Don’t Miss this Great 2 Full Day Workshop ! is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

Shadow Inventory: 46 Months to Clear Distressed Housing Supply !

 It will take 46 months to clear the market’s supply of distressed homes, or the shadow inventory, according to estimates from Standard & Poor’s Rating Services based on first-quarter 2012 data.

While national residential mortgage liquidation rates appeared stable over the first three months of this year, these rates varied widely between local markets, which prevented any significant reduction in S&P’s months-to-clear estimate, the agency explained in its report.

As of first-quarter 2012, S&P says its months-to-clear estimate in judicial states was almost 2.5x as long as non-judicial states.

By: Carrie Bay/DSnews  

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/shadow-inventory-update-46-months-to-clear-supply-of-distressed-homes-2012-05-14

Shadow Inventory: 46 Months ! is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

Tax receipts 20 percent below budgeted - State may not be able to pay its bills later this year

California’s state government collected just over $9.6 billion in taxes and fees in April, $2.44 billion below (-20.2 percent) the latest projections contained in the Governor’s proposed 2012-13 budget, according to a report Tuesday from state Controller John Chiang.

The total was even below that of April 2011 when more than $10.3 billion was collected.

“The task of crafting a credibly-balanced budget has been made more difficult by a nine-month revenue shortfall of $3.5 billion,” says Mr. Chiang. “Without a timely, financeable budget plan, the state will be unable to access the working capital needed to pay its bills later this year.”

California ended last fiscal year with a cash deficit of $8.2 billion. The combined current-year cash deficit stands at $19.2 billion. Those deficits are being covered with $12.8 billion of internal borrowing (temporary loans from special funds) and $6.4 billion of external borrowing.

California closer to the poorhouse – State may not be able to pay its bills later this year ! is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

A survey released Monday by the Fed told us something we’ve known for a while (well, since the housing bust): Those with bad credit can’t get a mortgage.

Break  down by score and down payment:

Forty-three of the 52 banks surveyed said they weren’t as likely to give a mortgage to those with a FICO score of 620 and a down payment of 10% than they were in 2006. Even when the down payment was bumped up to 20%, 37 banks still gave it the thumbs down.

Even those with a better score still had it a bit rough. With a score of 680 and a down payment of 10%, 36 banks said they were less likely than in 2006 to make the loan. That group fared slightly better when the down payment was 20%, with only 15 banks saying they were less likely to make the loan — four more were even more likely to go through with the deal.

When the FICO score hit 720, the difference between now and then was decently minimal. With 10% down, 37 banks said they would be just as likely to make the loan now as they were in 2006, with 12 banks saying less likely and 3 saying more likely.

Those high scorers did even better when the down payment increased to 20%. Five banks said they were less likely, six said they were more likely and a whopping 41 banks said they were just as likely.

All of this very interestingly sticks to the results that the National Association of Realtors gathered last month. Though it would have been interesting to see the Fed’s results for those with credit scores of 740 and above, since NAR has them much more likely to get a mortgage than before.

Given that these new tightened standards are a follow up to U.S. home prices nose-diving by about one third, the banks getting picker have helped to affirm the finding from my blog on Friday that credit standards are loosening in everywhere except mortgages. Auto loans, credit cards, you name it.

Odds are, you probably can’t have a mortgage unless you’re sitting on a 720 FICO score.    By: J.Huseman of Housing wire

Lower than 720 FICO score? No mortgage for you! is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

More than 1 million Americans who have taken out mortgages in the past two years now owe more on their loans than their homes are worth, and Federal Housing Administration loans that require only a tiny down payment are partly to blame.

hat figure, provided to Reuters by tracking firm CoreLogic, represents about one out of 10 home loans made during that period.

It is a sobering indication the U.S. housing market remains deeply troubled, with home values still falling in many parts of the country, and raises the question of whether low-down payment loans backed by the FHA are putting another generation of buyers at risk.

As of December 2011, the latest figures available, 31 percent of the U.S. home loans that were in negative equity – in which the outstanding loan balance exceeds the value of the home – were FHA-insured mortgages, according to CoreLogic.

Many borrowers, particularly since late 2010, thought they were buying at the bottom of a housing market that had already suffered steep declines, but have been caught out by a continued fall in prices in wide swaths of America.

Even for loans taken out in December – less than four months ago and the last month for which data is available – nearly 44,000 borrowers, or about 7.5 percent of the total, now find themselves under water.

Falling home prices drag new buyers under water is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

Beginning June 15, real estate agents working with distressed homeowners whose loans are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should expect to receive a decision on a short sale offer within 30-60 days.

The GSEs issued  new guidelinesTuesday that fall under the Servicing Alignment Initiative rolled out last fall and aim to bring greater transparency to the short sale process and expedite decisions related to these pre-foreclosure sales.

Not only is a short sale an effective foreclosure alternative when home retention is no longer an option, but it keeps homes occupied and helps to maintain stable communities, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)

According to the GSEs, this 30-day add-on will provide some leeway for servicers who may need more time to obtain a broker price opinion (BPO) or a private mortgage insurer’s approval for a short sale. All decisions must be made within 60 days.

In the event a servicer makes a counteroffer, the borrower is expected to respond within five business days. The servicer must then respond within 10 business days of receiving the borrower’s response.

The GSEs plan to use the new short sale timelines to evaluate servicer compliance with the Servicing Alignment Initiative.

Fannie and Freddie Set Timeline Requirements for Short Sales 04/17/2012 BY: CARRIE BAY is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

15-year Fixed Rate Mortgage hits all-time low

Mortgage rates declined for the third consecutive week as the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged just above its record low while the 15-year FRM hit a new all-time record low.

