Real Estate Information Archive

Blog

Displaying blog entries 1-8 of 8

Home Prices now at 2003 Levels with Modest Annual Gains

Friday, September 28, 2012
by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

Home prices are back to 2003 levels in the latest sign of an improved housing market.

 In another sign of a turnaround in the long-battered real estate market, average home prices rebounded in July to the same level as they were nine years ago.  Ann Arbor and Saline are now in their fourth year showing modest annual appreciation gains.  

According to the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller national Home Price index, which covers more than 80% of the housing market in the United States, the typical property price in July rose 1.6% compared to the previous month.

 

It marked the third straight month that prices in all 20 major markets followed by this index improved, and it would have been the fourth straight month of improvement across the full spectrum if not for the slight decline in Detroit in April.

The index was up 1.2% compared to a year earlier, an improvement from the year-over-year change reported for June. While home prices have been showing a sequential change in recent months, it wasn't until June that prices were higher than a year earlier.

The July reading matched levels last seen in summer 2003, when the market was marching toward its peak in 2006. The collapse of the market after that led to the financial crisis of 2008.

"The news on home prices in this report confirm recent good news about housing," said David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Single-family housing starts are well ahead of last year's pace, existing home sales are up, and the inventory of homes for sale is down and foreclosure activity is slowing."

Record low mortgage rates and a tighter supply of homes available for sale have helped to lift home prices which starts in the stronger markets and then will follow to their surrounding communities as time progresses. Lower unemployment also has helped with home prices, although job growth in recent months has been slower than hoped.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve announced it would buy $40 billion in mortgage bonds a month for the foreseeable future. This third round of asset purchases by the central bank, popularly known as QE3, is its effort to jump start the economy through even lower home loan rates.

Related: Best home deals in Best Places

Mike Larson, real estate analyst with Weiss Research, has stated that part of the improvement in the housing market is due to investors using the low mortgage rates to buy up homes that are in foreclosure and renting them in a strong rental market.

But he said that he doesn't think there's much chance of housing prices forming any kind of new bubble in the foreseeable future.

"Clearly the worst is behind us for this market., but this is not a market that is going to take off again," he said. "While you have a firming up, you still have tight lending standards and people who have been burned are reluctant or unable to get back in the market." He predicts it will take several more years before housing prices can gain more than 1% to 2% a year.

Related: Buy or rent? 10 major cities

But that is good news for a housing market that was plagued by plunging home values and high foreclosure rates for much of the last six years. And the good news has the potential to build on itself, said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist for Deutsche Bank.

"Housing remains a rare bright spot in an economy that is otherwise muddling through," he wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "The price trend for housing is significant, because it provides economic stimulus via stronger household balance sheets."

Add Comment

Is This the Future of Education for Ann Arbor School District

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

This is a pretty interesting Video on What is Perhaps the Future of Education

Do you think Ann Arbor School District Should Consider Such a Program?  

Please comment below.  

 

If you are new to the area you can click here to Get Ann Arbor Real Estate Listings and other surrounding communities.  Note there is information on the Ann Arbor School District test scores under the School Reports link in our Links section under Resources top Right Corner of this Page.  

Tom Stachler is the Counties Leading Real Estate Buyer Representative and welcomes you to check out his references above or Contact for consultation and assistance.

Add Comment

968 Penniman, Plymouth Michigan

Sunday, February 19, 2012
by Tom Stachler,ABR,CDPE - Group One Realty Team

Looking for a Property that is Just a 60 Second Walk to Downtown Plymouth Michigan ?

You can't miss with this one.  Check out the property Video Below.

More Details on this property can be found here.

http://www.therealtytour.com/Property/968-Penniman-Plymouth-Michigan

Add Comment

Foreclosure Freeze they say?

Monday, October 18, 2010
by Tom Stachler from Group One Realty Team - Real Est

Here are 4 things Home buyers need to know about this breaking real estate news, and how it impacts them. 

1.  What is robo-signing is, and what all the fuss is about?  The phrase robo-signing refers to what we’re now realizing has been a very common practice in the banks’ foreclosure document processing divisions, where one person was essentially given the job of signing as many 10,000 foreclosure documents per month, by hand.  These individuals were supposed to be reviewing the files, making sure grounds for foreclosure actually existed, signing the docs in front of notaries. But because of the volume of documents, what they actually did was just sign thousands of documents at a time, without even reading them, and ship them off somewhere else to be notarized.

