San Diego Home Prices Up, National Home Prices Down

San Diego Home Prices UP, While National Home Prices Down 5%

Home prices continue to plunge across much of the United States, according to Clear Capital, but the company says it’s seeing varying trends at the micro-market level which give credence to the old adage that real estate is local.

Clear Capital’s home price report released Tuesday shows that residential property values at the national level are down 5 percent for the three months ending in October when compared to the previous three-month period.

Several local markets in the eastern part of the country, though, are bucking the national trend and posting more quarterly gains. In particular, Clear Capital points to Washington, D.C., where home prices are up 2 percent on a quarter-over-quarter basis; New York City, which posted a quarterly increase of 1.6 percent; and Bridgeport, Connecticut with a 1.5 percent rise in home prices for the rolling quarter.

“Although nationally, price trends are showing significant decreases, it is critical for policy makers, investors, and other users of home price data to understand that price dynamics at local levels differ significantly from the macro trends,” said Dr. Alex Villacorta, senior statistician for Clear Capital.

For example, Villacorta says, all six major metropolitan areas in California are out-performing both national and West region numbers in terms of yearly gains. On the other hand, four of the top markets in Florida are already very near double-dip territory, even though national prices remain nearly eight percent above the 2009 trough.

“[W]hile national home price trends gauge overall home price movement, regional, metro, and local housing markets will continue to respond differently to distressed inventories and national policy,” Villacorta said.

Clear Capital took a granular look at the Washington, D.C. metro in its study to illustrate the “locality” of real estate price trends. The District posted a 2 percent quarterly increase in home prices and 6.7 percent yearly gain in Clear Capital’s latest survey.

Over the past three years, the company says Washington, D.C. has tracked closely with the national home pricing trend, matching the price troughs in early 2008 and 2009. However, history doesn’t necessarily guarantee similar direction or timing going forward. The District has posted quarterly price increases for two additional months beyond recent gains recorded at the national level, at which prices have now begun to fall.

For additional local perspective of the Washington, D.C. market, Clear Capital turned to its on-the-ground national network of real estate professionals.

“The greater Washington, D.C. market might be doing better than the rest of the country because of its proximity of the federal government, and the solid job base for companies doing business for the government,” said Ben Puchalski, a real estate sales agent from Washington, D.C. “The tax credit definitely eliminated some of the inventory problems in D.C., but we’ve seen a slow down since it ended.”

Looking closer at national quarterly pricing trends, 18 states have declines higher than five percent, while 29 states experienced quarterly price changes that outperformed the national mark. Clear Capital says this is significant because even though a majority of the states outperform the nation, declines in those 18 states are so severe that it brings the overall market average down.

Although nationally, home prices remain 7.7 percent above double dip territory – defined as prices dropping below their record lows experienced at the worst of the housing market crash – six local markets are presently experiencing a double dip, according to Clear Capital’s report.

Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Tucson, Arizona; and Virginia Beach, Virginia have all recently broken through for new home price lows, the company’s data shows.

But Clear Capital says those markets aren’t the only ones suffering. Fourteen additional markets are within five percent of double dip lows, and another seven are within 10 percent of new lows.

via dsnews.com

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San Diego Year-Over-Year Change In Home Values Rises 4.2%

San Diego Home Values Rise 4% Year-Over-Year As National Numbers Near Unprecedented Decline

The United States housing market continued its long decline in the third quarter with home values falling for the 17th consecutive quarter, according to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports(1). With home values 25 percent below their June 2006 peak, the current housing downturn is approaching Great Depression-era declines, when home values fell 25.9 percent in five years(2).

The Zillow Home Value Index(3) declined 4.3 percent year-over-year in the third quarter and 1.2 percent from the second quarter to $179,900.

Nearly one-quarter, or 23.2 percent of single-family homeowners with mortgages, were underwater on their mortgage in the third quarter, the highest it has been since Zillow began tracking negative equity in 2009. It rose from 22.5 percent in the second quarter.

In some markets, as many as four out of five single-family homeowners with mortgages were underwater on their mortgages in the third quarter. Las Vegas had the highest percentage, with 80.2 percent in negative equity, followed by Phoenix with 68.4 percent. In total, 11 markets tracked by Zillow had negative equity above 50 percent.

