July Real Estate Sales Not So Hot:Rancho Santa Fe Down 26.7 Pct. Solana Beach Down 71 Pct.

August 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

From ahharsfnews.com

 

Buyers acquired fewer houses in July in North San Diego County than in any July since the first Reagan administration, according to data from the San Diego County Assessor. Rancho Santa Fe 92067 had a median sales price of $2.25 million with 11 units sold in July, a 26.7 percent drop in sales. However, home prices rose in 92067  about 23 percent. Solana Beach 92075 was even worse, a disaster actually. Only two  home sold in July, down 71.4 percent  for an average price of $881,000. Del Mar? Cardiff? No change with seven single-family detached homes dold at Cardiff and six at the home of Carson Palmer, Del Mar.

Prospective homebuyers in July worried about national and international economic problems, from a potential U.S. government default to European debt to high unemployment, real estate agents said. Buyers who did enter the market bid low on houses attempting to score deals.

Meanwhile, some sellers decided to wait it out for better prices. Yet others decided to rent their houses instead of selling. But it all added up to a historically slow July.

“It was rough,” said Fred Bradley, a Rancho Penasquitos broker. “July isn’t supposed to be rough, but it was.”

The 721 houses sold in July in North County were the fewest since 1984, down 11 percent from June and 8.7 percent from last July. Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe and Carmel Valley sold 35 percent fewer homes in July than in July 2010.

Normally, summer is a real estate agent’s busiest season as people try to make purchases and move before school starts.

The median price fell to $425,000, down 5.3 percent from June and 7.6 percent from July 2010, according to the assessor records.

“I think there’s a lot of folks right now that are really concerned about the global economy,” said Brian Westre, a Rancho Bernardo broker. “Anytime markets are rocked, they start to worry about their own job.”

Overall, North County foreclosures in the first half of the year are at their lowest since 2007; mortgage interest rates are well under 5 percent; and the median price of $425,000 is at the same level it was in 2002, or 33 percent off its 2007 peak.

But prices may be too high for local buyers: Many tried to get deals with low offers.

“The buyers, by and large, are waiting for prices to go down, and sellers are waiting for prices to go up,” Bradley said. “We’re stuck in the middle.”

Some sellers are choosing to rent their houses instead of selling. The house rental market is hot, as credit-troubled residents still need somewhere to live.

“Rents are pretty good. A lot of people are renting their property out; if they have the equity, they do it,” said Sharon Johnston Mead, a Vista broker. “I’m not having any trouble renting mine, knock on wood.”

Filed under Foreclosures, How's the Market?

Foreclosures made up 31 pct. of home sales in 2Q

August 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

From sfgate.com

Foreclosures made up roughly one-third of all home sales this spring. While  that’s a smaller share of sales from the previous quarter, it’s six times the  percentage of foreclosures in a healthy housing market.

Foreclosure sales, which include homes purchased after they received a notice  of default or that were repossessed by lenders, accounted for 31 percent of the  market in the April-June quarter, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said  Thursday.

The share of the market would likely have been larger this spring if not for  a state and federal investigation into faulty paperwork by banks and servicers.  The probe has led many banks to delay foreclosure sales. Once that is complete,  foreclosures will likely surge later this year.

As a slice of all home purchases, foreclosure sales peak two years ago at  37.4 percent. In the second quarter, they declined from 36 percent in the  January-March period.

In all, 265,087 homes in some stage of foreclosure or owned by banks were  sold in the second quarter, down 11 percent from the same period a year ago.  Sales of all other types of homes also declined, according to RealtyTrac’s  figures, which differ from other home-sales estimates.

Bank-owned homes, which are sold after being repossessed, accounted for  nearly 19 percent of all sales. That’s unchanged from the previous quarter.

Distressed properties, often in need of repair, typically sell at big  discounts and weaken prices for neighboring homes.

A bank-owned home this spring sold for 40 less than the average price of  other homes, according to RealtyTrac. That’s up from 36 percent in the previous  quarter and 34 percent from the same quarter one year ago.

Sales of homes in the foreclosure process or short sales went for 21 percent  less than the average home sold, the firm said. That’s up from an average of 17  percent in the first quarter and 14 percent in the second quarter of 2010. A  short sale is when the lender agrees to accept less than what is owed on the  mortgage.

The average sales price of a foreclosure property was $164,217, down less  than 1 percent from the January-March quarter and nearly 5 percent from the  April-June quarter in 2010, the firm said.