If you do the math on an 8 hour workday, you'll see that that only gives the staffer 1.5 minute to review each file and documents to make sure the foreclosure is warranted.  That's not humanly possible, which is how these staffers got the nickname “robo-signers”
    
Government regulators are very concerned that the banks may have been taking people's homes without following the proper legal procedures.  As a result, 40 states' attorneys general are teaming up to launch a multi-state investigation, and the federal Comptroller of the Currency and federal attorney general may also get involved in investigating this issue. 

2.  Will the freeze will make the banks cancel buyer contracts on REO properties? Currently, the freeze impacts bank-owned properties that are owned and/or serviced by Ally Financial/GMAC Mortgage, JP Morgan Chase, and some properties that were owned by Bank of America. Generally, contracts to buy these homes are being put on hold and extended for 30 days.  As well, the banks are often reaching out directly to buyers and offering them the option to cancel their contracts and recoup their deposit money.

3.  Is it safe to buy a foreclosed home? There's lots of talk right now about the "clouds" that this scandal will create on the titles to homes that were foreclosed by the banks' foreclosure mills. And that makes sense: if the home wasn't properly foreclosed on in the first place, then the legitimacy of the bank's resale can be called into question.  Normally, I'd say: Don't worry about it, buyer - that's why you'll get title insurance!  But last week, 3 of America's largest title company insurers declared that they will not offer title insurance on a number of the homes that may have been involved in this scandal.

In the vast majority of cases – when the foreclosure was justified and a bona fide purchaser, someone who was not involved in the bank’s wrongdoing, has purchased the home, courts will not reverse these foreclosures or their sale to buyers.  But if you’re in the market for a foreclosure, get clear on which bank owns the place as soon as you can, and run the property past your title insurer before you get too far into the transaction to make sure they can write a policy of title insurance on the property before you spend too much money on inspections and appraisals.  (And see my Bonus Buyer Advice at the end of this blog post!)

4.  How the foreclosure freeze will impact American home values, say after you buy.  In the short term, these freezes might cause prices to stabilize, as we expect to see the supply of foreclosures for sale start to shrink.  However, if these freezes stretch out for a long period of time, they could simply be delaying many inevitable foreclosures, which could delay the recovery of the housing market and home prices, over time.  I wouldn't expect to see the freezes cause prices to drop much beyond where they are now, but if they stretch out, they could keep appreciation flat for a longer period of time.

P.S. - Bonus Buyer Advice : Don’t underestimate the deals you can get on non-foreclosed properties. You can often get just as good of a price on a better property with more flexibility on the seller’s part in terms of repairs and other negotiation points if you buy a home from an individual seller, as opposed to a bank-owned property.  

P.P.S. - Click here for more direct access to the broker MLS system and listings.

Add Comment

Economic Recovery Act Update FHA loan limits to Increase

Thursday, January 29, 2009
by Group One Realty Team - Real Estate One

Mortgage Limits

You probably heard last night that the house of Representatives passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (i.e. the Stimulus Bill). 

The bill does include provisions to re-establish the 2008 mortgage limits for the remainder of 2009 for both FHA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.   Accordingly, if and when the final Stimulus bill is passed,  the 2008 limits will be in effect again.  Barring an unexpected surprise, we expect this bill to pass by mid-February and the 2008 limits should be effective virtually  immediately. 

We do not think there is a significant risk in taking loan applications  at the higher limits w/ the appropriate qualifiers.  We would not recommend closing loans until the legislation passed.  

On reverse mortgage limits, the legislation appears to raise the maximum limits to as high as $625,500.

Rural Housing Service Funding

The bill also includes funding for the Rural Housing Service.  This funding will permit RHS to start guaranteeing loans again. 

Tax Credit Improvement

The bill also includes a provision that eliminates the repayment feature of the tax credit.  It still is for first-time homebuyers only.   NAR is working to improve this requirement in the Senate including having it expanded to include all purchasers.

A copy of  the mortgage limit and RHS provisions are provided below.

  SEC. 12002. FHA LOAN LIMITS FOR 2009.

(a) Loan Limit Floor Based on 2008 Levels- For mortgages for which the mortgagee issues credit approval for the borrower during calendar year 2009, if the dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation of a mortgage determined under section 203(b)(2) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)(2)) for any size residence for any area is less than such dollar amount limitation that was in effect for such size residence for such area for 2008 pursuant to section 202 of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-185; 122 Stat. 620), notwithstanding any other provision of law, the maximum dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation of a mortgage for such size residence for such area for purposes of such section 203(b)(2) shall be considered (except for purposes of section 255(g) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20(g))) to be such dollar amount limitation in effect for such size residence for such area for 2008.

