Remember this is a "big picture news": Best-Case Scenario for Foreclosure Freeze

Daily Real Estate News

October 13, 2010


Best-Case Scenario for Foreclosure Freeze

Gregor Watson, a principal with McKinley Partners, a development company that buys foreclosed homes, told listeners on a Citi home-builder conference call that there were three potential outcomes from the foreclosure fiasco:



· Best case: These are technical issues that can be resolved quickly so the foreclosure process can continue and the glut of foreclosed homes is cleared from the market.



· Medium case: There is significant litigation that takes years to sort out and this slows the troubled housing market even further.



· Worst case: The market grinds to a halt and title insurers refuse to insure mortgages involving foreclosed homes. “It would be devastating for the resale market if this robo-signer issue spiraled out of control,” Watson says.



Source: The Wall Street Journal, Dawn Wotapka (10/12/2010)

What do buyers and sellers want in a Realtor?

Prudential Real Estate did an online survey of people who own homes and people who intended to buy a home within two years. It found that people are aware that today's real estate market is very complicated and requires greater sophistication. 

• 69% agree that buying a home is a much bigger decision than it used to be.
• 76% agree that buying or selling a home is more complicated than in the past
• 89% agree that previously "any home used to sell" but that marketing a home today must be much more sophisticated. 

Because of this it is no surprise to see that:

• 93% agree that finding an agent and real estate firm they can trust is more important than ever.

Many people are searching for their information online. Unfortunately not all information we see online is reliable, which can hurt buyers and sellers. That's why it is crucial to select a professional Realtor with the knowledge, experience and creativity to guide you through the process. When buying, it is important to have current information about what is on the market. When selling, it's important to understand that buyers are looking for value, and sellers who have their homes in great condition, have them priced right, and use staging techniques will experience success. Prudential Fox and Roach can assist in all of these areas. We are the market leader with a history of trust and integrity dating back to 1866. Our professionals are experts and the consultants of The Trident Group (mortgage, title, and insurance) will make the process easy and convenient while helping you settle on time, with great service and value.

Low Interest Rates makes NOW the best time to buy a home!

Many buyers rushed to purchase their home by April 30th, 2010 before the $8000 federal tax credit expired. Well guess what? – the even lower mortgage interest rates available make now AN EVEN BETTER TIME TO BUY! Here it is in dollars and cents:


April 29 – interest rate of 5.06% (according to freddiemac.com)
August 17 – interest rate down to 4.42%

SAVINGS WITH LOWER RATE: $154 per month savings on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage of $400,000 and $55,510.00 savings over the 30 year life of the loan!

OR

A home purchased in 2005 with a $400,000 mortgage at an average rate of 5.87% has  payments of $2,365 per month. Refinance now and reduce your monthly payment:

SAVINGS WITH LOWER RATE: $508 per month savings (payment reduced to $1857 per month).

OR keep the payments the same and shorten the length of the loan.

SAVINGS: Tens of thousands of dollars in interest to be saved over the life of the loan.

There has likely never been a better time to buy or refinance! There are lots of homes on the market, and prices and interest rates are low, low, low! Don’t wait to see if prices go down as it is likely that interest rates will inch up! ACT NOW!

Message about Prudential Fox & Roach and our current market

From Larry Flick  August 4, 2010
An Invisible Wall

There are many conflicting signals about the direction of our economy. We have entered into a challenging, fragile time and I expect we will remain here for the next few months. Summer 2010 began without fanfare, but marked an important milestone for our real estate market: it’s been one year since it hit bottom. During this time more buyers and sellers came together as each tax credit expired. But now activity has dropped off quite a bit. It seems as if our market has hit an invisible wall.

It’s always been predicted that the recovery would be slow and choppy; however, it’s clear our economy is in recovery. In the past year, we’ve experienced:

• Employment growth Six out of last eight months

• Private sector employment growth Past six months

• Personal income Seven consecutive months

• Wages and salaries Seven consecutive months

• Real estate sales Twelve months of improvement

The data supports that we are in a recovery, yet many consumers believe we are still in a recession. They are paying down debt and spending less. Businesses are still feeling the sting from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Their caution has resulted in slow job growth, and banks are lending less.

The benefits of the federal economic stimulus package and real estate tax credits are dwindling. While the financial woes of Greece and other parts of Europe are not a direct threat to us, they have contributed to a significant drop in our stock market. It’s no wonder consumer confidence dropped two months in a row!
Our Local Real Estate Market

As mentioned, we’ve had 12 months of improving real estate sales:

We anticipated that real estate sales would drop after the expiration of the tax credit, but in June and July the decline was more than anticipated. There is a silver lining, however. It appears that the pressure on the high end market has started to ease:

February Real Estate Update

February Real Esate Update is available online for your viewing.