Short Sales on the Rise in Sacramento

Use of short sales on rise in Sacramento housing market

The below article is a very "fitting" piece on our current market here in the greater Sacramento area. Just this week, we are in the process of listing two short sales. It appears that the only seller in this market is the seller who "Has to sell" rather than the seller who "wants to sell". If you have any further questions on the short sale process, please feel free to leave a comment or you may email or call us. (our contact information is listed on the right of our blog)

Sacramento Bee

Published: Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 14A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2009 - 6:52 am

For years real estate agents have steered buyers away from "short sales," labeling them a mind-numbing, difficult experience that could exhaust the patience of the biblical Job.

Now buyers can hardly avoid them.

"When it's 50 percent of the inventory you don't have a choice," said a local Realtor

Banks, with their balance sheets battered after 40,000 capital-area foreclosures since early 2007, are finally warming up to short sales, a traditional marker of soured real estate markets. Increasingly, so are buyers. Some analysts believe short sales – those transactions in which banks accept offers below what they're owed to avoid the higher costs of foreclosing – may help avert a few thousand new foreclosures in the capital region.

"I still see a ton of defaults coming down the line … but a large percentage, 50 percent or more of these, will get done as short sales and keep the flow of repos to a manageable level," said Williams. "I don't see us getting flooded."

Industry analysts say half the for-sale signs in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties that aren't bank repos are short sales. They're especially prevalent in newer suburbs built during the housing boom. According to Sacramento-based Metrolist Services Inc.:

• 56 percent of Lincoln homes priced between $200,000 and $250,000 are short sales.

• 55 percent of Rancho Cordova homes priced between $200,000 and $300,000 are short sales. In Folsom, 46 percent of homes in that price range are short sales.

• 44 percent of Elk Grove houses priced from $300,000 to $325,000 are short sales.

All their owners owe more than their homes are worth. (Online evaluator Zillow.com says 68 percent of Sacramento-area households that bought in the past five years are in that boat). And most are believed to be in some stage of the foreclosure process.

Currently, nearly one in four sales pending – those expected to close escrow within weeks – are bank-approved short sales, according to Williams' analysis of Metrolist data. That's a rise from a January-through-June average of one in seven.

Bank repos, by comparison, are about 60 percent of area sales this year. But their share is falling now as the region's short-sale market share rises.

"It's a more cooperative solution," said David Sunlin, senior vice president with Charlotte-based Bank of America Home Loans. He said the firm is adding staff and streamlining procedures to do more short sales more quickly as an alternative to foreclosing.

"It allows the borrower to leave on their own terms. It's a more dignified exit strategy and the credit reporting is less negative afterward," he said. "It's a win for the lender as well. It's going to shorten the recovery cycle, which is important to all of us."

The firm, which bought Countrywide Financial last year, services one in five U.S. mortgages and is a top lender in the capital region.

Agents such as Williams hope the new BofA approach brings results. They complain that Countrywide has been among the industry's most difficult servicers for short sales.

Buyers say short sales make great deals – if you're patient.

"It probably saved us $50,000" said Helen Martinez, who, with her husband, Robert, closed escrow two months ago on a short-sale property in Davis. It took almost four months, she said.

"If you need something right away it's not going to work out," she said. "You'll sit around and wait forever and find something else."

Jamie Trussell also expects to go into escrow soon on a short-sale property in Elk Grove. He and his wife, Tricia, made an offer on the house in February, then sweetened it by $10,000 when others bid on it.

"We fell in love with the house so we remain dedicated to it," he said. The two checked out other houses while waiting, including bank repos, but Trussell said, "It's been tough to beat the house we have with everything we want."

Their long wait has had consequences, however. Higher interest rates are adding to their expected borrowing costs.

"The last few weeks I've been watching the interest rate climb," said Trussell. "It was 4.8 percent in May, and now, it's at 5.2 percent.

"Our greatest concern when we started was 'how long is this going to take?' It's really pushing to the wire for us."

Williams said many short sales fall apart between the offer and acceptance because people find other properties.

Short sales take so long because lenders must negotiate permission from other parties, such as investors and private mortgage insurers. Most recent home loans also have so-called "seconds," an extra loan that financed the down payment. Other short sales involve home equity loans or homeowner associations seeking restitution for unpaid dues.

