“Mortgage rates for conventional conforming 30-year fixed-rate loans reached 50-year lows in the first quarter of 2009 in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, and averaged just 5.06% over the quarter with 0.7 points. With mortgage rates this low many people were able to make their mortgage payment a lot lower,” noted Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “The payment savings from ‘rate-and-term’ refinancing done during the quarter is about $160 a month on a $200,000 loan and in aggregate this adds up to about $2.5 billion in extra spending cash in the pockets of those homeowners to spend over the coming year. If this pace keeps up for the rest of 2009, that will provide homeowners about $10 billion in mortgage-payment savings during the first year after refinance.
“In recent weeks mortgage rates in our weekly survey have stayed below 4.9 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and when combined with the new streamlined refinance programs available to borrowers whose loans are owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, we expect refinance activity to be very high in the near term. These programs make it possible for borrowers with current loan-to-value ratios of up to 105 percent to qualify for a refinance that until recently they may not have been able to do.”
The report also indicates that 58% of prime borrowers who refinanced a conventional, first-lien mortgage either kept the same principal balance or reduced it, up from a revised 45% in the fourth quarter. The share of refinance loans resulting in new loan amounts that were at least 5% higher than the paid-off first-lien mortgage balances fell to a five-year low of 42% in the first quarter; the fourth-quarter cash-out share was revised down to 55%.
“In the past two quarters, about $32 billion in home equity was cashed out by homeowners when they refinanced their home mortgage. This is the least we’ve seen over two successive quarters in the past eight years,” said Amy Crews Cutts, Freddie Mac deputy chief economist. “We also saw a rise in the volume of home equity loans and lines of credit that were rolled into a new first lien during refinance. In the fourth quarter, $4.7 billion in second-lien debt was consolidated, increasing to $7.0 billion in the first quarter of 2009. Because second liens generally carry higher interest rates, the consolidation of $11.7 billion into a lower-cost first lien provides about $200 million in interest savings over the next year to these households.”
These estimates come from a sample of properties on which Freddie Mac has funded at least two successive loans. Transactions are further screened to verify that the latest loan is for refinance rather than for home purchase. The Freddie Mac analysis does not track the use of funds made available from these refinances.
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RISMEDIA, May 29, 2009-Existing-home sales rose in April with strong buyer activity in lower price ranges, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Existing-home sales-including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops-increased 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units in April from a downwardly revised pace of 4.55 million units in March, but were 3.5% below the 4.85 million-unit level in April 2008. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said first-time buyers continue to influence the market but there also is a seasonal rise of repeat buyers. “Most of the sales are taking place in lower price ranges and activity is beginning to pick up in the midprice ranges, but high-end home sales remain sluggish,” he said. “The Federal Reserve needs to help restore liquidity for the jumbo mortgage market by buying these loans under the TALF program.”
“Because foreclosed properties will likely be released into the market over the rest of year, it is critical that distressed homes be quickly cleared from the market,” Yun said. “Fortunately, home buyers are being attracted to deeply discounted prices and are bidding up many foreclosed listings, particularly in California, Nevada, and Florida-this will set the stage for healthy market conditions going forward.”
An NAR practitioner survey in April showed first-time buyers declined to 40% of transactions, implying more repeat buyers are entering the traditional spring home-buying season. It also showed the number of buyers looking at homes has increased 14 percentage points from a year ago. “This is consistent with our forecast for home sales in the latter part of the year to be 10 to 20% higher than the second half of 2008,” Yun said.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $170,200 in April, which is 15.4% below 2008. Distressed properties, which accounted for 45% of all sales in April, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.
NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said conditions are optimal for buyers with good jobs and long-term plans. “We have record low mortgage interest rates, a wide selection of homes and affordable prices in most areas,” he said. “When you add the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit, it’s hard to imagine a better time to make an investment in your future though homeownership.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low 4.81% in April from 5.00% in March; the rate was 5.92% in April 2008; data collection began in 1971.
Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 8.8% to 3.97 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 10.2.-month supply at the current sales pace, compared with a 9.6-month supply in March. “The gain in inventory is largely seasonal from sellers entering the spring market. Even with the rise, inventory over the past few months has remained consistently lower in comparison with a year earlier,” Yun noted.
Single-family home sales rose 2.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.18 million in April from a level of 4.08 million in March, but are 2.8% below the 4.30 million-unit pace in March 2008. The median existing single-family home price was $169,800 in April, which is 14.9% below a year ago.
Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 6.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 500,000 units in April from 470,000 in March, but are 9.4% lower than the 552,000-unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price was $173,900 in April, down 18.5% from April 2008.
NortheastRegionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast jumped 11.6% to an annual pace of 770,000 in April, but are 10.5% below April 2008. The median price in the Northeast was $237,400, which is 9.6% lower than a year ago.
MidwestExisting-home sales in the Midwest slipped 2.0% in April to a level of 1.00 million and are 9.9% lower than a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $138,800, down 11.7% from April 2008.
SouthIn the South, existing-home sales increased 1.8% to an annual pace of 1.74 million in April but are 8.9% lower than April 2008. The median price in the South was $148,000, which is 12.8% below a year ago.
WestExisting-home sales in the West rose 3.5% to an annual rate of 1.17 million in April and are 19.4% higher than a year ago. The median price in the West was $222,600, down 21.8% from April 2008.
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During a national real estate summit held in D.C. last week, Shaun Donovan, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow qualified home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment. “Now that buyers will be able to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment, we should see additional buyers enter the market,” said Yun.
While he doesn’t anticipate an immediate pickup in the coming months, Yun believes early summer will be a critical indicator of how home buyers are responding to the $8,000 tax credit. “The home buying process takes time,” said Yun. “This summer will gauge the success of the first-time home buyer tax credit.”
Evidence of recovery is already demonstrated in California, where home sales are rising much faster than anticipated; some areas in the state are seeing a 70% to 80% increase in sales. Yun attributes this surge to buyers who may have been sitting on the fence but are now taking advantage of the great opportunities for fear of being left out of current deals in the market.
According to Yun, many first-time buyers are attracted to deeply discounted and distressed home prices. Nationally, about half of all recent transactions have been distressed sales. Fifteen to 20% have been short sales and 30% to 35% have been foreclosures. Yun says while these statistics are unfortunate, the situation, along with current home buying incentives, has created an impressive window of opportunity for potential home buyers.
“The stimulus and falling inventory levels will help stabilize prices,” said Yun. “My projection is home sales will be 10 to 20 percent higher the second half of this year than last year and we will come out of this recession in 2010.”
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Current Bank Owned homes in Mission Viejo;
Bank owned homes in Rancho Santa Margarita
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NAR provided a list of recommendations that would help prevent foreclosure rescue scams and protect consumers. The recommendations include enacting H.R. 1231, the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Act of 2009, as introduced. The bill would create appropriate minimum standards for disclosure and terms of service for individuals or firms offering their services as foreclosure consultants to distressed homeowners.
“There has been a significant rise in the number of foreclosure rescue scammers making all kinds of claims to defraud already devastated families,” said Anderson. “We all have an interest and a stake in making this stop.”
NAR asked Congress to direct lenders and servicers to be more aggressive in helping distressed homeowners with loan modifications, ensure foreclosure prevention options are widely advertised, shorten the closing process for short sales, and establish methods for the private and public sectors to actively educate home buyers about foreclosure alternatives and today’s safer more affordable mortgage products. Congress should also pass balanced mortgage reform that safeguards consumers and assures access to mortgages at a reasonable cost.
“Realtors® across the nation believe that anti-predatory lending reforms are required to restore consumer confidence in the housing industry and avoid another housing crisis in the future,” Anderson said.
“Historically low mortgage interest rates and a significant tax credit for first-time home buyers have enticed some consumers back into the housing market. However, we believe that wholesale reform of the mortgage lending sector will give consumers the protections they need and will remove the last impediment to a housing recovery,” said Anderson.
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Mission Viejo Bank Owned, Foreclosed properties for sale. Call Gail @ 949 422-4343 or visit www.viphousesearch.com for more information or to see the homes.
The Refinance Index increased 1.2% to 5,169.3 from 5,108.2 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5.0% to 264.3 from 251.6 one week earlier. The Conventional Purchase Index increased 5.5% while the Government Purchase Index (largely FHA) increased 4.4%.
The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 6.0%. The four week moving average is down 3.1% for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 6.7% for the Refinance Index.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 74.4% of total applications from 75.3% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 2.1% of total applications from the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.79% from 4.62%, with points increasing to 1.17 from 1.14 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.57% from 4.45%, with points increasing to 1.07 from 0.96 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs increased to 6.36% from 6.23% with points remaining unchanged at 0.12 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.
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These are the Foreclosed homes currently for Sale in Mission Viejo, California.
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