Anita Acacio- Preventing Foreclosures

Calif. median home price: March 2012: $291,080 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by region/county March 2012: San Mateo, $677,900 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by region/county March 2012: Tehama, $108,000 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: March 2012: 143.7, an increase from the revised 126.5 recorded in February.

Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Fourth quarter 2011: 55 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 4/26/2012 30-yr. fixed: 3.88% fees/points: 0.7% 15-yr. fixed: 3.12 fees/points: 067% 1-yr. adjustable: 2.74% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

The Washington Post

With home prices at historic lows and rental rates on the rise, a growing number of investors with cash to spare are seeking lucrative returns by gobbling up foreclosures in distressed markets across the country and turning them into rentals.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/housing-downturn-spurs-a-boom-in-foreclosure-to-rental-conversions/2012/04/24/gIQAFWUZeT_story.html?hpid=z2

Median rents rose 2 percent from February 2011 to February 2012, but home values declined 4.5 percent during that period, according to the February Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

The Zillow Rent Index showed year-over-year gains for nearly 68 percent of metropolitan areas covered by the index. By contrast, only 8 percent of the metro areas covered saw home values rise.

Foreclosures continue to be a key driver in keeping home values down. Foreclosure resales accounted for 20.3 percent of all sales in February, slightly higher than their previous peak of 20.2 percent of all sales in March 2011. Foreclosure re-sales made up 19.1 percent of all sales in February 2011.

In the short term, national monthly rents declined slightly from January to February, falling 0.5 percent to $1,212. Home values fell 0.5 percent during the same period to $145,400.

http://zillow.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=159&item=269

Fannie Mae’s latest quarterly National Housing Survey focuses on the state of homeownership aspirations among Americans across all demographic groups. The survey finds that despite the recent housing crisis, most Americans continue to believe that owning their home is preferable to renting it. The data also indicate that while financial constraints and employment concerns may be keeping potential home buyers on the sidelines in the near term, future improvements in employment and personal finances, a pickup in interest rates in response to stronger economic growth, and stabilizing home prices may move Americans to act on their aspirations in coming years.

• Across all education levels, Americans say owning makes more sense than renting.  This belief is held consistently across all demographic groups.

• Nearly two-thirds of current renters say that they will buy a house at some point in the future.

• Non-financial factors such as safety and quality of local schools continue to be the top reasons for buying a home across all income groups.

• African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to cite various benefits, such as buying a home as a way to build wealth, homeownership as a symbol of success, and civic benefits.

Attitudes about homeownership as an investment, financial constraints, and mortgage accessibility may mean that more Americans choose not to act on their aspiration for homeownership, thus potentially leading to lower homeownership rates.

• The margin of Americans believing homeownership has the highest investment potential has declined over the past several years.

• At the same time, the perceived safety of owning a home as an investment has trended downward, reaching a low of 63 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.

• In turn, groups with higher levels of education and higher incomes are more likely to think buying a home is a safe investment.

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Recent improvements in the overall economy, combined with extremely low interest rates lifted California home sales from both the prior month and year in February, according to data from C.A.R. The median price dipped from January but is beginning to show signs of stabilization.

“While the median home price dipped in February, the year-over-year decline was the smallest recorded since December 2010,” said C.A.R. President LeFrancis Arnold. “This may be a signal of a possible stabilization in home prices, which should bode well for prospective buyers who have been on the sidelines waiting for prices to level out and may entice them to jump into the market.”

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 528,010 in February, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. February’s sales were up 2.1 percent from January’s revised pace of 517,120 and up 5.5 percent from the revised 500,480 sales pace recorded in February 2011. The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2012 if sales maintained the February pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home dipped 0.6 percent to $266,660 in February from January’s $268,280 median price. The median price was down 1.7 percent from the revised $271,370 median price recorded in February 2011.

http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/2012releases/Febsales