It's been a busy week in the housing market "stabilization" business. If you're finding it hard to keep up, it's no surprise. The latest proposals have only been sketched out in broad strokes: More details are coming on March 4.
But here are broad points that you should know about:
1. To find out whether you qualify for the bailout, check your financial statements and do the math. Under the current proposal, you'll only qualify if your monthly payments are at least 38% of your income. Some people may have an incentive to quit their jobs, or at least dump their second job, to hit this threshold, because this bailout can be valuable.
2. If you are a responsible homeowner but are locked out of the refi market because the housing collapse wiped out your equity, you may benefit from the new refi assistance.
3. Anyone who hopes to qualify for either program should start gathering their paperwork now.
4. Many renters have been kicked out of their homes because deadbeat landlords walked away from their loans, leaving the banks to foreclose. If you're in that boat, good news: The administration is about to offer $1.5 billion in relocation and other forms of assistance.
5. Middle class taxpayers should take a look at one $8,000 freebie. Anyone who hasn't owned a home for at least three years is entitled to a helpful tax credit, for up to 10% of the cost, up to $8,000, if they buy a home this year.
6. Living in an expensive home in San Francisco or New York and missing out on the refi boom? Good news. The government just raised the "conforming loan" limits to $729,750 from $625,500,
7. This is a good time to get some double glazing, insulation, and other energy-efficient home improvements. The stimulus package gives a tax credit of up to $1,500, covering 30% of the costs.
8. And if grandma is looking for a reverse mortgage, the limits for reverse mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration have been raised to $625,000 from $417,000.
source: wsj.com
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Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Bargain-Hunters Descend, Cash in Hand
Falling home prices are spurring an increase in all-cash home sales in markets that have been hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis, an indication that bargain hunters have descended on the markets looking for deals.
Cash sales are up even more in many Florida markets. In Miami, cash offers accounted for 30% of sales last month, according to a report by Thomas Lawler, a housing economist based in Leesburg, Va. That share more than doubled in Gulf Coast communities such as Punta Gorda and Englewood, Fla., where cash financing accounted for 65% and 60% of sales, respectively.
Cash sales are typically higher in Florida than in other markets, in part because the state attracts lots of foreign buyers and retirees who are more likely to plunk down their savings without taking out a mortgage. But a number of cash buyers these days, in Florida and elsewhere, are also investors scooping up distressed properties and affluent families seeking relatively inexpensive vacation homes.
In some cases, cash buyers are finding that they can get a deeper discount by making an all-cash offer. In markets with a glut of foreclosed homes, lenders are becoming more aggressive to sell "simply because there aren't enough first-time home buyers around to sop up the excess supply," Mr. Lawler says.
source: wsj.com
Cash sales are up even more in many Florida markets. In Miami, cash offers accounted for 30% of sales last month, according to a report by Thomas Lawler, a housing economist based in Leesburg, Va. That share more than doubled in Gulf Coast communities such as Punta Gorda and Englewood, Fla., where cash financing accounted for 65% and 60% of sales, respectively.
Cash sales are typically higher in Florida than in other markets, in part because the state attracts lots of foreign buyers and retirees who are more likely to plunk down their savings without taking out a mortgage. But a number of cash buyers these days, in Florida and elsewhere, are also investors scooping up distressed properties and affluent families seeking relatively inexpensive vacation homes.
In some cases, cash buyers are finding that they can get a deeper discount by making an all-cash offer. In markets with a glut of foreclosed homes, lenders are becoming more aggressive to sell "simply because there aren't enough first-time home buyers around to sop up the excess supply," Mr. Lawler says.
source: wsj.com
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Renters Lose Edge on Homeowners
The relative cost of owning versus renting is swinging back in favor of homeownership in some U.S. markets, buoyed by several quarters of sharp declines in home prices.
At the height of the housing boom, as home prices surged, demand for rentals started to rise as the gap between owning and renting widened significantly. Even after the housing market soured, apartment demand grew as former homeowners became renters, allowing landlords to push healthy rent increases.
