Home sales, July 2010 for the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the South Bay Beach cities

Hermosa Beach 90254, Manhattan Beach 90266,

S. Redondo Beach 90277 and the

Palos Verdes Peninsula 90274 and 90275.

Inventory is up, sales are flat while sales pending (in escrow) are up. Again, if you've read my other posts, you know I believe that low interest rates coupled with some great buying opportunities are still driving current sales.

If you're looking for more specific information on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, South Bay Beach cities or other areas please contact me with the details. Also be sure to become a fan of

Palos Verdes - South Bay Real Estate on Facebook!

Source: Trendgraphix, Inc.

For more information regarding this post or other real estate information contact Robert Dixon at RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty (310) 703-1848 or email info@robertdixon.net. Content of this or any other post is presumed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

Silver Lake, CA area Home Sales, July 2010

Inventory continues to climb; sales are down by 258 units over June. As you will see in the graph below however, the number of properties "pending" (e.g. in escrow) is relatively flat. This is, no doubt mostly due to continued drops in interest rates. There are some fantastic buys out there right now and with historically low interest rates available on home loans, the savings (over 15 to 30 years) are significant!

If you're looking for more specific information on Silver Lake or other areas please contact me with the details. Also be sure to become a fan of Silver Lake Real Estate and Echo Park Real Estate on Facebook!

Source: Trendgraphix, Inc.

For more information regarding this post or other real estate information contact Robert Dixon at RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty (310) 703-1848 or email info@robertdixon.net. Content of this or any other post is presumed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

Homebuyer Tax Credits Extended to Sept. 30th

The Senate on Wednesday approved a plan to give homebuyers an extra three months to finish qualifying for federal tax incentives that boosted home sales this spring.

The move by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases and qualify for tax credits of up to $8,000. Under the current terms, buyers had until April 30 to get a signed sales contract and until June 30 to complete the sale.

The proposal, approved by a 60-37 vote, would only allow people who already have signed contracts to finish at the later date. About 180,000 homebuyers who already signed purchase agreements would otherwise miss the deadline.

Reid, D-Nev., added the proposal to a bill extending jobless benefits through the end of November. Nevada has the nation's highest foreclosure rate, and Reid is facing a tough re-election campaign.

The Realtors group has been pushing hard in Congress for the extension. Mortgage lenders, the trade group says, have been swamped with borrowers trying to get approved by the end of the month. Many potential borrowers are unlikely to make the deadline.

"If Congress fails to act promptly, then prospective homebuyers might not get the benefit of the homebuyer tax credit, even though they have completed contracts," the Realtors said a a letter to lawmakers.

First-time buyers were eligible for a tax credit of up to $8,000. Current owners who bought and moved into another home could qualify for a credit of up to $6,500.

The $140 million cost of the measure would be financed by denying businesses the ability to deduct from their taxes punitive damages paid when losing lawsuits or judgments.

For more information regarding this post or other real estate information contact Robert Dixon at RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty (310) 703-1848 or email info@robertdixon.net. Content of this or any other post is presumed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

Big Banks want MORE!!!

Big Banks and Financial Companies, the same institutions that set the stage for our current downturn, got billions in tax-payer bail-outs and are already becoming profitable (while many American’s continue to struggle or worry) would like yet another pound of flesh from those caught in the cross-fire.


It’s important to note that most of the recent and pending foreclosure activity IS NOT subprime, but prime loans and mortgages. These are A-paper borrowers succumbing to extreme economic challenges.


The piece below, from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® provides information and background.


When is Enough, Enough?
The Big Banks are Opposing C.A.R.'s Bill to Protect Borrowers

C.A.R. is sponsoring SB 1178 (Corbett) to extend anti-deficiency protections to homeowners who have refinanced "purchase money" loans and are now facing foreclosure. Most homeowners didn't even know that when they refinanced they lost their legal protections, and now may be personally liable for the difference between the value of the foreclosed property and the amount owed to the lender. SB 1178 will be voted on soon by the entire Senate.

One can't help but think, "when is enough, enough?" Banks have already foreclosed upon a family's home and now lenders can continue to hound them for additional payment. How much more money can today's families afford to pay when they've already lost their homes and most likely their jobs? Are they never to have the opportunity to begin again?

Action Item
Call Senator Rod Wright Today at 1-800-672-3135
Urge him to vote "Yes" on SB 1178.
Non-C.A.R. members enter PIN number -- 182003468

Background

California has protected borrowers from so called "deficiency" liability on their home mortgages since the 1930s, but the evolution of mortgage finance requires the statute to be updated.

Current law says that if a homeowner defaults on a mortgage used to purchase his or her home, the homeowner's liability on the mortgage is limited to the property itself. The law has worked well since the 1930s to protect borrowers, ensure the quality of loan underwriting and allow borrowers who are brought down by financial crisis to get back on their feet.

Unfortunately, the 1930s law does not extend the protection for purchase money mortgages to loans that re-finance the original purchase debt -- even if the re-finance was only to gain a lower interest rate. Recent years of low interest rates have induced tens of thousands of homeowners to re-finance their mortgages, yet almost no one realized that by re-financing their mortgages to obtain a lower rate, they were forfeiting their protections. These borrowers became personally liable for the balance of the loan.

C.A.R. is Sponsoring SB 1178 Because:

SB 1178 is fair. Home buyers, and lenders, entered into the purchase with the idea that the mortgage would be non-recourse debt, and that the lender would look to the security (the house) itself to make good on the debt if the borrower cannot. It meets the legitimate expectation of the borrowers, who have no idea that they are losing this protection by a re-finance. Homeowners didn't know that their re-finance exposed them to personal liability, and new tax liability, on the note. It would be unfair to allow a lender, or someone that has purchased a note from a lender, to pursue the borrower beyond the value of the agreed upon security.

SB 1178 is consistent with the intent of the orginal law and simply updates it for modern times. Current law was intended to ensure that if someone lost their home to foreclosure, they wouldn't be liable for additional payment. Since the law was passed over 70 years ago, homeowners re-financing from the original loan to lower their interest rate has become commonplace. The 1930s legislature didn't anticipate how mortgages would change over time.

