adam brett: Govt. Incentives For Short Sales
- 01/19/10 10:36 AM
The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) was released by the
Treasury Department on November 20, 2009 and has been intended to help increase the number of short sales that take place. HAFA is a part of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
The new government program is designed to provide incentives for short sales or a deed-in lieu of foreclosure in order to avoid foreclosure on a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. HAFA currently only applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac – which is expected to issue their own version … (2 comments)
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adam brett: Unemployment In The Construction Industry Increasing
- 01/19/10 10:30 AM
Construction nationwide continues decrease resulting in construction-worker
unemployment at 22.5%. Over 53,000 construction workers were laid off in December alone.
In the past year more than 934,000 construction workers have lost their jobs bringing the number of unemployed to over 2 million. Construction has been affected more than any other industry in this recession and is continuing to have larger layoffs than any other industry. Construction spending is at a 6-year low and it doesn’t look like it will be booming within the next year.
… (4 comments)
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adam brett: Short Sales Popular Choice For Struggling Homeowners
- 01/19/10 10:22 AM
Last week there were 2,180 active short sales on the market in Orange County, which
was a 1% increase from two weeks earlier. There was another 7,000 short sales that were either on hold or were active listings pending sales.
Short sales must be approved by a bank therefore all short sales listed are not always approved. They require lender approval because they are asking for the bank to accept taking less than what it is owed on a home. Short sales seem to be a top choice for homeowners who are underwater because they lack most of the problems that … (0 comments)
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adam brett: 12% Increase In O.C. Housing Demand
- 01/14/10 11:48 AM
The latest O.C home inventory report says demand for local homes is up 12% at the start
of 2010 compared to a year ago. The demand numbers are measured by the number of escrows opened in the past 30 days. The supply of active listings – or homes that shoppers can look at is down 35%.
At the current pace of buying it would take 3.22 months for Orange County buyers to purchase all homes for sale that is up from 2.93 month two weeks ago. Homes listed for under a million dollars still have the best chance of being sold … (1 comments)
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adam brett: O.C. Business Name Filings Down In 2009
- 01/14/10 11:43 AM
The O.C Clerk Recorders Office is reporting that Orange County businesses filed the
fewest number of fictitious business names and changes in 2009 in at least five years. In 2009 only 36,520 forms were filed.
The number of filings has been steadily decreasing every year since 2005. They are mostly filed by new businesses but some are for changed information such address and ownership.
The lack of new businesses has been more affected by this recession than previous recessions. Since bank lending was virtually frozen last fall and has been incredibly hard to get this year it has been harder to … (0 comments)
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adam brett: Mortgage Applications At Lowest Numbers Since 1997
- 01/14/10 11:36 AM
Nationwide, the number of mortgage applications for home-purchase loans is at its
lowest levels since November 1997. Since mid October the number of applications has been decreasing, partially due to the fact that interest rates have been increasing.
The lack of mortgage applications could also indicate future home sales decreasing, however there are a significant number of all cash buyers these days. Approximately 20% of home buyers in Orange County are making all cash purchases.
Last week the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.18% with points decreasing to 1.28%, compared to the week before of 5.08% … (1 comments)
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adam brett: Big Landlords Cutting Rent To Fill Vacancies
- 01/14/10 11:31 AM
Big landlords are lowering rents to try to fill the empty apartments they have. New statistics
show that as many as 2-in-3 big landlords are cutting the rents in order to fill vacancies.
Of the big landlords surveyed, 71% have experienced significantly higher vacancy rates over the last year. To help fill these vacancies 69% of the landlords said they are lowering rents, 65% said they are giving one or more months rent-free and 35% have even lowered deposits.
One of the many problems affecting landlords trying to attract renters is that many prospective renters have terrible credit. 78% of the … (5 comments)
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adam brett: Local Homebuilder Lennar Corp. Has 1st Quarter In The Black
- 01/14/10 11:24 AM
Local homebuilder Lennar Corp. has reported its first quarter in the black since the winter of
2007. In the fourth quarter of 2008 Lennar reported a net loss of $811 million but in the fourth quarter of 2009 they had a net profit of $35.6 million!
