Glass Is Half Full? Or Half Empty?

Glass Is Half Full? Or Half Empty?
Daily Real Estate News | May 28, 2008
Plenty of Positive Market News Today

Hungry for a little good real estate news? Leon d’Ancona, president of IMS Inc., has something to cheer you up.

D’Ancona, who provides real estate information to the industry, has set up a Web site that lists 2,319 markets in the United States where homes are selling well.

For instance, Loganville, Ga., homes sold 38.5 percent faster in April than they did in March, and sales of homes in Avondale, Ariz., increased by 64 percent in April compared with March

"The problem with glass-is-half-empty stories is that they have an undue psychological impact on markets that is not borne out by all the facts," says d’Ancona. "We know, because it's our business to know, that there are hundreds of cities and thousands of neighborhoods in the United States right now where the market is very healthy, thank you.”

http://www.happyrenews.com/

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008052802?OpenDocument

I know that bad news travels fast (and fury) I like to hear a little bit of good news and there are good news out there too.
Jeri

http://www.happyrenews.com/

http://realestatestatistics.com/happynews/units.html

Source: IMS Inc. (05/27/08)

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008052802?OpenDocument

PS: Similar stats here in Riverside County.
Murrieta CA 22%
Temecula CA 0.8%
Sun City CA 27.6%
Hemet CA 38.5%
Menifee CA 23.8%
Perris CA 9.7%

Housing Relief Bill Could Help 500,000

Headlines on CNNmoney.com but we will see since this is going to really happen the earliest date of October, 2008.

Housing relief: Help, but for how many?
Sponsors of the Senate's bipartisan mortgage bill say it will help 500,000 people. But an Oct. 1 start date means many homeowners could be out of luck.

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
May 23, 2008: 10:39 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- When the Senate Banking Committee passed a housing bill intended to limit foreclosures, panel Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he expected the measure could help 500,000 borrowers stay in their homes.

While the bill could help a lot of people, it's unlikely to help 500,000.

The bill's key provision would allow the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure up to $300 billion in new loans for at-risk borrowers if lenders agree to write down loan balances below the appraised value of borrowers' homes.

The Congressional Budget Office has not yet released its official estimates of the bill's FHA proposal.

But in analyzing the potential costs and reach of a similar proposal passed by the House in May, the CBO estimated that 500,000 borrowers may enter the program - and that 35% of them could still default. So the best estimate of the net number of borrowers who will stay in their homes under the program is 325,000.

That would reduce anticipated foreclosure filings by 8% over the next few years, according to an estimate from Goldman Sachs analyst Alec Phillips.

That's not the only factor that could reduce the number of homeowners helped by the Senate bill. In making its estimates, the CBO assumed a June 1 start date for the FHA program. But the Senate version of the legislation - considered more politically viable than the House bill - would start the program on Oct. 1.

That four-month difference is likely to flush from consideration a segment of the bill's immediate target group: the 1.5 million subprime borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) whose loans are scheduled to reset in 2008.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/23/news/economy/senate_housing_bill_effect/index.htm?postversion=2008052310

Home Sales Update

Well, in the last message I mentioned about how difficult the market has been for home sellers while the bank owned properties are selling like hot cakes

Today's Latest News from California Association Of Relators
The median home price for the six-county region was $385,000, unchanged from March but down 24 percent from an April 2007 peak of $505,000. April marked the first time in eight months that the median price did not decline.

Sales were strongest in areas hit hardest by foreclosures: Riverside County (where sales increased month to month for the first time in two years), Lancaster, Chula Vista, Anaheim, Lake Forest and Victorville experienced the strongest rebounds. Two-thirds of homes sold during the month in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties were priced under $500,000. About 38 percent of the homes sold were in foreclosure at some point during the previous year, up only 2 percent from March but sharply higher than the 5 percent reported a year ago. In Riverside County, 53 percent of sales involved troubled properties.
The credit crunch, potential for a recession, and uncertainty over when foreclosures will peak caused DataQuick analysts to remain cautious. Lack of financing for high-value homes continues to be an issue and could forestall a recovery if the trend persists. In April, only 15 percent of Southern California home loans were above $417,000, down sharply from the same period a year ago.

10 fastest growing real estate markets

CNN/Money magazine online featured an article on the 10 fastest growing real estate markets.

#1

McAllen, Texas
12-month forecast: 4%
Median home price: $109,000
One year price change: 2.1%
Five year price change: 23.3%
Change in foreclosure rate: 23%

#2

Rochester, N.Y.
12-month forecast: 2.7%
Median home price: $121,000
One year price change: 3.4%
Five year price change: 20.1%
Change in foreclosure rate: 5%

#3

Birmingham, Alabama
12-month forecast: 2.7%
Median home price: $156,000
One year price change: 2.9%
Five year price change: 29.4%
Change in foreclosure rate: 20%

#4

Syracuse, N.Y.
12-month forecast: 2.6%
Median home price: $126,000
One year price change: 0.8%
Five year price change: 29.5%
Change in foreclosure rate: 27%

#5

Buffalo/Niagara Falls, N.Y.
12-month forecast: 2.4%
Median home price: $105,000
One year price change: 1.6%
Five year price change: 24.5%
Change in foreclosure rate: 14%

#6

New Orleans, La12-month forecast: 2.2%
Median home price: $158,000
One year price change: 1%
Five year price change: 43.7%
Change in foreclosure rate: 49%

#7

Scranton, P.A.
12-month forecast: 2.2%
Median home price: $128,000
One year price change: 7.2%
Five year price change: 41.1%
Change in foreclosure rate: 8%

#8
Grand Rapids, Mich.
12-month forecast: 1.9%
Median home price: $124,000
One year price change: -3%
Five year price change: 8.3%
Change in foreclosure rate: 37%


#9

Baton Rouge, La.
12-month forecast: 1.9%
Median home price: $170,000
One year price change: 5.7%
Five year price change: 38.3%
Change in foreclosure rate: 14%

#10

El Paso, Texas
12-month forecast: 1.8%
Median home price: $134,000
One year price change: 6.9%
Five year price change: 51.9%
Change in foreclosure rate: 32%

Information is power, using the information wisely is super power.

If you are young, energetic, and an avid investor, the decision to invest in these top cities can certainly bring in good ROI, hopefully in the short period of time. However, if you want to find a retirement home or move to a more affordable place. You have to decide whether you really want to move to and live in any of these cities.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0805/gallery.resg_gainers.moneymag/10.html