Lenders could pursue families to collect this "deficiency" debt years down the road. Under current law, lenders have up ten years to collect on the additional debt after a judgment has been entered on the foreclosure. Years after a family has lost their home, they could find themselves in even more financial trouble. Lenders could even sell these accounts to aggressive collection agencies or even bundle them into securities. The end result would be banks who didn't lend responsibly in the first place coming after families for even more money that they don't have.

SB 1178 does NOT apply to "cash-out" re-finances, unless the money was used to improve the home and it doesn't apply to HELOCs.

Southern California Home Sales for March 2010

More Incremental Gains for Southland Real Estate Market

April 13, 2010

Home sales and prices continued their steady but pokey climb up from the bottom in Southern California last month as buyers scrambled to take advantage of low prices and low mortgage interest rates. The market is still tilted toward low-cost distress sales, but not by as much as previously, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 20,476 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 33.3 percent from 15,359 in February, and up 5.0 percent from 19,506 in March 2009, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

Sales always go up from February to March. Last month was the 21st in a row with a year-over-year sales increase. The March sales average is 24,936 going back to 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin.

“It’s a reflection of just how grim things got, that we’ve now had almost two years of sales gains and we’re still 18 percent below the sales average. The market won’t rebalance until mortgage lending patterns normalize, and that’s just not happening yet. Some of the best deals out there right now are happening when the buyer comes in with cash,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Southland home was $285,000 last month, up 3.6 percent from $275,000 in February, and up 14.0 percent from $250,000 for March 2009.

The median peaked at $505,000 in mid 2007 and appears, so far, to have bottomed out at $247,000 in April last year. The peak-to-trough drop in the median was due to a decline in home values as well as a shift in sales toward low-cost homes, especially foreclosures.

Foreclosure resales accounted for 38.4 percent of the resale market last month, down from 42.3 percent in February, and down from 54.8 percent a year ago. The all-time high was in February 2009 at 56.7 percent.

As sales of lower-cost foreclosure properties have waned over the past year, activity has picked up from very low levels in many high-end areas. Last month sales of homes priced at $500,000 or more made up 19.4 percent of all Southland transactions, compared with 18.5 percent in February and 14.9 percent in March 2009. Over the past five years, $500,000-plus deals averaged 35 percent of monthly sales, while over the past 10 years they averaged 26 percent of all transactions.

Higher-end sales are still hampered by the troubled jumbo loan market, which has improved only modestly over the past year. Jumbo loans, mortgages above the old conforming limit of $417,000, accounted for 15.7 percent of last month’s purchase lending, up from 14.8 percent in February and from 10.5 percent in March 2009. However, before the credit crisis in the fall of 2007, jumbos accounted for 40 percent of the market.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) haven’t come close to recovering from the credit crunch, either. While 44.6 percent of all Southland purchase mortgages since 2000 have been ARMs, last month they represented just 4.8 percent, up from 4.0 percent in February and 2.1 percent in March last year.

Meanwhile, Uncle Sam continues to prop up lending for many low-to mid-priced homes. Government-insured FHA loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, accounted for 38.6 percent of all mortgages used to purchase Southland homes in March.

Absentee buyers – mostly investors and some second-home purchasers – bought 21.3 percent of the homes sold in March.

Buyers who appeared to have paid all cash – meaning there was no indication that a corresponding purchase loan was recorded – accounted for 27.1 percent of March sales. In February it was a revised 30.0 percent – an all-time high. The 22-year monthly average for Southland homes purchased with cash is 13.8 percent.

The “flipping” of homes has also trended higher the past year, though it eased a bit in March. Last month the percentage of Southland homes flipped – bought and re-sold – within a three-week to six-month period was 3.2 percent of total sales, down from 3.5 percent in February but up from 1.6 percent a year ago. Last month flipping varied from as little as 2.6 percent of total sales in Riverside County to as much as 3.9 percent in Los Angeles County.

MDA DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,220 last month, up from $1,180 for February, and up from $1,074 for March a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 45.2 percent below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They were 55.1 percent below the current cycle’s peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity remains high by historical standards but is lower than peak levels reached over the last two years. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, and non-owner occupied buying is above-average, MDA DataQuick reported.

Source: DQNews.com (DataQuick Information Systems)

Citi Reports Profit of $4.4 Billion

"After 2 Years of Losses, Citi Reports Profit of $4.4 Billion. Losses in Citigroup’s domestic mortgages and credit units however continued to mount — Citigroup Holding, which contains the bulk of most-troubled mortgage and credit card assets along with businesses marked for sale, lost $876 million."

The piece goes on to say that the government may soon be selling it's ownership in the company, some 7.7 billion shares...


After 2 Years of Losses, Citi Reports Profit of $4.4 Billion
New York Times by ERIC DASH
April 19, 2010

After nearly two years of being drenched in red ink, Citigroup provided the strongest signs yet that the troubled bank is beginning to recover as it reported a $4.4 billion profit in the first quarter.

The earnings, which handily beat analyst expectations and were the bank’s best since the financial crisis began, were the result of the resurgence in the bond market and improvements in the economy, particularly overseas. Both play to Citigroup’s strengths as a major player in fixed income and emerging markets, and come as some of its rivals benefited from similar trends. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America both reported big first-quarter earnings from hefty trading profits and from adding less money to their loan loss reserves.

Full article at NYTimes.com

Realty Check: Televison Hit Show 'Extreme Makeover' Downsizes

Interesting, mostly due to the television aspect... In my mind dealing with smaller homes should have broader appeal.

Realty Check: 'Extreme Makeover' Downsizes Its Dream Homes
Producers of Hit TV Show See Bad Loans, Dashed Dreams, Default
The Wall Street Journal
April 6, 2010

The house at 10512 Baldy Mountain Rd. in Sandpoint, Idaho, looks like just another vacant foreclosed home. Some appliances, a bathroom mirror and even the hot tub are missing. The dining room of the three-bedroom house has water damage.