Their new found profitability has come as a shock considering most forecasts did not see them returning to the black until late 2010.
Lennar Corp. ended 2009 with a net loss of $417 million for the year, which is a small loss when compared to the $1.1 billion lost in 2008 or $1.9 billion … (1 comments)
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adam brett: O.C. At 2003 Levels For Median Price Per Square Foot
- 01/14/10 11:14 AM
Although Orange County has seen median price increases since last year, the median price
per square foot of a home in Orange County remains at 2003 levels.
The price per square foot is considered a more reliable way to measure home values than the overall median price since the price per square foot eliminates monetary differences caused by the size of the homes sold.
The median price per square foot of a single-family home in Orange County was $286.89 in November — up from $268.16 in January 2009. Those prices per square foot are similar to the prices seen in the … (0 comments)
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adam brett: Gov. Proposes New Homebuyer Tax Credit
- 01/14/10 11:08 AM
This morning California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed the adoption of a
new homebuyer tax credit for California taxpayers. The newest tax credit proposal would apply to the purchase of new homes as well as existing homes.
Congress has already extended the federal homebuyer tax credit, but the state tax credit was stopped early after 10,700 California homebuyers took advantage of it.
In order to help stimulate jobs in the construction industry the Governor announced that a proposal is on the horizon for a homebuyer tax credit of up to $10,000 for the purchase of new or existing homes.
The Governor’s office … (0 comments)
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adam brett: O.C. Developer Opens World’s Tallest Building
- 01/14/10 10:57 AM
On January 4th Dubai real estate developer Emaar officially opened the largest building in the world.
At the peak of the American housing boom Emaar lost $1.6 billion by buying Orange County homebuilder John Laing in 2006. Currently Laing is being liquidated in bankruptcy court.
The buildings’ opening was attended by Dubai’s rulers and thousands of onlookers. Despite the economic state of the world and its own financial crisis, Dubai is opening the tower with the help of it’s oil wealthy neighbor Abu Dhabi.
The skyscraper – named Burj Khalifia in honor of the leader of Abu Dhabi – … (1 comments)
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adam brett: CA Cities Ranked As One Of The Easiest… And Hardest Places To Find A Job
- 01/14/10 10:49 AM
According to the latest report issued by job search engine juju.com, Los Angeles placed 44th
out of 50 metro areas in terms of difficulty finding a job.
Job seekers in the LA area are competing with 10.43 people for every advertised vacancy. Washington D.C. was the easiest place to find work with 1.87 unemployed workers for every advertised job opening.
Some California regions ranked better than Los Angeles. San Jose ranked second after Washington, D.C. among cities that have less competition for available jobs. In San Jose 2.68 people were competing for the same jobs and San Francisco came in 20th … (0 comments)
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adam brett: 2009 Marks O.C. Homebuilding’s Worst Year
- 01/14/10 10:43 AM
The homebuilding slump in Orange County continues into the New Year. 2009 Was the s
lowest year for local building permits for single-family homes filed by developers since World War II. 2009 was local homebuilding’s new “worst” year.
Permits have been issued for just 1,182 new houses and townhomes through November this year, compared to 1,225 in the first 11 months of 2008. Through November local building permits for single-family homes filed by developers fell 3.5%.
Permits for apartments and multi-story condos fell even more, dropping 59% from 2008 levels. Permits were issued for just 763 new units, vs. 1,849 units … (0 comments)
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adam brett: Rancho Santa Margarita Has O.C.’s Quickest Market Time
- 01/14/10 10:34 AM
The “hardest” O.C. city to find a home to purchase is Rancho Santa Margarita.
This is based on the theoretical “market time”. Rancho Santa Margarita currently has a market time of 1.4 months – a year ago their market time was 4.7 months.
