Equity Title Agency's Blog

DSNEWS!

0 0 1 471 2688 Equity Title Agency 22 6 3153 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hello Real Estate Advocates

The attached article is sure positive news for our real estate market for the next couple of years.  Let’s be sure our potential Buyers out there know that they are going to be in a situation where home sales will continue to improve as for the foreseeable future.

Bob Grove – Equity Title

Fed Extends Expectations for Low Rates Through 2014

01/25/2012

BY: CARRIE BAY

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will hold a key benchmark interest rate near zero through late 2014.

The setting of this federal funds rate – the rate at which banks lend to one another – is one of the most fundamental and principal tools in the central bank’s chest of economic influence.

The Fed has kept the target range for the rate at 0 to 0.25 percent for three years now. The decision by its policy committee members to maintain this range for another three years is testament to just how slow the U.S. economy’s crawl back from the brink of financial ruin is likely to be.

Up until Wednesday, the Fed’s policy statement had indicated the federal funds rate would remain at its current level until mid-2013.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged that the 2014 projection for keeping the rate so low is not set in stone. The decision to raise the rate before that time would be determined by the pace of economic growth.

“We have to make a best guess,” Bernanke told reporters at a press conference following the Fed’s two-day policy meeting. “Unless there is a substantial strengthening of the economy in the near term, I would think that it’s a pretty good guess that we will be keeping rates low for some time from now.”

The Fed’s policy committee said information it has received since the last meeting in mid-December suggests the economy has been expanding moderately, but that’s not enough.

“To support a stronger economic recovery…the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy,” according to the committee’s statement.

Members said they expect economic growth over the coming quarters to be modest, and as a result, they anticipate the unemployment rate will decline only gradually.

Projections released by the Fed committee at the conclusion of the meeting show its members are generally anticipating the national unemployment rate to range between 8.2 and 8.5 percent this year.

Strains in global financial markets also continue to pose significant downside risks to the U.S. economic outlook, according to the Fed.

Analysts say the central bank’s assessment of current economic conditions and expectations going forward indicate a third round of ‘Quantitative Easing’ (QEIII) is not out of the question, and in fact very likely this year.

Bernanke and his colleagues have made it a goal to bring more transparency to the nation’s central bank.

“The Committee seeks to explain its monetary policy decisions to the public as clearly as possible,” the Fed’s policymakers said in a statement issued Wednesday.

“Such clarity,” they said, “facilitates well-informed decisionmaking by households and businesses, reduces economic and financial uncertainty, increases the effectiveness of monetary policy, and enhances transparency and accountability, which are essential in a democratic society.”

DSNEWS!

0 0 1 394 2249 Equity Title Agency 18 5 2638 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hello Followers<

Looks like the market and the economy are starting to cooperate in the recovery we so desperately need to get this housing market cranking.

Let’s get in step with that and make some hay in 2012.

Bob Grove – Equity Title

Rise in Home Sales Signifies Strengthening Market: Economists

01/20/2012

BY: KRISTA FRANKS

The long-awaited housing recovery is beginning to blossom, according to industry experts taking a look at recent existing-home sales.

While admitting home sales “are still very low,” Paul Dales, chief economist at Capital Economics, says “it is clear that housing recovery is now well underway.”

The evidence: home sales have been on the rise for the past three months, posting a 5 percent increase in December.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), concurs with Dales’ assessment, saying “The pattern of home sales in recent months demonstrates a market in recovery.”

Yun suggests consumers are gaining confidence from “record low mortgage interest rates, job growth and bargain home prices.”

In addition to the 5 percent increase in December, NAR reported a 1.7 percent annual increase in existing-home sales in 2011, a total of 4.26 million homes for the year.

Distressed homes made up 32 percent of sales in December, according to NAR’s existing home sales report for the month. 
Foreclosed home sales closed at about 22 percent below market rate in December, a discount 2 percent higher than that recorded a year earlier.

