Real Estate Report

Positive economic reports on housing continue, with October Pending Home Sales UP 3.7%. This was the ninth month in a row Pending Home Sales rose and the index is now 31.8% over October last year. Since this tracks the level of contracts on existing homes, Existing Homes Sales should continue their impressive rise for the next couple of months.

The National Association of Realtors also predicted sales of previously owned homes would go UP 4.8% this year, reversing the downward sales trend of the previous two years. For 2010, the NAR projects existing home sales UP 10.8%, with a 3.6% hike in the median price. For new homes, the median price is expected to rise 3.9%. Of course, smart homebuyers will act now to avoid these anticipated price increases AND take advantage of the newly extended and expanded tax credits. High net worth individuals are already showing up–in a recent survey, 35% said they planned to increase their investments in real estate. 45% of them contend there are significant opportunities in residential markets, with many bargains to be had.

Anyone need further incentive? Freddie Mac reported mortgage rates down for the fifth straight week, now at record lows! The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.71%, with an average 0.7 point, for prime borrowers with 20% down payments. That’s a new low for the survey which has been tracking rates since 1971.

North Dallas Lifestyle

FED PUTS PRESSURE ON MORTGAGE INDUSTRY

Treasury Department officials yesterday announced plans to increase pressure on the 71 mortgage companies participating in the government’s $75 billion loan modification program.

They will start this week by sending three-person “SWAT teams” to monitor the eight largest companies’ work and requesting twice-daily reports on their progress. Next week, they will publish a list of the mortgage companies that are lagging.

The mortgage companies have had a hard time getting borrowers to complete the paperwork necessary to participate in the program. Nearly 60 percent of the 375,000 borrowers who qualify to have their loan modifications completed by year-end have either submitted incomplete paperwork or none at all.

The program, announced by President Obama last February, allows homeowners to have their mortgage interest rate reduced to as low as 2 percent for five years.

TEXAS BOUND FOR FAST RECOVERY?

Texas’ four major metros are in the top ten fastest-recovering cities nationwide, according to Forbes magazine.

Forbes ranked San Antonio the second fastest recovering city in the country, Austin the third, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington the sixth and Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown the eighth.

The magazine attributed their relatively quick recovery to San Antonio’s and Austin’s high number of municipal jobs, Dallas’ thriving technology industry and Houston’s energy sector, as well as the state housing market’s ability to remain stable while other states’ markets crashed.

“Texas didn’t have as big of a boom,” said Dr. Jim Gaines, research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “So we’re not having anywhere near the kind of bust.”
El Paso and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission were also placed within the 100 fastest-growing MSAs, ranking 43rd and 48th, respectively.

Forbes ranked the country’s 100 largest MSAs according to each area’s September unemployment rate and foreclosures, gross metropolitan product, home prices and sales rates.

TEXAS’ EXISTING HOME SALES CLIMB, PRICES INCH UP

A total of 19,347 existing single-family homes were sold in Texas last month, a 15 percent increase from October 2008, according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

The median price rose 1 percent to $143,300 during the same period, and the state finished the month with a 6.9-month inventory of existing homes.

Dallas is up 12% from last year.

Today’s Real Estate Info

Housing Starts for October came in last week down 10.6%. But single-family starts dropped only 6.8% and are still 33.3% higher than their January/February lows. New building permits were off only 4.0% overall and were basically unchanged for single-family units. Builders were obviously cautious, not knowing that the homebuyer tax credit would get extended and expanded. They also experienced the nation’s wettest month since 1928 and the second coldest October since 1925. October also begins the winter drop in overall construction.

Fannie Mae’s housing forecast projected New and Existing Home Sales will be UP 11% next year, with prices flat but stable nationally. They see Existing Home Sales UP 10% (5.46 million), and New Home Sales UP a whopping 24% (498,000) for 2010. The report unequivocally states: “It appears that the economic recovery is here.” In fact, the 23.3% boost in the annualized rate of home sales in Q3 was the largest in over twenty years. The analysis also noted that new-home inventories have dropped steadily since May 2007 and are now at their lowest levels since 1982.