The top 5 O.C. cities that currently considered that hardest to find a home to by in have a combined market time of 1.6% and make up 6% of the supply of home for sale in Orange County.
Corona Del Mar was found to be the O.C. city where it is currently hardest to sell a home. Based … (0 comments)
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adam brett: Executive Agree To 94% Pay Cut To Help Save Company
- 01/14/10 10:29 AM
The co-founders of Pacific Property Assets are trying to keep their company afloat by
agreeing to have their pay temporarily cut by mid-January and reduced by 94% by April.
Michael Stewart and John Packard had been earning $750,000 a year each before their firm defaulted on roughly $215 million in loans. In June, the firm sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. They currently owe about $90 million to nearly 700 private investors, plus $125 million more to mortgage lenders.
When the company defaulted last May, both executives cut their pay to $180,000 annually. They closed their Irvine location and cut staffing by … (0 comments)
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adam brett: 44 O.C. ZIPs Had Gains In Selling Price
- 01/02/10 06:50 AM
Through the first week of December, 44 of O.C.’s 83 ZiP codes had gains in their respective
median selling prices.
Prices fell in 37 of the ZIP codes, but Garden Grove’s 92844 ZIP had the same median price as a year ago.
Seven of O.C.’s ZIPs had median sales prices above $1 million in the period compared to 11 million-dollar ZIPs when the county median price peaked in June 2007. Since that pricing high point, there’s been a 32% drop in the median price countywide.
Overall, sales were up 8.8% from a year ago. Nine of O.C.’s ZIPs has … (1 comments)
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adam brett: O.C. Home Price Increased 10.1% In November
- 01/02/10 06:45 AM
The median price of an Orange County single-family home increased 10.1% in November from November
2008, the biggest percentage gain in four years.
The median price of a house in Orange County was $499,020. That’s 10.1% higher than in November 2008. Last month’s median was 1.8% higher than in October. It was the highest median price since August.
The median price has risen 18% since it hit itsbottom in January, when the median price was $423,100. Sales have increased 28%, the biggest gain in eight months.
Many people attributed the November gains to an increase in first-time buyers rushing … (1 comments)
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adam brett: Home Prices In O.C. Double In Last Decade
- 01/02/10 06:41 AM
Home prices throughout Orange County doubled last decade.
A median selling price for all residences in Orange County in 2000-2009 was $431,000 –roughly double the same pricing of the 1990s.
The decade produced a compound annual price gains of 7.5%. Even with the buying frenzy that occurred mid-decade, total sales were up just 8% this decade compared to last.
Homebuilder sales fell by roughly 20,000 residences in the decade, or 28%.
Condos were the residence to buy, especially as prices soared. Decade’s re-sales were up 44%!
… (1 comments)
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adam brett: O.C. Builders Record First Gain In Home Sale Contracts
- 12/15/09 11:50 AM
Orange County builders recorded their first up month of new home sale contracts in October, which followed
13 straight months of annual sales declines.
The signing of a contract only marks the beginning of escrow. Not all home will close escrow the figures do provide an estimate of future closed sales.
In October homebuyers signed 90 contracts to buy a new Orange County home, a 13.9% increase from October 2008. There was an 18.2% increase in single-family home contracts – 39 were signed in October. Contracts for townhomes were double the number they were in 2008.
The only home type to … (0 comments)
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adam brett: Office Rents Could Fall Up To 30%
- 12/15/09 11:40 AM
The latest economic forecast released by USC predicts at least 2 more years of pain for offices in
Orange County and throughout Southern California.
It is expected that office rents will continue to drop through the fall of 2011 and could decline by as much as 30%. The number of office vacancies should peak at 19.9% in the first half of 2010 and start falling after that. The vacancy rate is projected to remain above 17% through the third quarter of 2011. In the third quarter of 2006 the vacancy rate was 6.9%.
… (0 comments)
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The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) was released by the 
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