http://news.nakedrealestate.infoQuick Blogcasthttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/24/us-mortgage-applications-fell-85-last-week-mba.aspx?ref=rssThe volume of mortgage applications filed in the U.S. last week dropped a seasonally adjusted 8.5%, compared with the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Wednesday ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-25T04:14:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/23/foreclosure-deals-reports-on-falling-foreclosures-in-january.aspx?ref=rssLOS ANGELES, Calif., Feb. 23 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- New statistics from Foreclosure Deals, a leader in foreclosure listings industry, show the market for foreclosures is already improving in 2010, with foreclosures down 10% in January from the previous month. Foreclosure property inventories also fell in traditional foreclosure hotspots throughout the nation, which experts believe could be an excellent sign for buyers considering a purchase this year.With 315,700 foreclosure properties reported in January, the national inventory is still 15% higher than it was one year ago. However, new foreclosures were up by only 4%, and with foreclosures falling in many key ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-23T17:27:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/23/caseshiller-shows-housing-prices-stabilizing--for-now.aspx?ref=rssThe new Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index numbers show what happens when a skydiver pulls the rip cord: Q1 2009 = -19%, Q2 2009 = -15%, Q3 2009 = -8.7% and Q4 2009 = -2.5% (YoY) S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 10: Nov = 158.49 Dec = 158.18S&P/Case-Shiller Composite 20: Nov = 146.28 Dec = 145.90 This monthly data includes prices for 20 individual cities, and two composite indices (10 cities and 20 cities). Granted the data measures price changes for single family homes in December, a particularly sluggish month all-around. But it’s been nearly ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-23T17:15:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/23/short-sales-of-real-estate-increase-sharply.aspx?ref=rssThere was a big jump in real estate short sales in January. A short sale is one made by a lender on a foreclosed or repossessed parcel of real estate, typically a house, at a price below the balance due on the property. This is a big adjustment, on average, but one needed to induce buyers to undertake the risk of further declines in real estate prices and lenders to get the properties off their books. Typically or on average, the sales prices these days are running about 91% of the balances due. This is a good sign that ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-23T17:05:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/22/short-sales-see-big-jump-in-activity.aspx?ref=rssShort sales have jumped from about 10 percent of distressed property sales during most of last year to 15.9 percent of home purchase transactions in January. By contrast damaged real estate owned or bank owned properties accounted for only 13.4 percent and move-in ready bank-owned accounted for 13.8 percent of all sales, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions.As recently as November of 2009, short sales accounted for 12.4 percent of the home purchase market, behind move-in ready REO at 12.6 percent and nearly even with damaged REO transactions at 12.3 percent.Short sales ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-22T17:23:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/21/foreclosure-reos-up-31.aspx?ref=rssAs foreclosure fillings are down 10% in comparison to December’ 2009, experts predict the next wave of foreclosure hitting market in the coming months AS MORE AND MORE LOAN MODIFICATIONS FAIL. REO activities nationwide were down 5%, but still up 31% compared to Jan’ 2009. While the default notices decreased 12%, but increased 4% from year ago. Actions are down 11% from December but still up 15% a year earlier. We will see increase in numbers in the coming months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modifications programs or the new short sale ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-22T03:45:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/10/onefifth-of-us-homeowners-owe-more-than-properties-are-worth.aspx?ref=rssFeb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- More than a fifth of U.S. homeowners owed more than their properties were worth in the fourth quarter as the number of houses and condominiums lost to foreclosure climbed to a record, according to Zillow.com. In the fourth quarter, 21.4 percent of owners of mortgaged homes were underwater, up from 21 percent in the previous three months and down from 23 percent in the second quarter, the Seattle-based real estate data provider said today in a report. More than one in 1,000 homes were repossessed by lenders in December, the highest rate in Zillow data ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-11T04:11:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/09/rptone-in-five-us-mortgages-underwater-in-q4-zillow.aspx?ref=rss* 1 in 5 markets show signs of "double-dip" in home prices * Home value bottom expected in second quarter * More than 1 in 1,000 homes was being foreclosed in Dec By Julie Haviv NEW YORK, Feb 10 (Reuters) - One of every five U.S. home owners owed more on their mortgage than their home was worth in the fourth quarter, a trend that poses a serious threat to the U.S. housing market's recovery, real estate website Zillow.com said on Wednesday. Homeowners with "underwater" mortgages are more prone to defaults and foreclosures. They typically ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-10T04:09:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/24/fed-to-lay-out-interest-rate-hike-plan-this-week.aspx?ref=rssNEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to lay out a plan for raising interest rates as the economy picks up steam in the next several months, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The initial focus by the U.S. central bank will be the relatively new interest rate on excess reserves, a tool given to the Fed by Congress in 2008. The interest rate on excess reserves amounts to payments the Fed pays to banks on money left on reserve with it. Currently that rate is 0.25%. The Fed isn't expected to raise any rates ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-09T04:00:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/07/the-differences-between-short-sale-foreclosures-and-reo.aspx?ref=rssMost have heard the terms: short sales, foreclosures, and REO, which are no doubt the buzz words of the real estate industry these days. They are the processes you hope you don’t have to go through as a homeowner. However, these are also the factors that are, in part, making this a buyer’s market. What exactly are the differences between each situation? Each process is complicated and complex, and as always, your best bet is to get yourself situated with a trusted and experienced REALTOR®. It also helps if you understand, at least