Banks and the Government as Landlords?

Goodness we are well into our  first week 2012!

 2012 could be another interesting year. The Feds are thinking of becoming real estate gurus. Or at the very least they are thinking of allowing a  REO rental program that will be government-sponsored. Their thoughts are if they don't put many of the homes that are already in foreclosure on the market and the many coming up on the market it will help stablize the housing pricing and not push it down any lower. 

Well, here is my opinion of this.......let the government and banks do their jobs and let us professionals in the business of real estate do our jobs! The government has no business in being landlords and the banks have no business being landlords. They need to start putting the homes that are foreclosed slowly on the market and allow people who want a home to purchase homes. Home ownership is the best way to "fix" our economy,NOT allowing the government to run the business of renting homes. We need to put these homes that are affordable for the first time home buyers on the market so they can buy a home.  

I don't want the banks to flood the market and make home prices drop, but if we keep holding on to the homes and driving pricing up, many that could afford the homes under 100k are not given the chance because of not enough homes on the market! 

If you want to hear more call, text, or email me . Check out my website at: 

www.sellingazwithrebecca.com

What's in Store for Housing in 2012?

I thought this was an interesting post:

The worst for the housing market may finally be over, according to housing experts in a recent article in Kiplinger. After median home price have dropped nearly 40 percent nationwide, a rebound is taking shape -- although, housing experts say, the market may stay flat for awhile before gradually ticking up. 

According to housing experts in a recent Kiplinger article, here are some predictions for the real estate market in the coming year:

Home prices stabilize: Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, predicts that home prices nationwide may still drop another 3 to 5 percent in 2012, but the new year will most likely finally bring a leveling off of home prices before gains start to take shape in 2013. When markets do begin to stabilize in the new year, “price appreciation tends to spread unevenly, creating a lot of confusion about where the recovery is occurring and when,” David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv Case-Shiller, told Kiplinger. “Even within a single city, more desirable neighborhoods will stabilize first, while prices in other neighborhoods may fall at a rapid pace.”

Housing affordability high: Housing affordability -- the ratio of median home prices to median family income -- will likely remain at record levels in 2012. Homes in many cities are “substantially undervalued,” the Kiplinger article notes. That may even lead to a mini bubble with double-digit spikes in prices, such as an increase of 10 to 15 percent in a given year in some markets, housing experts say.  

Low mortgage rates: Helping to keep affordability high, low mortgage rates are expected to continue on in 2012 -- at least the first part of the year, economists predict. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular among home buyers, has been hovering under a 4-percent average the past few weeks, staying in record low territory. Rates are expected to stay between 4 to 5 percent in 2012, predicts Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry publication. 

Sales increases: The National Association of REALTORS^® has already been showing a tick up in sales taking shape with increases in existing-home sales during the summer and early fall of 2011. High inventories of homes continue to flood the market but a drastic slowdown in new-home building the past three years is “gradually easing the surplus,” the Kiplinger article notes. 

Foreclosures: Foreclosures remain the problem and still plague many markets. After a slowdown with lenders processing the paperwork, foreclosures have began to pick up once again. About 1.84 million home loans are 90 days or more delinquent and 2.17 million have finished the foreclosure process but aren’t up for sale yet, according to RealtyTrac data. Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics at Clear Capital, told Kiplinger that he predicts regardless of the downward price pressure caused from foreclosures, overall home prices won’t fall as long as lenders bring additional foreclosures to the housing market at a steady pace. 

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/12/28/what-s-in-store-for-housing-in-2012

If you want more information on the market conditions please contact me at 480-275-9566 or email me at rebeccakallhoff@gmail.com or check out my website at: www.sellingazwithrebecca.com

Pending Foreclosures in the Valley

The real estate market has changed in the last year! And the change is moving in the right direction as far as the economy is concerned, according to ARMLS stats. I have to say this news is what we are all want to hear! It has been a long 4 to 5 years here in the Arizona real estate market. We all want to hear good news and with the start of the new year, I hope we can get it on a more regular basis! So what is being said? Foreclosures are dropping!! There are not as many foreclosures on the market and the pending foreclosures has dropped in the last year! This means that people are not losing there homes at the rate they were even a year ago! So here are some of the numbers: In January 2011 the number of pending foreclosures was at a staggering 40,641 with a drop in November 2011 to 22,389. This is a 45% drop in pending foreclosures!! This is good news that homeowners are able to afford their homes and they are able to sell them in a short sale before they hit the foreclosures!

We still have a long way to go for a strong housing market, but we are working it in the right direction!

If you have any questions please call me at 480-275-9566 or email me at rebeccakallhoff@gmail.com or check out my website at: www.sellingazwithrebecca.com

Buying a home!

Wow we are 2 days into the New Year! 2012 is going to be a great year! We are working our way out of a bad economy, stabilizing housing prices, and trying to lower the unemployment rate. We have a lot of work ahead of our country, but I think we are heading in the right direction. The big questions I have for you, is what do you think with help with all this? I believe it is getting people into home ownership. When people are buying homes, the whole economic realm seems to move up. I do understand that buying a home is very scary for some. But what is scary? Is it the financing? Or is it the thought of losing a home? Or the down payment is not available? I wish more people would swallow their fears and contact me or another Realtor to see if they could qualify for a home. In many cases they CAN qualify. If not today, usually within 6 months. I do know there are some instances that a person cannot qualify such as a bankruptcy, or a very recent foreclosure/short sale, but there are programs out there for many! No down payment, then there is the USDA loan which is 100% financing! Or the FHA loan which is 3.5% down! There is even a lender that can finance a person only 1 year out of a foreclosure or short sale!

