Erasing Government Programs That Slow the Recovery of the Real Estate Market

Austin Texas Real Estate:  Republicans are planning to kill several White House plans aimed at keeping borrowers close to foreclosure in their homes.

The plans on the being threatened include the Home Affordable Modification Program, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Federal Housing Administration Refinance Programs and the Emergency Homeowner Relief Fund and would save about $38 billion.

The mortgage modification program has faced criticism because of the lack of success and is only delaying what needs to happen plus slowing the recovery. The constant delay could force the real estate market to delay for years. The natural cleansing of the capitalist market needs to take place with artificial delays.

Another other issue at hand is fining numerous banks for robo signing. If the government does succeed in fining the banks this will incite litigation among millions and delay more foreclosures that will happen over time anyway. This will freeze up banks equity because they cannot clean their books and will need reserves for litigation.  All this forces the banks to work on their internal safety rather than producing more loans to help the market recover. 

Always let the market naturally correct itself and do not interject money programs to try to heal the downfall because all that is left is less government funds and a slower recovery.

http://austinrealestatehomefinder.com/content/article.html/2636416/Eliminating-2011-Government-Programs

Don’t Touch That!

The Presidents recently released budget plans to reduce high income earner’s tax deduction for mortgage interest payments. The plan is for taxpayers in the 33% and 35% tax brackets would only be able to deduct their mortgage interest payments at the 28% rate. It would affect those with taxable income of $250,000 and up and bring in $321 billion over 10 years. Commissions have called for eliminating the deductions in the past. But the proposals have gone nowhere and the same outcome is expected this year. The real estate industry for the mortgage interest deduction are making it clear to both Congress and the White House that they strongly oppose any limits to the deductions. The real estate industry is concerned that capping the deduction will hurt the housing market from rebounding. By curtailing the deduction costs the Treasury Department would raise an estimated $131 billion a year and it would also cut the size of eligible mortgages up to $500,000. This is not good for real estate agents but hopefully the NAR will stand up against these new proposals.

http://www.austinrealestatehomefinder.com/  

Real Estate News and Tools - New and Revised Computer Tablets Hitting the Market for 2011

Austin Texas > Technology > Real Estate: There is lots of news for the computer tablets which are useful for agent in the field and for listing presentations. No more of decade old listing books with slicks and brochures.

HP released it tablet that is based called TouchPad, looks similar to Motorola's Xoom or Apple's iPad. It has a black case and 9.7-inch touch screen, and it weighs 1.6 pounds, which is about the same as Apple's iPad. But unlike tablets from competing hardware makers, HP uses its own operating system, called WebOS.  The platform Palm OS has been developing and is also the source for the Blackberry Tablet. No price yet.

Motorola’s Xoom will be released on Feburary 24^th. It has an Android 3.0 with a 10.1 inch HD wide screen, a front and rear camera and camcorder. Some got a sneak peak of the tablet from the super bowl commercials. It is expected to be compatible with WIFI and data plans. The tablet is estimated to be $700 which will make it a hard competition to the iPad.

The good news is that the TouchPad and Xoom can handle Adobe Flash unlike the iPad.

Big news is that Apple has already started producing a new iPad with a faster processor, HD camera, USB and SD card slot. Hopefully it will be released in the spring with a similar price range of the current iPads. Also they will be producing a smaller 7 inch iPad to compete with the Android tablets currently on the market.

Expect a lot of growth and changes in this area for 2011 and an impact on how we use these devices in real estate.






http://www.austinrealestatehomefinder.com

New Home Sales Jump to an 8 Month High!! What?? Double Dip in Home Sales!!

Austin Texas: New home sales rose 17.5% in December to the highest level in eight months but compared with 2009 sales are down 7.6%.

The media enjoys the emotional rollercoaster by declaring new home sale are at an 8 month high but leaves waits a few lines to compare with the poor stats from the year before.

Now comes November 2011 home prices continuing the slump falling 1% compared with October.

Elected government officials continue to repeat that the economy is rebounding and worst is past. The signs show a double dip recession heading our way. Plus the CBO estimates that the government’s debt will be over 1.5 trillion for 2011. See what the numbers were that sent Greece and Europe over the edge and it should raise the hair on the back of your neck.

The bank needs to release their holdings and offer better loans. The government needs to reduce capital gains tax, step away from government health care, unfriendly business regulations and reduce excessive spending.

