Selling AZ With Rebecca : November 2013

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

THE DEBT FORGIVENESS...

THE DEBT FOREGIVENESS PROVISION FOR FORECLOSURES AND SHORT-SALES HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO 12/31/14! When a seller loses his/her/their home as a result of foreclosure or short-sale, the difference between what the home is sold for and what was owed (assuming there was a shortfall – meaning it was sold for less than what was owed) is considered “debt forgiveness”. Our current tax code considers debt forgiveness “income”. Moreover, this is “taxable” income. However, up until now, there has been a provision in place waiving this tax obligation, which is one of the reasons foreclosures and short-sales have been so prevalent the last few year. Without this provision, there’s no way the market would have recovered the way it has. This provision was scheduled to expire on December 31^st of this year; however,this provision has been extended one full year (to 12/31/14). This was done as part of the federal government debt ceiling negotiations.

Please let me know if you have questions, need additional information, or want to discuss further.

http://www.rebeccasellsaz.com/

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Friday, November 22, 2013

With Tight Inventory, Prices Only Going Up From Here

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

A low number of homes for sale is pushing home prices up to double-digit gains year-over-year, the National Association of REALTORS® reports in its latest existing-homes report.

“Low inventory is holding back sales while at the same time pushing up home prices in most of the country,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “More new-home construction is needed to help relieve the inventory pressure and moderate price gains.”

In October, the national median existing-home price was $199,500 — a 12.8 percent surge above what it was a year ago. It also marks the 11th consecutive month of double-digit year-over-year increases, NAR reports.

Meanwhile, housing inventories are falling, dropping 1.8 percent in October to 2.13 million existing homes for sale. That represents a 5-month supply at the current sales pace.

The median time on the market for all home types was 54 days in October, up from 50 days in September. In October 2012, the median time on the market was 71 days.

Realtor.com® reports that the tightest inventory conditions were in the following metros in October:

Oakland, Calif.: median age of inventory of 30 days
San Francisco: 48 days
San Jose, Calif.: 48 days
Denver: 48 days
Stockton-Lodi, Calif.: 48 days

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/11/21/tight-inventory-prices-only-going-up-from-here

http://www.rebeccasellsaz.com

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New NAR Strategy to Target Member Needs

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013

How much does or should NAR know about you? That’s the question being considered, as NAR seeks to embrace the same type of customer intelligence used by companies today to serve consumers. Think of the entertainment-streaming company Netflix, for example, which uses subscribers’ past rental purchases to market similar movies they might like to watch.

“NAR should know more about the actions of its members,” said Todd Carpenter, NAR’s managing director of data analytics. “It has access to a mountain of data, and we need to figure out how to [use] that data to know our members better.” Carpenter was part of a panel speaking at the Emerging Business Technology Forum at the 2013 REALTORS® Conference & Expo on Saturday.

Ted Loring, chairman of the Data Strategies Committee, proposed several ways NAR could use member data to create individualized marketing campaigns aimed directly at their needs and interests. For instance, the association could track:

License expiration data that it could use to target members needing continuing education hours
Responses to RPAC and other political initiatives to predict best times to offer donation opportunities
Volume and type of transactions that might suggest needed training products
Individual closing activity to help facilitate a broader lifetime relationship between the member and client

“This is about knowing the member on an individual basis,” Loring said.

But there were some concerns among attendees that this approach to marketing could be seen as NAR putting a sales pitch ahead of member benefits. “There has to be a benefit to the member rather than a money-making [idea],” one attendee told the panel.

Others were concerned about the idea of NAR reaching out to members’ clients, saying that brokers could perceive that as NAR encroaching on their territory. “I don’t want NAR approaching [my client] in a way that’s very different from how I would do it,” another attendee said.

Audience concerns will help Loring and his committee refine their strategy, he said, as NAR moves toward the goal of making smarter use of data.

—Graham Wood, REALTOR® Magazine

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/11/12/new-nar-strategy-target-member-needs

http://www.rebeccasellsaz.com

Monday, November 11, 2013

NAR: Price Gains, Not Sales, to Drive Housing Growth

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013

The dollar volume of home sales will rise modestly next year, but that growth will stem entirely from increased home prices, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told a packed forum Friday at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo.

