Real Estate Information Archive

The other day FHA announced several other upcoming changes that they hope will be put into effect by spring to early summer.  It is important to note that these changes ARE NOT IN EFFECT RIGHT NOW so if you plan to buy a home you could be affected.   

Announced FHA Policy Changes:   

Mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be increased to build up capital reserves and bring back private lending. 

The first step will be to raise the up-front MIP by 50 bps to 2.25% and request legislative authority to increase the maximum annual MIP that the FHA can charge.

If this authority is granted, then the second step will be to shift some of the premium increase from the up-front MIP to the annual MIP.

This shift will allow for the capital reserves to increase with less impact to the consumer, because the annual MIP is paid over the life of the loan instead of at the time of closing

The initial up-front increase is included in a Mortgagee Letter to be released tomorrow, January 21st, and will go into effect in the spring. Update the combination of FICO scores and down payments for new borrowers.   

New borrowers will now be required to have a minimum FICO score of 580 to qualify for FHA's 3.5% down payment program. New borrowers with less than a 580 FICO score will be required to put down at least 10%.

This allows the FHA to better balance its risk and continue to provide access for those borrowers who have historically performed well.

This change will be posted in the Federal Register in February and, after a notice and comment period, would go into effect in the early summer. Reduce allowable seller concessions from 6% to 3%.   

The current level exposes the FHA to excess risk by creating incentives to inflate appraised value. This change will bring FHA into conformity with industry standards on seller concessions.

This change will be posted in the Federal Register in February, and after a notice and comment period, would go into effect in the early summer.

By:Samuel Meekins III

Direct:    757.286.6225

email: SMeekins@MonarchMTG.com

Virginia Beach Real Estate

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Virginia Beach Home Search System 

Market Comment

Mortgage bond prices rose last week pushing mortgage interest rates lower. The gains came following some stock weakness, signs that unemployment may rise, and better than expected productivity. Increased productivity allows companies to produce more with the same labor input. This helps keep costs in check and alleviates inflation fears.

For the week interest rates fell by about 3/8 of a discount point.

The Fed "Beige Book" will be the most important data this week. The Treasury auctions will also set the tone for mortgage interest rates. Strong foreign demand could result in mortgage interest rates improvements.

Auctions

Low crime, strong schools, green spaces, and fun activities are key ingredients for a happy childhood.

A strong school system would also be key. From there, you'd need lots of other children, expansive green spaces to play in, and plenty of nearby family events. Toss in an abundance of artistic and recreational activities, and all of a sudden you've got one heck of a place to grow up. At U.S. News, we wanted to find out if any communities like that already existed—and if so, where they were located. So we dug into our database of 2,000 different places all across the country and pinpointed the locales that met these criteria. We then examined these communities more closely to determine which places offered the best combination of safe neighborhoods, fun activities, and top-notch educators. Our selections appear below, in our list of America's 10 Best Places to Grow Up:

Virginia Beach, Va.

Junior adventurers will love Virginia Beach, Va. This community of 434,000 residents in the southeastern part of the state has a low crime rate, a solid school system, and 35 miles of majestic beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. "It's kind of neat to be able to come home from work, make a call to my wife or son, grab a bucket of chicken or some sandwiches, and then go out on the bay and have dinner," says Greg Ward, who works for a marketing firm that represents the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Children can explore an impressive ecosystem of threatened and endangered species—including bald eagles and loggerhead sea turtles—in the 9,000-acre Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The warm summers and mild winters provide plenty of opportunities to hike, bike, and picnic your way through the 19 miles of scenic trails over at First Landing State Park. And after checking out the sand tiger sharks and the cow-nose rays at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, children can catch an educational picture in its 3-D IMAX theater.

And in early September, the community is launching an online resource—VBparents.com—designed to keep parents plugged in to local health and school news, while ensuring that they are up-to-date on all of the community activities available to their kids. "There are lots of great parenting resources out there. This one is going to be specific to raising your child and your family within the city of Virginia Beach," says Jenefer Snyder, city of Virginia Beach GrowSmart coordinator. "We are constantly going to be connecting it back to community services, activities, events, programs, and classes."

By Luke Mullins, US News

Aug 20th, 2009

The real estate market in Hampton Roads showed signs of stabilization in the month of May.  The numbers for active listings, settled sales, and pending sales all demonstrated positive movement.  Although the increase in residential listings from April to May was only one-half of one percent (75 listings), the number of active residential listings was actually lower year-over-year by more than 5%.  This lower number of active listings points towards more competition within comparable homes for sale. 

Among the 14,401 residential listings for sale about 9% were distressed properties in either a short sale or bank-owned situation. This represents a higher percentage than the same timeframe last year (3% in May 2008), but fortunately does not approach the percentages reported in other areas hit much harder by price run-ups over the past few years.

