Mortgage availability hits 3-year high

 

WASHINGTON – April 14, 2014 – Access to mortgage credit is at its highest level in at least three years, and credit standards are expected to loosen even more this year, according to a newly released index by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

MBA's index, which tracks mortgage credit availability, shows that in March the gauge rose to 114 – the highest reading in the gauge's three-year history.

"I don't think there's any question that mortgage underwriting has gotten easier or is looser than it was two or three years ago, but it's nowhere near where it was in 2005, 2006," Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, told The Wall Street Journal. "We are talking about easing from extremely tight underwriting standards."

Some housing experts worried that new mortgage rules for lenders and borrowers this year would tighten credit access. Indeed, 80 percent of bankers said they expected the new regulations to have a "measurable reduction in credit availability," according to a survey by the American Bankers Association.

However, Bob Davis, ABA's executive vice president, says standards will likely loosen up as lenders adapt to the new rules.

"There will be a tendency for some liberalization over the course of the year," Davis told The Wall Street Journal. The reason: Lending experts say that the number of mortgage refinancing applications has fallen drastically over the past year, and more banks will probably look to the home-purchase market to make up for that lost share of income.

Nearly 17 percent of large banks have recently eased credit standards for prime purchase mortgages, while 5.6 percent have tightened their standards and the remainder have left standards the same, according to the Federal Reserve's recent senior loan officer survey.

Source: "Mortgage Credit Most Available in at Least Three Years, Gauge Says," The Wall Street Journal (April 9, 2014)

© Copyright 2014 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Rent a home or buy? Depends where you live

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As the housing market stages an uneven recovery, the decision to buy a home is no longer a slam dunk. Look at the factors.

Is it cheaper to rent a place to live? Or buy? A lot depends on where you live.

Until the housing collapse in 2007, conventional wisdom held that buying was a no-brainer: Home prices never went down, the tax code offered generous savings to buyers and homeownership amounted to a kind of forced savings.

Now, as the housing market stages an uneven recovery, the decision to buy a home is no longer a slam dunk.

"You have a lot of folks out there who got burned by the housing crisis and they may not have desire to buy," said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist.

The collapse of housing prices also upended the idea that buying a home is a sure-fire investment. In fact, over much of the last three decades, you would have come out ahead renting, according to a 2011 study.

"Our study disputes the commonly accepted wisdom in the United States that renting is always 'throwing away money,'" said Ken Johnson, a Florida International University fellow and one of the study's authors. "If renters exercise disciplined investing over time, they can be more successful in accumulating wealth than those who own a home."

That's a big "if." But the study also found that there have been exceptions when buyers end up better off financially.

In most parts of the county, that's true today. But not everywhere.

Read More So long, winter! Vacation homes heating up

An analysis of home prices and rents by RealtyTrac found that in more than 90 percent of the counties it looked at, the average rent is higher than the cost of buying a median-priced home. The exceptions are in the handful of highest-priced housing markets in the country—places like San Francisco, New York and Arlington, Va. (The list also includes some out-of-the-way housing hot spots like Teton County, Wyo. and Gallatin County, Mont.)

On the other extreme, renters come out way behind in places like Baltimore, where the average renter pays $1,600 a month—roughly 3.6 times the cost of buying a median-priced home. Other high-rent counties include Clayton, Ga. (where rents are 4.5 times the cost of buying) and Wayne, Mich., (4.8 times the cost of buying.)

Still, there's more to the buy versus rent decision than the basic monthly costs comparison. So before you call a real estate agent and deliver the news to your landlord, here's a little more math.

For starters, RealtyTrac's numbers assume you can come up with a 20 percent down payment. For many first-time buyers, that's a major hurdle. The rent-versus-own analysis also figures you'll spend 0.35 percent of the amount of your mortgage on homeowners insurance and another 1.04 percent on property taxes.

Read More Real estate's red-hot category: Apartments

But it doesn't include monthly costs like utilities—or the occasional but inevitable cost of upkeep and repair—that come with homeownership.