If this is done then the fear of a double dip recession should fade away – hopefully since the real estate market is a major sector of the US economy and it needs to be nurtured.


http://www.austinrealestatehomefinder.com

December 2010 Austin Texas Real Estate Statistics

Austin Area Real Estate Maintains Sales Volume Trends, Price Stability

Austin Board of REALTORS® Releases November 2010 Real Estate Statistics

December 20, 2010 - According to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report released today by the Austin Board of REALTORS®, the Austin real estate market continues the trends seen in recent months as the year begins to come to a close. 

The volume of Austin area home sales in November 2010 was 1,243, down 20 percent from the same month in 2009. Year-to-date, 16,477 homes have been sold, down only six percent compared to the same time period in 2009. 

Austin real estate also continued to hold value. For November 2010, the median price for single-family properties was $184,000, up three percent from November 2009. Year-to-date, the median price is $194,000, also up three percent from 2009. 

Homes spent an average of 90 days on the market in November 2010, 17 percent longer than in November 2009. Year-to-date figures show that overall homes have spent four percent fewer days on the market than in 2009. 

“As has been the case for much of 2010, year-to-date figures paint a clearer picture of market conditions than month-to-month comparisons,” said John Horton, Chairman of the Austin Board of REALTORS®. “That’s particularly true this month because we’re comparing results to a month in 2009 when the original homebuyer tax credits were set to expire, before a last-minute decision extended them through the first part of 2010.” 

He continued, “Despite the fluctuations created by the tax credits in 2009 and 2010, Austin’s real estate market has remained stable. Austin homes are holding their value—even slightly increasing—and year-to-date, they have sold more quickly than in 2009.” 

November 2010 Statistics

• $311,567,894 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, down 16 percent from November 2009

• $184,000 – Median price for single-family homes, up three percent from November 2009

• 1,243 – Single-family homes sold, down 20 percent from November 2009

• 90 – Days on market, up 17 percent from November 2009

• 8,741 – Active single-family home listings on the market, up two percent from November 2009

• 1,260 – Pending sales for single-family homes, up two percent from November 2009

Year-to-Date 2010 Statistics

• $4,180,249,992 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, down one percent from 2009

• $194,000 – Median price for single-family homes, up three percent from 2009

• 16,477 – Single-family homes sold, down six percent from 2009

• 76 – Days on market, down four percent from 2009

• 10,337 – Active single-family home listings on the market, up nine percent from 2009

• 18,495 – Pending sales for single-family homes, down six percent from 2009

http://www.austinrealestatehomefinder.com

Massachusetts Court Foreclosures Invalid

AUSTIN TEXAS REAL ESTATE: A Massachusetts court ruled on Friday that some foreclosures are invalid because the banks could not prove they had the proper paperwork.

This will be a precedent of things to come because it is the first ruling by a state court on the issue of whether banks can foreclose on homeowners if can't prove they hold the mortgages.

Mortgage loans are like real property and can only be transferred by physically signing over the paperwork delivering it to the next holder. Under mortgage securitization loans get transferred many times after origination before landing in pools of mortgages that are sold to investors. But often times the banks simply didn't endorse the paperwork between steps.

Overall foreclosing entity must hold the mortgage at the time of the notice and sale in order accurately to identify itself as the present holder in the notice and in order to have the authority to foreclose under the power of sale.

The banks got sloppy with their paper trail and paid the price in the court room. This should be an eye opener for the banks to start digitally storing their contract and documents so the location and accessibility to the data is not lost.

Hello 5% Interest Rates for 2011

Austin Texas:  The days of near 4% mortgage rates has ended after a rate rise since November 2010. Is this going to be good or bad?

30-year fixed mortgage rate has risen to 4.82% from 4.15%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage market survey. In another survey, the rate has risen to 5.02% -- crossing the 5% benchmark for the second time in three weeks after being as low as 4.41% as recently as early November.

Forecasters now predict them to remain between 5% and 6% for all of 2011.

The increase will push mortgage payments higher for buyers. When rates rise from 4% to 5% it takes away about 10% of buying power.

Higher interest rates may stimulate the quiet housing market which has not bottomed out. The rise introduces an element of urgency for homebuyers to rush before rates spurt even more.

The main problem in the real estate market is that banks to streamline their underwriting process and start releasing their funds to issue more loans and to be less stringent.

If lenders return to more normal underwriting standards for creditworthy buyers and there would be a boost to the housing market.