(b) Discretionary Authority for Sub-Areas- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development determines, for any geographic area that is smaller than an area for which dollar amount limitations on the principal obligation of a mortgage are determined under section 203(b)(2) of the National Housing Act, that a higher such maximum dollar amount limitation is warranted for any particular size or sizes of residences in such sub-area by higher median Home prices in such sub-area, the Secretary may, for mortgages for which the mortgagee issues credit approval for the borrower during calendar year 2009, increase the maximum dollar amount limitation for such size or sizes of residences for such sub-area that is otherwise in effect (including pursuant to subsection (a) of this section), but in no case to an amount that exceeds the amount specified in section 202(a)(2) of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

SEC. 12003. GSE CONFORMING LOAN LIMITS FOR 2009.

(a) Loan Limit Floor Based on 2008 Levels- For mortgages originated during calendar year 2009, if the limitation on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage that may purchased by the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation determined under section 302(b)(2) of the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act (12 U.S.C. 1717(b)(2)) or section 305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 1754(a)(2)), respectively, for any size residence for any area is less than such maximum original principal obligation limitation that was in effect for such size residence for such area for 2008 pursuant to section 201 of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-185; 122 Stat. 619), notwithstanding any other provision of law, the limitation on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage for such Association and Corporation for such size residence for such area shall be such maximum limitation in effect for such size residence for such area for 2008.

(b) Discretionary Authority for Sub-Areas- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency determines, for any geographic area that is smaller than an area for which limitations on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage are determined for the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, that a higher such maximum original principal obligation limitation is warranted for any particular size or sizes of residences in such sub-area by higher median home prices in such sub-area, the Director may, for mortgages originated during 2009, increase the maximum original principal obligation limitation for such size or sizes of residences for such sub-area that is otherwise in effect (including pursuant to subsection (a) of this section) for such Association and Corporation, but in no case to an amount that exceeds the amount specified in the matter following the comma in section 201(a)(1)(B) of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

SEC. 12004. FHA REVERSE MORTGAGE LOAN LIMITS FOR 2009.

For mortgages for which the mortgagee issues credit approval for the borrower during calendar year 2009, the second sentence of section 255(g) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 171520(g)) shall be considered to require that in no case may the benefits of insurance under such section 255 exceed 150 percent of the maximum dollar amount in effect under the sixth sentence of section 305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 1454(a)(2)).

 Rural Housing Service

 rural housing insurance fund program account

(including transfers of funds)

For an additional amount of gross obligations for the principal amount of direct and guaranteed loans as authorized by title V of the Housing Act of 1949, to be available from funds in the rural housing insurance fund, as follows: $22,129,000,000 for loans to section 502 borrowers, of which $4,018,000,000 shall be for direct loans, and of which $18,111,000,000 shall be for unsubsidized guaranteed loans.

For an additional amount for the cost of direct and guaranteed loans, including the cost of modifying loans, as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as follows: section 502 loans, $500,000,000, of which $270,000,000 shall be for direct loans, and of which $230,000,000 shall be for unsubsidized guaranteed loans.

In addition to other available funds, the Secretary of Agriculture may use not more than 3 percent of the funds made available under this account for administrative costs to carry out loans and loan guarantees funded under this account, of which $1,750,000 will be committed to agency projects associated with maintaining the compliance, safety, and soundness of the portfolio of loans guaranteed through the section 502 guaranteed loan program: Provided, These funds shall be transferred and merged with the appropriation for `Rural Development, Salaries and Expenses': Provided further, That the authority provided in this paragraph shall apply to appropriations under this heading in lieu of the provisions of section 1106 of this Act.

Funds appropriated by this Act to the Rural Housing Insurance Fund Program account for section 502 direct loans and unsubsidized guaranteed loans may be transferred between these programs: Provided, That the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate shall be notified at least 15 days in advance of any transfer.

To get the latest listings on Foreclosures, short sales and resales click here

Add Comment

HR 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

Monday, July 28, 2008
by Group One Realty Team - Real Estate One
Summary

(as of 7/24/08)

 

H.R. 3221, the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” passed the house on July 23rd by a vote of 272-152.  The Senate must now approve the language adopted by the House.  The Senate is expected to approve the bill on Friday, July 25th or Saturday, July 26th.   The President has said he will sign the bill.  It includes:

 

·         GSE Reform – including a strong independent regulator, and permanent conforming loan limits up to the greater of $417,000 or 115% local area median Home price, capped at $625,500.  The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).

