Boise Meridian Eagle Idaho Real Estate - Homes Sales and Boise Investment Properties

Michael Hon, CEO, The Iron Eagle Realty Team Assoc. Broker, Silvercreek RG The Iron Eagle Realty Team is a Full Service Real Estate Company. Our mission is to assist our clients in the successful acquisition and sale of their personal homes and/or investment properties in the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. We have successfully helped our clients with short sales, investment properties and foreclosed / bank owned properties in the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Is the Stock Market Rigged?

Technically, no, the stock market is not rigged. If you do your homework, research stocks, and learn as much as you can to make the right buys, you can still make money. But, the truth is, there is just no way for individual investors to make sense of the market. Insiders have the edge and the average man has nothing. Players with more money, more resources, more information, better technology, and more power of the game bypass us on all sides.

The market makers need to recognize that for most investors, investing is broken. Investors need to realize that the stock market isn’t the only profitable investment as well. Many investors have already realized this and have taken on one of the most lucrative investments to date – real estate.

Now is the time to invest in real estate. Homes have never been more affordable, mortgage rates are breaking record lows, rental homes are in high demand, and rental prices are skyrocketing and making investors a truck load of cash.

Not only is real estate making investors lots of money, investing in rental a home also takes up less time. By hiring a property manager, investors won’t have to do constant research to check on the current market. Property managers do all the work for them. They maintain the home, get reliable tenants placed quickly, make sure the investors are getting the most money for their property, and at the end of each month cut them a check. Easy as that.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Regards, Michael Hon, REALTOR®CEO, The Iron Eagle Realty Team
Associate Broker, Silvercreek Realty Group
Certified Short Sale Specialist®
Investment Property Consultant
Direct: 208.919.0458 Office: 208.939.9033 Fax: 208.514.1422
www.IronEagleRE.com Michael.Hon@IronEagleRE.com

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Five Questions: Why Home Prices Are Rising

By Nick Timiraos
The Wall Street Journal
Home prices through July posted their largest year-to-date rise since 2005, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index covering 20 major metropolitan areas.

Prices rose by 5.9% from the end of last year, according to the index, compared with a 0.4% gain for the same period last year and a 2.1% gain in 2010, when tax credits fueled a burst of home sales activity.

Are price gains limited to one segment of the market—say, foreclosed properties?

Not really. Data from real-estate firm CoreLogic show that the increases are being felt across all segments of the market. Overall median home prices in August were up by 12% from one year ago, as are median prices of existing homes that aren’t distressed sales.

Median prices of bank-owned foreclosures were up by 3%, while median prices were flat on short sales, where banks approve the sale of a house for less than the mortgage-debt that’s owed. Median prices of new homes, meanwhile, are up by 6%.

There are still a lot of foreclosures. How could prices be rising?

While foreclosures are still high by historic standards, the share of bank-owned foreclosures that are selling is down sharply over the past few years. Listings of foreclosed properties are down by 24% from one year ago and by more than 45% from two years ago.

While sales of foreclosed properties, which typically sell at a discount, have fallen by about 20% from one year ago, sales of traditional homes are up by 16% from one year ago, according to Ivy Zelman, chief executive at research firm Zelman & Associates. Prices, then, are rising not only because supplies of homes for sale are down, but demand is up.

Are banks strategically holding properties off of the market?

There’s little evidence that banks have seen an increase of marketable, or ready-for-sale, foreclosed properties sitting on their books. It’s true that there are still millions of properties that are in the foreclosure process or where borrowers have missed a couple of mortgage payments, and it’s unclear when or how aggressively banks will move those properties through the foreclosure process. In many cases, lenders and other mortgage companies that handle foreclosures have struggled to meet certain state requirements governing foreclosures. But the actual volumes of foreclosed properties that are sitting on banks books are down by around 24% from one year ago.

How large is the shadow inventory?

Overall, the “shadow inventory” of potential foreclosures is down by around 500,000 from the beginning of the year. Zelman & Associates put its estimate of shadow inventory that exceeds the typical level at around 2.9 million properties.

More In Shadow Inventory

Shadow inventory, however, is falling more slowly than expected, according to estimates from Zelman, because banks have been taking longer to process foreclosures and less successful at completing loan modifications. Zelman now expects shadow inventory to remain steady this year before falling by 20% to 2.3 million by the end of next year. Earlier estimates had put shadow inventory at 2.6 million and 1.8 million units at the end of this year and next, respectively.

Are home prices going to fall further?

Home prices typically strengthen during the seasonally strong spring and summer months, when there are more people shopping for homes. They weaken in the fall and winter. The key, then, is to monitor the year-over-year change in home prices. Prices in July were 1.2% above their year-ago levels, according to Case-Shiller, with 16 of 20 cities posting year-over-year increases.

If banks continue to push more foreclosure alternatives at a measured pace and if housing demand remains at its current levels, then “home prices are easily past their bottom and are approaching the self-reinforcing portion of the cycle,” wrote Ms. Zelman in a recent report.