to a certain extent, the ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-08T03:53:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/06/why-major-change-in-feds-interest-rate-policy-would-be-worrisome.aspx?ref=rssPrior to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in January, there was speculation about whether the Fed's monetary-policy arm would announce a shift in the benchmark rate away from the overnight rate it charges banks, to the interest paid on bank reserves. Economists at Bank of America (BAC) joined the speculation that the Fed may start pointing to the rate paid on reserves as its primary monetary-policy tool. While this might seem like inside-baseball for most Americans, the change could result in higher interest rates for your business or consumers loans and especially most credit cards that are now variable ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-06T17:35:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/04/milliondollar-homes-in-california-suffer-sales-drop-of-238-in-2009.aspx?ref=rsshttp://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mansion-sales5-2010feb05,0,2089185.storySales of California homes priced at $1 million or more tumbled for a fourth consecutive year in 2009, according to a report released Thursday.The number of million-dollar-plus homes sold dropped 23.8% to 18,621 in 2009 from 24,436 in 2008, according to San Diego real estate research firm MDA DataQuick.The decline was the result of buyers holding back, a weak mortgage market for big loans and the drop in home prices over the last several years, dragging the value of many houses below the $1-million threshold, DataQuick said."Prestige home sales are a unique sub-category of the real estate market. The buyers ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-05T23:48:34Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/04/residential-mortgage-delinquency-rate-surpasses-10-lps.aspx?ref=rsshttp://www.dsnews.com/articles/mortgage-delinquency-rate-surpasses-10-lps-2010-02-04 Home loan delinquency rates in the United States have now surpassed 10 percent, Lender Processing Services (LPS) reported this week. When you factor in homes already in the foreclosure process, the total rate of noncurrent mortgages sits at 13.3 percent, according to the data in the Florida-based company’s national loan-level database. This rate indicates that more than 7.2 million mortgage loans are now behind on payments, LPS explained, with another one million properties already taken back by banks and in REO status. LPS’ January 2010 Mortgage Monitor report, shows that within the population ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-04T23:57:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/04/homeowner-vacancy-rates-remain-virtually-unchanged-in-2009.aspx?ref=rsshttp://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/homeowner-vacancy-rates-remain-virtually-unchanged-in-2009-54571.aspx Homeowner vacancy rates remained virtually unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the rest of 2009 and the fourth quarter of 2008. To reduce the vacancy trend, HUD recently announced a program to provide financing for buyers purchasing REO property as a primary residence. See the following article from HousingWire for more on this. The national vacancy rate for “homeowner” housing units remained at 2.7% in Q409, unchanged from Q109, according to the US Department of Commerce.The rate only slightly wavered from 2.9% at the end of 2008 and 2.6% in Q309. The highest ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-04T23:52:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/04/29000-calif-real-estate-agents-quit.aspx?ref=rsshttp://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2010/02/04/29000-calif-real-estate-agents-quit/54853/ The state Department of Real Estate reported that by the end of 2009, 503,284 people had California real estate licenses — down 29,247 or 5.5% from the end of 2008. December’s agent total was the lowest monthly total since May 2006. Still, California had one real estate agent for every 25 households in the state by the end of 2009.The decline in agents has led to slightly less competition … In 2007, when to total number of people with real estate licenses peaked at 549,244, the state had one agent for every 23 households ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-04T17:56:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/04/even-in-tough-times-77-percent-of-americans-view-homeownership-as-a-part-of-their-own-personal-american-dream.aspx?ref=rsshttp://rismedia.com/2010-02-03/even-in-tough-times-77-percent-of-americans-view-homeownership-as-a-part-of-their-own-personal-american-dream/RISMEDIA, February 4, 2010—A national survey recently released by real estate leader Trulia shows that many Americans feel that President Barack Obama has not lived up to the hope he created during his campaign and his first 30 days in office. In Trulia’s latest American Dream survey conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive from January 19-21, 2009, President Barack Obama scored considerably lower marks on the topic of restoring the American dream of homeownership compared to a survey conducted February 20-24, 2009 after his first 30 days in office. The current survey found that 37% of ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-04T16:22:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/04/no-new-loan-products-or-interest-rate-initiatives-for-gses-fhfa.aspx?ref=rsshttp://www.dsnews.com/articles/no-new-loan-products-or-interest-rate-initiatives-for-gses-fhfa-2010-02-03 ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-04T15:29:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/03/real-estate-snapshot-for-2010.aspx?ref=rsshttp://www.oakdaleleader.com/news/article/1420/ ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-04T02:34:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/03/fannie-mae-promoting-purchase-of-foreclosures-with-temporary-discount.aspx?ref=rsshttp://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/fannie-mae-promoting-purchase-of-foreclosures-with-temporary-discount-54560.aspx ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-04T02:11:00Zhttp://news.nakedrealestate.info/2010/02/04/ca-mortgage-news-inland-empire-foreclosure-news-false-sense-of-security.aspx?ref=rsshttp://www.freerateupdate.com/local/california/ca-mortgage-news-inland-empire-foreclosure-news-false-sense-of-security-3253 There might be hope for places like Riverside, Corona, and Lake Ellsinore areas. According to a report in our local news paper the Press Enterprise a California real estate research company is anticipating that the worst of the foreclosures are behind us. According to their reports foreclosure filings have been slowly declining. However their report also stated that foreclosures could also remain at historically high numbers and especially in already hard hit places like Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The number of default notices has been decreasing in the later ½ of 2009, ...Steve@Cardinalli.com (Steve Cardinalli)2010-02-03T23:38:01Z