The months’ supply of residential housing inventory edged up to 10.4 months in May. This is an increase of 0.2 from April’s measure and a cumulative 1.8 month increase over the past 6 months. The decline in sales at the end of 2008 and into the beginning of 2009 is the main reason why the months’ supply increased 21.2%, while the number of active listings only increased 10.7% since December 2008.  The aforementioned 5% decline in active residential listings year-over-year could be misleading if thereare listings waiting to be placed on the market when it is perceived to have bottomed. Settled residential sales increased on a month-to-month basis by 12.5% despite being down year-over-year by 10.4%.

 In contrast to last year, the number of settled sales has increased each month since January 2009. In May, foreclosure properties comprised 16.3% of settled residential sales. Since the beginning of the year, the percentage of sales in this category has consistently been between 14.6% and 17.2% each month.

Pending residential sales, often a leading indicator of the real estate market, showed strong positive movement again in May. The category saw an increase of 6.4% year-over-year and 1.8 month-to-month. Meanwhile, pending foreclosures matched the percent of settled sales for the months of April and May, and accounted for approximately 16.6% of pending residential sales.

publish by reininc.com

The City Council is scheduled to vote later this month on the first affordable dwelling unit ordinance in Hampton Roads later this month.   The plan centers around incentivizing developers into voluntarily including lower cost housing units in their developments through density bonuses and other factors.  This strategy, called inclusionary zoning, has been used in many other localities in the country. 

Team Maxx Real Estate

The Hampton Roads Transportation Authority has delayed implementation of the increased taxes and fees intended to fund transportation improvements until April 2008.  This allows the General Assembly to make changes to the law and the fees prior to implementation.  This also means the grantor tax increase will not take effect until April 2008.

Team Maxx Real Estate

Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)
Housing bubble deflates
Across the U.S., home prices are falling, with many metropolitan areas expected to see large reductions, according to a report on CNNMoney.com. The city that may see the biggest drop is Las Vegas, where prices are predicted to decrease by 8.2% this year, the Web site says. What's in the cards for your local market? Check out CNNMoney.com's forecast for 379 cities across the U.S. While the outlook is grim for many of the housing boom's best performers -- places like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. -- the future looks bright for several cities that missed out on the action, the Web site says. Among the markets the article reports are on the way up: Houston, Memphis, and Rochester, N.Y.
More luxury-home sales in Seattle
One of the buzz-words in residential real estate today is affordability, specifically, the lack of it (at least in some areas) in the housing market. Yet, in Snohomish County, Wash., high-end buyers apparently don't have difficulty affording luxury houses. In the Puget Sound region, which includes the county, the number of home sales above $1 million jumped from 23 in 2004 to 83 in 2005, according to an article published by The Herald. Many of the residences sold were either new or had impressive views, the paper says. Skyrocketing prices in nearby Seattle and a lack of buildable land also worked to drive buyers to the area, the article says.
High-end not lagging in Charlottesville
Buyers are starting to call the shots in Charlottesville, Va., but not when it comes to the luxury segment of the market, says The Daily Progress. Although sales are generally starting to slow in the area and buyers are getting "picky" as inventory builds, the paper says, houses priced at $1 million and up continue to sell well. In the million-plus price range, there have been no signs of an increase in the number of homes up for sale, the article says. This is in sharp contrast to the general housing situation there, where the number of properties on the market in early April was double the amount of residences available a year earlier, the paper says.
To rent or to buy? That is the question
In San Francisco, Honolulu and New York, the cost of renting a home for some people is now less expensive than owning one, challenging conventional wisdom that paying rent is akin to throwing money away, says the Washington Post. The housing markets in Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C. are moving toward the point where renting a home may soon be more affordable than owning one, the paper says. The calculations are based on how much it would cost to buy or rent a home that is valued at the area's median selling price. The cost of owning a home was computed using the assumptions that a homeowner had a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, put 20% down, paid 1% of the home's total value in annual property taxes and claims a mortgage-interest tax deduction equal to a quarter of the tax amount. However, the article says, the decision whether to rent or buy is not a purely financial one, and can vary depending on personal and lifestyle preferences.
List home in Chicago, sell months later
In Chicago, sellers anxious to find a buyer for their properties might have to wait months -- even up to a year -- to successfully get their homes off the market, says an article published by the Chicago Tribune. Thanks to a rising inventory of homes for sale (Chicagoland's single-family inventory is up 30% from last year), sellers have to be prepared to sit back and wait for an offer, or reduce asking prices, the article says. In this more "normal" market atmosphere, the paper says, some buyers are asking for price cuts and getting them. A real-estate agent quoted in the article says to expect price appreciation to drop from last year's 8% to 3% this year.

By Lauren Baier Kim

Team Maxx Real Estate