Lending is Available! WSJ article of 8-5-14

Hello everyone!

Attached is an article from the Wall Street Journal (8-5-14) that you may want to pass along to prospective buyers – at least use the information to help get them off of the fence!

Here are the takeaways:

1.       Lending Standards for mortgages are easing amid sustained increases in the US home prices.

2.       One in four major US Banks have announced easier guidelines for qualified borrowers.

3.       Investor demand for prime mortgages rebounded to its highest level in a year.

4.       If you have good buyers that couldn’t qualify 6-12 months ago, there’s a good chance that they can now – see your favorite Royal Charter Loan Officer.

5.       Mortgage interest rates are almost certain to rise this year – use articles like this to get your buyers in the game or off the fence.  Now is a great time to buy!

Good luck (and, remember, you can find this article under “Agent Stuff” and then “Stuff You Need to Know” on the LP website)!

Patrick

7 Things You Can Do on Friday to Make Monday Awesome

With our 3 day weekend coming up, here’s an article that I thought would be helpful to wrap up this week, go into the with some momentum, and then hit next week fresh and ready to go.

Have a great 4^th of July, but lets also keep taking advantage of our peak selling season.

All my best,

Patrick

P.S. Also attached for ease of viewing and printing.

 

Important Stats and Article

National housing numbers for the top 50 metros in the country just came out yesterday. Here’s how they stack up to our local markets.

*National stats are in RED and local are in BLACK.

 

Nationally, May sales were up 11.5% over April (2014) but down 9.9% from May 2013.  

Locally, sold (closed escrow) properties were down 4.7% from April and pended properties down 7.7%. Compared to May 2013 solds were virtually unchanged (751 to 756 properties) but pended sales were down 8.5% (915 May 2013 to 842 May 2014).

 

Nationally May prices were up 7.7% from one year ago.

Locally prices are up 4.7% from last year. But again prices have been moving up and down throughout the last 12 months. May prices were only 3.5% above the average of the last 12 months (Our local appreciation has tapered off).

Nationally months’ supply of inventory (MSI) is at 3.8 months.

Locally we are at 3.2 months but this represents a 50% increase from last year’s 2.2 months. We have more properties coming on the market and sales are tapering.

An even stronger message to get to your sellers is that listing inventory is up 48% (1,630 properties May 2013 to 2,416 May 2014). Although these figures are from the Fresno MLS, our markets from Hanford to Oakhurst and Merced are relatively the same.

Locally	May 2013	May 2014
For Sale	1630	2416 (up 48%)
New Listings	1114	1151 (up 3.3%)
Sold	751	756
Pended	915	842 (down 8.6%)
Avg. Sales Price	$212,000	$222,000 (up 4.7)
Days on Market	51	55 (up 7.8%)

 

If your perspective sellers are on the fence but wanting to make a move in the next few years, our market trends indicate that now could be the perfect time. Prices are up, but appreciation has drastically slowed. Inventory is up which is putting downward pressure on prices and sales are slowing. And don’t forget, for buyers interest rates are still at historic lows making this a good time to buy.

Although a little detailed and technical the article below contains great information to share with your sellers and others on some pending threats to the housing market.

3 Housing Charts Show We're Heading for an Echo Bubble

Good Luck!

Working with Buyers

Everyone:

            Check out the flyer below, but here are a few more great suggestions:

1.      Before starting their search for a home, get to know your buyers. Have them “Come Into The Office”, “CITO” the clients.  Interview them and get to know their needs and wants. Always get to the whys- “why is that need important?” You can only help the most when you know the most.

2.      Royal Charter Mortgage is the most trusted source to help your buyers stay loyal to you. They’ll let you know just how much home your buyers can afford, and as part of your team they’ll re-enforce that your buyers are in great hands with you.

3.      If your “buyers” aren’t real buyers, just shoppers, they probably will not want you sending them new listings that meet their criteria on a regular basis. Why? Because their shoppers. If you find the perfect property and they’re not willing to look today- you guessed it, they’re probably shoppers, not buyers. Remember, only buyers buy!

What are the Tea Leaves Saying??

As we work with our buyers, sellers and prospects each day it’s important to glance up occasionally to take a reading of the "Tea Leaves". There is no crystal ball and we never have all the leaves, but there are usually enough market indicators present to provide good guidance. After all, our job is to provide our clients with accurate market information and an idea of what we could expect to see. The attached article from the Wall Street Journal caught my eyes yesterday and I want to encourage you to share it with all of your current and perspective sellers.

The article, "Loan Resets to Bite Consumers", focuses on the last large wave of Home Equity Line of Credit (Helocs) loans that are coming due or resetting within the next five years. As these loans become due, or reset at higher rates, many homeowners could be forced back into difficult situations and face foreclosure. A return to more foreclosure and short sale inventory will result in a softer market with lower sales prices. Here are some facts;

• In 2014, nearly 820,000 borrowers for a total of 23 billion dollars are facing their Helocs coming due and or resetting.
• For the next 3 years (2015-2017) an average of 50 billion in Helocs will come due each year.
• These figures have banks from Wells Fargo to JP Morgan Chase more than concerned.
• Any prudent seller should consider getting ahead of the market and sell now while the market is up.
• Any re-entry into a market weighted down by foreclosures will affect all price points (entry level to upper end).
• If your sellers have been holding out on their right price reduction, they should read this and consider the facts and their current opportunity.

Good luck!

 

MORTGAGE RATES DOWN - GET YOUR BUYER'S OFF THE FENCE!

Newsworthy – Let’s get our buyers off the fence!

Rates are down, but they will not last forever.  Inventory has ticked up and your buyers now have selection.

