Appraisal problems in the real estate world ..

Appraisals have always been a large part of the normal real estate transaction: 

while a sales price is negotiated between the seller and the buyer, the bank has its say: they will lend to the buyer a percentage of the lower of the two figures: negotiated sales price, or appraised value. 

If they do not think that the property is worth the negotiated price, they will lend less.  But the thing is that real estate is not an exact science, and if you have 2 appraisals done on a property by two different appraisers, they will come up with 2 different values. With the crisis the way it has unfolded, appraisals have become very stringent, very conservative.  Let's just say that the banks are a lot more careful with how they lend money.

It is apparently a big problems for builders too:

one out of three builders reported losing signed sales contracts during the preceding six months because appraisals on their homes were less than the contract sales price, according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Builders claim that due to faulty appraisal practices, brand new homes with upgrades get compared to distressed properties that have been sitting vacant and in disrepair. The result, in many cases, has been that the new house gets appraised at less than the cost of construction.

According to the NAHB survey, 60 % of respondents reported they were experiencing appraisals coming in below their contract sales price. Of those reporting that they had encountered this problem, 53 % said the appraisal amount was actually less than the cost of building the home.

This has some very real consequences:

In normal times, housing accounts for more than 17 % of the nation’s GDP. Constructing 100 new homes generates more than 300 full-time jobs and $8.9 million in local, state and federal tax revenue that supports local schools and communities across the land.

More than half of the single-family builders and developers surveyed by NAHB indicated they had decided to put any new construction or land activity on hold until the financing climate improves.

One last word to buyers and sellers alike: unless the property sold is very desirable, and the buyer does not need a loan, this appraisal question may influence the outcome of the real estate transaction.

Francis Rolland

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

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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

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Silicon Valley Counties: real estate activity

To keep in perspective: a lot is being said in the press about real estate in the Bay Area, including a lot of foreclosures and short sales happening all the time. But really, when you add all properties combined, (houses and condominiums, townhouses, PUD’s etc…), what really happened to the market in our area in the past 3 years? I think simple graphs can help us understand how we fare here in the Silicon Valley. In the Counties of San Mateo & Santa Clara, let us look at a simple measure: the average sales price:
 

Individual Cities can be very different. For instance Palo Alto has the following history in the same 3 years, showing here in blue the average time to sell a home:

the variations in sales prices are not as steep as the averages in the County.

Let me know and I will prepare a study of your own City/ neighborhood.
Thanks for reading !
Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

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On the local political front, a little note on Sunnyvale...

The Silicon Valley Association of Realtors (SILVAR) Opposes Sunnyvale Plan to Regulate Real Estate Transactions

As part of the development of Sunnyvale's Climate Action Plan, the city is considering prohibiting the sale of property until an energy and water efficiency inspection is completed for owner occupied homes and energy efficiency retrofits are made to commercial property. The proposals were discussed as part of a city council study session this week.

SILVAR opposes this proposal because of the detrimental impact it will have on property owners and the ability to close transactions in Sunnyvale. Also, because the mandates would only impact properties at the time of sale, it would take decades before it would impact a significant amount of the housing stock.

SILVAR presented written testimony in opposition to the proposed mandate to the council, and SILVAR Past President Mark Burns had previously spoken at a meeting and asked the council to remove the recommendation from the draft report.

None of the council members spoke in favor of keeping the time of sale mandate in the draft. Council Member Chris Moylan made a strong statement in opposition to the recommendation. The draft climate action plan will be out for public comment and review over the next several months, so stay tuned for updates.
Thanks for reading.
Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

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The Marriage of Weddings and Real Estate...

 Many couples about to tie the knot are doing a different type of wedding registry nowadays, one that allows them to collect cash for a down payment on a home, according to a recent article in The Washington Times.

Dana Ostomel, founder of Deposit a Gift in New York City, says that about 15 % of their registries are to raise down-payment funds for a home and another 15 % are for home-improvement funds to pay for upgrades like a new roof or furniture. "Given that 75 % of today’s engaged couples already live together and are older, very often they are already established with the household basics that you find on a traditional registry," Ostomel said. "What they want is the gift of big-ticket items and longer term goals, like the gift of home ownership.”

The FHA permits gifts from a wedding to be used as a down payment, but lenders are required to document that the funds are gifts. About 27 % of first-time home buyers use gift money from relatives and friends for a down payment, according to a 2010 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey. Source: The Washington Times

Francis Rolland

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

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Mortgage rates

1st 10 Months, 2010 and 2011...

Curious to see the evolution of average prices, from one year to the next?
It turns out it is pretty similar.

Here looking at the compared graphs of both the County of San Mateo, and Santa Clara, from one year to the next:

The one thing that appears at this point is a slight decrease in prices of single family residences in the County of Santa Clara. But this happened too at the end of 2010. Overall the curves are fairly similar.

What is also apparent in these graphs is that the average values are higher in the County of San Mateo than in the County of Santa Clara. 
Finally, the end of the year is looking up for the San Mateo County so far.

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

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Real Estate Eye Candy...

The digital edition of the Previews Magazine winter issue has just been released. Click to see some of the most spectacular homes Northern California has to offer.

Francis Rolland

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

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Mortgage rates

Bay Area Investors...

Investors: the trend continues in the Bay Area with a lot of buyers investors:

- 17% in the County of Santa Clara,

- 21% in San Mateo County - 27.5% in Solano County
- 25% Contra Costa County.

Over 20% of all purchases are all cash, with no loan involved.

In fact, an interesting phenomenon occurs in some depressed areas:
in some condominium complexes, where over 15% of the units are delinquent, (typical) banks will not lend…  So this leaves only cash buyers as potential buyers of these properties.  Obviously these buyers purchase the units for the long term, hoping that the real estate market will improve enough that the complex will go up in value.  The rents have increased so much in the past 2 years that the return on investment makes it a very viable deal.

An other problem can occur there though: if more than 50% of the units in a complex are non owner-occupied, loan are also almost impossible to obtain - or more expensive.  One of the rules of most lenders is that this important percentage has to be over 50%.  So that would leave future buyers and future homeowners in those complexes with a difficult situation: potential buyers who need a loan may not want to pay the extra fees and rates in order to get these loans.

Do not underestimate the need for good advice when you purchase a condominium.  A seasoned agent is a must, to make sure you are informed.  Here is a good informational page on this "condominium"subject.

Thanks for reading.
Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

useful links

Mortgage rates