The biggest risks to her forecast, she says, are weakness in job growth and the broader economy and tighter credit standards brought on by forthcoming mortgage regulations.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Merry X-Mas – BofA Just Wiped Out Your 2nd Lien

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Why you shouldn’t pay down your mortgage faster

by The Associated Press
Published: September 17,2012
Time posted: 4:28 pm

The impulse to pay off your mortgage more quickly than you need to is understandable, especially these days.

Interest rates are near historic lows, so it’s possible to replace a 30-year mortgage with a 15-year loan and still afford the monthly payments. Or, if you’ve already refinanced at a dirt-cheap rate, you can take those savings and pay down your principal faster.

But the allure is more emotional than financial. Mortgage debt provides great financial flexibility, and paying it down fast probably isn’t the best way to grow your nest egg.

“Generally speaking, there’s no advantage to paying down a mortgage earlier than you need to,” says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com

That’s because the interest on mortgages is low, it helps lower your taxes, and paying less every month gives you chance to reinvest the savings in more productive ways. Among the better options: paying down higher-interest credit cards, or saving for retirement.

Start with rates on 30-year mortgages. The average rate is 3.66 percent, close to the lowest level since the 1950s.

But in reality you pay an even lower rate when factoring in tax breaks. The federal government gives borrowers a break by allowing them to deduct mortgage interest from their income. And if instead of using the extra cash to pay down your mortgage you put it in a tax-advantaged retirement fund like a 401(k), your taxes are reduced even further.

Jim Sharvin, a certified public accountant with the firm McDowell Dillon & Hunter in Torrance, Calif. says if you are thinking of paying down the principal of a mortgage more quickly than necessary — either by switching to a shorter-term loan or sending extra principal payments to the bank — consider first doing the following:

* Pay down all high-interest debt, like a credit card. It’s the first priority because it’s very expensive debt, and it has no tax or other financial benefit.

* Build a cash cushion to cover unexpected expenses or loss of income.

* Bolster your retirement savings by putting the maximum amount allowed by law into a tax-sheltered plan such as a 401(k), a 403(b), or IRA. This also reduces your taxes.

* Fund a college savings program such as a 529 plan for your children, especially if you live in a state with an income tax. These programs shelter the money from state and local income taxes.

Once these priorities are taken care of, the next step is a matter of preference.

You could take the money you borrowed at 3 percent and try to reinvest it in a way that earns more than that. If you have time to ride out ups and downs of the market, 3 percent should be relatively easy to beat.

Or you could pay down your mortgage quickly. If you are just going to park your money in money market funds or certificates of deposit that yield less than 3 percent, it makes sense to pay down that mortgage debt. And it sure would be nice to have no mortgage when you retire.

There are other situations where it’s smart to pay down a mortgage early.

The first scenario is when you’re trying to eliminate the cost of private mortgage insurance, or PMI. That’s the insurance you must carry if you put down less than 20 percent on your home. It makes sense to speed up payments on your principal until you’re allowed to drop the insurance.

It’s also good to pay down your mortgage if you don’t have the discipline to reinvest extra money wisely. Handing the money to your mortgage company is one way to protect you from yourself.

Even if paying down a mortgage fast is the best choice, there are smarter ways than opting for a 15-year loan. That’s because the shorter term locks you into a higher payment, and that can become a burden if money gets tight.

A 30-year loan gives you options. If find yourself with extra money, then pay down the principal as aggressively as you like. But if you’re short, scale back to the regular monthly amount. That flexibility is probably worth the slightly higher interest rate on the 30-year loan these days, Sharvin says.

To compare a 15- and 30-year mortgage, consider this example: One homeowner with a $200,000 loan chooses a 3.75 percent 30-year mortgage, which costs $926 per month. Another chooses a 3 percent, 15-year mortgage, which costs $1,381 per month.

The homeowner with the 30-year loan ends each year with $5,460 in savings from lower payments and a tax break of about $770. He puts all that money into a 401(k), saving himself an additional $1,560 in taxes. That’s a total annual savings of about $7,800. If he earns a 5 percent return over 15 years, the homeowner will have accrued $170,000.

The homeowner with the 15-year loan will have no extra savings after 15 years. But then his mortgage payments will end. He’ll try to catch up, but he’s starting from so far behind that by the time 30 years are up – and both loans are paid off – the homeowner with the 30-year loan will have $124,000 more in savings.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Here’s More Evidence That Home Prices Have Hit Bottom

By Nick Timiraos
Wall Street Journal Blogs

Home prices in July were up by 3.8% from one year ago.
In each of the last three years, home prices have increased in the spring and summer, when more people are buying homes, before giving back all of those gains and then some in the fall and winter, when activity cools.

But it is beginning to look like that might not happen this year, absent a major stumble for the economy.

Home prices in July were up by 3.8% from one year ago, the largest year-over-year jump in six years. Moreover, prices have shot up by 9.6% from February, when they registered their lowest levels of the housing downturn, according to CoreLogic CLGX +0.32% data released Tuesday.

