Market Updates

New Year Same Low Interest Rates

Blog, Buying, Market Updates   |   Dunham Stewart
As the new year begins mortgage rates are remaining low, record lows in fact. It is anticipated that this policy will continue to move the economy towards recovery. Cheap mortgage rates have made home-buying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify. Lenders are expected to keep mortgage rates low for borrowers in 2013, but savers shouldn’t expect to make much in return from their deposits. Larger 30 year FHA refi fixed rate loans can be had for 3.250% carrying an APR of 4.224%. (in eligible areas) Shorter term 15 year refi fixed rate loans have been quoted at 2.625% yielding an APR of 2.930%. When it comes to ARMs, 5 year refi loan is on the books at 2.125% with an APR of 2.947% to start with. The Federal Reserve keeps interest rates low to encourage people to borrow. The reserve also encourages others to spend and not save their cash in order to stimulate the economy. Problem is we are going now into our fifth year of these record low interest rates and we still have a very slow growth economy.

Interest Rates Hit All Time Low

Blog, Market Updates, Real Estate News   |   Dunham Stewart
{Infograpic} Southen Californians might be worried about their tax rates going up, but at least they don’t need to worry about mortgage rates going up any time soon.We hit the all-time low interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage, reached in the week  ending Thursday, according to Freddie Mac. The average 15-year  rate slipped to 2.65 percent, also a record. Home prices are rising, in part  because of reduced interest rates. Low borrowing costs have made refinancing  more appealing and helped the housing market recover by making purchases  more affordable. Check out this cool infographic.

Time To Sell Real Estate

Blog, Market Updates, Real Estate Tips, Selling   |   Dunham Stewart
{Infographic} With Southern California moving swiftly ahead in the direction of real estate recovery, now is the time for move-up buyers to capitalize on comparatively low home prices and historically low interest rates while they still can. The stabilizing real estate market is a result of a a combination of reduced defaults, increased demand in move-up markets and lively activity on the part of investors. All this means the competition to buy real estate is high with multiple offers becoming the norm.

Rising Home Prices Complicate Appraisals

Blog, Market Updates, Real Estate News, Selling   |   Dunham Stewart
The real estate market is recovering but problems with a sizeable share of real estate appraisals also are holding back home sales. Recent surveys by the National Association of Realtors showed 15 percent of Realtors had a contract renegotiated to a lower sales price as a result of a low valuation, while 11 percent said they had a contract cancelled because a home’s appraised value came in below the negotiated price. Another 9 percent reported that a contract was delayed by a low valuation. An aggravating factor is that low inventory can reduce the number of  comparables because there are fewer sales. In this case, an appraiser might  need to look at comparable sales from neighboring areas to get a sense of  current market value. Previously, three comparable homes were the norm for most appraisals.  In many cases there simply aren’t enough apples-to-apples comps to comply with the excessive demands by lenders, so discounted distressed homes are sometimes used in valuating traditional homes in good condition without appropriate adjustments. HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Make sure you work with a resourceful real estate  agent who will do the homework necessary to help the appraiser do an accurate  job. Agents should not tell appraisers how to do their business, or what price  to put on the appraisal. But, it’s useful to the appraiser to have detailed  information on comparables your agent thinks are the most valid given the  current market.

Record Lows For Distressed Sales

Blog, Market Updates, Real Estate News, Selling   |   Dunham Stewart
The real estate market has seen a continuing reduction in the volume of distressed properties seen in the housing market. The result has been a recent boost to home prices in many parts of the Southern California. Meanwhile, there is still uncertainty about the impact of next month’s national elections shich appears to be causing some would-be homebuyers to delay taking any action until after November, according to the October HousingPulse survey of real estate agents. The survey found that one major reason behind the rise in home prices is a fairly sharp drop in the share of distressed properties found in recent home sales. A drop in the share of distressed properties in the housing market is most obvious indicator contributing to lower leve er foreclosed properties or real estate owned (REO) being put up for sale by banks. The survey respondents reported in October that major banks appear to be keeping many REO properties off the market this year. But they also suggest banks may be looking to unload significant amounts of REO next year – a move that could put downward pressure on home prices.

