Things are improving...

It is hard to keep some perspective on the market nationwide, as we keep our eyes on the ball here in the Silicon Valley. While multiple offers rule here and buyers have a hard time finding, then purchasing a home, it is good to keep things in perspective and look at the big picture.
The market is still struggling, and shaky in some areas.

IMPROVEMENT – As of 9/30/12, 1 out of every 8.5 home mortgages (11.7%) in the USA are either delinquent or are in the foreclosure process. Compared with: 12/31/2009, when 1 out of every 6.7 home mortgages (15.0%) in the USA was either delinquent or was in the foreclosure process (source: MBA Mortgage Bankers Association).

While keeping things in perspective, let us remember too that about 1/3 of all houses in the US are owned free and clear:

According to the National Association of Realtors "Economists' Outlook blog":

Nationally, about 32 percent of homes were owned outright—without a mortgage. This varies from state to state. West Virginia has the highest share of homes owned outright, just 2 percent shy of half. This contrasts with California, Colorado, Maryland, DC, and Nevada where less than a quarter of owner-occupied homes were owned outright.

Thank you for reading!

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

useful links

Coldwell Banker invites you to warm and brighten the spirits of those in our community this holiday season by supporting One Warm Coat, a coat drive that collects and distributes warm coats to the less fortunate in our local community during the cold winter months.

Our office is accepting donations of new or gently used coats for One Warm Coat now until December 14.
To make a donation or for more information, please contact me today.

Foreclosures... any discount?

This article is an  "a propos" follow up on my last blog.  In this article one can see the actual average discount, according to Zillow, for the various areas in the US.  It does not detail the discount for the Silicon Valley, but it does give the figure for San Francisco.  I believe it may be closer to zero in most of the areas between Los Gatos and Menlo Park.

"Foreclosure discount declines to 7.7 percent nationwide in September"

An analysis by Zillow shows that home buyers nationwide could expect a discount of 7.7 percent in September when buying a bank-owned home compared with the same home in a non-distressed sale.

The discount narrowed from 9.1 percent in September 2011 and has fallen dramatically from a peak national discount of 23.7 percent in August 2009. Zillow compared the actual sale price of foreclosed homes nationwide to the estimated price of the same home were it to sell in a non-distressed transaction.

While foreclosure sales continue to offer buyers discounts over traditional sales in the majority of metro areas, some of the areas hardest hit by foreclosures also are those where the price gap between foreclosed and non-foreclosed homes is the smallest. Areas with the smallest foreclosure discounts in September were Phoenix, 0 percent; Las Vegas, 0 percent; Sacramento, Calif., 0.7 percent; and Riverside, Calif., 1.8 percent.

"The smallest foreclosure discount is found in places where competition for homes is so high, people there are willing to pay the same amount for a foreclosure re-sale that they would for a non-distressed home simply to take advantage of historic affordability," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries.

Full article from Zillow.

Thanks for reading!
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate
Current Mortgage rates

Non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

Foreclosure Evictions Temporarily Suspended

Foreclosure Evictions Temporarily Suspended

Both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are temporarily suspending all scheduled evictions involving foreclosed occupied single-family 1- to 4- unit residences with owned mortgages beginning December 19, 2011 through January 2, 2012.

The suspension will apply only to eviction lockouts related to Freddie Ma and Fannie Mae owned REO properties and will not affect other pre- or post-foreclosure processes. During this period, legal and administrative proceedings for evictions may continue, but families living in foreclosed properties will be permitted to remain in the home.

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

useful links

Mortgage rates

Silicon Valley: housing inventory

To keep things in perspective, it is good to keep an eye on the inventory of homes for sale at a given point in time.  Here is the inventory of all properties for sale (houses + PUD/condos) both in the whole County of Santa Clara, and in the area limited to the five Cities: Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Menlo Park:

Lower inventory = tendency for prices to be sustained, or rise. 
There are signifcantly fewer properties for sale now than last year.  It is also interesting to note that the luxury market (over $1 million) has fewer homes on the market, which is reflecting the fact that the market has been more active in the past months.

Here in the Bay Area, as noted many times, demand is showing pretty strong fairly consistently.

As agents, we note that open houses are very busy, especially for houses, and certainly all the time for houses in the good school districts. In Palo Alto, multiple offers are the rule, as with all properties priced at market value, in good school districts.

It is worth noting again that about 30% of houses sell for over asking price in the County of Santa Clara.
A lot of them are foreclosures.  - A foreclosure sale does not always mean that it is a fabulous deal, moneywise.

Interested in the same figures for only condominiums for instance? Let me know.
Francis Rolland

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

useful links

Mortgage rates