Nevada led all states with foreclosure sales, accounting for 65 percent of  all home sales, RealtyTrac said.

In Arizona, foreclosure sales represented 57 percent of all home sales for  the quarter, up 16 percent from a year ago. In California, foreclosure sales  accounted for 51 percent of all home sales in the second quarter, virtually  unchanged from last year.

Several other states had foreclosure sales that accounted for at least one  third of all home sales in the first quarter: Michigan, Colorado, Florida,  Illinois and Oregon.

Filed under Foreclosures, How's the Market?

Foreclosure filings decline, time to foreclosure increases in some states

July 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

On average it took less time to foreclose in California, Arizona, and
Nevada in June 2011, countering what has been a growing trend to extend
the foreclosure process, according to the latest report from
ForeclosureRadar.  The time to foreclose has increased on a
year-over-year basis throughout the areas covered by ForeclosureRadar.
California experienced the second most significant increase with the
average time to foreclose at 317 days, up from 261 days a year ago.

Foreclosure filing activity was down throughout the coverage area in
June 2011, with fewer foreclosure filings in all states. There were
fewer foreclosure sales, both “Back to Bank” and “Sold to 3rd Parties”,
in all areas except Oregon, which saw an uptick in activity at the
courthouse steps.

California experienced slowed foreclosure activity across the board.
Notice of Default filings fell for the third consecutive month after a
slight 1.5 percent drop in June. Notice of Trustee Sale filings were
down in June as well, with an 11.7 percent decline month-over-month and a
34.3 percent drop from June 2010. Cancellations of foreclosure sales
decreased for the second time in as many months, with a 3 percent drop
compared with May. Foreclosure sales on the courthouse steps were slower
than the prior month, with 13.4 percent fewer sales Back to Bank and
7.1 percent fewer foreclosed properties Sold to 3rd Parties.

For the first time in six months the average time to foreclose
decreased, down 7.9 percent to 317 days month-over-month, but was up
21.5 percent compared with the same time last year. Third parties
continued to resell inventory more quickly, with the time to resell down
1.5 percent month-over-month to 131 days, clearly outperforming banks,
which took an average of one hundred days longer at 231 days to resell
inventory.

Filed under Clairemont Housing News, Foreclosures, How's the Market?, National Housing News

Banks ‘Calling Shots’ in Distressed Markets.

May 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

From wsj.com

 

Distressed home sales are giving new meaning to the phrase the house always wins.

A new analysis by Redfin, the Seattle-based online brokerage, comes to an unlikely conclusion given the troubled housing market: The more distressed a market, the less negotiating power buyers have.

The key factor, Redfin says, is that banks are playing hardball in heavily distressed cities, in cases pricing properties well below market value (which in turn elicits multiple bids). Banks have also become experts at setting prices given the volume of listings they need to move. These factors mean that in places like San Diego buyers are much less likely to get a bank to negotiate on price than they are in a less-distressed market like Denver, according to Redfin.

                                 

                                                           (See full chart.)

“What the analysis demonstrates is that the banks are the market-makers, calling the shots on prices because they control so much of the inventory,” Glenn Kelman, Redfin’s chief executive, wrote in an email. “Other types of home sellers are just trying to catch up.”

The Journal has written about this phenomenon in recent weeks: Buyers hungry for discounts, particularly on foreclosures, are finding stubborn sellers who won’t relent on prices. And even for those lucky enough to find a home, they must compete with investors and all-cash buyers. The question is also whether banks are curtailing the number of foreclosures on the market to keep an upper hand, or if unloading them is simply slow and cumbersome.

Redfin looked at sales in 16 markets from January of last year through March of this year, zeroing in on a metric known as the “sale-to-list” price ratio (when the ratio is at 100%, on average, a home is selling at exactly its last list price). Distressed sales included both bank-owned properties and short sales, in which the bank approves the sale price.

Across the country, distressed sales continue to comprise a large percentage of sales, according to Redfin. They were 75% of total sales in Las Vegas; 63% in Phoenix; and 50% in San Diego.

Filed under Foreclosures, How's the Market?, National Housing News Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

California distressed housing market improves in March; pending sales rise

April 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The share of distressed homes sold in March declined from February, but was unchanged from a year ago,  the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today. 

                                   

“Consistent with the state as a whole, nearly all the counties for which we have data also experienced an improvement in distressed sales,” said C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce.  “However, distressed sales in most of the counties were higher than a year ago, as the market continues to work through large numbers of troubled mortgages.”