Redondo Beach Propery Values Rising

Blog, Community News, Market Updates, North Redondo Beach News   |   Dunham Stewart
As a city, Redondo Beach ranked 12th in total assessment values, according to the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office. In Redondo Beach, the year-to-year change was an increase of 2.7 percent.  Redondo Beach ranked at No. 12 in the county with a total assessment of $12.372 billion. Neighboring Manhattan Beach ranked No. 11 with a total assessment of $12.713 billion. Between 2010 and 2011, the city saw its assessment values increase by 1.4 percent. The city with the highest year-to-year increase in the county was Beverly Hills, which had a 6.5 percent jump. Rolling Hills saw the second highest at 6 percent. The total assessment of properties in the county is more than $1.13 trillion, a $24.8 billion jump over last year, according to the Assessor’s Office. When tax-exempt assessments and state-funded homeowners’ exemptions are factored in, the county’s net assessment roll is $1.079 trillion, up 2.2 percent from last year.

Rising Prices Drive Out Real Estate Investors

Blog, Buying, Market Updates, Real Estate News   |   Dunham Stewart
Investor participation in the housing market dropped sharply in July, establishing a two-month trend and showing a clear reversal of long-term growth in investor purchases of residential properties. Investors need a deal and are having a hard time finding what they want. While investors often concentrate their purchases on distressed properties, the decline in investor purchases was also apparent in the non-distressed market. Investor participation in the housing market fell to 21.9 percent of all transactions in July, from 23.5 percent in June, based on a three-month moving average. Investor participation back in May of this year hit a two-year peak of 25.3 percent of all transactions. In contrast to investors, current homeowners showed strong interest in buying homes, accounting for 43.5 percent of home purchases in July, up from 40.3 percent in May and 42.0 percent in June.

California Leading The Recovery

Blog, Market Updates, Real Estate News, Real Estate Tips   |   Dunham Stewart
Major California markets have cut inventory dramatically, reduced REOs and now are witnessing growing demand and improving prices. The state that gave America Alt-A loans, Countrywide, the first tidal wave of foreclosures, the highest prices during the boom and the fastest fall during the bust now is leading the nation out of the six-year housing depression. In the second quarter, California replaced Florida as the state dominating Realtor.com’s quarterly list of top turnaround towns. In the first quarter of 2012, seven Florida markets and one California market made the top 10 positions in the Realtor.com ranking. Just one market in Florida and six in California now dominate the first 10 positions. The California Association of Realtors reports prices continued to improve, with the median home price posting both month-over-month and year-over-year gains for the fourth consecutive month in June.

Redondo Beach Home Prices Rising

Blog, Buying, Community News, Market Updates, North Redondo Beach News   |   Dunham Stewart
It is hard to believe that we are already at the middle of 2012, time sure flies when you are having fun. We are also in the middle of a the prime home buying and selling season, and the good times are rolling. The mood in the market place has shifted, buyer are motivated to take advantage of record low interest rates, with that said homes are selling quickly and for more money. According to the MLS in Redondo Beach 87 transactions closed in May 2012, compared to 55 in May 2011. That is an increase of 58%. In June there we more homes in escrow in Redondo Beach than were listed for sale, that is someting we have not seen since the boom of 2005. The net result is that Redondo Beach real estate is appreciating

Rents Rising Faster Than Home Prices

Blog, Market Updates, Real Estate News   |   Dunham Stewart
Though listing prices have risen modestly in four of the past five months, rent hikes are still outperforming home price increases in the majority of rental markets. According to Trulia, 84 out of the 100 largest metros had price increases, seasonally adjusted. “We saw asking prices start to rise in February and predicted that other home price indexes would report sales price increases this summer for those homes – and they have,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Since February, asking prices showed solid gains in four out of five months, including in June, so I expect to see the sales-price indexes show further increases in the months to come. However, the modest asking price gains trailed rent increases. Furthermore, rent increases accelerated between March and June.
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