And just because it's cheaper to buy doesn't mean you'll be able to qualify for a loan—especially if you're one of the 7 million former homeowners who lost their property to a foreclosure or short sale.

"They may have the income to qualify but if they have that foreclosure or short sale on their history, in the short term that will disqualify them from buying," said Blomquist. "That's a hurdle in this market beyond the monthly payment numbers."

Even if you're credit is solid, rising interest rates are lifting the income level you'll need to cover your monthly mortgage payment.

Homebuyers shelled out $865 a month for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage on a median-priced home in the fourth quarter of last year, up from $714 a month a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac. The difference: the average interest rate jumped from 3.35 percent to 4.46 percent.

The income needed to qualify for a median-priced home in the fourth quarter of 2013 was $41,500, up from an average minimum income of $34,250 a year earlier. (That minimum assumes you'll spend no more than 25 percent of your household income on your mortgage.)

Read More Housing in recovery, but not its stocks

But those are just the averages. In the priciest markets, you'll need to show a lot more income on your tax returns to get the nod from a mortgage company. In San Francisco, you'll need to earn $228,500 to buy a median-priced home. Other high-cost counties come with high minimums to qualify, including Marin County, Calif., ($178,000), San Mateo County, Calif. ($170,000), Arlington County, Va. ($158,500), Santa Clara County, Calif. ($149,500) and Hudson County, N.J. ($142,500).

—By CNBC's John Schoen. Follow him on Twitter @johnwschoen or email him.

RealtyTrac: Fla. still No. 1 in foreclosure rates

                                    

FREE List of Foreclosures in South Florida

 

IRVINE, Calif. – April 10, 2014 – According to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure report for March, Fla. has retained its No. 1 status for homes in some stage of foreclosure, with one in every 407 Florida homes with a mortgage affected.

And in a look at metro areas (populations of 200,000 or more), Florida cities hold eight of the top 10 spots.

March 2014

RealtyTrac’s report finds that 5,815 Florida homeowners received their first foreclosure notice in March; 9,983 were notified of a foreclosure sale; and 6,258 homes transferred to bank ownership (REOs). However, the total number of impacted homeowners in all stages fell 8.79 percent month-to-month when compared to Feb. 2014 and 21.92 percent year-to-year.

First quarter 2014

Looking at January through March, Florida foreclosure activity in first quarter 2014 decreased less than 1 percent quarter-to-quarter, but it declined 19 percent year-to-year. Still, Florida retained its top spot even though its foreclosure activity has decreased annually for three consecutive quarters.

First quarter 2014 metro areas

Port St. Lucie, Fla. – where one out of every 99 housing units had a foreclosure filing in the first quarter – led the nation’s cities, though seven other Florida cities also made the top 10.
 
Miami came in at No. 2 (one in every 106 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville at No. 3 (one in every 112); Orlando at No. 4 (one in every 120); Tampa at No. 5 (one in every 122); Lakeland at No. 6 (one in every 127); Ocala at No. 7 (one in every 130); and Jacksonville at No. 8 (one in every 134).

Nationwide, 29 states posted annual increases in scheduled foreclosure auctions. While Florida’s scheduled auctions rose 21 percent, it ranked tenth for auction sales behind Utah (up 226 percent), Oregon (up 177 percent), Connecticut (up 131 percent), New Jersey (up 79 percent), Delaware (up 49 percent), New York (up 47 percent), Maryland (up 46 percent), Massachusetts (up 37 percent) and Nevada (up 21 percent).

Other findings

• Foreclosed homeowners still live in 51 percent of REOs nationwide out of homes with occupancy data. However, no Florida cities ranked in the top five for owner-occupied REOs.
• It takes 935 days to foreclose on a Florida home as of the first quarter, but it takes longer in two other states: New Jersey (1,103 days to foreclose) and New York (986 days). Hawaii (840 days) and Illinois (830 days) round out the top five.