Home values fell from the second to the third quarter in 77 percent of markets covered in Zillow's report. In five of those markets – the California MSAs of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Ventura – home values began to fall again after five consecutive quarters of increases. Other markets that showed signs of stabilization in previous quarters also faltered, with home values flattening or becoming negative in large MSAs like Boston and Denver.

"While not unexpected, the unceasing declines in home values signal that we're in for a long, bleak winter of continued troubles for the housing market," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. "The length and depth of the current housing recession is rivaling the Great Depression's real estate downturn, and, with encouraging signs fading, will easily eclipse it in the coming months.

"The high percentage of homeowners in negative equity continues to be troubling, in that it represents a huge number of people who are not only more vulnerable to foreclosure, but who are essentially trapped in their current homes and are prevented from selling and buying a new home. This has profound implications for future demand and will be a millstone around the neck of the housing market."

Largest 25 Metropolitan Statistical Areas Covered by Zillow	Zillow Home Value Index
	Q3 2010	QoQ Change	YoY Change	Change from Peak	Negative Equity*
United States	$179,900	-1.2%	-4.3%	-25.0%	23.2%
New York, NY	$362,000	-0.8%	-3.3%	-20.7%	13.0%
Los Angeles, CA	$417,000	-0.8%	2.3%	-31.1%	17.4%
Chicago, IL	$189,600	-2.6%	-6.6%	-30.1%	32.9%
Dallas, TX	$131,300	-2.1%	-1.8%	-8.4%	n/a
Philadelphia, PA	$203,400	-1.7%	-3.1%	-13.5%	14.2%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL	$143,300	-4.2%	-15.2%	-53.3%	42.0%
Washington, DC	$316,500	-2.6%	-3.1%	-27.3%	23.6%
Atlanta, GA	$134,200	-5.3%	-13.2%	-26.0%	37.6%
Detroit, MI	$81,300	-2.8%	-10.8%	-48.3%	30.0%
Boston, MA	$328,600	0.1%	1.6%	-17.5%	9.5%
San Francisco, CA	$512,700	-1.5%	1.5%	-27.4%	20.2%
Phoenix, AZ	$131,400	-4.1%	-12.8%	-53.1%	68.4%
Riverside, CA	$193,300	0.0%	0.9%	-52.0%	48.1%
Seattle, WA	$273,500	-4.3%	-10.6%	-28.2%	27.7%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN	$177,200	-3.5%	-7.8%	-28.2%	36.8%
San Diego, CA	$370,600	-0.7%	4.2%	-31.1%	19.6%
St. Louis, MO	$138,100	-2.4%	-3.4%	-12.3%	22.2%
Tampa, FL	$115,700	-1.9%	-9.1%	-46.3%	46.8%
Baltimore, MD	$231,800	-2.7%	-8.6%	-22.2%	20.8%
Denver, CO	$206,100	-2.6%	-2.7%	-11.4%	34.6%
Pittsburgh, PA	$110,300	2.6%	1.6%	-1.4%	6.3%
Portland, OR	$223,500	-2.6%	-9.1%	-24.3%	25.2%
Cleveland, OH	$118,500	-1.0%	-2.4%	-17.7%	33.0%
Sacramento, CA	$227,500	-2.1%	-3.2%	-44.9%	39.6%
Orlando, FL	$123,400	-1.9%	-11.9%	-52.1%	64.2%
*Negative equity refers to the % of single-family homes with mortgages.

As home values continue to fall, additional signs of trouble have emerged. Foreclosures(4) reached a new all-time peak, with 1.2 out of every 1,000 homeowners in the country losing their homes to foreclosure in September. Sales of homes previously foreclosed in the past 12 months reached a near-peak level in September, with foreclosure re-sales(5) making up more than one-fifth (20.1 percent) of all sales. The last time foreclosure re-sales reached similar levels was in March 2009, when they made up 20.5 percent of all sales.

Additionally, more than one-quarter (27.3 percent) of homes sold in September were sold for a loss, marking a near-peak level. Homes sold for a loss peaked in February 2010, with 27.7 percent.

The full national report, in its interactive format, is available at www.zillow.com/local-info.  Additionally, in most areas data is available at the state, metro, county, city, ZIP and neighborhood level.

via prnewswire.com

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The Economy And Effects Of Making Your Mortgage Payment On Time

Faithful Mortgage Payments and Their Effect on the Economy

For almost two years, home foreclosures have swept the nation, spreading misery among once-buoyant families, spattering lenders with red ink and undermining efforts to restart the economy. But a bigger problem may turn out to be the millions of Americans who are still faithfully paying their mortgages, but on houses worth far less than before the bubble burst. It’s not that these homeowners will stop making their payments. It’s just the opposite—that they will keep doing it.