"That can make the process more complex," said BofA's Sunlin. He said BofA also asks some borrowers to contribute funds to ease the lenders' losses "or sign a promissory note for a later date."

"We see this every week," said Scott Thompson, principal at Carmichael-based Mortgage Resolution Services, a short-sale specialty firm. He said such lender requests scuttle many short sales, prompting homeowners to instead "walk away" from the house.

Thompson said homeowners often prefer to walk away than request a short sale.

"Now, banks are ready to do them," he said. "But many homeowners are so far under water on their mortgages that they're disinclined to participate at all."

Sunlin concedes the difficulties on both ends in a still-unraveling housing market.

"These are tough times," he said. "But we are committed to make the process work better … By doing this we should see more private sales instead of bank-owned sales."

Sacramento! It is competitive out there!

First off, we would like to congratulate Scott S. and Michelle S. for being the lucky winners to last week's drawing. Both of them won two tickets each, to the Sacramento Monarch's opening game. Stay tuned because we will be doing periodic raffles and prizes!

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So, anyone try to submit an offer on a property in the Sacramento area lately? Tell us about it! Currently, Sharon and I are working with about 7 "First Time" buyers. Literally, we are chasing homes! When ever we do get an accepted offer, it is like hitting the lottery. It is that crazy out there!

Currently, we are experiencing a very low housing inventory, and with the very favorable property prices and interest rates, everyone is bidding for the few houses that are out there on the market. While it can be a frustrating process, do not give up. Diligence and patience are the key to success in this market.

Here is an article on the latest Real Estate statistics throughout the country.

Pending Home Sales Increase Nearly 7 Percent The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7 percent to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2 percent above April 2008 when it was 87.5.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions. “Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market,” he says. “Since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by November 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead, and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.”Geographical Breakdown

Northeast: The Pending Home Sales Index shot up 32.6 percent to 78.9 in April and is 0.8 percent above a year ago.
Midwest: The index rose 9.8 percent to 90.4 and is 11.1 percent above April 2008.
South: The index slipped 0.2 percent to 93 in April but is 3.5 percent higher than a year ago.
West: The index rose 1.8 percent to 94.8 but is 2.9 percent below April 2008.

NAR President Charles McMillan says there are numerous buyer assistance programs around the country.
“Some states are offering bridge loans that allow first-time buyers to use the tax credit for downpayment and closing costs, but there are many other local government and nonprofit programs available to buyers, depending on location,” McMillan says.

Last week, HUD announced that qualifying buyers can use the tax credit for closing costs on FHA loans, to buy down the interest rate or make a larger down payment.

Affordable Housing

NAR’s Housing Affordability Index is in record territory. The affordability index rose to 174.8 in April from an upwardly revised 171.9 in March, which makes it the second-highest monthly reading on record after peaking at 176.9 in January of this year.

The HAI is a broad measure of housing affordability using consistent values and assumptions over time, which examines the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income.

A median-income family, earning $60,900, could afford a home costing $296,800 in April with a 20 percent down payment, assuming 25 percent of gross income is devoted to mortgage principal and interest.

Affordability conditions for first-time buyers with the same income and small down payments are roughly 80 percent of that amount. The affordable price was well above the median existing single-family home price in April, which was $169,800.

Pending vs. Existing Sales

Yun cautions that the reporting sample for pending home sales is smaller than that of existing-home sales, so it is subject to greater variability.

“In addition, the relationship between contracts on pending home sales and closings on existing-home sales is taking longer than in the past for several reasons,” he says. “Mortgage processing time has increased, it is taking many months to close on those homes requiring short sales with lender approval, and some sales are falling through at the last moment.”

The total number of existing-home sales is expected to improve but with dramatic local market variation in the timing of recovery. “The market has already bottomed in some areas, but this is an unusual housing cycle with some areas improving rapidly while others languish or decline,” Yun says.

Existing-home sales for May will be released June 23. The next Pending Home Sales Index will be on July 1.

