“US housing isn’t just cheap; it is the cheapest it has been in more than 40 years. And when one considers the possibility that inflation may rear its head soon, housing looks even cheaper still.

“… millions of properties are being held off the market. This “shadow inventory” is well-known (tens of thousands of people are living rent and mortgage-free in homes that the [...]]]> Charles Hugh Smith had a good read recently concerning the current state of the crippled housing market. A few snippets about how we got there:

“… millions of properties are being held off the market. This “shadow inventory” is well-known (tens of thousands of people are living rent and mortgage-free in homes that the banks have yet to even put in the foreclosure pipeline), so no one has any confidence that “the bottom is in.” Confidence cannot be restored until the market clears the inventory and a real bottom is established.”

Here’s another idea being tried that has worked brilliantly:

“Lower the rate that banks can borrow from the Fed to zero, and then pay the banks interest on all funds deposited at the Fed.

Hint: They can’t.

As repored:

“… the federal government is about to dump millions of the foreclosed homes at fire-sale prices to hedge funds and private-equity [...]]]> The Daily Reckoning had an interesting article yesterday about how ordinary investors can get in on bulk purchases of portfolios of REO Bank Owned properties sold at fire sale price.

Hint: They can’t.

As repored:

“… the federal government is about to dump millions of the foreclosed homes at fire-sale prices to hedge funds and private-equity firms with government connections. If you’re an individual investor who might like to get in on the action, forget it! You’re shut out of this deal.

Homeowners who might be interested in buying the foreclosure property next door? Out of luck. And retirees hoping for a return on their money more than 1.8% on a five-year CD find another avenue closed off.”

Well, folks, as George Carlin once said: “It’s a big club, and you’re not in it.”

We are back to buying REOs, mostly one property at a time, certainly at higher prices than the bulk sales envisioned above.

Be careful out there, folks. Seek experienced assistance.

The full article –

Imagine that.

The net effect is that the housing bust we have experienced so far is much worse than the NAR had originally reported:

“A [...]]]> The Wall Street Journal is reporting in 2 separate articles recently that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revised their last 5 years of sales data downward to reflect, apparently, reality.

Imagine that.

The net effect is that the housing bust we have experienced so far is much worse than the NAR had originally reported:

“A real-estate trade group said Monday it plans to lower its estimates of how many homes were sold in the U.S. since 2007, after analysts came up with evidence that the group was overestimating sales.

Earlier this year, outside analysts called into question some of the assumptions behind the trade group’s data. For example, Corelogic, Inc., an independent housing data firm, found a far smaller number of home sales by tracking property records through local courthouses.”

Links to both Wall Street Journal articles –

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/12/12/realtors-to-revise-2007-2011sales-data-down/

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/12/12/housing-bust-to-look-worse-with-sales-revised/

Apparently, for many, not too well:

“Zillow.com, the real estate information company, says the average price [...]]]> The Wall Street Journal had an article  on Tuesday worth considering. It revisits the subject of the tax credits to home purchasers offered by the Government back in 2009 and 2010 and analyzes how that all worked out.

Apparently, for many, not too well:

“Zillow.com, the real estate information company, says the average price of an American home fell again last month to $171,500 — the lowest level in eight years. That’s down 4.4% from a year ago, although it’s been about stable over the summer.

Now compare the average prices with those that people paid in 2009 and 2010, when they took advantage of the credits.

Zillow tracks prices closely in 157 cities and major towns around the country. Humphries says that in 110 of those, prices today are more than $8,000 lower than they were in June 2010.

The picture is even worse when you compare prices today with the average for the entire year-and-a-half that the credits were in place. By that measure, prices have fallen by more than $8,000 in about 130 cities and towns.”

The full article –

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-great-26-billion-real-estate-swindle-2011-11-08

]]> http://homebuyerpower.com/2011/11/10/the-great-26-billion-real-estate-tax-credit-swindle/feed/ 0 http://homebuyerpower.com/2011/09/30/baltimore-area-shadow-inventory-reported-at-50000-homes/ http://homebuyerpower.com/2011/09/30/baltimore-area-shadow-inventory-reported-at-50000-homes/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:44:44 +0000 admin http://homebuyerpower.com/?p=865 An article in the Baltimore Sun reported that, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, Baltimore’s “Shadow Inventory” of homes may be in the 50,000 range:

“Thousands of homes are on the market in the Baltimore region. But as the commercials say, wait — there’s more.

