Friday, May 28, 2010
Mortgage Rates Might Not Be Low for Long
The near-record low mortgage rates seen during the past few weeks may not be around much longer.
Signs of improving economic conditions could lead Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke to raise key interest rates, driving up mortgage rates, says Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC.
The evidence includes more consumers are paying their bills on time. Past-due accounts at American Express declined 34 percent compared with a year ago, and Target Corp. reported its lowest delinquency rate in two years during the second quarter.
In another sign of economic improvement, fewer banks reported tightening lending standards this month, one reason consumer borrowing rose for the second time in three months.
“If lending standards start to stabilize, that’ll be another reason to remove the emergency measures, including the zero rate,” says Jay Bryson, a senior global economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, N.C., who formerly worked at the Fed in Washington.
Source: Bloomberg, Bob Willis and Anthony Feld (05/28/2010)
Brian Bean
Real Estate Broker
http://www.scott-brian.com/
http://www.orangecrestriversidehomes.com/
Labels: Corona, Foreclosure, Home Prices, Inland Empire, Loan Modification, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Real Estate, Riverside, Short Sales, Statistics, Temecula
Monday, May 24, 2010
Owners Optimistic About Home Values
Daily Real Estate News
More than 16 percent of homeowners say their houses increased in value during the past year, the highest percentage in nearly two years, according to a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey.
While 75 percent of homeowners viewed current home-buying conditions as good, citing attractive prices and low mortgage rates, about 89 percent thought market conditions for selling a home were poor. While still an overwhelmingly negative number, it was still better than the results of the May 2009 survey when almost 100 percent of homeowners panned the climate for sales.
Some 43 percent of home owners said their home decreased in value during the past year. Nevertheless, homeowners believe their homes will ultimately rise in value, with the average annual anticipated gain over the next five years at 2.1 percent.
Source: Reuters News, Julie Haviv (05/21/2010)
Brian Bean
Real Estate Broker
http://www.scott-brian.com/
http://www.orangecrestriversidehomes.com/
Labels: Corona, Foreclosure, Home Prices, Inland Empire, Loan Modification, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Real Estate, Riverside, Short Sales, Statistics, Temecula
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Half of Owners Think Their Home Value is Up
Daily Real Estate News
The confidence of U.S. home owners in the value of their homes increased in the first quarter, online home site Zillow says based on a survey it conducted.
About 50 percent of home owners surveyed by the Web site think their home's value declined in the past year, according to Zillow.com’s first quarter survey of home owner confidence. In contrast, Zillow thinks that 65 percent of U.S. homes actually declined in value based on its own calculations of value.
To the extent home owners are overconfident about the value of their home, Zillow says, they could feel encouraged to put their home on the market. If a lot of them did so and their home values aren't as high as they think they are, it could have the effect of pushing down prices, says Zillow’s Chief Economist Stan Humphries.
In its survey, Zillow found that 7 percent of home owners – or 5.3 million homes if the survey results were applied to all home owners – would be “very likely” to put their homes on the market in the next 12 months if they believed the market was improving. An additional 8 percent in the Zillow survey said they would be likely to list their homes, while another 14 percent would be somewhat likely.
Source: Zillow.com (05/20/2010)
Brian Bean
Real Estate Broker
http://www.scott-brian.com/
http://www.orangecrestriversidehomes.com/
Labels: Corona, Foreclosure, Home Prices, Inland Empire, Loan Modification, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Real Estate, Riverside, Short Sales, Statistics, Temecula
Now is the Time to Buy, Investment Firm Says
Daily Real Estate News
When you compare the real estate downturn to the real estate market in the 1980s, Blumberg Capital Partners, which provides real estate investment management, finds similarities that lead the company to think now is an optimal time to buy.
Its analysts point out that the recession of the 1980s lasted 16 months, running from July 1981 to November 1982. Unemployment peaked in November 1982 at 10.8 percent. From that point it took 38 months for the economy to recover fully and for unemployment to fall below 7 percent. It was another 10 months before unemployment was consistently below 7 percent.
Philip Blumberg, CEO of Blumberg Capital Partners, said in a note to investors that the real estate cycle is still three or four years from an optimal selling period, so now is the time for investors to buy.
Source: Blumberg Capital Partners (05/19/2010)
Brian Bean
Real Estate Broker
http://www.scott-brian.com/
http://www.orangecrestriversidehomes.com/
Labels: Corona, Foreclosure, Home Prices, Inland Empire, Loan Modification, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Real Estate, Riverside, Short Sales, Statistics, Temecula
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Housing Prices Could Rise 12.4 Percent by 2014
Daily Real Estate News
Housing prices are expected to increase 12.4 percent between 2010 and the end of 2014, predicts MacroMarkets, which surveyed more than 100 analysts and market strategists.
Those interviewed didn’t all see the housing market in the same light. Joseph LaVorgna, a economist at Deutsche Bank predicts that home prices will rise 37 percent by the end of 2014.
On the most bearish end, both Anthony Sanders, professor of real estate finance at George Mason University, and investment adviser Gary Shilling, president of A.Gary Shilling & Co., expect prices will decline 18 percent.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (05/19/2010)
Scott Chappell and Brian Bean
Real Estate Brokers
http://www.scott-brian.com/
http://www.orangecrestriversidehomes.com/
Labels: Corona, Foreclosure, Home Prices, Inland Empire, Loan Modification, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Real Estate, Riverside, Short Sales, Statistics, Temecula
|