RealtyTrac posts an interactive Florida map that compares foreclosure rates color-coded by county. Scroll across a county to see its foreclosure statistics. 
© 2014 Florida Realtors®

Fannie: Housing stalls but future looks brighter

 

WASHINGTON – April 9, 2014 – Recent month-to-month volatility in the housing market has softened the ongoing recovery, according to the March 2014 Fannie Mae National Housing Survey.

However, most indicators on consumer attitudes continue to move in a positive direction, which may suggest a pickup in home buying and selling activity this spring. According to Fannie Mae's survey, respondents who say it's a good time to sell a home climbed to 38 percent last month, compared to 26 percent at the same time last year.

In addition, the share who believe it would be easy to get a mortgage today increased to 52 percent compared to 47 percent a year ago, tying the all-time survey high.

Americans' attitudes regarding their personal finances also have improved – those who expect their financial situation to worsen during the next 12 months decreased to 12 percent, a significant drop from 21 percent at the same time last year; and the share who say their personal financial situation improved during the past year reached an all-time survey high of 40 percent.

"The housing recovery continues to proceed in fits and starts. Rising mortgage rates and a lack of supply have dampened housing market momentum," says Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "However, we see several positive signs going into this year's spring homebuying season compared with last year. For example, consumers are less pessimistic about their personal finances, and more optimistic about the current selling environment and their ability to get a mortgage."

© 2014 Florida Realtors®

U.S. foreclosure inventory down 35% year-to-year

                                        

 

IRVINE, Calif. – CoreLogic released its February 2014 National Foreclosure Report. 

“Although there is good news that completed foreclosures are trending lower, the bigger news is the impressive decline in the foreclosure and shadow inventories,” says Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Every state has had double-digit, year-over-year declines in foreclosure inventory, which is reflected in the $70 billion decline in the shadow inventory.”

“The stock of seriously delinquent homes and the foreclosure rate are back to levels last seen in the final quarter of 2008,” adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The shadow inventory has also declined year over year for the past three years as the housing market continues to heal, including double-digit declines for the past 16 consecutive months.”

Feb. National Foreclosure Report details

• The U.S. had 43,000 completed foreclosures in February, down from 51,000 in February 2013, for a year-over-year decrease of 15 percent. 

• On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures decreased 13.1 percent from 50,000 in January.

• National residential shadow inventory – seriously delinquent, in foreclosure or held as REOs by mortgage servicers, but not yet listed on multiple listing services (MLSs) – was 1.7 million homes in January 2014 compared to 2.2 million year-to-year – a decrease of 23 percent.

• In February 2014, about 752,000 U.S. homes were in some stage of foreclosure, known as the foreclosure inventory (not completed foreclosures), compared to 1.2 million in February 2013 – a year-over-year decrease of 35 percent. 

• Month-over-month, the foreclosure inventory was down 3.3 percent from January 2014. 

• The February foreclosure inventory represented 1.9 percent of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 2.9 percent in February 2013.

• At the end of February, 1.9 million mortgages or 4.9 percent were in serious delinquency, defined as 90 days or more past due, including those loans in foreclosure or real estate owned (REO).

Regional highlights

• The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending February 2014 were Florida (118,000), Michigan (50,000), Texas (39,000), California (37,000) and Georgia (34,000). Altogether, the five states accounted for almost half of the nation’s completed foreclosures.

• The District of Columbia (60 foreclosures), North Dakota (421), Hawaii (519), West Virginia (571) and Wyoming (705) had the lowest number of foreclosures.

• As a percentage of all mortgage homes, Florida ranked second (6 percent) compared to New Jersey (6.2 percent) in total foreclosure inventory, followed by New York (4.7 percent), Maine (3.4 percent) and Connecticut (3.2 percent).

• Wyoming (0.3 percent), Alaska (0.4 percent), North Dakota (0.5 percent), Nebraska (0.5 percent) and Colorado (0.6 percent) had the lowest foreclosure inventory.

