Top 5 real estate stories in 2011 nationally and in Alameda CA

These are the 5 Top Real Estate Stories in 2011 (as blogged by Steve Harney).

Applying these to the local market and to what local clients are experiencing in Alameda CA,I found that indeed, they are true at the local level.

Interest Rates remained at historic lows

Mortgage-X has some of the best graphs to to show the historical trends.

I checked rates for Alameda CA and found this. The highest rate is for a 30-year mortgage at 4.375% with 1 discount point. The lowest rate is for a 15-year mortgage 2.875% with .625 discount point.

Sales up over 2010

In Alameda CA, I reported on year end sales comparing 2011 to 2010 and found this to be true. Total sales in 2011 increased to 469, up from 440 in 2010.  I will qualify that to also say that 2010 showed that distressed sales (short sales and foreclosures) also increased to 30% of total sales in 2011 versus 21% in 2010.

Contract cancellation rate surges

I can recall/recount my own disappointment when buyers and sellers cancel.  In 2011, nearly all my short sale listings had buyers back out. We had 4 buyers back out of one short sale condo listing before the fifth one stuck it out and happily closed escrow before Christmas.

I also had a short sale seller back out of a listing when he received a temporary loan modification from the bank.

To ensure that short sale buyers are serious, my short sale sellers and I insist that the short sale buyers agree to open escrow upon acceptance of offer.  It’s another way of ensuring that the buyers  not playing the numbers game to see which one will stick, and that they are writing offers in good faith,

Foreclosures were delayed

Several of my short sale sellers already received Notices of Default before they contacted me. Usually, there is a short period of time before the Notice of Trustee Sale follows...but with the sellers’ involvement. we managed to postpone the trustee sale while we aggressively marketed the properties and received offers.

Of course, it helps, as Harney points out,  that “The robo-signing debacle of late 2010 caused a delay in many foreclosures entering the market. It DID NOT prevent the banks from continuing to put homes into the foreclosure process. The delays just prevented banks from repossessing the homes and putting them up for sale as REOs (foreclosures owned by the banks).’

Prices move up then down

Looking into Alameda CA’s single family residence (SFR) detached homes, median prices surged for a few months late 2010 and early 2011 followed by a downward trend the rest of the year.

RELATED POSTS

Short sales and Foreclosures in Alameda CA Year End Report 2011 compared to 2010

CASE STUDY: SHORT SALE SELLER BACKS OUT OF PURCHASE AFTER RECEIVING TRIAL LOAN MODIFICATION