Today’s News Synopsis:
16,744 new and resale homes sold in Southern California during October. Builder confidence increased slightly this month, according to the NAHB. Sean O’Toole of ForeclosureRadar believes the foreclosure investigation will only have a brief effect on the market. FHA wrote $319 billion in new insurance in 2010.
In The News:
DQNews – “Southland Home Sales Fall, Prices Flat” (11-16-10)
“A total of 16,744 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was down 7.4 percent from 18,091 in September, and down 24.3 percent from 22,132 for October 2009, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.”
NAHB – “Builder Confidence Improves Slightly in November” (11-16-10)
“Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes improved slightly in November, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI rose one notch to 16 from a downwardly revised level of 15 in the previous month.”
Inman – “Realtor.com reclaims No.1 spot” (11-16-10)
“Realtor.com reclaimed the top spot as the most-visited real estate-related website in October, according to the latest report from Web metrics firm Experian Hitwise. The report’s data is based on a sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users.”
CNN – “Foreclosure mess prompts call for stress tests” (11-16-10)
“The Congressional Oversight Panel, created by Congress in 2008 to review the Treasury Department’s response to the financial crisis, issued a 125-page report detailing recent allegations that banks and loan servicers filed thousands of inaccurate documents in foreclosure cases across the country.”
Housing Wire – “ForeclosureRadar: dramatic decline in REO sales in October” (11-16-10)
“While 50 state attorneys general offices and 11 regulators are investigating the matter, Sean O’Toole, CEO of ForeclosureRadar, said the issue will only have a brief effect, and that the real problem will be new scammers cropping up.”
Housing Wire – “FHA 5 years away from 2% reserve ratio” (11-16-10)
“The Federal Housing Administration reported today that its capital reserve ratio will return to the 2% level mandated by Congress in 2015.”
Housing Wire – “Moody’s sees minimal risk to RMBS from robo signing, MERS litigaton” (11-16-10)
“The risks posed to residential mortgage-backed securities by the robo-signing debacle are extremely low to moderate and should have a limited impact, according to Moody’s Investors Service.”
Housing Wire – “One-third of fund managers see stronger economy in 2011” (11-16-10)
“Investor strategy is slowly returning to a ‘normal level’ of risk-taking as 35% of fund managers now see the global economy strengthening next year. Only 15% reported the same sentiment last month, according to the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers.”
Housing Wire – “Reducing mortgage principal? Count MGIC out” (11-16-10)
“The nation’s leading private mortgage insurer, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., sent an e-mail out late Monday to mortgage default servicing clients clarifying its policies regarding distressed borrowers.”
Housing Wire – “Ginnie Mae to disclose loss mitigation data on single-family pools” (11-16-10)
“Ginnie Mae will begin issuing reports on how many mortgages have gone through the loss-mitigation process for securitization investors.”
Housing Wire – “FHA mortgage insurance beats private market 25-fold: KBW” (11-16-10)
“The Federal Housing Administration wrote $319 billion in new insurance in 2010, more than 25 times the $12.4 billion in new insurance written by the top five private companies over the last year.”
Housing Wire – “Head of Chase mortgage: Foreclosure always last resort” (11-16-10)
“Foreclosure is always the last resort and least desired option for delinquent mortgages, and JPMorgan Chase uses all possible remedies prior to starting any foreclosure process, according to an executive in the bank’s home loan office. And in most cases, no one is even living in the property any longer.”
Bloomberg – “Bailout Panel Warns of Bank Mortgage Losses, Urges Stress Tests” (11-16-10)
“Regulators should conduct new stress tests on banks because legal challenges to foreclosures and uncertainties in the housing market could threaten the financial system, a congressional watchdog said.”
Bloomberg – “FHA Reserves Fall to Lowest on Record as Agency Boosts Capital” (11-16-10)
“The FHA’s capital-reserve ratio, which measures funds needed to cover projected losses, fell to 0.50 percent in the year ended Sept. 30 from 0.53 percent a year earlier, remaining below the federally mandated 2 percent minimum for a second straight year, the agency said today in a report to Congress.”
Looking Back:
One year ago, the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act was expected to provide approximately 33 billion dollars in tax cuts to real estate corporations. Statistics from Altera Real Estate showed that the most difficult Orange County market to find a new home in was Ladera Ranch. Foreclosure Radar reported that investors bought 337 homes and condos at foreclosure auctions in October.
For more information about The Norris Group’s California hard money loans or our California Trust Deed investments, visit the website or call our office at 951-780-5856 for more information. For upcoming California real estate investor training and events, visit The Norris Group website and our California investor event calendar. You’ll also find our award-winning real estate radio show on KTIE 590am at 6pm on Saturdays or you can listen to over 200 podcasts in our free investor radio archive.
California Real Estate Investing News is a post from: The Norris Group