Now, after two years of rapid home-price depreciation, the relationship between the cost of rental payments versus after-tax mortgage payments is tilting toward ownership in a number of metropolitan areas.
"We're not saying on an absolute basis that it's cheaper to own a home, but on a relative basis...owning is looking much more attractive than it has in a long time," said Andrew McCulloch, a Green Street analyst.
A separate report by Moody's Economy.com also finds that home prices relative to rents are more in line with their historical relationship. Using data that measure average home prices and rent payments for 54 metro areas between 1984 and 2004, Moody's Economy.com estimated that eight markets are "undervalued." In those eight markets, home prices relative to rents are below or within 5% of their historical levels. "The bottom is coming into view," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, "But we've still got a ways to go."
Source: wsj.com
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At the height of the housing boom, as home prices surged, demand for rentals started to rise as the gap between owning and renting widened significantly. Even after the housing market soured, apartment demand grew as former homeowners became renters, allowing landlords to push healthy rent increases.
Now, after two years of rapid home-price depreciation, the relationship between the cost of rental payments versus after-tax mortgage payments is tilting toward ownership in a number of metropolitan areas.
"We're not saying on an absolute basis that it's cheaper to own a home, but on a relative basis...owning is looking much more attractive than it has in a long time," said Andrew McCulloch, a Green Street analyst.
A separate report by Moody's Economy.com also finds that home prices relative to rents are more in line with their historical relationship. Using data that measure average home prices and rent payments for 54 metro areas between 1984 and 2004, Moody's Economy.com estimated that eight markets are "undervalued." In those eight markets, home prices relative to rents are below or within 5% of their historical levels. "The bottom is coming into view," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, "But we've still got a ways to go."
Source: wsj.com
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Monday, February 9, 2009
Millionaires Becoming More Interested in Real Estate
Don't look now, but those with a net worth of more than $1 million who may have gotten burned in the stock market are starting to get interested in one of the most basic of investments-real estate.
That's according to a recent Spectrum Group newsletter, Millionaire's Corner. Nearly 20% of high-net worth investors consider real estate a good investment and plan to buy more in the future, says Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based market research and consulting firm specializing in the affluent market. Moreover, a full 34% of millionaires between 25 and 45 are intrigued by real estate. The research came from online quanititative studies of more than 750 millionaires and focus groups in five cities conducted last fall.
The millionaires reported that since they don't know when the stock market is going to recover and with interest rates so low and real estate so depressed, "a lot of the people said they thought real estate looked interesting," George Walper Jr., president of Spectrum Group, told Barron's. He said the finding was consistent with research in a book he co-authored with Catherine McBreen, Get Rich, Stay Rich, Pass It On.
While the millionaires didn't specify the type of real estate they'd look at, Walper said he believes people are interested in income-producing properties like small apartment buildings or strip malls. That would be in keeping with activity by one supremely savvy investor- Warren Bufett's No. 2, Charlie Munger- who is said to be investing in a shopping center in California.
Source: Barron's, Jan. 26, 2009
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That's according to a recent Spectrum Group newsletter, Millionaire's Corner. Nearly 20% of high-net worth investors consider real estate a good investment and plan to buy more in the future, says Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based market research and consulting firm specializing in the affluent market. Moreover, a full 34% of millionaires between 25 and 45 are intrigued by real estate. The research came from online quanititative studies of more than 750 millionaires and focus groups in five cities conducted last fall.
The millionaires reported that since they don't know when the stock market is going to recover and with interest rates so low and real estate so depressed, "a lot of the people said they thought real estate looked interesting," George Walper Jr., president of Spectrum Group, told Barron's. He said the finding was consistent with research in a book he co-authored with Catherine McBreen, Get Rich, Stay Rich, Pass It On.
While the millionaires didn't specify the type of real estate they'd look at, Walper said he believes people are interested in income-producing properties like small apartment buildings or strip malls. That would be in keeping with activity by one supremely savvy investor- Warren Bufett's No. 2, Charlie Munger- who is said to be investing in a shopping center in California.
Source: Barron's, Jan. 26, 2009
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