But this isn't your run-of-the-mill problem house. Call it an Extreme Foreclosure. The 3,678-square-foot McMansion is a product of the popular "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" reality television show. It isn't the only "Extreme" home to fall on hard times.

Each week, an average 9.4 million viewers tune in to ABC-TV for what, over seven seasons, has become a classic formula: Find a struggling family with a heart-tugging story and send them on vacation as an army of volunteers work frantically to replace an existing home with a much nicer and bigger one in just 106 hours. Each episode ends with a dramatic tear-filled tour of the new home, packed with donated furnishings, and outsize extras like a carousel or bowling lanes.

But after the cameras have gone, another trend has been developing: Homeowners struggle to keep up with their expensive new digs. In many cases, the bigger, more lavish homes have come with bigger, more lavish utility bills. And bigger tax assessments. Some homeowners have tapped the equity of their super-sized homes only to fall behind on the higher mortgage payments.

The show's producers say they are aware of the problem and are making changes appropriate to current economic reality: downsizing.

Back in the boom, the makeovers got a little out of hand because of competition among home builders aware of the free publicity that came with the show and who tried to outdo previous projects. These days, the show is backing away from the boom-era showpieces. We "scaled back," says Conrad Ricketts, an executive producer for the show created and produced by Endemol USA.

The average size of current makeovers is 2,800 to 3,000 square feet. A 2005 episode featured a house in Lake City, Ga., that became a 5,300-square-foot English castle boasting five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, five fireplaces and an outdoor kitchen. These days, the houses appear more subdued, eschewing over-the-top amenities.

A swimming pool is no longer a must, unless it could be used for therapy. When pools are built, the show explores a well system to help reduce water usage and costs. Lavish landscaping is out, working with the local environment is in. "We're not going to New Mexico, the desert, and trying to put sod down," Mr. Ricketts says.

Tracy Hutson, an interior designer who has been with "Extreme Makeover" since the beginning, says homes are receiving more earth-friendly products, such as low water-flow toilets and solar panels, curbing the giant electricity bills that caused a hardship for some families. "I think our hearts were in the right place, but we just got carried way," says Ms. Hutson. "It can be extreme without being the biggest house you've ever seen."

Back in 2003, the 59-year-old Mr. Ricketts, who has worked in movies and TV for nearly three decades, was looking to develop a home-remodeling series. As he traveled down a "nice street" in Santa Clarita, Calif., he came upon a broken-down house that didn't seem to fit in. He learned the family had a child battling leukemia, leaving little money for maintenance. "I knew at that moment it was the soul of the TV show," Mr. Ricketts recalls.

The California family's home was remodeled for the first episode airing later that year. But soon, remodeling gave way to razing and rebuilding houses, making for more dramatic television during the housing boom. As the show became more popular, donations flowed and builders got more and more ambitious.

It has since become part of pop culture, and, while plenty of makeover shows have come and gone, it remains the most ambitious, well-known and generous of the genre.

It's also important to ABC when it comes to ratings and selling ads: Among broadcast networks, the show ranks second in the key female demographics and tops with children ages 2 to 11.

Huber Engineered Woods LLC has donated its premium floor, wall and roof products for 25 houses. While TV viewers don't always see the brand, "connecting with builders and framers on job sites" has led to increased awareness and additional sales, says Matt O'Brien, vice president of commercial operations.

For many families featured on the program, the Extreme Makeover experience has been a dream come true. But for some, the experience has been financially stressful.

Several owners have sought loan modifications to reduce their payments in order to stay in their homes, lenders say. Some families seek a quick-fix by trying to sell. But because Extreme Makeovers tend to be big, fancy residences plopped into working-class or rural communities, the houses can be a hard sell.

The house in Sandpoint, which was owned by Eric Hebert, appears to be the first Extreme Makeover home to actually fall into foreclosure, in October. Mr. Hebert did not answer requests for comment. But he told a local television station last year that "the biggest mistake I think that I made was I took too much money out on the house thinking that I was going to have a job, you know, in the future."

Source: WSJ.com

Foreclosure activity for Q1 in 2010

"Foreclosure activity in California fell 6.4 percent from the same time last year, but rose 4.7 percent from the fourth quarter, giving the state the fourth-highest foreclosure rate. One in every 62 units got a filing."

I realize that this is not what a lot of you what to see... however I post these reports for several reasons not the least of which is that there are those who choose to fan the flames stating this is a recovery. Isn’t that the approach that got us into this mess? I tend to want to paint a clearer picture. I want my clients, whether buying or selling to be thoroughly aware of the environment in which they venture. Yes, there’s been a spike in activity and this activity can potentially continue, providing that financing remains available. It’s predicted, however that roughly 50% of the real estate sales volume in 2010 will involve distressed property and the numbers indicate that there will be plenty of inventory available.

An estimated 3.2% of all loans are in foreclosure with an additional 10% being more than 60 days late. With the more recent activity involving prime loan (as opposed to the wave of sub-prime failures last year) this is not just a matter of irresponsible buyers and lenders.

Where the topic of California’s part is concerned, it’s common to hear that we’re not really touched in the South Bay. A quick search of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and the Palos Verdes Peninsula produces 603 properties in some stage of foreclosure.

For many homeowners foreclosure is not the only option. Losing a home is a devastating reality; however a loan modification or short sale, when possible is far better than allowing a home to go back to the bank and new government guidelines through HAFA (part of HAMP) seek to streamline the process. If you are a homeowner with a legitimate hardship you need to understand your options and act immediately.

If you or someone you know is concerned about whether they will be able to keep their home or have already received a notice of default do not wait.

Call for additional information and guidance at (310) 750-5751


Foreclosure activity escalates in Q1
Utah's foreclosure rate soars
By Inman News, Thursday, April 15, 2010.

Properties receiving foreclosure filings jumped 16 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to a quarterly report by foreclosure data site RealtyTrac.

Filings -- default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- went to 932,234 properties, a 7 percent surge from the fourth quarter. That means 1 in every 138 housing units in the country received a foreclosure filing, the report said.