Tens of thousands of Baltimore-area homeowners are [...]]]> An article in the Baltimore Sun reported that, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, Baltimore’s “Shadow Inventory” of homes may be in the 50,000 range:

“Thousands of homes are on the market in the Baltimore region. But as the commercials say, wait — there’s more.

Tens of thousands of Baltimore-area homeowners are behind on their mortgage payments. At least some of their homes will end up on the market too, either as short sales or repossessed foreclosures.

California-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting, which does market research for homebuilders and banks, estimates this “shadow inventory” in the Baltimore region at 50,000 homes as of June. That’s how many properties the company believes will eventually become distress sales but aren’t yet listed.

“That equates to 14 months of supply based on the average resale sales volume for the area over the last 10 years,” Wayne Yamano, a vice president at John Burns, said in an email. “The U.S. average is about 9 months of shadow inventory in comparison.”

As Baltimore’s real estate market has historically been a good barometer of Ocean City’ market, it leads one to wonder what the “Shadow Inventory” number for Ocean City Maryland might be.

The full article –

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/blog/2011/09/firm_baltimorearea_shadow_inventory_at_50000_homes.html

“In July, Inside Mortgage Finance (or IMF) reported in its monthly Housing Pulse Survey report that 75% of investor purchases nationwide in June were all-cash transactions. These investors [...]]]> Business Insider has an excellent article, with strong analysis, commenting on the unprecedented cash buying trend we have seen since 2008. Just look at this stat:

“In July, Inside Mortgage Finance (or IMF) reported in its monthly Housing Pulse Survey report that 75% of investor purchases nationwide in June were all-cash transactions. These investors focused their attention on what IMF calls “damaged REOs.” The June survey revealed that 59% of damaged REO sales were to investors.”

Did I read that right? 75% of investor purchases were ALL CASH.

This article is worth a read, especially if you are an investor and your thoughts are to “beat” the yield of your local bank thu a real estate cash purchase.

The full article –

http://www.businessinsider.com/all-cash-buying-signals-demise-of-normal-housing-market-2011-9#ixzz1YPxdD3tD

“The actual, not seasonally adjusted, data suggests that the momentum of declining sales has leveled off. However, in order for the oversupply in distressed markets to be [...]]]> An interesting and very detailed analysis was posted yesterday on the Wall Street Examiner Web Site regarding the state of the U.S. housing market. A few snippets:

“The actual, not seasonally adjusted, data suggests that the momentum of declining sales has leveled off. However, in order for the oversupply in distressed markets to be absorbed, that’s not enough. Sales must increase. That is largely dependent on household formation, which in turn is dependent on growth in full time jobs. And that’s not happening.”

The full article is worth a read. Find it at -

http://wallstreetexaminer.com/2011/08/24/housing-time-bomb-goes-tick-tock-tick-tock/

“Third-party investors are much faster at reselling foreclosures than banks…

‘Our statistics clearly show that real estate investors continue to far outperform banks in dealing with distressed properties,’ said Sean O’Toole, CEO and founder of ForeclosureRadar.”

“Outperform”?

As buyer agents [...]]]> DSNews.com and ForeclosureRadar are reporting what many “on the ground” have observed for some time:

“Third-party investors are much faster at reselling foreclosures than banks…

‘Our statistics clearly show that real estate investors continue to far outperform banks in dealing with distressed properties,’ said Sean O’Toole, CEO and founder of ForeclosureRadar.”

“Outperform”?

As buyer agents we have observed that without a doubt, distressed investor properties are easier to work with, faster, and often better priced than bank properties.

The full article –

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/investors-outdo-banks-offloading-distressed-properties-report-2011-08-11

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The  HomeBuyerPower® Advantage

Why not have the unique knowledge, training and expertise of both a highly experienced Maryland real estate attorney AND broker working for you during your next resort property purchase? Joseph A. Warth is a licensed real estate broker and also a Maryland Bar attorney with over 2 decades of experience assisting Ocean City area buyers in the negotiation, purchase and closing process. His specialized services include Foreclosures, Bank-Owned and REO Purchase transactions. Joe founded HomeBuyerPower® to provide personalized EXCLUSIVE BUYER AGENCY services for Ocean City resort properties. This BUYERS ONLY approach ensures that you are served free from the influence and agendas of home sellers, home builders, mortgage lenders, and any other party but YOU. Contact Joe TODAY at 410.524.5000 for more information and for assistance with your home search.