Continuing tight underwriting by lenders, low inventories in many markets, and rising interest rates are holding back growth in sales volume, said Yun, leading him to predict home sales of about 5.12 million for 2014, virtually the same level forecast for 2013. But home prices will rise by 6 percent.

More broadly, economic growth is likely to remain sluggish. Yun doesn’t see any signs of a return to recession, but neither does he see anything that would boost growth beyond the 1 to 2 percent that’s been the case during the recovery. Economists consider a minimum healthy growth rate to be 3 percent.

What’s needed to spur stronger growth in the housing market is a marked increase in inventory through stepped-up new construction, because only more new homes will ease tight inventories and, in turn, help slow home price gains, helping affordability. Last year only about 900,000 homes were started, a 50-year low and half the amount that’s needed, Yun said.

Also needed is more certainty from the federal government. Lenders are keeping underwriting tight in part because of concern over the pending qualified mortgage and qualified residential mortgage rules, which are due to take effect next year.

Although NAR supports most parts of the rules as drafted, community lenders are concerned over the rules’ implementation burdens, which they believe will put them at a competitive disadvantage with large banks.

Meanwhile, lenders remain tied up in litigation and contentious negotiations with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA over loans that went bad during the market collapse. The conflict is keeping them from lending more and from making more loans available to applicants with less than pristine credit profiles.

Yun thinks lending could break out once there’s more clarity over the rules. He’s hoping lenders will look to purchase loans as their next profit center, since their refinance business—which has been fueling profits over the last few years—is drying up in tandem with the rise in interest rates. The average interest rate is now about 4.5 percent, still low by historical standards, but as they continue their upward movement the universe of home owners who can refinances shrinks.

Yun is predicting refinancings to drop next year to their lowest level in 15 years. But lenders won’t turn to purchase mortgages in a big way as long as the regulatory environment is as uncertain and contentious as it is now.

By Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/11/11/nar-price-gains-not-sales-drive-housing-growth

http://www.rebeccasellsaz.com

Friday, November 8, 2013

Gov't Shutdown Having Lingering Effects on Confidence

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2013

The government shutdown deflated Americans’ outlook toward the economy and the housing market, according to the October National Housing Survey conducted by Fannie Mae of 1,000 home owners and renters. In the latest survey, the gap widens between those who think the economy is on the right track and those who think it’s headed in the wrong direction.

"Housing market sentiment has clearly suffered in the wake of the recent government shutdown and debt ceiling debate,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. “In October, we saw attitudes toward both the economy and the current buying environment experience their largest one-month drops in the survey’s three-year history. While this decline in consumer optimism may portend a slowing of the housing recovery, supply constraint data suggest that we are likely to see continued positive growth in home prices.

“That being said, October’s survey results suggest that consumer attitudes are highly responsive to ongoing debate and decision-making in Washington,” Duncan notes. “Three key budget and debt ceiling dates loom in December, January, and February. The handling of each will likely play a key role in determining the pace and timing of any recovery in consumer sentiment."

The percentage of Americans who said they expect their financial situation to worsen in the next year reached a survey high -- 22 percent.

Fewer home owners also said now is a good time to buy a house, falling to 65 percent and reaching another survey low. The percentage had been 72 percent who said it’s a good time to buy.

Fewer Americans also thought it was a good time to sell, with the percentage dropping from 38 to 37 percent in the latest survey.

Home owners aren’t expecting much appreciation in their homes in the next year. Expectations over home appreciation in the next 12 months fell by 4 percentage points to 46 percent. Meanwhile, 52 percent of Americans surveyed said they expect rents to rise, on average, by 4.4 percent in the next year.

Fewer Americans are expecting mortgage rates to increase over the year, falling from 63 percent to 57 percent.

Source: Fannie Mae October 2013 National Housing Survey

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/11/08/govt-shutdown-having-lingering-effects-confidence

http://www.rebeccasellsaz.com

Selling AZ With Rebecca

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

THE DEBT FORGIVENESS...

Friday, November 22, 2013

With Tight Inventory, Prices Only Going Up From Here

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

New NAR Strategy to Target Member Needs

Monday, November 11, 2013

NAR: Price Gains, Not Sales, to Drive Housing Growth

Friday, November 8, 2013

Gov't Shutdown Having Lingering Effects on Confidence

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