This adds evidence to the case that U.S. home prices may have hit bottom earlier this year. Even though prices will soften in the autumn, “we have a much better supply and demand dynamic” than in previous years, said Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic.

So when people say they believe home prices haven’t reached a bottom—that this year’s seasonal gains will be wiped away by January or February of next year—here’s the relevant question: Will home prices fall by 9.6% in the next six months?

Anything, of course, is possible. Home prices fell in the winter—what Mr. Fleming calls the “offseason”—in each of the last three years to record a new low. But they have not fallen by 9.6% in any six-month span since March 2009, which was when the U.S. economy was still in recession.

That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news: While the year-over-year comparisons look good right now, the economy—and workers’ wages—aren’t growing fast enough to justify this kind of increase on a sustained basis.

Instead, the snapback in home prices in the last six months is more an indication of how prices “over-shot” over the past year. Investors, sensing deals, began buying up homes. The most likely scenario for home prices over the next year is that they may rise, but not at the breakneck pace of the past few months (and they’ll fall on a relative basis in the coming months due to normal seasonal factors).

There are other serious headwinds. It’s still hard to get a mortgage, and many households have too much debt. Millions of homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. Millions more have enough equity to sell their house but not enough to make a down payment on their next house and pay a real-estate broker’s commission.

As we’ve written many times before, the strong rise in home prices this year owes as much to sharp declines in inventory as it does to demand-side improvement. Banks have been much slower to take back and list foreclosed properties, easing pressure on home prices but leaving a bloated “shadow inventory” of potential foreclosures.

These homes will weigh on markets for years, though there’s less evidence that they will be dumped on the market at once. While the shadow inventory may not lead to a big drop in prices that some have feared, it will probably keep a lid on future home-price gains.

Finally, lower mortgage rates have dramatically increased the purchasing power of today’s home buyers when compared to one year ago. Some real-estate executives are nervous that demand isn’t stronger given today’s low mortgage rates, and they’re worried about what will happen if rates rise.

The bottom line: Don’t be surprised if the all-time low in home prices is in the rearview mirror. But this doesn’t mean a full-on recovery is here, and there’s little evidence that the current pace of improvement can continue. For now, home prices appear to be bumping along a bottom.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Mortgage rates going up, up, up

Mortgage rates going up, up, up
Fed may take action as soon as next week
BY INMAN NEWS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012.

Mortgage rates ticked up from historic lows for the fourth week in a row as the bonds that finance most home loans continue to look overpriced to investors.

Some have speculated that the prospect of rising mortgage rates could spur homebuyers who have been sitting on the fence into action. But for now, mortgage rates are still well below historic norms, and there's speculation that the Federal Reserve could move as early as next week to keep long-term rates in check.

For 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, rates averaged 3.66 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Aug. 23, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That's up from 3.62 percent last week, but well below the 4.22 percent offered at the same time a year ago. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit an all-time low in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971 of 3.49 percent during the week ending July 26.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages -- a popular option for homeowners refinancing a loan -- rates averaged 2.89 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from 2.88 percent last week but down from 3.44 percent a year ago. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages hit a low in records dating to 1991 of 2.8 percent during the week ending July 26.

Rates on five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans averaged 2.8 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from 2.76 percent last week but down from 3.07 percent a year ago. Rates on five-year ARM loans hit a low in records dating to 2005 of 2.74 percent during the week ending July 26.

For one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs, rates averaged 2.66 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from 2.69 percent last week and 2.93 percent a year ago. Rates on one-year ARMs hit an all-time low in records dating to 1984 of 2.65 percent during the week ending Aug. 9.

A separate survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed demand for purchase loans during the week ending Aug. 17 was up a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent from the week before, and up 3 percent from a year ago.

Applications for refinancings -- which accounted for eight out of 10 loan applications -- were down 9 percent from week to week, to the lowest level since early July, the MBA said.

With mortgage rates at all-time lows in July, sales were up 9.4 percent from a year ago and home prices posted their strongest annual growth since 2006, the National Assocociation of Realtors reported this week. Now, some are wondering if mortgage rates are headed up, what impact that might have on sales.

In the short run, rising mortgage rates could boost home sales by getting buyers off the fence, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in March, when mortgage rates also appeared to be on their way up. But a significant increase in mortgage rates will reduce homebuyers' purchasing power and shrink the pool of eligible homebuyers, Yun fretted.

At the time, Yun expected rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages were headed to 4.5 percent, which he said would dent home sales by 3 percent. If rates on 30-year loans hit 5 percent, the impact on home sales would be closer to 6 percent, Yun said in March.

The Federal Reserve has made it a priority to keep mortgage rates and other long-term interest rates low during the downturn to encourage borrowing and stimulate the economy.

In a program that wound down in 2010, the Fed bought $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The artificial demand for MBS created by the Fed pushed MBS prices up, and yields down (bond prices and yields move in opposite directions).