Shadow inventory

• As of January, year-over-year inventory of seriously delinquent homes decreased in all states by double digits. 

• Twenty-four states had year-over-year declines of at least 20 percent.

• Year-over-year, the shadow inventory is down 22 percent.
 
• For the year ending in January, shadow inventory has decreased at an average monthly rate of 41,000 units.

• Florida has 15 percent of the nation’s distressed properties, with an additional four states – California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois – accounting for 42 percent. 

© 2014 Florida Realtors® 

More banks lower FICO score requirements

NEW YORK – March 31, 2014 – More banks are lowering minimum FICO score requirements in an attempt to shore up lending for underserved borrowers.

Carrington Mortgage Services is the latest company to announce that it lowered its minimum FICO score to 550. It also expanded guidelines on several FHA VA, and USDA loan programs to aid those with FICO scores below 640.

Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, said in February that it was lowering its minimum FICO score requirements on FHA-backed mortgages from 640 to 600. The move, bank officials said, was aimed at “opening up our credit box more.”

One in three consumers has a FICO score below 650, according to Carrington, which says it’s refocusing its business on the underserved segment and eliminating conventional and jumbo loans. In addition to accepting more lower-score borrowers, it’s also limiting its acceptance of wholesale submissions with FICO scores above 680 starting April 1, except for VA loans, HousingWire reports.

“Effectively meeting the needs of clients in the underserved market requires the ability to both originate quality loans and appropriately service them after the fact,” says Ray Brousseau, executive vice president of Carrington’s mortgage lending division. “Both Carrington’s lending platform and specialty servicing business were created to serve this particular market segment. That uniquely positions us as the lender of choice for this population of borrowers and the mortgage brokers and real estate agents who work with them.”

Source: “Carrington Ups Ante on Wells Fargo by Lowering FICO Standard,” HousingWire (March 24, 2014)

© Copyright 2014 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Weston, FL Community Demographic and Lifestyle Information

     

                                        Weston, FL Community Demographic and Lifestyle Information 

Brickell, FL Community Demographic and Lifestyle Information

                   



                                        Brickell, FL Community Demographic and Lifestyle Information 

Aventura, FL Miami Homes Listings::Casas en Miami-Fort Lauderdale::Homes and condos for sale::Miami-Fort Lauderdale Real Estate::Leo Gonzalez Realtor

Aventura, FL Miami Homes Listings::Casas en Miami-Fort Lauderdale::Homes and condos for sale::Miami-Fort Lauderdale Real Estate::Leo Gonzalez Realtor

Fla. cities tops in nation for home price increases

             Fla. cities tops in nation for home price increases

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Feb. 26, 2014 – A report from Black Knight Financial Services (formerly Lender Processing Services) finds that December home values in the U.S. are within 13.9 percent of the peak reached in 2006.

Black Knight’s Home Price Index (HPI) found nationally that home values rose 0.1 percent month-to-month (compared to November 2012 numbers) and 8.4 percent year-to-year. The high point for U.S. home prices was $270,000 in June 2006. In December, the HPI found a median of $232,000.

From Black Knight’s analysis, it appears most U.S. cities saw their biggest price spike last year, and their dramatic price increases have begun to slow to a more balanced level.

Florida, however, seems to buck that trend a bit, with home prices still climbing faster in comparison to other U.S. states and cities.

According to Black Knight, Florida prices rose 0.6 percent month-to-month in December, coming in second to top-ranking New York with a 0.7 percent rise.

However, Florida cities logged eight of the top 10 spots for “Biggest Movers” when comparing metro areas. Only two other U.S. cities even made the list.

Biggest metro area movers month-to-month

1. Miami: 1.2% month-to-month December price increase
2. Sarasota: 0.9%
3. Key West: 0.7%
4. Fort Walton Beach: 0.6%
5. Poughkeepsie, NY: 0.6%
6. Lakeland: 0.6%
7. Port St. Lucie: 0.6%
8. Tulsa, OK: 0.5%
9. Naples: 0.5%
10. Palm Bay: 0.5%

To calculate its HPI, Black Knight says it looks at repeat sales prices and its loan-level databases. It claims the numbers take REO and short-sale price discounts into consideration.

