Published on August 30, 2006
in Blog.
For the fifth straight week Freddie Mac reported that mortgage
rates fell from the previous week’s level. During the past week
which ended August 24 all four the of the mortgage products tracked by
Freddie Mac reached levels last seen at some point this past April. The
Mortgage Bankers Association, however, found rates moving in the opposite
direction.
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Published on August 29, 2006
in Blog.
After a parade of seven witnesses (plus Full Committee Chair Michael
Oxley) who appeared before the House Banking Subcommittee on Housing and
Community Opportunity to testify about alleged limitations on competition
from Internet competitors by the National Association of Realtors and its
affiliated multiple listing services, the defense got a few words in
edgewise.
…Both Lewis and Ms. Vredeycogd-Combs cited recent
studies that indicate commissions have been trending down
- going from 6.1 percent in 1991 to the current average of 5.1 percent.
That is not a one percent decrease, Lewis said, but a 16 percent
decrease, a level not experienced by many industries over the same
period of time.
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Okay, this gets to me. There is a Marin County Real Estate Blog that was featured some time ago in The Marin Independent Journal. The focus of the Blog is on the “Housing Bubble”. That is fine except the owner of the Blog (and no I am not going to mention the name and give him more exposure) WILL NOT identify who he is.
My name is Warren Carreiro and I am a Real Estate Broker and live in San Rafael. On the other hand, we don’t know the motivation behind a blogger that is trying to create a real estate bubble. Too bad, it is not working; we have a nice soft landing, thank you. Maybe this person lost his home and now the value is twice as high, who knows. If they won’t identify themselves then we don’t know the motivation.
What got me going on this is one of their latest post with DataQuick (I don’t think these numbers really came from DataQuick) as a reference shows Marin County Real Estate home values declining six to eight percent over the last year. This is not true. I just ran the numbers from MLS (which has all but a very small percentage of the sales) and found From July 2005 to July 2006 the average price and the median price are both down around one percent- hardly a bubble.
The market is looking good and buyers have some good deals but the sky is not falling.
Published on August 25, 2006
in Blog.
The National Association of Realtors issued its monthly report on sales
of existing houses on Wednesday, August 23 and one would think they were
reviewing the DVD of “Chicken Little.”
The networks didn’t necessarily lead with the story but it was up there
in coverage with the general tone being “Hi, ho, the housing boom is dead.”
Whoops, wrong movie.
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One question you should ask your agent is how many buyers do they work with? Marin County Real Estate buyers have a huge diversity of homes to look at and deserve the full attention of their real estate broker.
Realtors often hear of homes coming on the market before they hit the MLS and you want to be the first to hear of home you may be interested in. If your agent is working for several buyers looking for the same home who are they going to call first?
I limit myself to five active buyers and wont’ take on a buyer that is looking for your dream home. That way we both win; you find your home and I have a happy buyer.
Published on August 24, 2006
in Blog.
ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has
just issued the results or a large scale study of the potential impact of
upcoming adjustments to adjustable rate mortgages. ACORN
bills itself as the nation’s largest community organization of low and
moderate-income families. It advocates for better housing, more investment
by banks and government in lower-income communities, and better schools.
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Sellers accepting Contingent Offers is catching on but still represents a small portion of homes in escrow.
Currently, there are 159 homes in escrow (this does not include homes that have gone Pending – all contingencies removed because MLS does not identify Contingent Offers for this group). Of those 15 are Contingent Release.
What this means is the home is in escrow and one of the conditions of closing is the buyers current home must sell first. There are lots of variation on how this can be written but typically after a couple of weeks the seller can accept a new offer kicking the current buyer out of escrow. Of course the original buyer gets a 72 hour notice and can remove the contingency but usually if they could it would not be there in the first place.
The strongest Contingent Offer to make is when the home you are selling is in escrow and you are just waiting for it to close. Other times to use it is when the home you are buying has been sitting on the market for a long time, the seller is extra motivated, or your offer price seems just right.
If the buyers home is priced correctly and in a price range/area that sells fast this type of offer may be considered as less risky.
Published on August 23, 2006
in Blog.
Most interest rates were down again during the week
ended August 17 and 18, but the changes were not nearly as aggressive as
immediately after the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to pause in its long
term pattern of quarter-point rate increases.
Freddie Mac’s Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended
August 17 reported that average rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
was…
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How does the Marin County housing market look this July compared to July 2005?
It has changed from a seller market to a buyers market so your agent should feel comfortable showing you many homes and not trying to rush you. Some agents focus on listings and don’t want to spend time with buyers so be sure to ask if it will be the agent you interview or an assistant.
Now for the numbers, and this includes both homes and condominiums. July 2005 there were 315 homes sold, this July 229 homes sold. This is a drop of twenty seven percent. Last July fifty percent of homes sold in the first thirty days at an average of 103% of the asking price. July 2006 33% sold in the first thirty days at an average of 100% of the asking price (this includes reduced asking price as well).
Sellers need to prepare the home for sale and start with a realistic price. Buyers, your time has come so find that home you want while rates are still low.
Published on August 22, 2006
in Blog.
It’s that time again. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
and the Census Department have released their monthly reports on the state
of the new home industry in consumer terms and the attitude of those who
make their living by building the homes.
So how are builders feeling
about the future? Not so good according to the Wells Fargo/NAHB
Home Builders Housing Market Index (HMI) for August. The
index just hit its lowest level since…
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