March saw the biggest monthly total since RealtyTrac's first U.S. Foreclosure Market Report in January 2005: 367,056 properties posted filings in March -- 39.4 percent of total for the first quarter.

"Foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2010 followed a very similar pattern to what we saw in the first quarter of 2009: a shallow trough in January and February followed by a substantial spike in March," said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's CEO.

"One difference, however, is that the increases were more tilted toward the final stage of foreclosure, with REOs increasing 9 percent on a quarterly basis in the first quarter of 2010 compared to a 13 percent quarterly decrease in REOs in the first quarter of 2009."

With a total of 257,944 properties repossessed by the lender during the quarter, REOs hit a record-high total, the report said, and REOs soared 35 percent compared to the same period last year.

"This subtle shift in the numbers ... may be further evidence that lenders are starting to make a dent in the backlog of distressed inventory that has built up over the last year as foreclosure prevention programs and processing delays slowed down the normal foreclosure timeline," Saccacio said.

At 369,491, scheduled auctions during the first quarter also hit a record high, rising 21 percent quarter-over-quarter and 12 percent from the fourth quarter.

The number of properties receiving default notices was mostly flat, rising 1 percent to 304,799 quarter-over-quarter and falling 1 percent from the previous quarter. They peaked in the third quarter of last year at more than 342,000, the report said.

More than 70 percent of the nation's first-quarter foreclosure activity was concentrated 10 states, the report said. California had the nation's highest total of properties receiving foreclosure filings: 216,263, or 23 percent of all activity.

Next came Florida, with 153,540 properties receiving a filing, followed by Arizona (55,686), Illinois (45,780), Michigan (45,732), Georgia (39,911), Texas (37,354), Nevada (34,557), Ohio (33,221) and Colorado (16,023), the report said.

The number of properties in Nevada receiving a foreclosure filing fell 16 percent from 2009's first quarter, but rose 15 percent from the fourth quarter.

According to RealtyTrac, Nevada has been contending with the nation's highest foreclosure rate for the past 13 quarters. A staggering 1 in 33 housing units received a foreclosure filing in the first quarter, four times the national average, the report said.

For the third straight quarter, Arizona posted the nation's second-highest rate with one in every 49 properties receiving a foreclosure filing, the report said. The state's foreclosure rate rose 13.8 percent quarter-over-quarter and 22.4 percent from the previous quarter.

Florida registered the third-highest foreclosure rate in the nation for the second straight month. One in every 57 properties got a filing, increasing 28.8 percent quarter-over-quarter and 7 percent from the previous quarter.

Foreclosure activity in California fell 6.4 percent from the same time last year, but rose 4.7 percent from the fourth quarter, giving the state the fourth-highest foreclosure rate. One in every 62 units got a filing.

Utah had the fifth-highest rate -- 1 in every 88 housing units had a foreclosure filing. There, foreclosure activity skyrocketed a whopping 75.1 percent from the same quarter last year and 21.2 percent from the fourth quarter.

Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado rounded out the states with the top 10 foreclosure rates.

RealtyTrac bases its foreclosure reports on foreclosure filing data from 2,200 counties across the country, accounting for more than 90 percent of the American population.

Source: Inman News

SHORT SALES: Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA)

Distressed Properties are expected to comprise 50% of the U.S. market transactions this year

New government guidelines designed to streamline the Short Sale process go into effect April 5th. All HAMP lenders and real estate agents working in the rapidly expanding Short Sales market MUST be familiar with these new guidelines. The new program is called HAFA: The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative program

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, Short Sales and Foreclosures (REO's) are the new traditional transaction and as part of my standard real estate business I specialize in helping distressed homeowners’ determine their options. To this end, I am certified by the NAR through their SFR (Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource Certification) program.


Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA)

In 2009, the Treasury Department introduced the HAFA program to provide a viable option for homeowners who are unable to keep their homes through the existing Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The HAFA program takes effect on April 5, 2010—although some servicers may implement it sooner, if they meet certain requirement--and sunsets on December 31, 2012.

Home Affordable Foreclosures Alternatives Program: Guidelines and Forms

HAFA provides incentives in connection with a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (DIL) used to avoid foreclosure on a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. Servicers participating in HAMP are also required to comply with HAFA.

A list of servicers participating in HAMP (including HAFA) is available at: Making Home Affordable

HAFA Provisions

•• Complements HAMP by providing a viable alternative for borrowers (the current homeowners) who are HAMP eligible but nevertheless unable to keep their home.

•• Uses borrower financial and hardship information already collected in connection with consideration of a loan modification.

•• Allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds).

•• Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed).

•• Uses standard processes, documents, and timeframes/deadlines.

•• Provides the following financial incentives:

•• $3,000 for borrower relocation assistance;

•• $1,500 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs;

•• Up to $2,000 for investors who allow a total of up to $6,000 in short sale proceeds to be distributed to subordinate lien holders, on a one-for-three matching basis.

•• Requires all servicers participating in HAMP to implement HAFA in accordance with their own written policy, consistent with investor guidelines. The policy may include factors such as the severity of the potential loss, local markets, timing of pending foreclosure actions, and borrower motivation and cooperation.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

$18,000 in Combined Homebuyer Tax Credits

CALIFORNIA COMBINED HOMEBUYER TAX CREDITS

Available for a Limited Time

Californians have a brief window of opportunity to receive up to $18,000 in combined federal and state homebuyer tax credits. To take advantage of both tax credits, a first-time homebuyer must enter into a purchase contract for a principal residence before May 1, 2010, and close escrow between May 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010, inclusive. Buyers who are not first-time homebuyers may use the same timeframes to receive up to $16,500 in combined tax credits if they are long-time residents of their existing homes as permitted under federal law, and they purchase properties that have never been previously occupied as provided under California law.