 

·         FHA Reform – including permanent FHA loan limits at the greater of $271,050 or 115% of local area median Home Price, capped at $625,500; streamlined processing for FHA condos; reforms to the HECM program, and reforms to the FHA manufactured housing program. The effective date for reforms is immediate upon enactment, but the loan limits will not go into effect until the expiration of the Economic Stimulus limits (December 31, 2008).

 

·         Homebuyer Tax Credit - a $7500 tax credit that would be would be available for any qualified purchase between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2009.  The credit is repayable over 15 years (making it, in effect, an interest free loan).

 

·         FHA foreclosure rescue – development of a refinance program for homebuyers with problematic subprime loans.  Lenders would write down qualified mortgages to 85% of the current appraised value and qualified borrowers would get a new FHA 30-year fixed mortgage at 90% of appraised value.  Borrowers would have to share 50% of all future appreciation with FHA.  The loan limit for this program is $550,440 nationwide.  Program is effective on October 1, 2008.

 

·         Seller-funded downpayment assistance programs – codifies existing FHA proposal to prohibit the use of downpayment assistance programs funded by those who have a financial interest in the sale; does not prohibit other assistance programs provided by nonprofits funded by other sources, churches, employers, or family members.  This prohibition does not go into effect until October 1, 2008.

 

·         VA loan limits – temporarily increases the VA home loan guarantee loan limits to the same level as the Economic Stimulus limits through December 31, 2008.

 

·         Risk-based pricing – puts a moratorium on FHA using risk-based pricing for one year.  This provision does will be effective from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009.

 

·         GSE Stabilization – includes language proposed by the Treasury Department to authorize Treasury to make loans to and buy stock from the GSEs to make sure that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could not fail.

 

·         Mortgage Revenue Bond Authority – authorizes $10 billion in mortgage revenue bonds for refinancing subprime mortgages.

 

·         National Affordable Housing Trust Fund – Develops a Trust Fund funded by a percentage of profits from the GSEs.  In its first years, the Trust Fund would cover costs of any defaulted loans in FHA foreclosure program.  In out years, the Trust Fund would be used for the development of affordable housing.

 

·         CDBG Funding – Provides $4 billion in neighborhood revitalization funds for communities to purchase foreclosed homes.

 

·         LIHTC – Modernizes the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to make it more efficient.

·         Loan Originator Requirements – Strengthens the existing state-run nationwide mortgage originator licensing and registration system (and requires a parallel HUD system for states that fail to participate).  Federal bank regulators will establish a parallel registration system for FDIC-insured banks.  The purpose is to prevent fraud and require minimum licensing and education requirements.  The bill exempts those who only perform real estate brokerage activities and are licensed or registered by a state, unless they are compensated by a lender, mortgage broker, or other loan originator.


Click here for a copy of the bill lanuage.

Time to look for Property. Seller paid concessions run out on FHA loans Oct 1, 2008!.  Click here to get started with direct MLS Access for the Ann Arbor Michigan Area.

Add Comment

Metro Detroit Market Summary YTD August 2006 vs August 2007

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
by Group One Realty Team - Real Estate One

 

 Here is a market snap shot of August to date this year compared to last.  One positive sign is the chance of selling a Home in the next 120 days has actually improved in most markets over last year, more of an indication of fewer homes on the market than more sales, but still a healthy sign. The drastic drop in median home values for the City of Detroit is a reflection of the foreclosure/investor market (we are also trying to verify the MLS numbers to be sure they are correct). The median sales price drop reflects what we are feeling in home value shifts. Please call our office if we can be of any assistance at 734-996-0000.  Remember to get the lastest information and listings directly from the MLS click on this link.  For an idea on your homes current market value try this link.

 

Add Comment

June Ann Arbor Area Realty Statistics

Wednesday, July 11, 2007
by Group One Realty Team - Real Estate One

Statistics can give us a decent picture of what happened in the real estate market. They can also act as a guide in what to expect in today’s market.

While June 2007 residential sales are down about 10% over June of last year, there is strong activity in the summer market. 364 residentila properties were sold in June this year, compared to 404 in June 2006.  Reflecting an increase of 5% in the number of units sold in June 2006, 93 condos were sold in June of this  year.

Current market conditions have created a great time to buy.  The average residential sale price in Washtenaw County was $267,571 in June.  buyers have a rare opportunity to obtain maximum value for their investment dollar.  Inventory is plentiful, interest rates are stable and sellers are ready to move.  The following statistics were provided by the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors. 

June 2007

June Report

Add Comment

Displaying blog entries 1-8 of 8

Syndication

Categories

Archives