© 2014 Florida Realtors®                        

Fla.’s housing market continues positive trends in Jan. 2014

                                          

Fla.’s housing market continues positive trends in Jan. 2014

NAR: Existing-home sales drop in Jan. but prices continue to rise

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 21, 2014 – Florida’s housing market reported more closed sales, higher median prices, more new listings, fewer days on the market and the continued stabilization of inventory in January, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Closed sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 15,000 last month, up 10.2 percent over the January 2013 figure.

“Price increases are continuing to improve home equity in areas across the state, and combined with still-low interest rates, it’s creating a great opportunity for sellers,” says 2014 Florida Realtors President Sherri Meadows, CEO and team leader, Keller Williams, with market centers in Gainesville, Ocala and the Villages. “We’re seeing homeowners ready to take that next step and list their properties for sale: Statewide, new listings for single-family homes in January rose 13.8 percent year-over-year, while new townhouse-condo listings rose 7.4 percent.

“And here at the start of a new year, January marked 26 consecutive months that we’ve seen increases in statewide median sales prices for both single family homes and town home-condo properties, year-over-year.”

The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $162,500, up 12.1 percent from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties in January was $131,000, up 17 percent over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), the national median sales price for existing single-family homes in December 2013 was $197,900, up 9.8 percent from the previous year; the national median existing condo price was $198,600. In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in December was $438,040; in Massachusetts, it was $320,000; in Maryland, it was $255,183; and in New York, it was $236,875.

Looking at Florida’s townhome-condo market, statewide closed sales totaled 7,377 last month, up 9.3 percent compared to January 2013. The closed sales data reflected fewer short sales in January: Traditional sales in Florida rose 20.4 percent for single-family homes and 16.9 percent for condo-townhome properties. Closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

“The figures released this month are characteristic of a market that has reached balance,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo. “While sales and prices continue to rise, the most striking characteristic of the market is the stability of inventory as measured in months. It appears that the rate at which properties are coming on the market is closely matched by sales. In addition, rising prices have cut down on the availability of short sales and these have been dropping consistently.”

Inventory was at a 5.6-months’ supply in January for single-family homes and at a 6-months’ supply for townhouse-condo properties, according to Florida Realtors.

According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.43 percent in January 2014, up from the 3.41 percent average recorded during the same month a year earlier.

To see the full statewide housing activity reports, go to Florida Realtors Media Center under Latest Releases, or download the January 2014 data report PDFs under Market Data.

Breakout: NAR: Existing-home sales drop in Jan. but prices continue to rise

© 2014 Florida Realtors

Realtor.com: Jan. 2014 data points to homebuying season early start

Realtor.com: Jan. 2014 data points to homebuying season early start

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Feb. 20, 2014 – Despite severe weather conditions across much of the country, the 2014 homebuying season has begun on one positive note, showing an uptick in inventory a month earlier than last year, according to Realtor.com’s National Housing Trend Report for January 2014.

Data from Realtor.com reveals the median list price for January 2014 is 8.3 percent above levels observed in January 2013. The number of properties for sale is up 3.1 percent and the median age of inventory is essentially unchanged, indicating a transition to a less frenzied market compared to January 2013.

“January’s start compared to year-ago levels is an encouraging sign of sellers’ interest, particularly given the adverse conditions brought on by the polar vortex,” said Errol Samuelson, president of Realtor.com. “We saw the tight-supply market of last fall carry all the way into November – later than is typically expected – and this early rise in inventory is a welcome trend. The sustained median list price growth supports the gains we saw last year, and sellers are responding with confidence in that consistency. We will continue to watch inventory movement in the coming months as we move further into typical seasonal patterns, but anticipate a more balanced buying market.”