When the Fed ended the program in March, 2010, the Mortgage Bankers Association predicted that rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages would rise from around 5 percent at the time, to 6.6 percent by the fourth quarter of 2012.

But the European debt crisis and continuing uncertainty about the global economic recovery created demand for Treasurys, government-backed MBS and other investments seen as safe havens by investors. That pushed long-term yields -- including mortgage rates -- down even more.

In a forecast issued this week, economists at Fannie Mae said they expect rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages will average 3.7 percent next year, and that existing home sales will grow more modestly in 2013 (2.8 percent) than this year's projected growth of 7.8 percent.

The Fed has continued measures designed to keep a lid on interest rates -- last fall it announced it would reinvest principal payments on its holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt and MBS, which totaled $1 trillion at the time, into agency-backed MBS as those investments matured.

Now, there's speculation that the Fed will embark on a third round of "quantitative easing," or QE3, to keep an economic recovery on track.

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's last meeting showed its members in general agreement that "additional monetary accommodation would likely be warranted fairly soon" absent considerable improvement in economic indicators.

The minutes show that committee members discussed the merits of purchases of Treasurys versus agency MBS. While some worried that more large asset purchases could actually "increase the risks to financial stability or lead to a rise in longer-term inflation expectations," others "agreed with the staff's analysis showing substantial capacity for additional purchases without disrupting market functioning."

Many at the meeting said any new purchase program "should be sufficiently flexible to allow adjustments, as needed, in response to economic developments or to changes in the committee's assessment of the efficacy and costs of the program," meeting minutes said.

The Federal Reserve could act at as early as next week's Jackson Hole symposium, where Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced QE2 in 2010, Reuters reports.

Mortgage broker and Inman News columnist Lou Barnes sees no fundamental economic explanation to the recent rise in rates. While some analysts think investors are less enthusiastic about buying Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities because the economy is improving and the Fed won't embark on QE3, Barnes thinks there's a more technical explanation.

With yields at record lows, bond and MBS prices are also at record highs. Investors are simply taking profits, pushing bond and MBS prices down and yields up, Barnes says. He thinks the sell-off in 10-year Treasurys could push yields back up to 2 percent, which would put 30-year fixed-rate mortgages back in the 4 percent to 4.25 percent range.

The increase in rates "might stop here, but rates are not going all the way back down until something ugly happens," Barnes said in his most recent Inman News column.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Friday, August 24, 2012

New Short Sale Guidelines for GSEs Will Make Process Easier

BY: ESTHER CHO
DSNEWS.COM

Starting November 1, 2012, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will implement new short sale guidelines to make the approval process easier for eligible borrowers.

“These new guidelines demonstrate FHFA’s and Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s commitment to enhancing and streamlining processes to avoid foreclosure and stabilize communities,” said
FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco in a statement. “The new standard short sale program will also provide relief to those underwater borrowers who need to relocate more than 50 miles for a job.”

The changes are part of the FHFA’s Servicing Alignment Initiative and will require a streamlined approach with documents, leading to a reduction in documentation requirements. For example, borrowers who are 90 days or more delinquent and have a credit score lower than 620 will no longer be required to provide documentation for their hardship.

The GSEs will also waive their right to pursue deficiency judgments. Borrowers with sufficient income or assets can make cash contributions or sign promissory notes instead.

One major barrier that is also being addressed is the issue with second lien holders. To prevent second lien holders from stalling the short sale process, the GSEs will offer up to $6,000.

The new guidelines will also enable servicers to approve a short sale for borrowers who are not in default but face certain hardships including the death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce or legal separation, illness or disability or a distant employment transfer.

In addition, all servicers will have the authority to approve and complete short sales that follow the requirements without first going to the GSEs for approval.

Provisions were also created for military personnel with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. Servicemembers who are required to relocate will automatically be eligible for for short sales even if they are current. They also won’t be obligated to contribute funds to pay for the remaining deficiency.

“Short sales have become an increasingly important tool in preventing foreclosures and stabilizing communities,” said Leslie Peeler, SVP, National Servicing Organization, Fannie Mae. “We want to help as many homeowners avoid foreclosure as possible. It is vital that servicers, junior lien holders and mortgage insurers step up to the plate with us.”

Tracy Mooney, SVP of Single-Family Servicing and REO at Freddie Mac, said, “These changes will make it clear that Freddie Mac servicers have the authority to approve short sales for more borrowers facing the most frequently seen hardships. These changes will further empower the industry to minimize foreclosures and help Freddie Mac in its mission to minimize credit losses and fortify a national housing recovery.”

Fannie Mae will send the announcement for the new changes to servicers Wednesday. Freddie Mac sent their announcement Tuesday.

In April, the GSEs also announced they were setting requirements to have a decision on a short sale offer made within 30-60 days.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

REO inventories drop even as banks hold on to them longer

Foreclosure starts drop in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon
BY INMAN NEWS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2012.
Inman News®

Inventories of bank-owned properties fell year over year across four Western states in July even as lenders took longer to get those properties off their books, according to the latest report from real estate data company ForeclosureRadar.