Under the federal law slated to soon expire, a first-time homebuyer may receive up to $8,000 in tax credits, and a long-time resident may receive up to $6,500, for certain purchase contracts entered into by April 30, 2010 that close escrow by June 30, 2010. Additionally, under a newly enacted California law, a homebuyer may receive up to $10,000 in tax credits as a first-time homebuyer or buyer of a property that has never been occupied. The new California law applies to certain purchases that close escrow on or after May 1, 2010 (see Cal. Rev. & Tax Code section 17059.1(a)(4)). California law generally allows buyers of never-occupied properties to reserve their credits before closing escrow, but buyers seeking to combine the federal and state tax credits will not be able to satisfy the timing requirements for such reservations (see Cal. Rev. & Tax Code section 17059.1(c)(1)(A)). Other terms and restrictions apply to both tax credits.

Jumbo loan delinquencies move higher

This piece from the LA Times regarding jumbo loans is sobering and illustrates that everyone is affected. A “Jumbo” is defined as a loan amount over the conforming limit as set by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In our region currently, that ceiling is a loan of over $729,750.00.

I get the same question constantly in regards to my real estate business, “How are things going, is it picking up?” The delivery is usually cautiously empathetic and concerned. “Is the worst over” is another common query and my standard answer to that is, if I could answer that question I’d be worth a billion dollars.

The truth is that no one knows and anyone who claims they do is selling something… There are so many factors that will determine how things go ultimately and frankly if our government would spend half the energy (focused on finding real solutions) that they devote to undermining each other, we’d be on a faster road to recovery.

Living in the “now”

Pursuant to the topic of the article, following are the local numbers. Properties sold for $750,000.00 or more in the combined South Bay market are up 103% for January 2010 compared to January 2009. Pending sales are also up 73% vs. Jan. 2009 even though inventory is down 32% as most non-distressed sellers are choosing to wait.

That said, ‘pre-foreclosure’ activity on the Palos Verdes Peninsula (90274 and 90275) in this price range is, I’m sure at record levels with 138 homes either showing as NOD (notice of default), scheduled for auction or REO (bank owned). The combined beach cities; Hollywood Riviera, Redondo, Hermosa and Manhattan Beach show 144 properties in these categories.


Prime jumbo loan delinquencies still rising, report shows
LA Times by Alejandro Lazo
February 8, 2010

People who hold jumbo loans on pricey U.S. properties continued to struggle in January as more Americans lose their jobs and property values have plummeted, according to a report released Monday.

Jumbo loans were popular -- and often necessary to afford homes in pricey areas like Southern California -- during the heady years of the boom.

Jumbo loans are generally defined as being above certain conforming limits set by mortgage titans Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. (The conforming limit for single-family homes was $417,000 from 2006 to 2008 but was increased temporarily by federal lawmakers in early 2008 to $729,750 in certain high-cost areas, including Los Angeles County.)

Overall, delinquencies of 60 days or more on prime jumbo loans that were packaged into securities and sold to investors rose to 9.6% in January, up from 9.2% in December and 3.7% a year earlier, according to the report by the Fitch Ratings agency in New York.

California, which comprises 44% of the market, saw its delinquency rate rise to 11.3% in January from 10.8% in December and 4.1% a year earlier.

“The deterioration in performance is really the combination of two things going on: rising unemployment that took place throughout 2009 as well as our estimate that about a third of all jumbo loans that are current are underwater in terms of the value, so [borrowers] owe more on their properties than they are worth,” Fitch managing director Vincent Barberio said. “As more of these loans become delinquent, they ultimately will come into foreclosure.”

Prime jumbo loan delinquencies began to rise in the second quarter of 2007, but accelerated in 2009 and nearly tripled over the course of the year, Fitch said. The five states with the highest volume of prime jumbo loans outstanding are California, New York, Florida, Virginia and New Jersey.

Short Sales: The 5 Stages of residential dispossession Pt. 1

The 5 Stages of residential dispossession
Part 1: Short Sales

The process through which a home becomes Bank Owned or an REO (real estate owned) consists of approximately five stages.

1. Short Sale
2. NOD (notice of default)
3. Foreclosure
4. Auction
5. REO (real estate owned)

Over the next several weeks I will attempt to shed some light on this topic and hopefully provide some information or guidance that might help some homeowners avoid losing their home or at least minimize the impact of the inevitable.

Topic one (where a loan modification has failed) is the Short Sale and according to a recent article in the LA Times, the rate of foreclosure among outstanding mortgage loans in the Los Angeles metro area was 3.69% this October, compared with 1.75% in 2008. Those familiar with the real estate market in Q1 and Q2 of this year (2009) can appreciate what that could mean moving into the first part of next year... The national foreclosure average is 3% according to data released by First American CoreLogic, which tracks the mortgage market.

Delinquent loans 90 days or more past due constituted 10.9% of all mortgage loans in the Los Angeles area, up from 5.86% during the same month the year before. So it is likely that we’ll see a lot more short sales and foreclosures in 2010.

Please note that although I am a licensed real estate agent and member of the California Association of Realtors I am NOT and attorney, accountant or loan officer. If you need advice in any of these areas you should contact the appropriate professional. The information herein is meant to offer general information and although deemed to be accurate is not guaranteed.


The Short Sale

In the current real estate market, short sales and foreclosures represent a new traditional real estate transaction. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that over the past several years many homes were purchased for substantially more than their current value. In a recent Wall Street Journal piece “One in Four Borrowers Is Underwater “, writers’ Ruth Simon and James R. Hagerty state that nearly 10.7 million households , or about 23% of homeowners with mortgages had negative equity in the third quarter of 2009. It is estimated that more than 520,000 of these borrowers have received a notice of default.

A short sale is a lender approved sale of real estate in which the sale price is less than (or short of) the mortgage balance.

For agents, knowing how to maneuver the complexities of a short sale, on either side of the transaction is not merely a good skill to have in today’s market, it’s critical.

Distressed homeowners’ are in a race against the clock to avoid foreclosure and buyers need to identify sound real estate opportunities quickly to avoid wasting time and missing opportunity. In either case the agent must be able to evaluate all available options and identify or establish the components of an effective short-sale package.


Anatomy of a Successful Short Sale

Successful short sales require 3 elements:

1. Seller opportunity to get out of a bad situation with minimal credit damage.
2. Buyer gets a deal, purchases property below the true market value.
3. Lender nets more money than a foreclosure action would bring.