How could that be a source of future trouble? Because, with home prices stagnant in much of the country, payments on mortgages that are underwater could absorb billions of dollars that might be used for other forms of consumer spending—a drag on family finances, the housing market and the overall economy. And the drag could persist for years.

Of the estimated 15 million homeowners underwater, about 7.8 million owed at least 25% more than their properties were worth in the first quarter of this year, according to Moody’s Analytics’ calculations of Equifax credit records and government data.

More than four million borrowers, including 672,000 in California, 424,000 in Florida and 121,000 in Illinois—three of the biggest real estate markets—were underwater more than 50%. Their average negative equity: a whopping $107,000.

Many of these homeowners are paying much higher interest rates than the latest national average of 4.25%. They still have jobs and can afford to make the payments.

But they can’t refinance because they owe too much. That home equity line of credit isn’t going to happen. Even ordinary loans may be impossible to get. And selling the home at a huge loss is out of the question.

Nor can most underwater borrowers take advantage of the Treasury Department’s loan modification program, which generally requires a job loss or another kind of hardship. In other words, they’re stuck.

Heather Hines and her husband reflect this new reality. They owe $415,000 on a Santa Rosa, Calif., town house they bought in 2004 for $430,000. When the county appraised the three-bedroom home a few weeks ago, it was worth $246,000—even less than a year earlier.

The couple had planned to move to a larger home after their two grade-school children became teenagers, but now that looks impossible. Their house needs a new roof, but they’ve put off replacing it for more than a year.

“It’s hard to think of making that investment when you’re hundreds of thousands of dollars underwater,” said Hines, a city planner who, like her husband, is employed and has an advanced university degree. “It just feels hopeless. What are we supposed to do? It feels like we’re never going to see any equity in our home.”

Theoretically, the Hines family could walk away—stop making the mortgage payments that consume a big part of their income. But defaulting would ruin their credit and have other negative consequences. So, she said, they’ll keep paying and hoping for the best.

Unhappily for the rest of the country, that’s not the end of the problem: The Hineses’ financial bind will ripple throughout their community and the larger economy.

The real estate market depends on such homeowners being able to sell and move up; without them the trade-up market can’t grow.

Meantime, the Hineses will keep delaying that new roof, depriving a local roofer of business. They’re unlikely to redecorate or upgrade the kitchen either, as millions of families were doing before the recession—more potential losses for local businesses, not to mention the car dealers, clothing and consumer electronics stores and manufacturers of the products that the Hineses won’t buy.

Weighed down by the huge debt on their house, they will also be a lot more cautious about how they use credit cards. Big family getaways in the summer? Forget it, Hines said.

Multiply such sentiments by millions across the country and that translates into lackluster private spending, which accounts for 70% of the American economy.

“Families have not yet boosted their spending above the levels preceding the severe cuts they made during the recession,” William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in a speech last month. “This frugality stands in stark contrast to the first year of recovery from previous deep recessions,” Dudley said.

In prior downturns, the housing industry and consumer spending powered the economy back to strength. Home building not only created construction and finance jobs, but also fueled manufacturing of glass and lumber, furniture and appliances, and a host of other goods and services.

In normal times, the U.S. should be putting up about 1.7 million new houses annually, but this year it’s running at about 600,000, economist David Crowe of the National Home Builders Association said. He thinks it will be three years before home building returns to its potential.

Rather than going out on their own or starting families, young Americans are doubling up with friends and relatives, saving more and paying down debts. Older Americans are staying in their jobs longer, hoping that the single biggest asset for most of them—their homes—will recover in value.

But nobody expects a return of rapid real estate appreciation any time soon. If home prices were to rise at an annual rate of 3%, not an unlikely scenario, it would take the Hineses about 11 years to get to a point where their mortgage balance was even with their property value.

Refinancing the Hineses’ 6.5% interest loan could be a big help, saving them almost $600 a month. But lenders won’t even consider them.

And unless borrowers fall behind on their mortgage payments or face a high risk of defaulting, there’s little chance that lenders, even with federal incentives, would reduce their principal or lower their interest rates.