The national median existing home price is projected to rise about 5 to 6 percent in 2014, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), which cites job growth and large pent-up demand as drivers of the market in light of rising mortgage rates.

National perspective
Inventory increasing: At the national level, for-sale inventories are now 3.1 percent higher than they were one year ago, and the rise in inventory is spreading to more markets across the country. In January 2013, just eight markets registered increases in inventory. This January, 83 markets (58 percent) of the 143 markets tracked by Realtor.com showed increases in inventory, year over year. While the next few months will be critical to watch, these trends suggest a more balanced housing market going into the 2014 homebuying season.

Price increases more widespread: Median list price rose a healthy 8.3 percent in January 2014 compared to the same time last year. In January 2014, 44 markets saw year-over-year list price increases of 10 percent or more, compared to January 2013, when 24 markets registered double-digit increases in median list price. The number of declining markets in terms of median list price dropped, from 58 in January 2013 to just 13 in January 2014.

Days on market stabilizing: Median age of inventory remained steady in January 2014 compared to the same time last year, at 115 days. However, the number of markets showing year-over-year declines in age of inventory has dropped significantly, from 133 markets in January 2013 to 78 markets in January 2014. 56 markets showed year-on-year increases in days on market in January 2014, compared to just nine markets in January 2013.

Source: Realtor.com

© 2014 Florida Realtors

Investors get back into the real estate game

Investors get back into the real estate game

NEW YORK – Feb. 19, 2014 – Many housing experts predicted a slowdown in investor activity this year, but investors don’t appear to be fading from the market – they appear to simply be shifting their focus to different types of properties as distressed inventories dry up.

“There has been a clear rebound in investor participation in the housing market,” says Thomas Popik, research director for the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, which showed strong activity among investors in December 2013. “The statistics for the housing market, particularly the non-distressed segment, remain generally strong, but investors still are increasing their activity.”

Investors are increasingly targeting non-distressed properties.

In November, investors accounted for 13.2 percent of purchases of non-distressed properties based on a three-month moving average. That’s up from 10.5 percent in August, marking a seven-month market share high for investors, according to the HousingPulse survey.

Investors started pulling away from the market in March 2013 as home prices soared, with their overall market share dropping to 16 percent, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors®. But by December, they bounced back, ending the year strong with a 21 percent market share – about the same level at which investors’ presence peaked during the foreclosure crisis.

Source: “Investors Ended 2013 on a Roll,” RISMedia (Feb. 17, 2014)

© Copyright 2014 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

Record number of visitors travel to Florida in 2013

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TRIBUNE FILE

By Ted Jackovics | Tribune Staff
Published: February 14, 2014

Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing corporation, said Friday in a preliminary report a record 94.7 million visitors came to Florida in 2013, an increase of 3.5 percent over 2012.

For fourth quarter 2013, preliminary estimates show a record 21.9 million people visited the Sunshine State from October through December, a 2.2 percent gain over the year-ago period.

Preliminary estimates are issued 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter. Final estimates are released when final data are received for all estimates in the report.

Visit Florida estimated record highs of 11.5 million overseas visitors and 3.7 million Canadians came to Florida in 2013, 11.1 percent and 4.1 percent increases over 2012, respectively.

Estimates reflect a 2.5 percent increase in domestic visitors to Florida in 2013 and show Floridians took a record total of 20.1 million in-state pleasure trips.

Preliminary data from Tennessee-based travel research firm STR showed Florida tourism has regained market share since January 2013, outpacing the rest of the nation by 1.3 percentage points. STR said room revenue in Florida for 2013 was up 8.2 percent, compared with a 6.2 percent U.S. increase.

Gov. Rick Scott said every 85 visitors to Florida equals one job in the state, stating the rationale to budgeting $100 million to Visit Florida.

Scott on Friday visited Universal Orlando Resort, which will create nearly 3,500 new jobs this year as it builds the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, adds an on-site hotel and expands its CityWalk entertainment complex.

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

(813) 259-7817