Home Sales Soar to Seven-Month High
Sales of previously owned homes surged 12.3 percent in December, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Thursday.
Existing-home sales have increased five of the last six months and have now hit a seven-month high, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million units. That’s up from a rate of 4.70 million in November, but remains 2.9 percent below the 5.44 million pace in December 2009.
“December was a good finish to 2010, when sales fluctuate more than normal,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The pattern over the past six months is clearly showing a recovery.”
Yun says the December sales pace is near the volume he and his organization are expecting for 2011, “so the market is getting much closer to an adequate, sustainable level,” he said. “The recovery will likely continue as job growth gains momentum and rising rents encourage more renters into ownership while exceptional affordability conditions remain.”
NAR says the national median price for existing homes sold in December was $168,800, which is 1.0 percent below December 2009.
Yun explained that a modest rise last month in distressed sales, which typically are discounted 10 to 15 percent relative to traditional homes, dampened the median price. In November, NAR reported the median price to be $170,600.
Distressed homes accounted for 36 percent of the market share in December, up from 33 percent in November.
A parallel NAR survey shows first-time buyers purchased 33 percent of homes in December, while investors accounted for 20 percent of the month’s transactions. All-cash sales were at 29 percent in December.
“All-cash sales have been consistently high at about 30 percent of the market over the past six months,” Yun said.
Total housing inventory at the end of last month fell 4.2 percent to 3.56 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.1-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.5-month supply in November.
Commenting on the latest existing-home sales numbers, Patrick Newport, U.S. economist for the research firm IHS Global Insight said, “This was a positive report across the board. All four regions posted double-digit gains. Inventory was down. Finally, first-time homebuyers began returning to the market.”
Newport continued, “At some point, the housing market will start to turn. We believe that it will start to improve this year (but that the recovery will be a long one). December’s unexpectedly strong existing home sales numbers may be an early sign that the recovery may have begun.”
via dsnews.com
Monday, January 24, 2011
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Thursday, January 28, 2010
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San Diego Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Home Buyer Assistance Programs
Neighborhood Stabilization Homeownership Program Funding now available
The pre-approval application process is now open for first-time home buyers seeking to purchase foreclosed properties in the City of San Diego through the San Diego Housing Commissions (SDHC) Neighborhood Stabilization Homeownership Program (NSHP).
NSHPs primary objective is to help a first-time home buyer from a low-moderate income
(Up to 120% Area Median Income) with good credit and the ability to make mortgage payments buy a foreclosed property within the City of San Diegos targeted areas in City Council Districts 3, 4, 7 and 8 from San Ysidro to Miramar. Click here for maps of the targeted areas.
A first-time home buyer is defined as an individual who has not owned a home in the last three years.
The financial assistance is made possible through a $9.4 million federal grant, (Housing and Recovery Act of 2008-H.R. 3221), which was awarded to the City of San Diego in January and is being administered by the San Diego Housing Commission.
San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) is currently accepting pre-approval applications for NSHP. First-time home buyers who believe they meet the requirements for the program are encouraged to contact a certified NSHP lender to assist with the process; or the buyer can complete the pre-approval application on their own and deliver it to:
San Diego Housing Commission
Attn: Loan Management
1122 Broadway #300
San Diego, CA 92101
Upon receipt of the pre-approval application, SDHC will determine the buyers eligibility and issue a pre-approval letter that can be submitted with a purchase offer using the NSHP.
For questions regarding the NSHP pre-approval process, contact:
Vicki Monce 619.578.7491 or vickim@sdhc.org
All potential buyers are required to attend an eight hour home buyer education class with a SDHC approved class provider. The buyer must attend the class before placing an offer on a property. The classes fill up quickly, so any buyer considering participating in NSHP should enroll in a class today!
NSHP Deferred Payment Loan
SDHC will provide eligible buyers with a 0% interest deferred payment loan up to 17% of the sales price to assist in the purchase of the home. No payments are required for 30 years, unless the property is sold, refinanced or not owner occupied, at which time the loan must be repaid. A minimum of 3% down payment from the buyers personal funds is required. The first trust deed loan must have a 30-year fixed interest rate.
NSHP Closing Cost Assistance Grant
SDHC will provide eligible buyers with a closing cost assistance grant up to 3% of the sales price. The grant can ONLY be used to pay closing costs which are not covered by seller concessions or other subsidies. The grant is recoverable, and must be repaid plus 5% interest if the property is sold, refinanced, or not owner occupied within the first six years. After six years, the grant is forgiven.
NSHP Rehabilitation Loan
SDHC will provide eligible buyers with a 0% interest rehabilitation loan up to $50,000. The rehabilitation loan must be used for repairs related to health and safety, curb appeal, and energy efficiency. Loans up to $10,000 will be forgiven in 5 years; loans up to $30,000 will be forgiven in 10 years; loans up to $50,000 will be forgiven in 15 years. If the property is sold, refinanced, not owner occupied, or if the repairs have not been maintained within the term of the loan, the rehabilitation loan must be repaid plus 3% interest.
Related documents for home buyers
Related documents for certified NSHP lenders
Click this link for website and forms!
http://sdhc.org/NSP.shtml
Posted via web from RealtorPeg
San Diego County Leads Region in Home-Price Gains
County leads region in home-price gains
Pace of sales, compared with ’08, also increasing
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.
San Diego County, with a 10 percent increase, led Southern California in home price improvement last month, although Los Angeles had the highest sales growth on a year-over-year basis, MDA DataQuick reported yesterday.
Overall, the six-county region had a 4 percent increase in median price, rising from $278,000 in December 2008 to $289,000 last month. It was the first year-over-year improvement since summer 2007. The one exception was the Inland Empire, where prices in Riverside and San Bernardino counties were lower in December than a year earlier.
Sales were up 12.1 percent regionally, while San Diego, as earlier reported, was up 9.8 percent and Los Angeles was up 31.3 percent.
Kelly Cunningham, senior economist at National University’s Institute for Policy Research in San Diego, said the coastal counties typically fare better than the Inland Empire because of the historic preference for living near the beach and the lack of new development in the nearly built-out coastal zone.
“It’s somewhat encouraging that things are picking up,” he said.
During the mid-2000s boom, many San Diego workers fled to southern Riverside County to take advantage of lower prices for bigger homes. With the latest figures, the price gap between San Diego and Riverside grew from $91,000 in December 2008 to $134,000 last month. But Cunningham said San Diego workers looking to buy may still find it more affordable and tolerable — at least for now — to stay local than to endure the hour-plus commute.
“At some point, I think it will turn around, but we’re not there yet,” he said.
In other findings from DataQuick, the “flipping rate” — resales of homes within three weeks and six months of the initial purchase — was lowest in San Diego County in December at 2.4 percent and highest in San Bernardino County at 3.8 percent. The regional average was 3.1 percent. Cunningham said the lower rate in San Diego County may reflect relatively more investor interest in foreclosure properties elsewhere.
The percentage of resales that had gone through foreclosure in the previous 12 months was 39.6 percent regionally in December, up from 39 percent in November. San Diego’s rate was 35.8 percent last month, up from 32.6 percent in November.
In financing, Southern California buyers typically paid $1,231 per month in mortgages last month, up from $1,207 in November but down from $1,239 a year earlier. Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 4.6 percent of home loans, the highest since September 2008 but far below the 51 percent average level since 2000.
Federal Housing Administration-insured loans accounted for 39.6 percent of all home purchase mortgages, up from 39.1 percent in December 2008; 24.9 percent of sales were all-cash deals involving no mortgage, compared with 22 percent a year earlier — another indication of investor interest in foreclosures.
Posted via web from RealtorPeg
