Gevon Polgar - Real Estate

Building permits for single-family homes rose 1.8 percent in December to a rate of 444,000 units compared with November, according to a joint release by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Single-family housing starts rose 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000. An estimated 611,900 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2011. This is 1.2 percent above the 2010 figure of 604,600. Approximately 606,900 housing units were started in 2011. This is 3.4 percent above the 2010 figure of 586,900. Gevon Polgar

After getting the good news on a Friday night that their offer topped all the others on a foreclosure in Vacaville they wanted as their retirement home, Jack and Donna Pfister spent the weekend packing. But the following Tuesday they were told the bank had decided to go with an all-cash buyer, whose offer was $25,000 less than the $475,000 offer from the Pfisters. "My husband was heartbroken," said Donna Pfister, of Rodeo. "I was heartbroken because he was heartbroken. ... Right now, we both feel kind of let down." The Pfisters are far from alone. In the Bay Area, about one-fifth of all homes sold in July were purchased by absentee buyers, mostly investors looking for rentals or properties to fix up and then sell, according to DataQuick, a real-estate reporting service. About six out of 10 absentee buyer transactions (which can also involve second-home purchase) were all-cash purchases. In July 2010, absentee buyers accounted for 17.4 percent of home sa...

California pending home sales rose in June Pending home sales in California rose in June, according to C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)*. The index was 119.0 in June, an increase of 1.9 percent from May’s revised index of 116.8, based on contracts signed in June. The index also was up 4.4 percent from June 2010. Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market. “Pending home sales have improved in the last couple of months and the next few months should bring continued gains,” said C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce. “So much depends on the direction of the economy going forward. As for the makeup of the market, distressed sales continue to be a significant part of the market with the split between short sales and REO sales varying greatly across the state.” The total share of all distressed property types sold statewide was unchanged in June from May’s revised 47 perc...

LAW AGAINST SHORT SALE DEFICIENCIES EXPANDED In a major victory for REALTORS®, Governor Brown signed into law today a C.A.R.-sponsored bill, Senate Bill 458, prohibiting a deficiency after a short sale for one-to-four residential units, regardless of whether the lender is a senior or junior lienholder. Effective immediately for transactions closing escrow from this day forward, both senior and junior lienholders cannot require a borrower to owe or pay for a deficiency in a short sale. This law also prohibits any deficiency judgment to be requested or rendered for senior or junior liens after a short sale of one-to-four residential units. Any purported waiver of this rule shall be void and against public policy. Although a lender cannot require a borrower to pay any additional compensation in exchange for a short sale approval, the new law does not prohibit a borrower from voluntarily offering a monetary contribution to a lender in hopes of obtaining a short sale. A lende...

GSEs complete more than 1.6 million foreclosure-prevention actions Government-Sponsored Enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have completed more than 1.6 million foreclosure-prevention actions since the beginning of conservatorship in the fourth quarter of 2008, with more than half of the actions resulting in loan modifications, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s First Quarter 2011 Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance Report. According to the report, loan modifications declined for the third consecutive quarter, but resulted in larger payment reductions for more homeowners. Additional findings of the report include the following: Total completed foreclosure-prevention actions declined in the first quarter to 171,531 from 208,416 in the previous quarter, primarily driven by decreases in loan modifications and repayment plans. The GSEs’ completed loan modifications decreased to 86,201 from 119,778 during the first quarter. The cumulative total o...

When it comes to private mortgage insurance (MI), there are several myths that exist that make buyers reluctant to consider a conventional loan with MI as an option when purchasing a home. One of the more common misconceptions is that cancelling MI is a difficult—not to mention time-consuming—process. The irony is that the majority of buyers don’t harbor those same beliefs or reservations about an FHA insured loan when, in reality, FHA coverage may be less easily cancelled, or take longer to cancel, than MI. HPA Makes Cancellation Clearer When it went into effect as a new federal law, the Homeowners Protection Act (HPA) of 1998—which applies to both FHA and MI insured loans—required lenders and servicers to provide disclosures regarding MI for residential loans obtained on or after July 29, 1999. Prior to this, consumers were responsible for requesting MI cancellation if they met two factors: one, their loan balance was paid down to 80 percent of the property; and two, they had a g...

Foreclosure activity slows in April Foreclosure activity slowed in April, and foreclosure filings decreased in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Washington, according to ForeclosureRadar’s latest report. Foreclosure filings in California fell to lows not seen since fall of 2008. Notice of Default filings declined 25.8 percent, and Notice of Trustee Sale filings decreased 10.9 percent compared with March. On a year-over-year basis, foreclosure filings were down as well, with Notice of Default filings down 28 percent and Notice of Trustee Sale filings falling 31.2 percent from April 2010. Foreclosure sale cancellations rose 27 percent compared with March, and activity on the courthouse steps slowed. The average time to foreclose continued to climb, increasing 3.3 percent to 312 days.