SUNMARK BLOG
Big Banks Pay Homeowners to Avoid Foreclosures in Florida
by Sage Andress on 02/13/12
Bank of America, Wells and Chase pay homeowners to avoid foreclosures
Tampa Bay Business Journal by Mark Calvey, Senior Reporter
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 2:26pm EST- Mark Calvey
- Senior Reporter - San Francisco Business Times
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In an apparent change of heart, banks are offering $20,000 or more to troubled homeowners to avoid costly foreclosures.
Lenders are offering the incentives to spur a short sale, in which a home is sold for less than the mortgage, or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
Bloomberg News reports that Karen Farley is among those offered such an incentive. She hadn’t made a payment on her San Marcos, Calif., home in a year when she received a letter last summer from J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) that told her, “You could sell your home, owe nothing more on your mortgage and get $30,000.”
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is offering so-called relocation assistance for as much as $20,000 “in certain states with extended foreclosure timelines, including Florida,” a spokeswoman for the San Francisco bank told Bloomberg .
Florida’s foreclosures move through the courts, unlike California’s. So it’s no surprise that Bank of America selected Florida for testing an incentive program to spur short sales over foreclosure, paying between $5,000 and $20,000 to troubled homeowners.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is No. 1, Wells is No. 2 and Chase is No. 12 in retail bank deposits in the Tampa Bay area.
NAHB: Nearly 100 House Markets Improving
by Sage Andress on 02/06/12NAHB: Nearly 100 house markets improving
WASHINGTON – Feb. 6, 2012 – The list of housing markets showing measurable improvement expanded by 29 metros in February for a total of 98 entries on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI).
With the latest addition of Miami, the list now includes seven Florida cities: Cape Coral, Deltona, Jacksonville, Miami, North Port, Punta Gorda and Tampa. Thirty-six states have at least one metro area that’s improving.
The index lists metropolitan areas that have shown improvement in housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months. The February index adds some metropolitan areas that have been particularly weak. The IMI measures improvement from an economic trough, and NAHB says new notable entrants with six months of an upswing include Miami along with Boston; Detroit; Kansas City, Mo.; Portland, Ore.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Salt Lake City.
“The number of improving housing markets has risen for six consecutive months,” says NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen. “Despite the many challenges that continue to drag on a housing recovery – including the tight lending environment for builders and buyers – improving conditions are slowly but surely spreading from one housing market to the next.”
“While many of the markets on the February IMI are far from fully recovered, the index points out where employment, home prices and housing production are no longer retreating and have held above their lowest recession troughs for six months or more,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “This is a sign that a large cross section of the country is starting to turn the corner as local economic conditions stabilize.”
The IMI measures three sets of independent monthly data to get a mark on the top improving Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). The three indicators are employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, house price appreciation from Freddie Mac, and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau. An MSA must have improvement in all three areas for at least six months following their respective troughs to be included on the improving markets list.
Seven markets dropped from the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index in February as they experienced softening house prices: San Jose, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Kankakee, Ill.; New Orleans; Worcester, Mass.; Jackson, Miss.; and Sherman, Tex.
A complete list of all 98 metropolitan areas currently on the IMI, and a separate breakout of metros newly added to the list in February, is available at: www.nahb.org/imi.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
Housing Inventory Down 22% Nationwide
by Sage Andress on 01/25/12
WASHINGTON – Jan. 24, 2012 – Housing inventory slid to 1.89 million homes in December – down 6 percent from the previous month and 22.3 percent from the prior year, according to Realtor.com.
In the 145 markets tracked by Realtor.com, only Springfield, Ill., registered a year-over-year increase. Inventories plunged 49.7 percent in Miami, 49.1 percent in Phoenix, and 46.6 percent in Bakersfield, Calif.
Meanwhile, the national median price edged up 5 percent year-over-year.
Asking prices – the amount sellers include on a Realtor.com listing – climbed 32.5 percent in Miami, 21.7 percent in Naples, 21.5 percent in Fort Myers-Cape Coral, and 19.4 percent in Punta Gorda, according to Realtor.com.
However, asking prices were down 11 percent in Detroit, 10 percent in Chicago, 7.6 percent in Las Vegas, and 7 percent in Sacramento.
Source: “Housing Inventory Ends Year Down 22 Percent,” Wall Street Journal (01/19/12)
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
30Yr Fixed Rates Set New Record at 3.89%
by Sage Andress on 01/13/12
WASHINGTON – Jan. 13, 2012 – Fixed mortgage rates fell once again to a record low, offering a great opportunity for those who can afford to buy or refinance homes. But few are able to take advantage of the historic rates.
Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.89 percent. That’s below the previous record of 3.91 percent reached three weeks ago.
Records for mortgage rates date back to the 1950s.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage ticked down to 3.16 percent. That’s down from a record 3.21 percent three weeks ago.
Mortgage rates are lower because they track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which fell below 2 percent. They could fall even lower this year if the Fed launches another round of bond purchases, as some economists expect.
Average fixed mortgage rates hovered around 4 percent at the end of 2011. Yet many Americans either can’t take advantage of the rates or have already done so. High unemployment and scant wage gains have made it harder for many people to qualify for loans. Many don’t want to sink money into a home that they fear could lose value over the next few years.
Mortgage applications have fallen slightly on a seasonally adjusted basis over the past four weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said that until hiring picks up and unemployment drops significantly, the impact of lower mortgage rates will remain muted.
Previously occupied homes are selling just slightly ahead of 2010’s dismal pace. New-home sales in 2011 will likely be the worst year on records going back half a century.
Builders hope that the low rates could boost sales next year. Low mortgage rates were cited as a key reason the National Association of Home Builders survey of builder sentiment rose in December to its highest level in more than a year.
To calculate the average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country Monday through Wednesday of each week. The average rates don’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for the 30-year loan fell to 0.7 from 0.8; the average on the 15-year fixed mortgage was unchanged at 0.8.
For the five-year adjustable loan, the average rate declined to 2.82 percent from 2.86 percent. The average on the one-year adjustable loan fell to 2.76 percent from 2.80 percent.
The average fee on the five-year adjustable loan rose was unchanged at 0.7; the average on the one-year adjustable-rate loan was unchanged at 0.6.
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press, Derek Kravitz, AP business writer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tampa Mayor Announces Streamlining of Permitting System
by Sage Andress on 01/13/12
From City of Tampa Online:
This week, Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced that the City of Tampa will invest in a new fully automated, electronic permitting system Accela Automation.
This will provide businesses with easy and convenient online access to permitting, licensing, and asset information and activities.
"It is important to focus both on attracting new business and helping our existing business community. For the homeowner renovating her house or the developer building a high rise, this permitting system will result in quicker permits, less hassle, and more money saved in lost time. Tampa is open for business," said Mayor Buckhorn.
Accela Citizen Access, a component of the software package, will allow businesses the access to apply and pay for permits, submit electronic construction plans, schedule inspections, check the status of a permit or inspection, and print an approved permit directly on the internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from the convenience of their home, office, or jobsite.
Accela Citizen Access will also enable our residents and businesses the ability to access maps and permitting services from their smart phone devices, such as the iPhone and iPad.
The software will be paid for in large part by permit fees through the Construction Services Enhancement Fund.
Revising the permitting process has been a focus of the Mayor’s Economic Competitiveness Committee, a task force of community leaders with the mission of reviewing and streamlining government processes and regulations.
For more information about the Accela Automation software, contact Thomas Snelling, Acting Growth Management and Development Services Director, by phone at (813) 274-8577 or by email at Thomas.Snelling@TampaGov.net.