The report covers foreclosure trends in California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. Of the five states, only Oregon did not see its bank-owned inventory drop last month.

In California, the number of homes repossessed by lenders but not yet resold, known as bank-owned or real estate owned (REO) inventory, was down 36.4 percent to 66,000 properties last month. Banks sold REOs in 283 days on average, up from 232 days in July 2011. By contrast, homes bought by third parties at auction, usually investors, were resold in an average 138 days, up from 128 days a year ago.

Nonetheless, there are some signs the pipeline of foreclosures in the Golden State is speeding up a bit. Foreclosure starts rose 12.3 percent year over year in July to 21,175. The average number of days between the initial notice of default and the end of the foreclosure process (with the property either sold to a third party or repossessed by the bank) was 276 days last month (equivalent to about nine months), down from 310 days (about 10 months) a year ago.

Among the California homes in the foreclosure process whose fates were decided in July, most (10,398) experienced a cancellation of the process due to a successful loan modification or short sale, among other possible reasons. The number of properties that went back to the bank as REOs declined 54.2 percent on an annual basis to 4,512. Foreclosure sales to third parties fell 6.6 percent to 3,269.

In Arizona, foreclosure starts fell 28.2 percent year over year in July, to 4,433. Foreclosure cancellations were down 4.4 percent annually, to 3,575. The number of properties that went back to the bank as REOs decreased 33.8 percent year over year, to 2,191. Those sold to third parties rose 3 percent on an annual basis, to 1,630.

Arizona's REO inventory fell 38.1 percent last month, to 14,784. While the time to foreclose declined to an average 136 days from 175 days in July 2011, the time between when the bank took back the property and the property was resold rose a whopping 64.9 percent, to an average 244 days in July. Third parties resold properties in less than half that time, 107 days, up from 94 days a year ago.

Foreclosure activity in Nevada has slowed to a trickle, likely as a result of a Nevada state law that went into effect in October designed to crack down on documentation irregularities by foreclosing lenders.

In July, Nevada foreclosure starts were down 61.8 percent, to 1,618, compared with 4,235 a year ago. Foreclosure cancellations were down to 800, a nearly 60 percent drop from July 2011, but the number of properties becoming REOs dropped even more precipitously, 77.8 percent, to only 394 properties. The number of properties sold to third parties on the courthouse steps fell 34.4 percent, to 429.

The state's REO inventory was down 63.8 percent to 5,541 in July with the number of homes in the foreclosure pipeline dropping by more than half year over year. It took nearly 46 percent longer to foreclose on a property last month than it did in July 2011: an average of 471 days -- the equivalent of nearly 16 months. Banks also took considerably longer to sell homes once they'd repossessed them -- an average 221 days, up from 154 days a year ago. Third parties resold in an average 133 days, up from 98 days.

In Washington state, time to foreclose was virtually unchanged from a year ago in July: 102 days on average. Foreclosure starts were up 13.1 percent to 2,527. Cancellations fell 59.5 percent to 601. The number of properties that went back to the bank as REOs fell 67.1 percent to 595. Foreclosure sales to third parties fell 36 percent to 151.

As in the aforementioned states, REO inventory in Washington fell substantially last month: down 42.2 percent to 6,554. Banks took an average of 249 days to resell an REO property, up 25.9 percent. By contrast, third parties took an average 107 days to resell, down 24.1 percent.

In Oregon, foreclosure starts were down 58.6 percent year over year in July, to 426.

"This is most likely related to both the new Oregon law, SB 1552, that gives homeowners at risk of default, or in default, the right to request mediation to avoid foreclosure, as well as the Oregon Court of Appeals ruling that may force some lenders to proceed judicially with foreclosures," the report said.

"It is still not clear whether this is a temporary decline or part of a move toward judicial foreclosure in Oregon."

Nonetheless, time to foreclose fell to an average of 143 days from 162 days a year ago. Foreclosure cancellations in Oregon fell 11.9 percent on an annual basis last month, to 761 properties. At the same time, the number of properties reverting to REOs rose 93.6 percent year over year, to 395. Sales to third parties rose 73.7 percent, to 66 properties.

In contrast to the other four states in the ForeclosureRadar report, REO inventory in Oregon rose in July, up 39.7 percent to 3,153 properties. Banks also resold REOs at a quicker pace -- an average of 203 days, down from 219 a year ago. Third parties resold in an average of 79 days, up from 66 in July 2011.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The One Housing Solution Left: Mass Mortgage Refinancing

By JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ and MARK ZANDI
Published: August 12, 2012
NYTimes.com

MORE than four million Americans have lost their homes since the housing bubble began bursting six years ago. An additional 3.5 million homeowners are in the foreclosure process or are so delinquent on payments that they will be soon. With 13.5 million homeowners underwater — they owe more than their home is now worth — the odds are high that many millions more will lose their homes.