Source: NAR (06/02/09)

California Market Flash For The Month of July

JULY MARKET FLASH

SUMMER IS A-COMIN’ IN

Intro: Spring’s enthusiasm was certainly a relief from the gray, congealed market of last winter. As spring moves into summer, we don’t know quite what to expect—far, far too many factors are in play to encourage confident prediction—but we do know this: those who are prepared will profit most from whatever direction the market does take. Read on.

Statistics:

Statewide: The median resale price of a single-family detached home in California for May was $384,840, a decrease of just over 35 percent from May 2007 and almost 5 percent from last month. Unsold resale inventory represented an 8.4-month supply, compared to 10.7 months for the same period a year ago. Median number of days till sale was 50 in May, almost unchanged from 51 in May 2007.

County Statistics: (Med = median, Ac = activity, MOM = prior/this month, YOY = prior/this year)

	CurrMed	MedMOM	MedYOY	CurrSls	AcMOM	AcYOY
Alameda County	$475,000	0.26%	-19.18%	1,186	-4.35%	-27.28%
Contra Costa County	$387,000	-2.03%	-34.41%	1,206	-4.66%	-11.71%
El Dorado County	$365,000	-3.69%	-25.05%	191	24.84%	40.44%
Marin County	$899,000	12.38%	5.76%	200	-7.41%	-44.29%
Monterey County	$350,000	-6.73%	-41.67%	232	9.43%	n/a
Napa County	$474,000	-4.24%	-24.16%	92	-8.00%	-17.86%
Nevada County	$360,000	-16.28%	-21.74%	97	5.43%	n/a
Northern California	$337,870	-2.42%	-12.44%	n/a	n/a	n/a
Placer County	$338,000	-3.29%	-20.47%	489	-1.01%	32.88%
Sacramento County	$225,000	-3.02%	-35.53%	2,028	10.16%	116.90%
San Benito County	$332,500	-12.90%	-43.64%	40	-13.04%	17.65%
San Francisco Bay	$517,000	-0.19%	-21.67%	6,216	-1.49%	-23.07%
San Francisco County	$799,500	4.24%	-4.25%	484	-20.00%	-21.43%
San Mateo County	$699,500	4.40%	-13.64%	444	-22.51%	-41.81%
Santa Clara County	$630,000	0.08%	-12.50%	1,173	-18.54%	-46.17%
Santa Cruz County	$543,750	-9.98%	-24.79%	156	2.63%	n/a
Solano County	$300,000	-6.25%	-31.66%	440	2.56%	-7.56%
Sonoma County	$414,000	0.12%	-20.31%	409	-7.47%	-29.24%
Yolo County	$308,750	2.07%	-27.35%	212	34.18%	89.29%

Alameda County: Though down from December, median held up for the month of May. This market may be reaching a price point that’s attractive to the general prospect, since May sales almost equaled April’s surprising surge and are more than double the recent low in January.

Contra Costa County: Median lost a sliver this month and continues at less than two-thirds of its recent record in June 2007. Sales are at levels not seen in the last year, driven by sales of steeply depreciated homes in attractive neighborhoods.

El Dorado County: Sales have exceeded the August 2007 peak of 185 and seem poised to crack 200. Median has lost roughly $100,000 in the last year but has more or less stayed stable since the beginning of this year.

Marin County: Sales seem to have shaken off winter doldrums and returned to the level of fall 2007. Some constraint is exerted by the region’s lowest proportion of foreclosure sales, about 6%, and by still-restricted availability of jumbo mortgages. Median has surged to within a hair of $900,000, but we must remember that Marin’s median has been relatively bulletproof in the current crisis; historical low of $750,000 came in January 2006, and since then it’s scarcely been below $800,000.

Monterey County: Median has shrunk by almost half in a year—from $600,000 last June to $350,000 today. But how much of this is depreciation and how much is due to high-end properties not moving the way they once did, we’re not sure. On the other hand, sales are now at their highest point in our records after essentially doubling since January.

Napa County: Sales have recovered from January’s scary low of 37 and are now flirting with the triple-digit levels of last summer.

Nevada County: Sales have a way to go to match last summer’s levels, but have been increasing without pause since January. Median was holding up well as recently as April, but then declined by $70,000 in May.