Sellers

It’s important to note that Short Sales will not work if the property has sufficient equity for the lender to foreclose, sell as an REO and at least break even. The homeowner must be "upside-down" in their loan for the lender to approve a short sale.

When a homeowner experiences a hardship and can no longer pay the mortgage the first and best option is a lender approved short sale to attempt to avoid foreclosure. Whereas there are still negative credit implications associated with a short sale, they are much less severe.

The first step is valuation, what is the current market value of the subject property? As stated above, if there is sufficient market value in a home a lender will not approve a short sale and perhaps a quick standard sale (even if it requires some money out of pocket) is the best solution.

Establishing the current market value of a home involves measuring the subject property against other properties in the neighborhood that have sold recently. An experienced agent, with working knowledge of an area can put together a Current Market Analysis or CMA or there are tools available online to get a rough idea of value. Understand the there are many factors from square footage, lot size and the age of a structure to amenities like pools, views and location in a given community etc. that can affect the value of one home as compared to another.

If it is determined that the current market value is significantly below the amount owed, then the second step is to contact the lender(s) for a short sale application and instructions specific to their policy. If the seller is working with an agent (and in most cases they should be) they need to execute the proper documentation to authorize the agent to deal directly with the lender and the initial call to the loss mitigation department or the person named in demand letters should be placed together. This is the best way to establish a working relationship, answer questions, verify information and get outline of what they want and how they will make a decision on a short sale.

Beyond these initial steps, any successful shot sale will require a properly prepared Short Sale Packet which can easily be in excess of 50 pages. Closing statements, purchase contracts, market statistics, financial documentation, disclosures and a plethora of other forms, agreements and miscellaneous information must be provided, however one of the more critical elements of the packet is the Hardship Letter.

The numbers are the only thing that a lender cares about, so the hardship letter should NOT be a sob story. It MUST be a factual description of a financial hardship that is leading to bankruptcy, foreclosure or both. The lender needs be convinced that the only other option is foreclosure, at which point they will analyze the situation and determine whether a short sale is a preferable direction.

It must be made evident that the borrower is headed for foreclosure or bankruptcy. The letter needs to give a clear picture of the financial condition and be backed up with documentation (pay stubs, medical bills, termination letters etc).

The average cost for a lender to foreclose is approximately $50,000 and there are the reserves that lenders are required hold to back up non-performing loans. Lenders don’t like to tie up resources to back up these loans and are generally open to alternatives.

Certainly there is more to consider. Pursuing a short sale is a complex process and in some cases, if caught in time it can be avoided. In others foreclosure is inevitable. If you are concerned about maintaining your mortgage or have questions about the process please call or email at your convenience


Buyers

A true Short Sale opportunity is where a homeowner owes more on their home than they will receive from a standard sale and a situation where the lender will approve a price that meets your budget.

Obviously for the buyers’ part, a purchase at the lowest possible price, that the lender will approve is the goal. Priorities for a buyer would be to establish that the homeowner is upside-down in their loan, that the target property is worth less than the total amount owed and that true hardship for the seller exists to convince the lender that a short sale is necessary. Also to be sure of clear title, that there are no prohibitive liens or other claims against the property that will stall the process or cause it to fail. If the loan is VA or FHA, the situation needs to meets their specific criteria for a short sale.

Buyers beware! All homes advertised as "Short Sale" are not necessarily short sales and potential buyers need to verify if and when the paperwork was filed with the lender(s) and whether that paperwork was properly completed. If not, you may end up wasting a lot of time and energy, the home will be foreclosed and you'll be back to square one. Considering that most short sales involve property that is already in default, time is of the essence. There must be enough time to complete the process before a foreclosure action is completed. This requires a willingness and cooperation from the seller and the lender as well as the motivation to work to avoid foreclosure.

Of course I'll suggest that you are best served by working with a licensed agent or Realtor who has short sale experience, however if you choose to go it alone, do your homework and remember that the sellers agent was retained by the seller, is working against the clock in an attempt to find a qualified buyer and to strike a deal with the lender. Many agents listing short sales are handling several at once. Your best interest may be best served by you being informed or using an experienced agent focused on you alone.

Interest rates far from the only answer

"The miserable have no other medicine but only hope” Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare (Act III, Scene I)

My intension is not to paint a picture of doom and gloom. I remain cautiously optimistic that with conscience and care, we can weather the storm. There are, however those who are quick to say we're in recovery, the worst has past and by this time next year our real estate troubles will be a distant memory. That’s a classic example of ignoring the elephant in the room...The posted article “Low interest rates are no panacea for region's housing” describes a dynamic that exists in hard-hit Inland Southern California. Although interest rates are low there's a lack of inventory creating fierce competition and many buyers are getting frustrated. Builders cannot justify building. Statistics nationally on NOD's and REO's indicate that there should be plenty of inventory, however the manner in which these properties are released on to the market is critical. Too much, too fast and we upset the apple cart, prices freefall again and buyers pull back. It’s been said again and again that low interest, tax breaks and lower home prices have created this surge in buying, but it's not on a solid foundation. As expressed by economist Esmael Adibi (below) until we put people back to work and stimulate other aspects of the economy we're still very much at risk. At this point what's most important is managing the over 7.5 million homeowners who are either at risk or in foreclosure and the banks will ultimately determine how this unfolds. Get it right and we get through the next several months and perhaps 2010 with positive momentum. One can only hope.


Low interest rates are no panacea for region's housing

By LESLIE BERKMAN
The Press-Enterprise

Although the interest rate on a 30-year mortgage is the lowest it has been in almost four decades, it is not the medicine that will revive Inland Southern California's housing market, real estate experts said Thursday.

Mortgage rates for fixed 30-year loans in the U.S. dropped to a record low amid indications the housing market is showing signs of life. A 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.71 percent for the week ended Thursday, the lowest since mortgage buyer Freddie Mac began compiling the data in 1971.