Housing remains the biggest impediment to economic recovery, yet Washington seems paralyzed. While the Obama administration’s housing policies have fallen short, Mitt Romney hasn’t offered any meaningful new proposals to aid distressed or underwater homeowners.

Late last month, the top regulator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac blocked a plan backed by the Obama administration to let the companies forgive some of the mortgage debt owed by stressed homeowners. While half a million homeowners could be helped with a principal writedown, the regulator, Edward J. DeMarco, argued (we believe incorrectly) that helping some homeowners might cause others who are paying on their loans to stop so that they also could get their mortgages reduced.

With principal writedown no longer an option, the government needs to find a new way to facilitate mass mortgage refinancings. With rates at record lows, refinancing would allow homeowners to significantly reduce their monthly payments, freeing up money to spend on other things. A mass refinancing program would work like a potent tax cut.

Refinancing would also significantly reduce the chance of default for underwater homeowners. With fewer losses from past loans burdening their balance sheets, lenders could make more new loans, and communities plagued by mass foreclosures might see relief from blight.

Well over half of all American homeowners with mortgages are paying rates that would appear to make them excellent candidates to refinance. Many of those with stable jobs, good credit scores and even a modest amount of home equity have already done so, taking out 30-year loans at rates around 3.5 percent, some of the lowest rates since the 1950s. But many others can’t refinance because the collapse in house prices has wiped out their home equity.

Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, has proposed a remedy. Under his plan, called Rebuilding American Homeownership, underwater homeowners who are current on their payments and meet other requirements would have the option to refinance to either lower their monthly payments or pay down their loans and rebuild equity.

A government-financed trust would be used to buy the mortgages of homeowners who had refinanced at an interest rate that was about 2 percentage points more than the record-low Treasury rates at which the government borrows. This would generate enough interest income to cover the costs of any defaults, administration of the trust and other expenses. Families would have three years to refinance; after that, the trust would stop buying loans and eventually wind itself down as homeowners repaid their loans.

Homeowners would see lower mortgage payments and rebuild equity more quickly. Taxpayers would get their money back, with interest, and would gain further as a stronger economy lifted tax revenues. Banks and other mortgage investors would get potentially troubled loans off their books. Some banks won’t like losing the large amounts of interest income they are earning on their current mortgages, but if the refinancing market were working properly these loans would have been refinanced long ago.

If the program was very successful, we envisage that two million outstanding loans could be placed in a Rebuilding American Homeownership trust at its peak. If the average mortgage balance was $150,000, then at the peak there would be $300 billion outstanding.

The federal government could finance the plan directly, through the Federal Housing Administration, or indirectly, through the Federal Home Loan Banks, which offer government-backed credit. Or the Federal Reserve could underwrite the plan; the central bank’s chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, recently talked about the Fed’s doing something akin to the Bank of England’s new Funding for Lending program, which offers incentives to banks to increase lending to households and nonfinancial businesses.

Opponents of additional borrowing or Fed lending will say that a program like this is an unacceptable risk, but the greater risk is to do nothing and let the housing market continue to hold back the economy.

Mr. Merkley’s plan resembles the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Refinance Plan, or HARP, which was designed to help underwater homeowners refinance loans backed by Fannie and Freddie. It has made possible 1.4 million refinancings, far fewer than the goal set in 2009 of 3 million to 4 million. The administration has made some improvements to HARP and proposed others. But the Merkley plan has the potential to go further, reaching the 20 million households with mortgages that aren’t backed by Fannie or Freddie.

The Merkley plan has a successful precedent in the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, established in 1933. It swept more than a million Americans out of foreclosure and into the long-term, stable mortgages that would become the hallmark of the middle class during the 1950s and ’60s. It’s time to revive this idea.

Since the Great Recession began almost five years ago, housing has been at the heart of our economic woes. If we do nothing, the problem will eventually resolve itself, but only with significant pain and a long wait. Mr. Merkley’s plan would speed the healing.

Joseph E. Stiglitz is a professor of economics at Columbia. Mark Zandi is the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Good News for the Housing Market

By Karen Weise on June 14, 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek

The housing market’s been giving mixed signals, flashes of hope mixed with sudden bad news. There’s no sign yet that a real recovery has taken hold, but some new data are optimistic.

Home prices and sales are on the rise. DataQuick says the average sale price for the past 30 days was $189,500, up $7,000 from a month earlier. Sales are also up 8.2 percent during this time. In Southern California, for example, DataQuick says the market is continuing its “step-by-tiny-step trek back toward normalcy.”

Shadow inventory is shrinking quickly. The so-called shadow inventory refers to distressed properties that aren’t listed for sale but probably will be—homes on which borrowers are grossly delinquent or already in foreclosure, or that banks have already repossessed. CoreLogic says in April, 1.5 million homes were in the shadows, which equates to a four-month supply, down from a six-month supply a year earlier. A smaller shadow inventory can be positive for prices because it means there are fewer distressed homes poised to come on the market.

