The Frazzano Team

Housing inventory in San Ramon, Dublin and Pleasanton, California is continuing to drop quickly.  Active listings in Dublin are declining – faster than other surrounding communities.  San Ramon continues to chug along with active listings and pending sales still far apart.

The MLS shows active listings for Dublin CA down to 81 total. That’s not much of a choice for home buyers looking for homes for sale in Dublin.  The Frazzano Team has 2 new listings coming on the market this week, both are regular sales and will be outstanding values.  One in particular offers the most incredible location in all of Hansen Hill, offering amazing panoramic view at the end of a cul-de-sac.  More info coming soon!

We are discovering from talking to many past and future clients that most lenders are not modifying mortgages and many that are not offering very favorable terms. Even after the Obama administration has stepped up pressure on lenders and the mortgage servicers. On Aug. 4th, about 3 dozen companies have been forced to publish data on their loan modifications thus allowing the public to see what are the odds of a favorable outcome.

It is estimated that about 6% of the eligible loan modifications are actually approved.

It is being advised to NOT give anyone any upfront money with the hope and promise of a successful loan modification. We work with a few reputable companies that we are happy to share with you. You may call us at 735-7653 for a referral.

Purchases and refinances suddenly surged as they had not in months. An important indicator of where housing is headed. Meanwhile mortgage interest rates dropped to their second lowest level in nearly two decades, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Thirty year fixed rates averages 4.96% and fifteen year rates dropped to 4.5%.

This is important as new financing applications to buy homes point to rising purchase contracts and closed sales in the months ahead. They also suggest that prices have hit a level in many markets that is attracting once hesitant buyers off the sidelines.

In 2008, the Frazzano Team sold 59 homes. AS of August 17th, today’s date, we are up to 58 homes with a target of 100 closed sales. Many of our own buyer sales today are from people that we met last year or that started looking about 9 months ago. Of course we still have many past client and referral sales in which the clients are looking to make a move now.

RECORD NUMBER OF FORECLOSURES SCHEDULED FOR SALE
California Foreclosure Prevention Act fails to slow filings

ForeclosureRadar.com, the only website that tracks every California foreclosure, and provides daily auction updates, issued its monthly California Foreclosure Report for July 2009. Once again, foreclosure stats were mixed, with Notice of Default filings flat, Notice of Trustee Sale filings rising by 31.6 percent and foreclosure sales dropping 22.7 percent. The number of properties scheduled for foreclosure sale – new Notices of Trustee Sale minus those sales that have cancelled or sold – rose to a record level of 124,874, nearly double the levels reached during the foreclosure peak last year.

An estimated 44,167 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 13.1 percent from 39,051 in May, and up 25.5 percent from 35,202 for June 2008. Sales have increased on a year-over-year basis the last twelve months. California sales for the month of June have varied from a low of 35,202 in 2008 to a peak of 76,669 in 2004, the average is 50,698.

The median price paid for a home last month was $246,000, up 7.0 percent from $230,000 in May, and down 25.0 percent from $328,000 for June a year ago. The upturn in median the last two months is the result of a relative increase in sales of more expensive homes.

Of the existing homes sold last month, 45.9 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. Last month was the first since August last year where it was below 50 percent.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,108. That was up from $972 in May, and down from $1,628 for June a year ago. That typical mortgage payment was below the $1,000 mark from January through May. The last time it was below $1,000 was in 1999. Adjusted for inflation, last month’s mortgage payment was 48.0 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 57.9 percent below the current cycle’s peak in June 2006.

It seems some lenders are now asking for a complete review of the HOA documents and what they are looking for may surprise you. We have a pending sale where the buyer is putting over 50% down so we fought hard for an exception to this new rule.  What the lender was looking for, they found!  And it was a shock.  What they were looking for was this – in the bylaws of the HOA docs, there are some clauses pertaining to foreclosures and what happens with any unpaid liens against the property.  Some HOA doc bylaws spell out that the lenders are responsible for any unpaid liens and for that reason they may not fund/lend in that community.  Be sure to allow yourself enough time to read through the entire HOA package and ask your lender upfront if they are looking for any specific language in the bylaws.   It seems like everyday some lenders are changing their guidelines, and in their minds for good reasons, as they do not want any unnecessary risky loans.

New realty Web site offers future valuation of San Ramon Real Estate as well as all homes in California.  There are plenty of Web sites that will tell you how a home is worth now.  But now a Pleasanton based company has launched smartzip, a free web site designed to help investors and everyday home buyers assess the future value of homes for sale in California.

It is pretty interesting to see some of these new value models in action.  There is no guarantee that a rating estimate of a property’s future value is accurate but it sure gives one hope that real estate long term holdings do pay off.