meet a deadline to complete the nearly 700-unit high-rise by this weekend.

Finishing the mammoth project on time, though, is just one of the developer's worries in a slumping housing market that has significantly slowed sales of new condos downtown.
Pointe of View Developments has contracts with nearly 300 buyers at Vantage Pointe, but purchasers say they have been unable to get loans because of new lending guidelines that require condo developers to secure a high percentage of pre-sales.

For Pointe of View, the most immediate challenge is the more than 70 buyers who have the option to back out of their purchase agreements and get their 5 percent deposits refunded if the developer cannot secure an occupancy permit by Saturday.

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Fast Fixes can Help Sell Your Home

It’s not rocket science: Houses that look fresh and attractive sell faster than beat-up homes.Here are some cheap tricks from Money Magazine for boosting appeal:

● Buy a new mailbox, house numbers, doorbell, and knocker: $200
● Green the grass with nitrogen-rich fertilizer: $50 to $200, depending on the lawn size
● Edge and mulch the flowerbeds: $300 to $600, depending on the number of beds● Replace the bathroom faucet: $300
● Install beadboard over dated bathroom tile: $800 to $1,000
● New paint: $60 to $100 per room, if homeowners do it themselves
● Replace switchplates and outlet covers: 50 cents each
● Install stone tile over existing Formica countertops: $500 to $1,000

Source: Money Magazine (05/04/2009)