First-Time Buyers Have Smaller Budget, Interest in Foreclosures

First-time homebuyers tend to work with smaller budgets compared to repeat buyers, which increases the incentive to buy a foreclosure, according to blog from Doorsteps.com, a website that provides information to help potential homebuyers.

 Citing a survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the website noted 65 percent of first-time buyers are open to the idea of purchasing a foreclosure despite all of the uncertainties surrounding distressed properties.

In addition, first-time buyers are also more likely to buy a foreclosure compared to a repeat buyer, according to the website.

Doorsteps.com provided three main reasons to explain this. For one, first-time buyers might have more of a reason to seek out discounted properties since they have a smaller budget. According to Doorsteps.com, first-time homebuyers spend an average of $154,100 on a home, which is $65,900 less that repeat buyers, who spend an average of $220,000.

According to the NAR, foreclosures sales offered an average discount of 15 percent compared to non-distressed sales in May.

First-time homebuyers might also have less of a reason to fear the unknown since it is likely they do not know as much about the buying process. In addition, with the abundance of foreclosures, first-time buyers might also view such properties as a “reasonable risk,” the website explained.

Data from Lender Processing Services showed there are a total of 4.56 million properties that are past due (includes delinquencies and foreclosure), of which 1.52 million are in foreclosure inventory as of May.

Source: DS News

Asking Home Prices Show Impressive Gain in June, Rents Pick Up

Asking home prices took off in June, soaring 10.7 percent year-over-year, Trulia reported Wednesday. Month-over-month, asking prices inched up by 1.5 percent and rose 4.1 percent on a quarterly basis. 

Rents rose at a slower pace of 2.8 percent year-over-year, though it was still the biggest increase since January. Trulia also tracked the 100 largest metro areas and revealed 99 markets experienced an increase in asking prices over the last year.

According to Trulia’s chief economist Jed Kolko, the increase in home prices and mortgage rates has added a significant cost to homeownership.

“In the past year, buying a home has become at least 20 percent more expensive,” said Kolko. “For young first-time homebuyers who don’t remember life during and before the bubble, these rising costs are a rude awakening.”

Rents rose at a slower pace of 2.8 percent year-over-year, though it was still the biggest increase since January.

Though, the scenario was reversed in Las Vegas; Oakland, California; and Sacramento, where asking prices shot up by at least 30 percent while rents saw a slight decrease over the last year.

Source: DS News

Chino Hills Single Family Home Price Trends

The graph below is the current year-over-year price trend for Chino Hills Original Price vs Sales Prices in Chino Hills. The data was pulled from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) which is used by all Realtors.

Time frame is from Aug 2012 to Jul 2013

Results calculated from approximately 1,100 listings (Single Family Homes)

If you want the current data for any surrounding areas to include (but not limited to) Diamond Bar, Chino, Pomona, Yorba Linda, Walnut, Corona, Upland or Rancho Cucamonga, call Howard Curry @ 714-323-1233. 

Just Closed Escrow! - Looking to Sell Your House in Chino Hills? Call Howard Curry @ 714.323.1233

Closed escrow on a Chino Hills REO (Fannie Mae - Homepath property) for my Buyers yesterday and in 45 days! 

Looking to Buy?  I have cash & pre-approved buyers.

If you want to close fast, call Howard Curry 714.323.1233 or visit http://chinohillsresidentialhomes.com/

Report: Housing Market 61% 'Back to Normal'

The housing market made it to 61 percent “back to normal” in May, according to the latest Housing Barometer from Trulia.

May’s percentage is the first time the recovery has passed 60 percent since the crash. April’s barometer was 54 percent. A year ago, the barometer was at only 35 percent.

The monthly report measures three key housing market indicators—construction starts, existing-home sales, and the delinquency-plus-foreclosure rate—to track how quickly the market is recovering to its normal, pre-bubble state.

All three metrics improved in May, with starts and sales rising and the delinquency/foreclosure rate falling.

According to the May report from the Census Bureau, starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000, up 7 percent from April but still below February and March. On the sales side, the National Association of Realtors reported a 4 percent increase in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million.

Overall, starts are about 43 percent back to their normal level of 1.5 million, while sales are 82 percent back to normal.

Meanwhile, the share of mortgages in delinquency or foreclosure dropped to 9.13 percent in May. The combined rate is 57 percent back to normal.

“The recovery has reached full-fledged teenager status, with awkward, sudden growth spurts and parents—the Fed—who now threaten to take away its allowance by winding down measures that pushed mortgage rates down to historic lows,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia. “Before long, the recovery should make it into adulthood, but it will face some grown-up challenges in the next couple of years:

1. still-tight mortgage credit for many borrowers,
2. a slow jobs recovery for young adults, and
3. unaffordable housing in large coastal markets.”


Source: DS News

Survey: Agents Expect Prices to Rise, but in Smaller Increments

In concurrence with many industry analysts, real estate agents expect price gains to mellow in the near future, according to survey results released by Redfin, a Seattle-based national brokerage.

Agents also harbor a positive outlook for sellers and a somewhat less positive outlook for buyers in the current market, according to Redfin’s Real-Time Agent Survey of 380 real estate agents.

Eighty-six percent of agents believe prices will rise over the next few months. The same percentage of agents say now is a good time to sell a home. Both of these categories have increased from the first quarter of the year to the second.

However, while a majority of agents expect price gains, a minority expect prices to “rise a lot.” The percent of agents who anticipate prices rising “a lot” in coming months fell from 44 percent in the first quarter to just 16 percent in the second quarter, according to Redfin’s survey.

Factors leading agents to view the current market as a seller’s market include low inventory and an observance of multiple offers on the same homes. Ninety-three percent of agents cited these buyer challenges in Redfin’s survey. While still a significant majority, this is down three percentage points from the first quarter.

On the other hand, the most commonly-cited obstacle for sellers—cited by 40 percent of survey respondents—is low appraisals.

In the current environment, a decreasing percentage of agents are advising buyers to “use aggressive strategies such as waiving contingencies and expanding their budget when facing a bidding war.” About 11 percent of agents admitted to using these strategies, as opposed to 15 percent in the previous quarter.

Source: DS News

Forecast Points to Steady Price Growth Led by California

When it comes to price appreciation, California markets are expected to continue leading growth over the next year, while certain markets concentrated in the Northeast should see a decline in home values, according to Veros Real Estate Solutions' most recent forecast ending June 1, 2014. The company's forecast covers 969 counties, 324 metro areas, and 13,502 zip codes.

 Source: DS News