Archive for the 'California' Category

The first foreclosed property on sale purchased under the valley’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program has been repaired, renovated and ready to be resold, according to city officials of Indio.

Renters or residents of the Coachella Valley who want to own homes under the NSP program are advised to call HomeFinders Inc., submit their documents and wait for their turn as the waiting list has become longer. HomeFinders was hired by Indio city officials to help low-income and moderate-income households buy their first homes.

The city of Indio, together with the cities of Cathedral and Desert Hot Springs, applied for a total of $8.3 million in NSP funding, which was approved. The funds will come from the NSP money received by the Riverside County Economic Development Agency from the federal NSP funding.

The cities plan to use the money to buy, rehabilitate and sell more than 100 foreclosure homes in their most battered communities.

Indio officials predicted that they can buy, repair and resell around 20 foreclosure properties by May next year, the deadline for the use of the funds. Jesus Gomez, head of Indio housing programs, it was not easy for the city to buy and rehabilitate the first foreclosed property on sale, but the experiences taught him and his staff a lot of things, and now they are on track for the next properties to buy and resell.

Marcelo Lopez, a broker with HomeFinders, said Indio and other cities have been struggling to compete with investors and cash buyers in the past, but now that they have the support of some lenders and the support of HomeFinders, cities get to have a first look at new foreclosure properties.

Lopez added that some banks give the cities the chance to bid on newly repossessed properties before these are released to the market. He added that they are facilitating home buying processes because they need to spend the allotted money and need to transfer ownership to buyers by May next year.

Lopez also said that the waiting list includes around 50 families and that families chosen are really fortunate because the homes were priced in the past from $300,000 to $350,000, and now they are being sold at only $120,00.

The first foreclosed property on sale that was acquired by the city cost $114,000. With repairs costing $16,000, the city will resell the property at around $130,000, giving incredible opportunity to the first person on the waiting list.

The growth of Los Angeles foreclosed properties may be averted in the coming months if banks make good on their promise of preventing more homes from getting foreclosed by stepping up their loan modification efforts.

Bank of America said it has been exhausting all options to keep troubled homeowners in their homes. It also denied reports that it is holding foreclosures off the market. It reiterated that it is obliged to prepare and release foreclosure properties to the market efficiently.

According to Kenneth Rosen, economist of the University of California in Berkeley, there will be no deluge of foreclosures just like before because Obama administration officials will do everything to ensure that foreclosures are posted gradually.

Housing analysts also contend that lenders themselves do not want the market to be overloaded with foreclosures because these will boomerang on them in the form of sharply reduced prices.

One proof that banks are holding off on foreclosures is the finding that the number of Los Angeles foreclosed properties has not been rising as fast as defaults. In the July to September quarter, nearly 7,800 households were hit with default notices, but only 2,149 units went into foreclosure and repossessed by the banks for eventual resale, based on data from a firm tracking foreclosures in California.

Statewide, more than 111,600 households statewide were hit with default notices in the July to September, but only around 50,000 homes went into foreclosure during the same period.

Compared to the second quarter, loan default notices decreased by more than 10 percent in the July to September quarter. Economists said that the drop is one sign that lenders have been delaying their foreclosure actions and have been responding to pressures from federal officials and housing advocates.

According to the foreclosure tracking firm, most foreclosures are still concentrated in inland communities with moderately-priced homes, but foreclosure actions have been rising in high-end neighborhoods. The number of default notices has been climbing up in affluent areas such as San Francisco, with an increase rate of 72 percent from last year’s third quarter; San Mateo, with an increase rate of nearly 59 percent; and Marin, with an increase rate of nearly 66 percent.

Additionally, according to Perry Wong, senior economist for Milken Institute in California, despite the encouraging drop in default notices, there are still concerns about the resetting of pay-option adjustable rate mortgage loans in the next months and years.

People can buy foreclosed properties for sale in Southern California and make profits when home prices return to their normal levels. Prices for homes and condo units continue to fall in most areas of the region.

Based on data from a San Diego-based real estate research firm, house and condo prices in Southern California in September dropped by 11 percent compared to September last year because of the continued domination of foreclosure sales in the market.

The median home sales price has fallen from $308,500 in September 2008 to $275,000 last September. Because of substantial price declines, home sales increased to 21,539 units, marking an increase of more than 5 percent compared to sales in September last year.

Out of all house sales in September in the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino, 40 percent were foreclosure sales that involved single-family homes and condo units. Although the 40-percent share is down from the 42-percent share in August and the peak 57-percent share in February, the September share was still substantial.

Analysts said that the increase in home sales compared to the previous month of August was atypical because September house sales historically were lower than August sales. The September sales also marked the 15th consecutive time year-over year home sales increased.

They also said that the scheduled expiration of the federal $8,000 tax credit next month enticed more people to buy foreclosed properties for sale and other types of homes while prices are still low and various federal and state incentives are still available.

Out of all the 6 counties of Southern California, the median home sales price increased only in Orange County. The median price rose in Orange to $429,000, an increase of nearly 1 percent. The biggest price decrease occurred in San Bernardino, where the median sales price fell to $150,000, marking a decrease of 27 percent.

Compared to sales in September last year, home sales in 4 counties increased while sales in Riverside dropped by more than 5 percent and sales in Ventura dropped by 3 percent. Home sales increased by 14 percent in Los Angeles, marking the highest rise among the 6 counties.

According to housing analysts, investors and families who are able to hold their real estate investments for several years can buy foreclosed properties for sale in Southern California and then resell them when prices are profitable again to sellers.

The Seven Trees neighborhood in San Jose, California has 353 foreclosure properties, the highest in the city. And many foreclosed homes in this neighborhood are deteriorating, with knee high grasses that are badly in need of a trim.

Record numbers of jobless homeowners in Riverside County has been driving the continued rise in foreclosed properties for sale in the area.

Filmmaker Stephen Payne has produced a movie that documents the repo homes crisis in the country, its causes and effects. The movie, entitled “Fresno,” delves into the mortgage meltdown and the subsequent housing crisis.

A family of four has recently bought a craftsman house in Pasadena for $330,000, a price unthinkable for such as beautiful house two years ago when large numbers of foreclosure homes were unheard of.
The family has been planning to move to less-expensive San Fernando Valley communities so they can buy their first home, but the [...]

The California Foreclosure Prevention Act, which was designed to contain foreclosed homes for sales, took effect this week, but some housing analysts doubt its long-term effectiveness in providing relief to distressed homeowners.

Fremont General Corp., a bankrupt subprime lender based in Brea, California that contributed to the large number of repossessed houses in Massachusetts, has signed a $10 million payment agreement to settle a deceptive-lending lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General in 2007.

Amidst the high inventory of foreclosed properties for sale in the Silicon Valley, counselors working for the nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley try their best to separate their personal lives from their work of helping families facing foreclosures.