There is so much that a Realtor and a GREAT lender can do for a person that it is a shame not to look into buying a home. Many can buy a home for LESS than they are renting for! If you buy a home you are not only saving yourself money, you are helping the economy!

Call me today so we can discuss this. Or check out my website atwww.sellingazwithrebecca.com

Keep Your Eyes On These Real Estate Markets In 2012

Keep Your Eyes On These Real Estate Markets In 2012

by Phoebe Chongchua

Many of us have had a skeptical eye on real estate markets over the last few years. But the new year may bring new possibilities.

Trulia.com recently released its top five markets to watch in the coming year and there might be some surprises.
Topping the list are two cities in Texas, Austin and Houston. Trulia reports that these two markets are seeing steady job growth and a revival in construction which make the markets potentially promising and definitely worth watching in 2012.
According to Trulia's chief economist, Jed Kolko, "Smart cities are hot." What exactly does that mean?
It means that cities that can foster new and stronger job growth will benefit from seeing increased rising home prices in their market which correlates to fewer empty homes creating an overall better real estate market as well as spurring spending in associated home-furnishing industries. It also means that the areas on the top five list share common bonds. For instance, several of them are technology centers. Others are, literally, smart. The education levels are well above the national average.
Coming in at number three on the list is San Jose, California. This may seem quite ironic considering how inflated the housing market was in California–not to mention the ongoing barrage of foreclosures that continue to wreak havoc for many homeowners.
According to Trulia, California's market is as diverse as the United States. So, while prices may steeply decline in one area of California, they may rise in another area. The inland areas experienced tremendous foreclosures but the costal regions were not as affected.
In an article on Trulia.com, the company writes, "San Jose's perennially tight housing market makes it faster to bounce back. The San Jose market –which includes most of Silicon Valley – has rapid job growth and the lowest vacancy rate in the country."
Head to the east coast and you'll find the fourth market to watch next year. Boston, Massachusetts and, in particular, the Cambridge-Newton-Framingham market, which is located west of Boston will likely be positively impacted by a "strong jobs engine". Like most of New England, this market also avoided the worst of the housing crisis.
Why this market? It seems that the Cambridge-Newton-Framingham market along with Worcester (a little further west), and the norther suburbs near Peabody in Boston, offer benefits to homeowners. They're less crowded and expensive and offer exactly what many homeowners are looking for: "more suburban or smaller areas".
Closing out the top five markets to watch next year is Rochester, New York. And, yes, this is surprising. The economy and many big businesses have taken a beating in New York in the past few years. However, the city makes the top five list because Trulia says prices are "stable, and the economy has weathered blow after blow and is expanding".
So, highly educated, tech-savvy cities may steer the way out of the pot-holed and badly marred real estate markets, creating a new road map to a better and brighter housing and job market for 2012... let's hope.

Published: December 30, 2011
See more great articles on my website: www.sellingazwithrebecca.com or this article at:
http://www.sellingazwithrebecca.com/frame.shtml?http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20111230_markets.htm

San Tan Valley and Queen Creek housing market.

As 2011 comes to an end, it makes me reflect this last year in the San Tan Valley real estate market. To give out some numbers for all you numbers people! As I have been saying we are needing more homes for buyers right now!!!!  Home sales in the third quarter of 2009 for all of Pinal county was 3,927, third quarter of  2010 - 4,683, and  third quarter of 2011 - 2,570. Closed sales for the same quarters were 2009- 2,706, 2010-2,158, and 2011 - 2,419.

All these numbers tell us is that for nearly every home on the market in the third quarter of 2011 were sold. The homes on the market had a 45.1% drop from 2010, and still had a 12.1% increase from the previous year in the sales of houses.

We did see some drops in pricing of about 8.3% from the previous year but with our drastic drop in the supply of homes, I  am excited to see how the market changes in one quarter.

Queen Creek on the other hand had much stronger pricing numbers. For the zip code 85242, they seen a 3% increase in the average sales price.

To find out more about the market conditions or the market conditions in your area, please feel free to call, email, or check out my website!

www.sellingazwithrebecca.com

Top 10 Cities Foreign Investors Are Targeting

Interesting article I found on Realtormag.com. Many of you may know that many of our buyers this time of year are foreigners! See where we stand!

From Chinese investors flocking to California to Canadian snowbirds heading to Arizona, international home buyers are offering a growing niche for more real estate professionals. 

But which places are international investors targeting in their home search? Point2Homes.com evaluated where buyers from overseas are looking online to gauge possible current and future home-purchasing patterns. 

Canadian investors have a growing appetite for U.S. real estate, Point2 finds. Canadian investors made up 91.89 percent of the overall international traffic to Arizona listings, 75.90 percent to Hawaii, 73.92 percent to Michigan, 70.55 percent to Nevada, and 65.05 percent to California. 

Las Vegas had the highest overall international traffic online among U.S. cities, with Canadians serving as the leading source of traffic there at 70.47 percent, followed by 5.28 percent of the traffic coming from UK residents and 2.19 percent from France.

The top 10 cities for international traffic online by international buyers in the third quarter are:

1. Las Vegas, Nev.

2. Orlando, Fla.

3. Kissimmee, Fla.

4. Detroit, Mich.

5. Pompano-Beach, Fla.

6. Miami, Fla.

7. Mesa, Ariz.

8. Davenport, Fla.

9. Phoenix

10. Indio, Calif.

Overall, Florida emerged as the top state attracting international traffic online for the third-quarter, according to Point2. 

If you want to see what is for sale, or see what your home is valued at check out my website: www.sellingazwithrebecca.com

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/12/16/top-10-cities-foreign-investors-are-targeting