HIGHLIGHTS

- Pending sales up 9.2% year-over-year, nationwide.

- Notices of default dropped in October.

- The number of properties owned by the banks was down 14.4% year-over-year.

Pending sales were up 10.4% in October compared to September, and up 9.2% year-over- year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said improved contract activity is a hopeful sign. “Home sales have been plodding along at a sub-par level while interest rates are hovering at record lows and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who normally would have entered the market in recent years. We hope this is indicates more buyers are taking advantage of the excellent affordability conditions,” he said.

“Many consumers are recognizing that home buyers in the past two years have had one of the lowest default rates in history. Moreover, continued inventory declines are another healthy sign for the housing market,” Yun added.

“Although contract signings are up, not all contracts lead to closings. Many potential home buyers inadvertently hurt their credit scores and chances of getting a mortgage through easily averted actions, such as cancelling an old credit line while taking on a new one,” Yun said. “Such actions could unwittingly prevent buyers from obtaining a mortgage if their credit score is close the margins of qualifying, or they might get a loan but with less favorable terms.”

NAR encourages consumers to be aware of their credit score and actions which could hurt or enhance it.

http://houselogic.com, the association’s consumer website devoted to all aspects of homeownership, offers tips for improving credit scores at http://tinyurl.com/27czzgb.

MARKET STATISTICS
Sale of single-family, re-sale homes fell 4.8% in November from October. Year-over-year, home sales were off 5.9%. Year-to-date, home sales are flat.

Condo sales were off 2.5% from October, but were up 26.9% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are up 12.3%.

The median price for homes was down 5.1% year- over-year. This is the thirteenth month in a row the median price for homes has been lower than the year before.

The median price for condos was off 12.5% compared to last November.

Inventory of both homes and condos continues to be weak, which should be good for prices. Home inventory was down 28.9% compared to last November: 1,672 homes actively listed. Condo inventory was down 46.1% year-over-year.

Please remember, while statistics are nice, they will not determine the price you pay or get for a property. That will come down to you and the buyer or seller.

HIGHLIGHTS

- HARP being expanded.

- Foreclosure starts surge in August.

- Home and condo sales outpacing last year.

The Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, is being revamped. It was originally aimed at a housing market that had an estimated 5 million struggling homeowners. Unfortunately, HARP’s original terms and limits were so restrictive that the program, to date, has reached fewer than 900,000 mortgage holders. The major restriction eliminated any homeowner whose existing mortgage represented more than 125% of the loan-to-value of their home.

The revamping of HARP will let borrowers whose mortgages are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance those underwater mortgages, presumably no matter how far their home’s value has fallen. In fact, current loan-to-value ratio on the existing mortgage must be greater than 80 percent.

And, mortgage holders can’t double-dip; that is, if they already have an earlier HARP loan, they can’t get another at the even better rate of 4%. The new terms also eliminate the need for yet another property appraisal in calculating LTV, and the program’s end date has been extended.

The plan, announced last week still has certain eligibility limits. For example, your mortgage has to be a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac instrument, owned or guaranteed by one agency or the other, and you must not have missed any payments in the last six months (since April 24, at present), or have more than one missed payment over the last year.

The FHFA, or Federal Housing Finance Agency, which currently controls Fannie, Freddie, and 12 other Federal Home Loan Banks – located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Des Moines, Indianapolis, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle and Topeka – is expected to announce the final program parameters by November 15.

This is a much needed expansion of the program. Unfortunately, there are over ten million homeowners underwater and this new HARP will only be available to 10% of them.

MARKET STATISTICS

Sale of single-family, re-sale homes fell 4.9% in October from September, but were up 2.4% year- over-year. Year-to-date, home sales are up 0.5%.

Condo sales were up 3.8% from September and up 12.5% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are up 11.1%.

The median price for homes was down 13.9% year-over-year. This is the twelfth month in a row the median price for homes has been lower than the year before.

The median price for condos was off 4.1% compared to last October.

Inventory of both homes and condos continues to be weak. Home inventory was down 25% compared to last October: 2,014 homes actively listed. Condo inventory was down 44.2% year- over-year.

Go to my on-line site SCVReport.com for the full report, plus a city-by-city breakdown.

If you would like to search for properties in the Santa Clara Valley, go to my online search form at: MLS Search

If you find the Santa Clara Valley Real Estate Report useful and know someone else who might, please feel free to forward this e-mail to them. There is also a four page printable version with more articles here:
Printable Report.

- Mortgage rates reach record lows.

- Foreclosure starts surge in August.

- Prices for homes down, year-over-year, for the eleventh month in a row.

Thirty year fixed mortgage rates are down in the low, very low, 4% area.

Which is great for those who have the down payment, minimum 3.5% for FHA-backed loans and 5% for bank loans, and can qualify. Those few, those lucky few. (With all credit to Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s day speech.)

Then there are the people who would love to refinance, but are underwater. So sorry!

Then again, this is Silicon Valley!!! Where many of the rules that apply to normal people don’t exist. Dot.com and IPO millionaires are pushing prices up in select cities, where multiple offers rule. Of course, these buyers are usually taking out jumbo loans which are about one percent higher.

Record low interest rates are having NO affect on the market.

In other news, foreclosure starts surged in August, with Bank of America leading the way by nearly doubling their initial notices of foreclosure, according to http://foreclosureradar.com.

In Santa Clara County, According to http://foreclosureradar.com, the number of bank-owned properties, called REOs, in Santa Clara County have averaged about 2,200 for the past thirteen months.

In the MLS, there are 255 properties listed for sale as REO. We are only counting active listings, not pending-continue to show, which the MLS counts as active.

There are 302 REO properties pending.

That totals 557 REO properties either for sale or in escrow. That’s only 25% of all bank-owned properties in play.

MARKET STATISTICS

Sale of single-family, re-sale homes fell 15.3% in September from August, but were up 0.4% year-over-year. Year-to-date, home sales are up 0.3%.

Condo sales followed a similar, down 19.4% from August and up 8.3% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are up 10.9%. There have been more condos sold this year than any year since 2007.

The median price for homes was down 9.2% year-over-year. This is the eleventh month in a row the median price for homes has been lower than the year before.

The median price for condos was up 0.5% compared to last September, breaking a string of twelve months in a row where the median price had been lower than the year before.

Inventory of both homes and condos continues to be weak. Home inventory was down 26.5% compared to last September: 2,154 homes actively listed. Please note, only active listings are included in this figure. Numbers from the local associations include properties that are also in a pending status, meaning they have an accepted offer, but haven’t been taken off the market.

Condo inventory was down 41.7% year-over-year.

Please remember, while statistics are nice, they will not determine the price you pay or get for a property. That will come down to you and the buyer or seller.

Go to my on-line site SCVReport.com for the full report, plus a city-by-city breakdown.

If you would like to search for properties in the Santa Clara Valley, go to my online search form at: MLS Search

If you find the Santa Clara Valley Real Estate Report useful and know someone else who might, please feel free to forward this e-mail to them. There is also a four page printable version with more articles here:
Printable Report.

Sincerely,

Andrew Hartland
Broker/Owner

- 89 Point Marketing Program
- Virtual & Audio Showcase Tours
- Sale & Purchase Guarantees