Let’s kick the summer sales season off now and put our buyers into the home they’ve been looking for.  Take inventory of your most serious buyers today, select the 3 best properties to show them (or go get a One Party Listing), get them excited and get them to the table to make an offer!!

Good luck! 

Patrick

- DSNews.com - http://dsnews.com -

Mortgage Rates Continue Month-Long Slide

Posted By Tory Barringer On May 30, 2014 @ 12:00 pm In Daily Dose,Featured,Headlines,Market Studies,News | No Comments

Mortgage rate declines have continued now for more than a month straight, bringing interest rates down once again to new 2014 lows.

In its weekly released Primary Mortgage Market Survey ^[1], Freddie Mac ^[2] found the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was 4.12 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending May 29, down from 4.14 percent last week and the lowest 30-year fixed average since October 2013.

The 15-year FRM also slid down, averaging 3.21 percent (0.5 point) compared to last week's 3.25 percent.

The latest rate movements accompanied mixed news in the housing market, noted Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist: "Fixed mortgage rates eased a bit for the fifth consecutive week as reports thatexisting home sales ^[3] are up 1.3 percent but not as much as expected. However, new home sales ^[4] rose 6.4 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, which followed an upward revision of 11,000 units for the prior two months."

Movements were mixed for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). According to Freddie Mac, the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM averaged 2.96 percent (0.3 point), unchanged from the last survey. Meanwhile, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.41 percent (0.4 point), down from 2.43 percent.

Bankrate.com's ^[5] weekly national survey also showed declines for fixed rates, though adjustable rates were up. According to the finance site's latest data ^[6], the 30-year fixed last week averaged 4.25 percent, while the 15-year fixed was down to 3.35 percent. The 5/1 ARM, on the other hand, edged up a few basis points to 3.24 percent.

With the Federal Reserve tapering its stimulus purchases, analysts for Bankrate say it's outside pressures pushing rates down: "A number of factors come into play: disappointing U.S. economic growth at the start of 2014; slower growth in emerging markets; the prospect of European stimulus measures; and geopolitical issues around the globe, to name a few. But the bottom line is this—any time investors get nervous, whatever the reason, it is good news for mortgage shoppers."

 

Housing Doldrums Worry Fed Officials

Here’s some more great info for your “to be” sellers and sellers that need to make a price reduction.

Take aways:

·        The “Feds” are signaling that “housing doldrums” could cause the slow economic recovery to stumble.

·        Nationally, sales through March 214 are 7.5% below the seasonally adjusted annual rate of a year earlier.

·        Locally 2014 first quarter (Q1) sales are down 5.6% and closings are down 11.9% from Q1 2013.

·        Activity has eased and closed sales have eased even more.

·        New home construction sales were down 13% nationally for the month of March alone.

·        Less activity means that the breaks are being put on appreciation. If the slowing eases much more, we could see a pull back in prices.

·        It appears that smart sellers should take advantage of this window of opportunity that shows signs of closing.

 

Housing Slow to Take off in Spring

Good morning Everyone, 

Attached is a great article from this Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal that you need to read and that all sellers need to be aware of. For the following reasons, sellers should not hesitate in this market. The first offer is usually the best offer – get it negotiated! And, if they need a price reduction they should get on it now. Here are some take-aways:

• Spring has not sprung in the National Real Estate Market and for spring it’s sluggish locally.
• In 40 states, buyer traffic is down significantly at Open Houses.
• Fewer Investor buyers has weakened demand and inventory is rebounding.
• Buyers are struggling to adjust to higher prices and higher interest rates.
• Principal and interest payments on median priced homes are up 20% from one year ago.
• Locally, the Fresno MLS reports that approximately 28% of the 2,2005 active listings in March had at least one price reduction.
• As of 4/16/14, the MLS shows that in the last 24 hours, 81 residential properties were listed and 71 price reductions were reported.
• For March, sales were down 11% (year over year).
• Total active listings in March were up 51% from last year (increased from 1,564 to 2,360).

Let’s get our sellers under contract while they still have some market momentum – the tide could be turning.

Something to get your buyers OFF THE FENCE!

A must read for your buyers!

There is a major push to move federally insured mortgage securities into the private sector and have the government play a distant secondary role.  Attached is an article from the Wall Street Journal (3-12-14), that covers the dismantling or at least a wind down of government rescued Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What does this mean?

It means higher interest rates for the consumer.  The private sector will want more “skin in the game” from borrowers and higher returns to insure against any potential of losses that the mortgage securities market experienced in the 2007-2009 meltdown.

Regardless of how fast Congress moves this along (from the sounds of the article it could be before the mid-term November elections), the WRITING IS ON THE WALLS!  Interest rates will move up and money could remain tight.  A second area of concern could be in the “jumbo” loan market (for our counties, loans over $417,000), where historically, consumers have had to pay as much as 2% points higher on their loan amount than rates charged on smaller, conforming loans.  This suggests that your UPPER END buyers also need to BUY NOW!

Please use this article as a great “Item of value” to counsel your buyers into making a good decision now.

Good luck!!

Paper-less is really more attractive!

Paper-less is really more attractive!

 It’s been a month since we had the company-wide training on Skyslope and many of you have eagerly jumped on board – early adapters rock!  For any of you who have been dragging your feet, remember, we are going totally paperless with our files beginning July 1, 2014.  That’s right, no more paper files after June.  The benefits of paperless are overwhelming. Also, because the next two offices below us (Guarantee and Realty Concepts) have already made the transition to Skyslope, there should be even more benefits when working with their Associates.

 Here’s some more good news: to help you process in paperless, we have added two more scanners in the Fresno Office (at the Real Tec Stations).  If you have questions on operating these scanners, please see Rebecca or Velma at the MLS Desk or your Manager.

 Let’s move forward!

Go get ‘em!