The Freddie Mac survey showed 15-year FRM, a popular refinancing choice, averaged 3.11%, down from last week when it averaged 3.21%. The rate broke its previous low of 3.13% in March. A year ago, the average rate for a 15-year FRM was 4.13%.

The 30-year FRM averaged 3.88% for the week ending Thursday, down from the prior week’s average of 3.98%. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.91%.

Five-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.85%, down from 2.86% the prior week and down from 3.78% a year earlier.

And one-year, Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 2.80%, up from last week when it averaged 2.78% and down from 3.25% last year.

The lower rates arrive on the heels of a weaker than expected employment report in March 2012.

15-year Fixed Rate Mortgage hits all-time low is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

WEST PALM BEACH — Lenders filed to foreclose on 1,502 Palm Beach County homeowners in March, a 65 percent increase from the same time last year and up 25 percent from February.

The surge in new filings was called “dramatic” by Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock, who released the numbers Friday. But it was a bump that analysts predicted would follow the $25 billion settlement between lenders and the nation’s attorneys general.

A federal judge signed off on the national settlement Wednesday. The deal, which landed Florida about $8.4 billion in mortgage relief and cash, requires lenders to increase loan-modification programs and write down borrower loan amounts. It also provides standards for servicing loans and processing foreclosures.

“This is one of the most dramatic month-to-month increases we’ve seen in more than a year,” Bock said about March’s filings. “And the timing for an increase couldn’t be worse, since Florida’s clerks will see their budgets cut on July 1.”

South Florida foreclosure defense attorney Peter Ticktin said Palm Beach County’s filings are also on the rise as banks continue to recover from the robo-signing scandal with revamped paperwork and successful file transfers from the former law offices of David J. Stern. Ticktin predicts foreclosure filings this year may double what they were in 2011. In Palm Beach County, that would mean 24,300 new cases.

“I don’t think we’ll see filings go much higher than that simply because of differences where the servicers have to verify complaints and the fact that judges are not tolerating firms who think they can act in a way that harms the courts,” Ticktin said.

Palm Beach County foreclosure filings surge in March is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

Differences in the way banks maintain and market vacant foreclosed homes in mostly white neighborhoods and communities where black and Latino families live, may be deepening the nation’s housing crisis, damaging the property tax bases on which most communities depend and leaving many black and Latino homeowners stranded in increasingly blighted neighborhoods, according to the investigation.

Six of the nation’s largest banks have consistently failed to aggressively market and maintain foreclosed homes in communities of color, according to the results of a nine month long investigation released Tuesday.

The investigation by the National Fair Housing Alliance, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that investigates, tracks and researches housing discrimination, studied the way banks market and maintain vacant foreclosed homes in nine metro areas and found “overwhelming” and “troubling“ evidence that banks consistently market and maintain foreclosed homes in the nation’s predominantly white neighborhoods differently. The findings constitute a violation of federal civil rights law and show that blacks and Latinos are unfairly burdened with one of the worst aspects of the nation’s housing crisis, alliance officials said.

“This is not about income. It is about race. These were consistent patterns in low-income communities, middle-income communities and upper-income neighborhoods,” said Shanna Smith, the alliance’s president and CEO. “And besides that, nobody, regardless of their income, wants to live next door to a property that is filled with trash and overgrown weeds that grow and foster rodents. No one deserves that.”

Investigators from the alliance, which completed its investigation in February, examined conditions at 1,000 bank-owned properties in ZIP codes with elevated foreclosure rates. The homes, often referred to as REO or real estate-owned properties, were ostensibly for sale after a bank reclaimed them in a foreclosure.

Bank-owned homes in communities of color were 42 percent more likely to have visible maintenance problems such as overgrown grass, hanging gutters, and damaged eaves or siding than those in comparable white neighborhoods. Foreclosed homes in mostly black and Latino neighborhoods were 34 percent more likely to be littered with trash and debris, and 82 percent more likely than bank-owned properties in white communities to have broken or boarded-up windows.

Vacant and foreclosed bank-owned homes in white neighborhoods were 33 percent more likely to be designated with professional real estate signs that were visible from the street. Homes in black and Latino neighborhoods had signs made of construction paper or cardboard, or had no for-sale signs at all.

Banks Fail To Maintain Foreclosed Homes In Minority Neighborhoods is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert

The Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes fell for the fifth straight month in January with the 10- and 20-city composites each dropping 0.8 percent from December, Standard & Poor’s, which compiles the indices, reported Tuesday morning. The 10-city index slid to its lowest level since May 2003 and the 20-city index dropped to its lowest level since December 2002.

Prices fell in 16 of the 19 cities surveyed, improving month-over-month in only Miami, Phoenix, and Washington D.C.

Since January 2011, the 10-city index fell 3.9 percent and the 20-city index has fallen 3.8 percent. Prices fell in 16 of the 19 cities on a year-over-year comparison, increasing in Denver, Detroit, and Phoenix.

prices have fallen month-over-month in Las Vegas for seven straight months and for 15 of the last 16 months. Prices have also dropped for six straight months in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

The steepest month-over-month decline was 2.5 percent in San Francisco, followed by 2.1 percent in Atlanta and Portland, 2 percent in Cleveland and 1.9 percent in Chicago.

The steepest year-over-year price decline was in Atlanta, where prices are off 14.8 percent since January 2011, followed by Las Vegas, down 9 percent, Chicago 6.6 percent, and San Francisco 5.9 percent.

Since peaking in June 2006, the 10-city index is down 49.1 percent and the 20-city index which peaked one month later is off 48.6 percent.

Case-Shiller Indexes Down for Fifth Straight Month is a post from: Real Estate Short Sale REO Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes Investing private money lending expert