“They feel completely left out,” said Fred Arnold, past president of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals, referring to many underwater borrowers.

“If you stop payments, you have a much better chance of getting a modification,” Arnold said.

He contends that the federal government should set aside funds to help more borrowers refinance: “It would put immediate money into the economy.” But that’s not in the cards, especially with budget deficits weighing on Washington and the American public.

Eventually, economists suggested, a lack of options will push more underwater borrowers to walk away from their mortgages. But in the meantime, the stress on families, the housing market and the whole economy will continue.

Mike Saint-Just doesn’t see a lot of room to maneuver. In 2007, he put down $125,000 on a $230,000 one-bedroom condominium near Palm Springs, Calif. County tax authorities say it is now worth $87,000.

After tapping a home equity line of credit, Saint-Just owes $143,000—about two-thirds more than the value of his home.

Saint-Just draws a federal pension, enough to stay current on his loan but not much more. When he asked his lender about getting a new loan with lower rates, he said he was told he was too far underwater.

The loan officer “did say I could go into foreclosure and hope, maybe, they might do something. And they might not, in which case my credit would be ruined and I’d be out the door of the unit,” he said.

So Saint-Just keeps making his monthly payments and cutting back on nearly everything else. “It means dropping grocery stores and going to Wal-Mart, the 99 Cents store for food and generic items,” he said. With the winter coming, he’s preparing to dress warmly to save on heating. That may get Saint-Just through the cold weather, but it may leave the overall economy to shiver.

via rismedia.com

Tim Fiero at Home Services Lending can assist and advise you through any mortgage scenario, whether you are looking to find out how to qualify for a new loan or if you are currently in a ditressed situation. Call for a confidential consultation at 619-299-8020. Or visit at 890 W. Washington in the Prudential California Realty, Mission Hills building.

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Housing Recovery Depends On Employment Gains

U.S. Housing Recovery Hinges on Employment, Executives Say - BusinessWeek

The U.S. housing market won't recover until employment increases and consumers become more confident, according to panelists at a Real Estate Briefing hosted today by Bloomberg Link in New York.

"When things turn and there is job growth and there is consumer confidence back, then we'll see a change," said Douglas Yearley, chief executive officer of luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc., based in Horsham, Pennsylvania. "We have to get job growth back."

Sales of existing homes have tumbled this year amid unemployment that is near a 26-year high and a lack of confidence in the recovery of the world's largest economy. In September, homes sold at the third-slowest pace in a decade of data, after reaching a record low in July, according to the National Association of Realtors. The jobless rate has stayed above 9 percent for 17 consecutive months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"We have a jobless recovery," Thomas Shapiro, president of real estate investment firm GTIS Partners in New York, said during a panel discussion that also featured Henry Elghanayan, chief executive officer of New York-based Rockrose Development Corp. "Everything will be good if we can just create jobs."

Disappointing Growth

Jobless claims rose by 20,000 to 457,000 in the week ended Oct. 30 from a revised 437,000 the prior week, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell, while those on extended payments increased.

Calling progress toward lower joblessness and faster growth "disappointingly slow," Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday announced plans to bolster the recovery through another round of large-scale asset purchases.

Confidence among U.S. consumers rose in October from a seven-month low, the New York-based Conference Board reported Oct. 26. The percentage of consumers who said they plan to buy a home in the next six months rose to 2.1 percent from 2 percent in the prior month, according to the research group.

Sales of U.S. existing homes increased in September, a sign cheaper borrowing costs are helping to stabilize demand. Purchases increased 10 percent to a 4.53 million annual rate from 4.12 million in August, the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors said in an Oct 25 report. The median price fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier.

The average U.S. rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to an all-time low of 4.19 percent last month, according to McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac. The rate is 4.24 percent this week, the mortgage financier said today.

via businessweek.com

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Foreclosure Timelines Continue To Stretch

LPS Report Shows Foreclosure Timelines Continue to Stretch

Market data collected by Lender Processing Services (LPS) during the month of September reveals that foreclosure timelines continue to increase, with borrowers in the latest stages of delinquency or in foreclosure languishing without having made a mortgage payment for up to 16 months.

The company’s Mortgage Monitor report released Wednesday illustrates the extreme congestion in foreclosure pipelines. LPS notes that the average time a loan remains delinquent in five particular judicial states – New York, Florida, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Maine – now exceeds 500 days.