The Federal Reserve is pumping $1.25 trillion into mortgage-backed securities to try to bring down mortgage rates, but that money is set to run out next spring. The goal of the program is to make home buying more affordable and prop up the housing market.

But Inland experts say a shortage of inventory is suppressing sales of existing homes. Also, the high cost of land that home builders acquired makes it impossible for most of them to construct houses that can sell cheaply enough to compete with the foreclosure-ridden resale market.

"The interest rates being as low as they are today are not promoting more sales because of the lack of homes for sale," said Wil Herring, owner of Mtg Experts in Moreno Valley.

While the rate of mortgage defaults remains high, fewer foreclosed houses are coming on the market, a trend that some experts say reflects an effort by lenders to modify mortgages for financially troubled homeowners and to control the number of foreclosed homes for sale to prop up prices.

Herring said there is "sheer frustration" among would-be first-time buyers who have to compete for the limited number of bank-owned homes, frequently having to make multiple offers and losing out to all-cash buyers.

Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi said the lower mortgage interest rate is a positive development because it makes homes more affordable and will be welcomed by someone who is currently house hunting. But he said it won't be enough to overcome the negative impact of a soft economy on home sales.

"The job outlook and overall economic condition trumps any improvement we will get on the mortgage front because if a person doesn't have a job or is not confident about his or her job, even with the improved affordability, that person will not commit to purchasing a house," Adibi said.

Alan Nevin, director of economic research for MarketPointe Realty Advisors in San Diego, a firm that advises home builders, said lower mortgage rates will do "virtually nothing for new home building because it is not sufficient to cause developers to risk breaking ground."

OVERPRICED LAND

The basic problem, Nevin said, is the cost that developers paid for land -- most likely purchased at the height of the housing boom in 2005 or 2006 -- is "almost higher than what they can sell the homes for."

Nevin said recently he studied the Hemet-San Jacinto area and discovered that most of the sales offices in housing developments were closed because the builders couldn't compete with the resale market. He said significant home building will not occur until the banks resell land in the failed projects at discounted prices to a new group of builders.

"I suspect over the course of 2010 you will begin to see new homes being built in small quantities but not by the guys who built them before," Nevin said.

Bloomberg News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: The Press-Enterprise Online

Home prices rise for 4th month in a row

Although this is great news, it does not give a complete picture. Most current sellers need to sell or the property being marketed is bank owned (REO). For those in a position to buy, this is a great opportunity and there certainly will be no shortage of inventory (Short Sales and REOs) during the coming year… Plus the value of standard sales is influenced by the distressed market.

A piece today in the WSJ “One in Four Borrowers Is Underwater“ states that nearly 10.7 million households , or about 23% of homeowners with mortgages had negative equity in the third quarter. It is estimated that more than 520,000 of these borrowers have received a notice of default.

On the bright side, the article goes on to say “Most U.S. homeowners still have some equity, and nearly 24 million owner-occupied homes don't have any mortgage…” Some experts expect values to drop again in the coming year and it’s likely they will. We should definitely see values flat-line or drop over the next month and into Q-1 of 2010 due to the holidays and extension of tax credits to April 30th. My guidance is, if you’re buying a home and you plan to live there for 5 years or more, it’s hard to go wrong at 5% interest. If you don’t need to sell, don’t. Or consider leasing the property if you can. Speculators’ (flippers’) must understand that smart money is buying at a percentage of replacement cost and has the cash to carry if necessary. RD

PS - Also at WSJ.com, check out "Negative Equity by State" chart. California is actually slightly better off than Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

Home prices rise for 4th month in a row

WASHINGTON – The summer's trend of rising home prices is flattening as the traditional home shopping season ends, two reports Tuesday showed.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities rose 0.3 percent to 144.96 in September, the fourth monthly increase in a row. The seasonally adjusted index is now up more than 3 percent from its bottom in May, but still 30 percent below its peak in April 2006.

Another reading of home prices published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency held steady from August to September. Analysts expect prices to dip again this winter as foreclosures increase.

"As long as the unemployment rate stays elevated, you're going to see pressure on the pace of foreclosures, which are going to find their way back onto the market, depressing prices," said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist with Miller Tabak & Co.

Home prices are a key ingredient to rebuilding the economy. Homeowners feel wealthier when their property appreciates in value and are more likely to spend money. Rising prices also help millions of homeowners who owe more to the bank than their homes are worth.

Currently, roughly one in four homeowners are in that situation, according to First American CoreLogic.

While prices nationally are likely to keep rising through November, "we are very worried about the potential for a huge wave of supply next year, both from private sellers and banks," wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. "Prices could easily reverse their recent gains."

Home prices rose in 11 major cities with the strongest gains in San Francisco and Minneapolis, according to the Case Shiller report. Prices fell by the most in Las Vegas and Cleveland.

Compared with a year earlier, the 20-city index was down 9.4 percent, the smallest year over year decline since January 2008.

"With housing remaining an albatross around the economy's neck, nothing would perk things up more than some increases in home prices," wrote Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. "That seems to be happening."

The price reports came a day after the National Association of Realtors said home resales surged by more than 10 percent in October as buyers took advantage of a special tax credit for first-time owners.

Source: Yahoo! News by ALAN ZIBEL, Associated Press Real Estate Writer

October home sales rise 10.1% from September

Obviously this is based on National sales and South Bay in general; the beach cities, Palos Verdes Peninsula and surrounding communities are affected to varying degrees as well, however we are somewhat different when compared to the country as a whole. For instance median home value in Torrance alone is $492k, more than twice the national average. You can nearly double that again for Rancho Palos Verdes. There are currently 24 financially “distressed” properties (Short Sale, REO, NOD) listed on the MLS on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and 102 in the western extreme of the area from El Segundo south to the peninsula. RD

October home sales rise 10.1% from September

From the Associated Press
November 23, 2009 7:40 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Home sales far exceeded expectations last month, surging to the highest level in 21/2 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.

The National Association of Realtors said today that home resales rose 10.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million in October, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September.

The tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time owners was originally set to run out on Nov. 30, but Congress renewed it earlier this month and broadened its reach. People who have owned their current homes for at least five years can now claim a tax credit of up to $6,500 for a home purchase. To qualify, buyers must sign a purchase agreement by April 30.

The Realtors report on October home sales reflect offers made before buyers knew the tax credit would be extended. "There was a lot of rush and hurry to complete sales" before the deadline, said Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist.

But sales are likely to drop over the winter as buyers hibernate for a few months without the looming tax credit deadline.

The new deadline means that "we're going to see some good activity coming out of the spring," said Pat Lashinsky, chief executive of online real estate brokerage ZipRealty Inc.

Sales, which were nearly 24 percent above last year's level, had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 5.65 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The median sales price was $173,100, down 7.1 percent from a year earlier and off 1.6 percent from September.

In addition to lower prices, mortgage rates have been hovering around 5 percent since the spring, largely because of government intervention. That has helped restore housing affordability in large swaths of the country.

The inventory of unsold homes on the market fell about 4 percent to 3.6 million. That's a 7 month supply at the current sales pace, and close to a healthy stock of about six months.

Nationwide sales are up nearly 37 percent from their bottom in January, but are still off about 16 percent from the peak in autumn 2005.

Over the summer, the housing market started to rebound from the worst downturn in decades, aided by aggressive federal intervention to lower mortgage rates and bring more buyers into the market.

But experts forecast that prices will fall again. Most say they will hit a new low next spring, perhaps falling another 5 to 10 percent, as more foreclosures get pushed onto the market.

A record-high 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on payments or in foreclosure at the end of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association said last week. The worst damage is still concentrated in the states hardest hit from the start: Florida, Nevada, California and Arizona. Together, they accounted for 43 percent of new foreclosures.

Source: The Los Angeles Times

New $6,500 federal tax credit for 'MOVE-UP' Home Buyers

If you fit the criteria and are considering buying another house in the coming year, you might want to speed up the process and close by the June 30 expiration date.

Reporting from Washington - Take a close, hard look at the new $6,500 federal tax credit for so-called move-up home buyers that passed the Senate and House recently. Though it's been getting second billing to the original $8,000 credit for first-time purchasers -- now extended by Congress through June 30 -- the $6,500 credit for current homeowners just might have your name on it.

How does it work? When will it be available?

The new credit is available now. It took effect Nov. 6, the day President Obama signed the legislation that created it. This means that if you fit the key criteria -- you've owned and lived in your home for a consecutive five out of the last eight years, and your adjusted household income doesn't exceed $125,000 if you file taxes singly or $225,000 if you are married filing jointly -- you can claim the credit as soon as you close on a qualifying house.

That could be next week, next month or next spring. There is no "move-up" requirement in the new credit. In fact, homeowners who plan to downsize into a smaller dwelling may prove to be significant users of the credit, along with people who are moving because of employment changes.

If you fit the criteria and are considering buying another house sometime in the coming year, you might want to speed up the process and sign a contract by April 30 and close by the June 30 expiration date. Think of it this way: If the government is willing to give you $6,500 to act a little faster than you had planned, hey, why not?

Some other key features of the $6,500 credit you ought to know about:

* Whatever you intend to buy, the house cannot cost more than $800,000.

* The replacement house must become your main home. There is no requirement in the legislation that you sell your current home. You could rent it out, turn it into a second home or list it for sale later in 2010 when prices might be higher. If you plan to retain it, however, make sure that you move into the new house on the day you close so that there is no question it was your principal residence at that time.

* Like the first-time buyer credit, the $6,500 version permits a variety of dwelling types for your purchase. These include new or existing single-family homes, condominiums, manufactured or mobile homes, and boats that function as your principal residence. You cannot claim the credit if you are buying a second home or an investment property.

* The Internal Revenue Service is required by Congress to scrutinize claims for tax credits -- both for the $6,500 and the $8,000 credits -- far more closely in the coming months than it did earlier this year. This is because federal investigators have documented significant instances of fraud -- supposed home buyers who were as young as 4, and "sales" that were fabricated. Investigators also found numerous cases of technical violations, such as purchase transactions among immediate family members, which are prohibited.

The revised rules require taxpayers to submit copies of their settlement statements (HUD-1 forms), along with their requests for credits using IRS Form 5405. Congress' new rules also prohibit individuals under the age of 18 or who are counted as dependents on another taxpayer's filings from claiming the credit.

* Home buyers in 2009 -- those who go to closing after Nov. 6 but no later than Dec. 31 -- can claim the $6,500 credit on their 2009 federal tax returns, or amend their 2008 returns. Similarly, eligible buyers in 2010 will be able to file for the credit on their 2009 returns or 2010 returns. Talk to your tax advisor regarding timing decisions.

* If you aren't sure if you can make the deadlines established for the new credit -- a binding contract by April 30 and a settlement by June 30 -- do not assume that Congress will provide another extension. All the political and budgetary signs point the other way, and some of the primary authors of the credit insist that this is it -- no more extensions next year. Take them at their word.

One consumer resource that answers frequently asked questions about both the $6,500 and $8,000 extended credits is www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com, sponsored by the National Assn. of Home Builders.

Source: LA Times.com November 15, 2009 by Kenneth R. Harney

Fannie, Freddie, & FHA conforming loan limit extension law signed

President Obama late Friday signed a congressional resolution to extend through 2010 the current conforming loan limits of $417,000 for most areas in the U.S. and $729,750 for high-cost areas, including many in California. The resolution was part of a broader piece of budgetary legislation that will prevent a government shutdown.

Both C.A.R. and NAR have long advocated making permanent higher conforming loan limits. As a result of C.A.R.'s and NAR's efforts, a provision of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 included temporarily raising the conforming loan limits. Last week's actions effectively extend the higher conforming loan limits for Fannie, Freddie, and FHA loans through 2010.

The conforming loan limit determines the maximum size of a mortgage that Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) can buy or "guarantee." Non-conforming or "jumbo loans" typically carry higher mortgage interest rates than conforming loans, increasing monthly payments and hampering the ability of families in California to purchase homes by making them less affordable.

Source: NAR