Foreclosures are up. In the fall of 2010, the robo-signing scandal erupted over how banks were using faulty paperwork to evict borrowers. They cut back on processing foreclosures, building up a backlog of distressed properties. In March, banks agreed to a $25 billion robo-signing settlement, and new data show banks are restarting the foreclosure machinery. In May, banks filed to foreclose on 205,990 properties—a 9 percent increase during April, according to RealtyTrac. The foreclosure pickup hurts the people who are losing their homes but helps the housing market in the long run because it lets banks get through the backlog and eventually move on.

Borrowers are building more equity in their homes. Our colleagues at Bloomberg News report that homeowners have made the biggest jump in home equityin more than 60 years. Half of borrowers who are refinancing are paying down some of their debt and reducing their loans. They’re also refinancing into shorter-term loans that have higher monthly payments but let them pay down principal quicker. Overall, mortgage debt is down 7 percent since 2007—a small consolation for the decline in home values, which are down 23 percent over the same period.

Finally, if you’re looking for more data and a big-picture view, check out Harvard’s annual State of the Nation’s Housing report that’s out today. It also sees signs of recovery in the market and says unless something comes along to dent the broad economy, the housing picture should become even brighter.

Weise is a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Home Prices Rise in Half of U.S. Cities as Markets Stabilize

By Prashant Gopal - May 9, 2012 10:13 AM MT Bloomberg.com Prices for single-family homes climbed in half of U.S. cities in the first quarter as real estate markets stabilized. The median sales price increased from a year earlier in 74 of 146 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. In the fourth quarter, only 29 areas had gains. May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, talks about the U.S. economy and real estate market. She speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg) The U.S. housing market is showing signs of bottoming as improving employment and record-low mortgage rates boost demand while inventories of available properties tighten. At the end of March, 2.37 million previously owned homes were available for sale, 22 percent fewer than a year earlier, the Realtors said. “The housing market is still depressed but it had a good quarter,” Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said in a telephone interview today. “We’re on the mend but it’s still something that will take two or three years before we’re back to normal.” The national median existing single-family home price was $158,100 in the first quarter, down 0.4 percent from the first three months of 2011, according to the Realtors group. The best-performing metro area was Cape Coral, Florida, where prices increased 28.1 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose 19 percent in Grand Rapids, Michigan; 16.9 percent in Palm Bay, Florida; and 16.6 percent in Erie, Pennsylvania. Biggest Declines Kingston, New York, had the biggest decline, with the median selling price tumbling 22 percent in the quarter. It was followed by Stamford, Connecticut, with an 18 percent decline; Mobile, Alabama, at 14.7 percent; and Atlanta at 12 percent. The median selling price is influenced by the mix of homes on the market and probably was boosted by a smaller share of transactions involving distressed properties. Those homes, which sell at discounts, accounted for 32 percent of first-quarter sales, down from 38 percent a year earlier. Prices are more volatile than normal because they are affected by the prevalence of distressed sales and “sudden upswings” in buyer interest in some areas, said Lawrence Yun, the group’s chief economist. ‘Broad Shortages’ “We have broad shortages of lower-priced homes in much of the country, with very tight supply in Western states for homes through the middle price ranges,” Yun said in the report. “This is good news for many sellers who wish to list now, or for those waiting for prices to improve.” Sales of previously owned homes rose 5.3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the report. Purchases climbed 11.7 percent in the Midwest, 6.6 percent in the Northeast, 4.1 percent in the South, and 1.4 percent in the West. Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest mortgage-finance company, today reported a $2.7 billion first-quarter profit after a $6.5 billion loss a year earlier, citing smaller declines in home prices as one of the reasons for improvement. The Washington- based company said that it won’t need Treasury Department aid to balance its books for the first time since it was seized by federal regulators in 2008. The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

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Thursday, May 10, 2012

WE NEED YOUR FOURPLEX - BOISE IDAHO REAL ESTATE

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Foreclosures Down to 69,000 in March, Inventory Also Down

DSNEWS.com
BY: ESTHER CHO

Year-over-year, the number of completed foreclosures decreased about 19 percent to 69,000 in March 2012 compared to 85,000 in March 2011, according to CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report for March. Month-over-month, with the number of completed foreclosures in February 2012 at 66,000, foreclosures increased about 4.5 percent in March 2012.

On a quarterly basis, foreclosures decreased to 198,000 in the first quarter of 2012 compared to 232,000 through the same quarter a year ago.

Overall, since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.5 million completed foreclosures.

In addition to the yearly and quarterly decreases in completed foreclosures, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased by nearly 6 percent, or 100,000, in March 2012 compared to the year before.
“Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan modifications, short sales, deeds-in-lieu are increasingly being used as an alternative to foreclosures to clear distressed assets in our communities. This is what was envisioned with the recent National Foreclosure Settlement, and can often be a better outcome for both borrowers and investors,” said Anand Nallathambi, CEO of CoreLogic.