Distressed housing market data:

• The total share of all distressed property types sold statewide declined in March to 51 percent, down from 56 percent in February and unchanged from 51 percent in March 2010.

• Non-distressed sales made up the remaining share at 49 percent in March, up from 44 percent in February but unchanged from 49 percent in March 2010.

• Of the distressed properties sold statewide, the total share of REO (real estate-owned) sales was 31 percent in March, down from 33 percent in February, and down from 32 percent in March 2010.

• The statewide share of short sales also dropped in March to 20 percent, down from 23 percent in February but up from 19 percent in March 2010.

• The median price of homes sold in the state varied dramatically depending on the property type, with non-distressed properties selling for much higher prices than short sales and foreclosures.  Price differences across short sales, REOs and non-distressed properties reflect variances in the condition of the property, with REOs typically being in worse condition than short sales and non-distressed properties.  A seller’s circumstance, such as needing to sell under duress, is also a factor.

• The statewide median price of non-distressed properties sold in March was $386,500, $111,800 or 41 percent higher than the short sale median price of $274,700 recorded in March, and $181,500 or 88 percent higher than the March REO median price of $205,000.

Pending home sales:

March pending home sales in California rose from February, according to C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)*.  The index was 128.7 in March, rising 15.2 percent from February’s revised index of 111.7, based on contracts signed in March.  The index was down 0.3 percent from March 2010, when the presence of housing tax credits played a strong role in home sales.  Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.

Filed under Foreclosures, How's the Market? Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

San Diego Foreclosures Still On The Rise

April 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

From sddt.com

Following a lull in the final months of 2010, foreclosure activity has rebounded to its levels before last fall’s so-called robosigning scandal.

Lenders foreclosed 1,141 San Diego County homes in March and issued notices of default for 2,102 properties, according to numbers provided by the San Diego County Assessor’s Office. Both measures of foreclosure activity are the highest monthly totals since September 2010.

                                                          

“Because (banks) had delayed all of those foreclosures because of the moratorium, they built up a backlog and we’re playing that out right now,” said Alan Gin, professor of economics at the University of San Diego.

Home repossessions fell from 1,253 in September to a three-year low of 787 in November when revelations that bank employees had approved foreclosures without adequate review of underlying documents led many national lenders to institute a temporary foreclosure moratorium.

Despite a marginal decrease from January to February, trustee deeds — the last step in the foreclosure process — have gradually increased since November, and are now back in line with the monthly totals that predated the robosigning scandal.

In March, notices of default fell 15.6 percent annually, while increasing 22.7 percent on a month-over-month basis.

Similarly, trustee deeds decreased by 11.4 percent from the year-ago month while increasing 17 percent from February.

“The numbers are probably going to have an ebb and flow for a little while,” said Robert Martinez, director of research at MarketPointe Realty Advisors. “It’s hard to tell, since banks are being so calculated with when they’re actually moving forward with this stuff.”

Through three months, there have been 5,850 notices of default filed with the assessor’s office, or 12.7 percent fewer than during the year-ago period.

Compared to the same period in 2010, trustee deeds have dropped 11.1 percent this year, to 3,170.

“I think we’ll probably see (the foreclosure numbers) stay elevated for a while,” Gin said. “We’re seeing an improving job situation, but probably not fast enough to make a difference.”

Last fall, real estate experts said the robosigning incident would delay the local housing market’s collective effort to reduce the so-called shadow inventory of distressed properties.

According to an estimate from John Burns Real Estate Consulting (JBREC), there were 64,789 homes in San Diego County that are 30 or more days delinquent, or that have been foreclosed but have yet to be made available for sale.

Based on a range of probabilities, the company estimated that those homes represented between 12 and 16 months of supply that isn’t currently evident in the housing market.

Tim Sullivan, principal of JBREC, said the county would need to show a steady increase in its monthly foreclosure numbers to begin eating into that total.

The county’s performance in job creation will primarily dictate whether the size of the shadow inventory works out closer to the low end of the 12- to 16-month range.

San Diego County is on pace to add roughly 20,000 new jobs this year, according to Gin, who also developed and publishes University of San Diego’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators for the county.

To meaningfully improve the foreclosure situation, that number would need to jump into the 25,000-30,000 range, he said.

Filed under Foreclosures, How's the Market? Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

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