Investor demand remains steady with 21 percent of homes sold in December going to investors after this category of buyers took 19 percent of purchases in November and 20 percent one year ago.

Cash sales – commonly linked to investors – made up 31 percent of December’s existing-home sales. This rate was 28 percent in November and 29 percent a year ago.

Purchases by first-time home buyers declined in December – both from the previous month and the previous year. First-time home buyers accounted for 31 percent of purchases in December, down from 35 percent in November and 33 percent in December 2010.

Housing inventory is on the decline and fell to its lowest level since March 2005 last month, according to NAR. Approximately 2.3 million homes are available for sale currently.

“The inventory supply suggests many markets will continue to see prices stabilize or grow moderately in the near future,” Yun said.

However, listed inventory is only part of the equation, and according to CoreLogic’s latest numbers, shadow inventory stands at about 1.6 million.

Regardless, Dales believes sales will rise this year. “Housing still won’t contribute much to GDP growth over the next few years, but at least it will no longer subtract from it,” Dales says.

DSNews UPDATE!!! MORTGAGE RATES: HOW LOW CAN THEY GO???

0 0 1 343 1958 Equity Title Agency 16 4 2297 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hey Readers,

Great article about how interest rates are continuing to drop, what a great time to buy!

Bob Grove -  Equity Title

Mortgage Rates: How Low Can They Go?

01/19/2012

BY: CARRIE BAY

Credit conditions may be tight, but for those who do qualify for a new home loan, the cost of borrowing has never been lower.

Data released Thursday by Freddie Mac shows the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage edged down to 3.88 percent (0.8 point) for the week ending January 19, to hit a new all-time low.

The previous record low for the 30-year rate was 3.89 percent, set just the week prior. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was averaging 4.74 percent. It’s now come in below the 4.00 percent mark for seven consecutive weeks.

The 15-year fixed-mortgage rate was the only product included in Freddie Mac’s regular weekly survey to show upward movement, albeit by only one basis point. The

15-year rate rose from 3.16 percent last week to 3.17 percent (0.8 point) this week. A year ago, it was averaging 4.05 percent.

The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) is now averaging 2.82 percent (0.7 point). That reading matches last week’s but is well below the year-ago average of 3.69 percent.

The average rate for a 1-year ARM came in at 2.74 percent (0.6 point) this week, down from 2.76 percent last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM was at 3.25 percent.

On the whole, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, described mortgage rates as “nearly unchanged” this week in lieu of a mixed bag of economic data reports.

He points to retail sales on the consumer front, which edged up only 0.1 percent in December, which contrasts the Reuters/University of Michigan sentiment index as it continued to climb in January to the highest reading since February 2011.

“On the business side, industrial production rose 0.4 percent in December, slightly below the market consensus forecast, and the core producer price index rose faster than market expectations,” Nothaft noted.

The home construction sector also experienced positive indicators, Nothaft explained, with builder confidence rising for the fourth consecutive month in January to its highest level since June 2007.

DSNews Positive UPDATE!!!

0 0 1 272 1551 Equity Title Agency 12 3 1820 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hey Fellow Real Estate Industry professionals,

More good news on the housing front and the overall economy.  Please, share the information where ever you can.  Let’[s jump start this market for the good of all.

Bob Grove – Equity Title

Delinquency and Foreclosure Rates Down From a Year Ago: LPS

01/19/2012

BY: CARRIE BAY

Lender Processing Services (LPS) has provided the media with a sneak peek at the results of its mortgage performance data through 2011. 

As of the end of December, the company counted 6,167,000 borrowers behind on their mortgage payments, including those already in the process of foreclosure.

That tally is the culmination of a steady decline over the last year, with both the national delinquency rate and foreclosure rate down when compared to their December 2010 readings.

Delinquencies were unchanged between the months of November and December, but declined 7.7 percent from December 2010. LPS puts the mortgage delinquency rate, including loans 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure, at 8.15 percent.

Foreclosures declined by 1.3 percent from November to December and are 1.0 percent below the level reported at the end of 2010. By LPS’ calculations, the national foreclosure inventory rate is 4.11 percent.

Of the 6,167,000 mortgages going unpaid in the United States, LPS says 2,066,000 are in foreclosure. The remaining 4,101,000 haven’t made it that far down the pipeline, even though 1,792,000 are 90 or more days delinquent.

States with the highest percentage of non-current loans, combining delinquencies and foreclosures, included Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, and Illinois as of the end of December.

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

DSNews Positive UPDATE!!!

0 0 1 367 2092 Equity Title Agency 17 4 2455 14.0 Normal 0 false false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hello Readers,

The interest rates for Mortgages continue to fall, making home ownership the most affordable it has been ever.

Let’s get those Buyers making offers and save this housing industry, 

Bob Grove -  Equity Title

Mortgage Rates Break Record Lows

01/12/2012

BY: CARRIE BAY

With property values across the country at depressed levels and interest rates dancing around historical lows for months now, housing affordability has hit an all-time high. That affordability inched even higher this week, as mortgage interest rates broke through their previous record lows to fall further still.

Freddie Mac says all loan products covered in its regular weekly market survey eased to set new all-time lows for the week ending January 12, 2011.

The average rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage has been below 4.00 percent for six consecutive weeks now. This week, it dropped to 3.89 percent (0.7 point), down from 3.91 percent last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 4.71 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week averaged 3.16 percent (0.8 point), falling from 3.23 percent last week. A year ago at this time, the 15-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.08 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) also declined to hit new record lows. The 5-year ARM is now averaging 2.82 percent (0.7 point), down from last week’s average of 2.86 percent. This time last year, the 5-year ARM was 3.72 percent.

The 1-year ARM averaged 2.76 percent (0.6 point) this week, compared to 2.80 percent last week. Dial back 12 months, and the 1-year ARM came in at 3.23 percent.

Freddie Mac’s chief economist Frank Nothaft notes that declines appeared across all loan products even with news of mixed indicators in the labor market.

“Although the economy added 1.6 million jobs in 2011, which was the most since 2006, the unemployment rate remained historically elevated. The 2009 to 2011 period had the highest three-year average unemployment rate since 1939 to 1941,” according to Nothaft.

He adds that “the Federal Reserve indicated in its January 11th regional economic review that most industries saw limited permanent hiring at the end of last year.”

Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey is based on data gathered from 125 lenders – including thrifts, credit unions, commercial banks, and mortgage companies – from across the country.

Top 5 Reasons to Buy a Home in 2012

Good Afternoon,

Please follow the link below for 5 great reasons to purchase a home in 2012 by Jonathan Slappey!!

Thank You,

Bob - Equity Title

Click Here: http://www.quickenloans.com/blog/top-5-reasons-buy-home-2012

WSJ - Poll: Don't Tread on My Mortgage-Interest Deduction

Hello Followers,

Let’s spread the word on this issue.  We have to fight to protect the entire housing industry from any sideways movement.

Bob Grove–Equity Title

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/01/11/poll-dont-tread-on-my-mortgage-interest-deduction/

DSNEWS!

0 0 1 245 1401 Equity Title Agency 11 3 1643 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

0 0 1 245 1401 Equity Title Agency 11 3 1643 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hello Followers,

It looks like we are finally putting America back to work, see the attached article.  That is great news for the housing market, working people can afford to buy houses instead of paying rent.

What are your thoughts on all the recent news?

Bob Grove -  Equity Title

Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.5%

01/06/2012

BY: CARRIE BAY

The nation’s unemployment rate continues to trend down. It slipped to 8.5 percent during the month of December as the economy added 200,000 new jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday morning.

The reported rate is down from 8.6 percent in November. The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised downward from +120,000 to +100,000. October’s data was revised upward from +100,000 to +112,000.

December’s results were better than expected, with the consensus forecast among analysts looking for the rate to

inch up to 8.7 percent and net job growth over the month to tally 150,000.

December marks the sixth consecutive month of 100,000-plus job gains and the first such stretch employers have been able to string together since 2006.

The number of long-term unemployed – those jobless for 27 weeks or more – was little changed in December at 5.6 million and accounted for 42.5 percent of the unemployed.

The unemployment rate has declined by 0.6 percentage point since August, according to the Labor Department. At 8.5 percent, the rate ended 2011 at its lowest level in nearly three years.

Over the 2011 calendar year, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 1.6 million, up sharply from the 940,000 jobs added in 2010.

Employment in the private sector rose by 212,000 in December and by 1.9 million over the year.

Government employment changed little over the month but fell by 280,000 over the year.

The national unemployment rate averaged 8.9 percent in 2011, compared to 9.6 percent in 2010.

DSNews UPDATE!!!

0 0 1 557 3176 Equity Title Agency 26 7 3726 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hello Followers,

Are we all off to a fast start for 2012,

Take a look at  the attached article, more great news for those Buyers who don’t want to be the only ones in the marketplace.  Many transactions going through the short sale process right now, including one I am trying to purchase.   Keep this article for those reticent buyers, who think the world might really end in 2012.

Bob Grove -  Equity Title

Pending Home Sales Highest in Over a Year-and-a-Half

01/04/2012

BY: CARRIE BAY

Pending home sales continued to rise in November, reaching their highest level in 19 months, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported late last week.

The trade group’s index of signed sales contracts jumped 7.3 percent between October and November and is 5.9 percent above its level a year earlier. The last time the index was higher was in April 2010 as buyers rushed to beat the deadline for the homebuyer tax credit.

James Frischling, president and co-founder of NewOak Capital, says the latest results are likely to feed the view that there is a recovery going on in the housing market.

“This was an unexpected jump-up, with every region showing gains including a 15 percent increase out west, which has been the hardest hit area since the housing bubble burst,” Frischling noted.

Despite the strong gains atypical of the season, Frischling remains cautious. He says with contract cancellations above 30 percent, Realtors are keenly aware that it’s premature to conclude a housing recovery is underway based on November’s strong pending sales report.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, agrees that contract failures have been running unusually high.

“Some of the increase in pending home sales appears to be from buyers recommitting after an initial contract ran into problems, often with the mortgage,” he said.

Still, Yun described November sales activity as “doing reasonably well in comparison with the past year.”

“The sustained rise in contract activity suggests that closed existing-home sales, which are the important final economic impact figures, should continue to improve in the months ahead,” Yun added.

According to Frischling, the overarching question is whether there are a sufficient number of buyers to absorb the supply of homes which will inevitably hit the market.

With the foreclosure pipeline still growing and over 6 million borrowers behind on their mortgage payments, he says the inventory of homes available for sale will continue to build up, putting downward pressure on home prices and holding back any meaningful recovery.

“Yet with the rental market on fire, an improving jobs picture, and with interest rates being so low, the spike in contracts signed was a welcomed way to finish the year,” Frischling said. “The follow-through on these pending home sales will tell whether the positive factors facing the housing market outweigh the negative and if this market has finally turned the corner.”

NAR acknowledged last month that it over-estimated actual sales closings for existing homes, going back to 2007. The trade group has adjusted sales and inventory figures for the last four years downward by 14.3 percent, citing discrepancies between sales reported by multiple listing services (MLSs) and sales included in its U.S. Census benchmark.

Pending home sales, however, are not affected by the recently published re-benchmarking of existing-home sales, according to NAR, namely because the pending sales index uses a different methodology based directly on contract signings and is adjusted for seasonality.

Market Update!

0 0 1 790 4509 Equity Title Agency 37 10 5289 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

Hello Readers and Happy New Year

Good news from the Experts, they say we will have low interest rates through 2012, see the attached article.

Have a happy and productive 2012.  Good Luck to all of you.

Bob Grove – Equity Title

Low mortgage rates likely to continue through 2012, experts say

But with high unemployment and home prices still falling in many areas, analysts say there is little chance for a housing recovery.

By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times

January 3, 2012

The mortgage market told a sad story throughout 2011: record low rates, but few people taking advantage of them to buy homes.

The likely scenario in the new year, according to many analysts, is more of the same. Although the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep rates low through 2013, the experts say high unemployment and home prices that are still falling in many areas provide little incentive for stressed-out consumers to surge back into the housing market.

"I think there may be a little bit of an uptick in units sold," said Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist at mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae. "But home prices will probably be down again, so the total dollars spent on purchases is likely to be pretty close" to 2011.

Freddie Mac, the other big government-backed mortgage company, had predicted two years ago that lenders would write $1.8 trillion in home loans in 2011. They later revised that estimate to just over $1 trillion.

In the end, home lending last year totaled $1.3 trillion, down from $1.7 trillion in 2010 and an all-time high of nearly $3.3 trillion in 2005.

Last year's better-than-expected finish had nothing to do with home purchases. Instead, a decline in 30-year fixed mortgage rates to historic lows of less than 4% triggered a massive wave of refinancings.

As last year began, Freddie Mac expected applications for home-purchase loans to make up two-thirds of all mortgage demand by the end of 2011. As it turned out, about 4 in 5 mortgage applications in December were from homeowners wanting to refinance, according to the Mortgage Bankers Assn.

Little wonder why. Lenders were offering 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to solid borrowers at an average of 3.95% last week, the ninth consecutive week of rates at or below 4%, Freddie Mac said. (The survey covers loans up to $417,000 with borrowers paying less than 1% of the amount in upfront lender fees.)

That wrapped up a year of record lows. In 1981 and 1982, the average 30-year mortgage carried an interest rate of more than 16%, and the typical rate was above 8% as recently as 2000, Freddie Mac said. The average last year was 4.45%. Freddie Mac economists are predicting an average of 4.5% for 2012, increasing to 5.4% in 2013 — still phenomenally low by historic standards.

But in the long-suffering economy, "remarkably low rates are not enough," said Michael Fratantoni, an economist for the Mortgage Bankers Assn. He noted that many homeowners can't even take advantage of the opportunity to refinance because of "lack of equity in their properties, poor credit and a weak job market."

With lending standards still tight and demand for home loans waning, Morgan Stanley analysts titled their housing outlook for 2012 "The Year of the Landlord."

"While we had forecast lower prices [for 2011], we did hold out some hope that at the very least transactions would pick up slightly from 2010 levels," said the report from a team led by analyst Oliver Chang.

"However, it proved to be too optimistic a prediction," the report said. "Not only did total home sales fail to rise, but also mortgage applications for purchase continued to fall — indicating that not only is tight mortgage credit limiting demand, but even the desire to buy a home continued to wane."

Analysts aren't universally pessimistic: "Housing has hit the bottom and has begun to heal slowly," said Cal State Channel Islands professor Sung Won Sohn, a former top economics advisor to the White House and Wells Fargo & Co.

Although large numbers of foreclosures and other distressed home sales are keeping housing prices from rising, the inventory of new homes is at a 49-year low, setting the stage for a rebound, Sohn said in his 2011 housing forecast.

"On balance," he said, "the increased demand for rental housing, higher rents and multifamily starts should encourage home builders and boost confidence on the part of the potential home buyers. Despite the high level of foreclosures, house prices should stabilize and even rise slightly toward the end of 2012."

But any recovery will be slow given the extreme damage inflicted by the housing boom and bust, warned Duncan, the Fannie Mae economist.

"I tell people we're five years through a 10-year adjustment," he said. "Not until year 10 will we return to the traditional rate of housing starts."