Talk has begun about a coming rise in mortgage rates. They’ve been at historically low levels because the Fed’s trillion dollar buying program kept mortgage bond prices up and mortgage rates down. This program will end March 31 next year. Analysts are projecting 30-year fixed rate mortgages will then go closer to 6%. This is still a great rate historically, although it does cut into a buyer’s purchasing power. There is no question that potential buyers and refinancers should not wait around too long!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is now a favorite American holiday…but did you know it took awhile to catch on as an annual tradition?

According to scholars, the first known Thanksgiving took place on September 8, 1565 in Saint Augustine, Florida when Spanish settlers held a Mass of Thanksgiving after arriving safely in the New World. English settlers in the Virginia Colony held a similar day of thanks in 1619. Two years after that, the colonists at Plymouth Plantation celebrated the most famous Thanksgiving, during 1621.

It wasn’t until October 3, 1789, that it actually became a holiday, when then President George Washington proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving…but just for that year. In 1795, Washington again proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving, and President John Adams also declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799.

After a decade and a half without the celebration taking place at all, President James Madison renewed the tradition in 1814, and even went so far as to declare the holiday twice in 1815!

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving that should take place every year. Years later, President Franklin Roosevelt stated that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month – as opposed to landing on the occasional fifth Thursday.

In observance of the holiday, both the Stock and Bond markets will be closed on Thursday, November 26th, and on Friday the 27th, the Bond market will close early at 2:00 pm ET, while the Stock market will close at 1:00 pm ET.

Have A Great Thanksgiving!

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Course provided by Henley & Henley Law Firm.

It pays to pay on time.

It pays to pay on time.

The No. 1 way to raise your credit score? Pay all of your obligations on time. Your payment history constitutes 35% of your credit score.

That includes library fines and parking tickets. Municipalities have become increasingly aggressive about turning over delinquent accounts to collection agencies, which will drag down your score. One late payment reported to a credit bureau can drop your score by 100 points, particularly if you had a high score.

Late payments can remain on your credit report for seven years. Bankruptcies appear for 10 years.

If you find an error in your credit report, ask the creditor to correct it, then notify the credit bureau by sending a certified letter and copies of documents that support your claim. If the error isn’t fixed, the bureau must identify the person who investigated your claim, and you can request a second report.

If the error is corrected, the bureau must send you a copy of your new report and, at your request, a copy to everyone who obtained your credit report within the previous six months. If it’s not corrected, you can include a statement in your credit report.

Faced with a faulty credit report when you’re about to obtain a mortgage? Mortgage companies can engage a rapid re-scoring service to correct errors within days.

Randal Newhouse

RE/MAX HiNet

972-234-2468

DallasForeclosureDeals.com

Reverse Purchase Mortgage

Reverse Purchase Mortgage

GET THE WORD OUT!!

If you or someone you know is over 62, they can now buy a home and never make a payment for the rest of their lives. This is a new program through FHA and is guaranteed by the U.S. Government.

Imagine how many seniors that are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. Help is finally here.

Example:

Mom had planned on moving in with her son and daughter-in-law. Instead of moving in with her son, she bought a $400,000.00 home, putting $200,000.00 down and is getting a reverse mortgage for $200,000.00. The son and daughter-in-law sold their home and moved into Mom’s new house. Now none of them have a mortgage payment. The money that the son was paying on his mortgage is being saved for the grandkid’s college fund.

Wow, what a great deal.

SeniorBailOut.Com

Reverse Mortgage Purchase

Reverse Mortgage Purchase

It is about time that the federal government did something good for the seniors in this country. If you are over 62, starting January 20, 2009, you can purchase a home and never make a payment as long as you live.

You read that correctly. Never make a payment as long as you live.

This is a new loan program offered by the FHA and guaranteed by the USA.

Example:

Rosie needs to downsize from her $300,000 home in which she will net $100,000. She does not want a payment as she is now alone and does not want to have that monthly expense. She began to look at $100,000 homes and had almost decided to not purchase as she cannot find anything in that price range that she is comfortable living in. After finding out about the new Purchase Reverse Mortgages, she has decided to purchase a $200,000 home, put $100,000 down and never make a payment as long as she lives in the home.

SeniorBailOut.Com