At the same time, LPS says the foreclosure timeline extension has been significantly more pronounced in non-judicial states, as well.

Timelines in the 90-days-or-greater delinquency category have continued to increase even as inventories have declined. As of the end of September, 32 percent of 90-days-or-greater delinquencies could be categorized as “extremely delinquent,” with borrowers not having made payments for 12 months or more, according to LPS’ report.

The average days delinquent for loans in the 90-days-or-greater delinquency category is 316 days. The average loan in foreclosure has not had a payment made in 484 days.

Based on its analysis of nearly 40 million mortgages across the spectrum of credit products, LPS found that approximately 275,000 loans started foreclosure during the month of September.

The company says while delinquencies in September dropped 7.8 percent as compared to a year ago, in the context of “normal market conditions,” delinquencies remain at historically high levels and foreclosure inventories are only slightly below all-time highs.

More than 4.3 million loans are currently 90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure, according to LPS.

This month’s report also shows that approximately 1.13 million loans that were current at the beginning of January 2010 are at least 60 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of the end of September 2010 – a month-over-month increase of approximately 120,000 loans.

LPS says the last two months have seen an increasing trend in this new problem loan category – 1.84 percent of loans that were current six months ago are 60 or more days delinquent today.

The research firm puts the nation’s mortgage delinquency rate at 9.27 percent and the U.S. foreclosure inventory rate at 3.84 percent, for a total non-current loan rate of 13.11 percent.

LPS says the states with the highest percentage of non-current loans (defined as the total number of foreclosures and delinquencies as a percent of all active loans in that state) include: Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana.

The lowest percentage of non-current loans can be found in North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Wyoming, and Montana.

via dsnews.com

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The Benefits of Becoming a Real Estate Investor

Benefits of Becoming a Real Estate Investor

Real estate investing is a very popular way to increase one’s wealth. The higher than average income on a monthly and yearly basis from good real estate investments beats just about any stock, bond, or annuity. It is rare that a good real estate investment will decrease in value.

Real estate investors don’t just make their money from the increasing value of the property. Income from real estate investments can come in many different ways. Over time value increases, the mortgage payment decreases which in turn increases your equity. You can make improvements to the property to increase value and income. Increasing rental rates if you own rentals can be an easy way to increase investment income. There are tax benefits that can save you money over time. As you can see there are several ways income can be generated with real estate. I didn’t mention all of them, I just mentioned a few.

A solid real estate investment can provide you with a stable source of income, more stable than any stock market investment. Perhaps the best part about investing in real estate is in its long term value. Generally property values will go up over time. If you have an investment in a good area your investment’s value could have a significant increase. How much depends on several factors. When getting real estate investing information, make sure the person you are getting the information from knows the ins and outs of investing, especially when it comes to finding a good location for investment property.

As mentioned before, the great thing about owning real estate as an investment is its long term potential. You don’t have to do anything to the property except keep it maintained and in time it will appreciate in value. Some investors will keep a property for a period of years and decide that the property has appreciated in value enough that they can sell it and make a handsome profit. Of course, not many investors do that. They usually buy properties to flip or buy them and use them as rental properties. Either way they have positive cash flow. Which type of real estate investing is best? It just depends on the person. Some investors like the higher pressure situations they get in when flipping property, while others enjoy holding on to properties long term.

When beginning real estate investing, find mentors that work in different areas of real estate investing, or try different ways of investing yourself and see what you like doing. That will be key, find the way you like to invest, and go from there. If you enjoy flipping properties, then make that your passion and it will make the experience that much more enjoyable.

via articlesinventory.com

We can assist you with any Real Estate Investment related questions. We are highly trained Realtors with a passion for securing your success. Please call us at 619-301-8589 or email to realtorpeg@yahoo.com.

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For The Children – Gaslamp Quarter’s Fall Back Festival

For The Children – Gaslamp Quarter’s Fall Back Festival

Posted By Sandi Beach On November 6, 2010 @ 12:04 PM In Downtown & Bay, Kid Central | No Comments

Step back in time to the late 1880’s, when Bum the Dog and Alonzo Horton roamed the streets… Welcome to the 10th Annual Fall Back Festival, a Children’s Historical and Cultural Street Fair in the heart of San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter!