Following the expiration of the federal home buyers tax credit, sales of existing, single-family homes in California declined 4.2% during the month of June compared with the prior year, according to the California Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, the median price of existing homes in California rose 13.6% on a year-to-year basis to $311,950. The median price is the point at which half of the homes on the market sell for more and half for less.
Although the median home price in California rose in June on a year-to-year basis, in month-to-month comparisons the median price declined 3.8%, according to another C.A,R. report. However, California’s housing market continues to recover at a faster pace than the national housing market in general. Nationwide, home sales have declined 5% in June alone and the median price has risen only 1%, according to a N. A. R. report. (National Association of Realtors)
The Central Valley of California is expected to a little lower in the second half of the year due to the absence of the federal home buyers tax credit, but sales should remain above the long-run average and be significantly higher than the trough in 2007. It is important to remember prices are substantially below their peaks from just a few years ago and interest rates are historically low, making this a very affordable time for many first-time home buyers to purchase a home of their own.
Having said all that, the Tracy/Central Valley market continues to be very strong, as many first time home buyers feel they may never have another chance again like this where both prices and interest rates are both down at the same time. Who knows, by next year we may be saying, “Do you remember when…..”
Everyone knows that when you loose your home through foreclosure the lender cannot come back on you for a deficiency (the amount of money you owed, but did not get paid to the lender because the property was worth less than what you owed). Well, that may not be exactly correct if you have refinanced after you bought the house way back when. Until now there was the possibility of the lender coming back to collect the amount of money you owed but were not able to pay with the foreclosure sale (the deficiency) if you had refinanced the loan after the original acquisition, even if you did not take any cash out of the refinance.
If Senante Bill 1178 becomes law that may change and prevent the lender of your refinancing from collecting on any deficiency in the foreclosure. Existing law provides that no deficiency judgment exists if essentially, the money you borrowed was used to purchase. This bill would provide that a loan used to pay all or part of the purchase price of real property or an estate for years includes subsequent loans, mortgages, or deeds of trust that refinance or modify the original loan, but only to the extent that the subsequent loan was used to pay debt incurred to purchase the real property. The bill would become operative on June 1, 2011, and would apply only to actions filed after its operative date.
This new bill, if passed into law would improve the lives of so many people fallen victum to predatory lending and unscrupulous lenders who led borrowers down that rose path of refinancing, “because it made sense and would save them thousands of dollars in the long run”.
Surviving a short sale in today’s tumultuous real estate market conditions can be quite an adventure. With the guidelines of President Obama’s new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program just starting to take hold, finding someone with the knowledge and experience will make the difference between a successful short sale and an attempted short sale gone awry. Unfortunately, once your home has gone into foreclosure and sold at auction there is no turning back.
The new rules for the HAFA Short Sale is very specific and every homeowner wanting to participate must first complete the application process and agree to such things as making minimal payments to their mortgagor, paying taxes, HOA’s and insurance, as well as a list of other commitments that must be kept by the homeowner during the short sale process.
For more information about agents who have met the requirements of the HAFA training and earned a certificate click here Certified HAFA Real Estate Agents to find an agent who can work with you on the sale of your home. Finding someone who can guide you through the gauntlet of a short sale can prove to be one of the most valuable relationships you can have during this most challenging time in real estate.
For more information contact me at 800 788-2973. All of the participating agents at Realty World are HAFA certified and you can pick an agent with confidence by visiting www.GoTracy.com .
Think twice about voluntarily walking away from your mortgage – Fannie Mae has increased the penalties for borrowers who walk away from their mortgages. Fannie Mae announced in late June a policy designed to encourage borrowers to work with their servicers and pursue alternatives to foreclosure. Defaulting borrowers who walk away and had the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae backed mortgage loan for a period of seven years from the date of foreclosure. Borrowers who have extenuating circumstances may be eligible for a new loan in a shorter time frame.
Fannie Mae has recognized that walking away from homes is bad for the community. Neighborhoods that have homes boarded up, or even worse, homes in disrepair and shelters for homeless and drug havens are bad for the neighborhood. The actions by Fannie Mae are designed to deter this disturbing trend toward strategic defaulting. The flip side of this deterrent, borrowers who make a good faith effort to resolve their situation with their servicer will preserve the option to be considered for a future Fannie Mae loan in a shorter period of time.
An added deterrent is Fannie Mae’s ability to take legal action to recoup the outstanding mortgage debt from borrowers who strategically default on their loans in jurisdictions that allow for deficiency judgments. On the other hand, troubled borrowers who work with their servicers, and provide information to help the servicer assess their situation, can be considered for foreclosure alternatives, HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) program offers such help as loan modification, short sale, or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. It may be possible for one of these borrowers to be eligible for a new Fannie Mae loan in as little as two to three years, depending on the circumstances. For more information click here for the complete Fannie Mae Selling Guide, as updated in April 2010.