Out of all homes with a mortgage, approximately 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent were in the national foreclosure inventory as of March 2012 compared to 1.5 million, or 3.5 percent, the same month a year ago, and 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent, in the prior month of February.

Delinquencies are also down, with the share of borrowers nationally that were more than 90 days late on their mortgage payment, including homes in foreclosure and real estate owned (REO) assets, dropping to 7 percent in March 2012 from 7.5 percent a year ago, and remained unchanged compared to the prior month.
“The overall delinquency level was unchanged in March, remaining at its lowest point since July 2009,” said Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist.

The distressed clearing ratio for March was up at 0.81 compared to 0.76 in February 2012. A higher ratio indicates a faster pace of REO sales relative to the pace of completed foreclosures.

As for individual states, strides were more notably made with non-judicial states.

“Non-judicial foreclosure markets like Nevada, Arizona, and California are experiencing significant improvements in their shares of delinquent borrowers. Some judicial foreclosure states are also improving, like Florida, but not to the extent of non-judicial markets,” said Fleming.

Year-over-year, the percentage of 90-plus delinquencies in Nevada decreased 3.7, while in Arizona the drop was 3.2 percent and in California 2.2 percent. Judicial state Florida saw a 1 percent decrease in its percentage of delinquent borrowers.

Highest % of Foreclosure Inventory
Florida (12.1 percent)
New Jersey (6.6 percent)
Illinois (5.4 percent)
Nevada (4.9 percent)
New York (4.9 percent)

Lowest % of Foreclosure Inventory
Wyoming (0.7 percent)
Alaska (0.8 percent)
North Dakota (0.8 percent)
Nebraska (1.1 percent)
South Dakota (1.4 percent)

Five States with the Most Foreclosures
(Over 12 months ending in March 2012)
California (150,000)
Florida (92,000)
Michigan (62,000)
Arizona (58,000)
Texas (57,000)

The five states account for 49.1 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.
CoreLogic is a provider of consumer, financial and property information, analytics, and services to businesses and the government.

The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Bank-owned homes being held off the market

Here is an interesting article from the Idaho Business Review. There are currently 462 total REO's on the MLS,63 in Ada County and 133 in Canyon County. These are much lower than what we had on the market last year.

by Brad Carlson Idaho Business Review Published: April 18,2012 Time posted: 9:52 am

Some market watchers say banks aren’t immediately listing foreclosed homes for sale, in part to keep the market from being flooded with distressed properties. The number of bank-owned homes listed for sale through southwest Idaho’s multiple listing service dropped 17.3 percent from February 1 through the end of March, Idaho Data Providers said in a report. Listings of bank “real estate owned” homes, or REOs, dropped from 1,176 to 973 during the period. “This fact is worth mentioning since foreclosure sales are still occurring, and the vast majority of properties are going back to the lender, but there haven’t been that many REO sales to account for the decline,” Idaho Data Providers President Charlie Nate said in the report. “This is evidence that lenders are holding REOs off the market and probably renting them for a while to help keep the market stable.” The number of REOs listed for sale in the database of the Boise-based Intermountain MLS is short of the number of properties going back to banks in foreclosure actions, Nate said in an interview. His company tracks default and foreclosure filings as well as listings of distressed properties for sale. “They are doing that so they don’t further depress the market,” Nate said. “It’s just kind of a controlled thing.” Lance Churchill is a Meridian-based attorney who owns Frontline Realty, which buys and sells investment real estate. The company mainly handles residential properties, buying them at foreclosure auctions. Comparison of bank “real estate owned” homes to short sales listed for sale in the Boise-based Intermountain MLS. In a short sale, the lender agrees to accept a price below what is owed. Courtesy Idaho Data Providers. Banks continue to take back houses through foreclosure but are holding some off the market, Churchill said. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and lenders have started programs in which they rent bank-owned homes to residents instead of selling the homes immediately, which helps keep the market from being flooded with REO properties, Churchill said. Fannie and Freddie are government-sponsored enterprises that buy mortgages from lenders. “I’ve certainly noticed the REOs I handle are down,” said Remax Capital City Realtor Blake Mayes, who concentrates on REOs. “Certainly for me, inventory is down from what it was last year.” One Boise-area bank that is not holding properties off the market is Bank of the Cascades. “Anything we have in Other Real Estate (Owned), we have listed for sale,” Bank of the Cascades Idaho Region President Mike Mooney said. “Our OREO numbers are down pretty dramatically in the last six months and continue to trend downward.” Bank of the Cascades owns fewer homes in part because the economy and demand for housing are improving, and low interest rates are helping buyers, Mooney said. “We don’t want to own property; we want to make loans,” he said. “It’s definitely getting better.” The Iron Eagle Realty Team's mission is to assist you, our client, in the sale and acquisition of real estate properties in the state of Idaho, specifically the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market. Whether you are buying or selling a home, whether it is a foreclosure, short sale or equity property, we handle our customers and clients with empathy and honest truths so they can make informed decisions as they advance in the process of buying and selling real estate that meet specific needs.