Placer County: Consistent sales of almost 500 demonstrate a welcome recovery from last September’s 216. Median, after being essentially flat for the last half of 2006 and first half of 2007, has declined steadily for the last year and lost a little over $80,000—possibly converging on a new price stability along with the rest of the Sacramento Region.

Sacramento County: Current median of $225,000 is the lowest we’ve ever seen, but the resulting affordability seems to be provoking a recovery. From a low of 751 in January 2007, sales have nearly tripled as of last month and doubled in the last four months. Perhaps prospects and buyers (largely investors) will push Sacramento out of its slump.

San Benito County: After a recent sharp rise, sales have regained the levels of 18 months ago, though median has fallen by a third in the last year.

San Francisco Bay: The Bay Area enjoyed a $660,000 median all last summer, but has fallen $150,000 since then. On the other hand, sales have risen by 50% since February.

San Francisco County: May sales declined about 20% from an April peak but are still at last fall’s levels, even with relatively few foreclosure sales. Median has been climbing steadily since December and is now, again, happily knocking on the door of $800,000.

San Mateo County: Median is down by about $100,000 in the last year. One figure or the other may improve in the near future, but the market must recover more generally for both to improve at once.

Santa Clara County: Even after a slight retreat in April, sales are double what they were in January. As jumbo loans become more available, this situation will improve further. Median has only dropped by about 10% in the last year.

Santa Cruz County: Sales almost doubled between March and April, then built on that gain in May. But a decline of $60,000 in median for the month means a loss of $180,000 for the year. This county is looking a lot better than it did over the winter and there’s hope it will regain the eminence it enjoyed when the market was hot.

Solano County: Sales have nearly doubled in the last three months, driven by foreclosure resales accounting for almost 60% of transactions. On the other hand, median has declined by a third since March 2007. Like many rural counties, Solano will probably participate strongly in the general recovery when it comes.

Sonoma County: Three months of increases have at least brought the median back above $400,000 and a sustained increase in sales has brought activity back to the levels of last summer. Sonoma, together with Solano and Contra Costa counties, is an affordability champ for the region this month. (And incidentally, Sonoma city took CAR’s Most Improved Median in May with a 61% improvement year-over-year.)

Yolo County: Yolo’s loss of over $110,000 in median for the year makes it look superficially like a lot of other counties—but exciting things are happening in the shorter term; since January, sales have doubled while median has actually increased. Happily, this county will have its share in the greening of greater Sacramento.

Interest Rates: 30-year fixed, 6.26%; 15-year fixed, 5.78%; 30-year nonconforming, 7.32%. A spread of more than 1% between 30-year fixed and 30-year jumbo underscores the difficulty of finding loans appropriate to California’s coastal markets. 5/1 ARM is exactly the same percentage as 30-year fixed, which is one reason (the other being borrower wariness about resetting loans) that the proportion of new 5/1 ARMs in the market is dropping.

During the third week in June, Freddie Mac was deeply concerned that if rates rose even slightly on conforming loans, sales would slow drastically as prospects had less incentive to look for bargains. Since then, pressure has eased as 30-year fixed has backed off about 20 basis points, but we all know that’s only a breather. Affordability in Northern California is still so fragile that if inflation—or, for that matter, Federal Reserve conservatism—kicks rates higher, the market’s current guarded optimism may collapse again. Cross your fingers.

Inventory: What you see is what you get. Availability now is unpredictable depending not only on location, but on the type of buyer (first-time, move-up, rental property, overseas) who may be interested in the specific area. Foreclosures are flooding some neighborhoods with properties, but hardly touching others. Overall, inventories still won’t be one of your major concerns, but they’re bound to figure into your calculations more than they did six months ago.

Overall Assessment: Optimism feels so good and for the first time in months, we’re feeling optimistic! Bargains abound, especially in areas away from the coast. The Bay Area’s average monthly mortgage amount has shrunk by 30% since its recent peak two years ago. Thirty year fixed mortgage rates were inching up for a while, but now seem to be retreating towards 6% rather than lunging for seven. In many parts of Northern California, for the first time in years, an attractive home can be called affordable. Remind your prospects of a contradiction that works in their favor: right now they may be facing a very brief opportunity to purchase a home that will suit them for a very long time.