Real Estate Information

The worst climate in housing since the Great Depression has put the economy- and homeownership- in the spotlight. Ohio's Joe the Plumber- whole livelihood is loosely tied to the real estate market- put Democratic hopeful Barack Obama on the defensive about the White House front-runner's tax policies. But the economic debate is far broader.

Who's got solutions for cascading home values and soaring foreclosures? The sickly stock market needs help, too. Plus, anyone got a cure for the huge loss of jobs, such as real estate and finance work that Joe the Plumber might possibly do?

Pundits suggest that global stock and bond market gyrations truly spooked voters and gave Obama a late boost past Republican John McCain. But the real estate- also in a heap of hurt- is a truly local phenomenon that factors into the pocketbook-heavy voting assumptions.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

In Laguna Niguel this week, the city is accepting applications for positions on various advisory panels. The Environmental Review Board, Investment Banking and Adult Committee, Parks and Recreation Commission, Planning Commission, Public Safety Committee, Senior Citizens Committee and the Traffic and Transportation Committee all have vacancies or will have after December 31. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. October 31 at City Hall.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

Rates on home equity products fell sharply. The average home equity line of credit- or HELOC- fell 36 basis points, to 5.48 percent. HELOC rates were expected to fall in response to the Federal Reserve's recent half-point emergency rate cut. Home equity loan rates plunged 27 basis points, to 7.85 percent.

The results of this past week's survey are skewed a bit because we've included a few different institutions because of JP Morgan Chase's acquisition of Washington Mutual. The survey looks at the Top Five "banks" and the Top Five "thrifts" in the Top 10 major markets. Because Washington Mutual is now JP Morgan Chase and is in the "bank" column, we've had to find other institutions to fill out the "thrifts" list. There is no other "thrift" as large as WaMu, so in various markets, smaller one shave been submitted.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

Mortgage rates exploded this past week in their biggest weekly rise in the Bankrate.com index in more than 21 years. The average 30-year fixed rate jumped 54 basis points, to 6.74 percent. A basis point in one-hundredth of a percentage point. The average 15-tear fixed soared 45 basis points, to 6.4 percent. The average jumbo 30-year fixed jumped 26 basis points, to 7.87 percent.

The one year adjustable-rate mortgage increased by 43 base points, to 6.32 percent. The 5/1 ARM moved up to 4 basis points, to 6.61 percent. Meanwhile, mortgage activity was up for the second straight week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the week ending October 10, mortgage activity rose a seasonally adjusted 5.1 percent. Refinancing activity was up 12.5 percent, while applications for new purchase fell by 0.3 percent.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

California State Senate Bill 1137 takes effect, dramatically impacting foreclosure filings.

Discovery Bay, CA, October 13, 2008- Foreclosure Radar (www.foreclosureradar.com), the only website that tracks every California foreclosure with daily auction updates; today issued its California Foreclosure Report for September 2008. Notice of Default filings, which indicate the start of the foreclosure process, fell 61.8 percent in September due primarily to new legislation that went into effect on September 8th. California State Senate Bill 1137 imposes significant new requirements on lenders prior to filing for foreclosure, and the drop indicates that the lenders were not ready the impact. The bill also affected new Notice of Trustee Sale filings, which dropped 47.3 percent from August. The bill did not directly impact foreclosure sales; however, the still fell by 12.4 percent.

The intent of the bill is to reduce foreclosure rates with one of the requirements being that lenders make contact with homeowners prior to filing a foreclosure, to ensure that they are aware of all their options. The bill requires lenders to make a series of attempts to contact homeowners, and then wait 30 days after either contacting the owner or fulfilling the required steps before filing the foreclosure notice. 

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

Mortgage rates jumped in Orange County today after the Federal Reserve did an emergency cut of its key Fed Funds rate half a point to 1.5%.

Al Hensling, head of loan brokerage United American Mortgage in Irvine, said there is no clear explanation for why mortgage rates spiked, but it often happens after a Fed cut. Later, as markets have time to digest the news, mortgage rates will stabilize and eventually dip, he said.

The best rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan up to the old conforming limit of $417,000 rose to 6% with a one-point fee, up from 5.75% earlier in the day, Hensling said.

And rates on larger loans up to nearly $730,000 climbed to 6.25% with a one point fee, up from 6%.

Fixed mortgage rates are only loosely associated with the Fed's short-term rate and are more directly tied to mortgage-backed securities, experts say.

However, the prime rate, which is the basis for home equity lines of credit, dropped to 4.5%. So borrowers with adjustable rates on their HELOCs will immediately benefit, Hensling said.

Hensling said there is a 50-50 chance that the Federal Reserve will cut rates again when it meets on Oct. 28.

 Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

Dataquicks latest stats show a $437,250 median selling price fo the 22 buisness days ended Septembe 19th. This is 26.6 percent below a yea ago when it was $595,500 and 32 percent less than June 2007's peak of $645,000.

The median selling price hasn't been this low since November of 2003. Only four of the 83 Orange County zip codes had price gains in this period. The deep discounting, however, is luring back shoppers as 2,808 Orange County homes were sold in the 22 buisness days ending September 19th. That is 41.2 pecent above the year-agos period's buying activity, a time when the credit crunch just meant a frozen mortgage market.

If this pace continues, September would mark the fastest rate of sales increase since May 1996. Sales, relatively speaking, are still sluggish. Since 1988, monthly sales have averaged 3,700- or 32 percent above the current pace.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

Consultants at Real Estate Economics in Irvine say they expect Orange County home prices to fall 1.7% in the next 12 months — and prices could again be appreciating within 18 months. The latest report suggests that the ailing market is turning and that such a rebound may be evident by mid-2009, based on REE’s own Orange County housing index. REE writes:

Though the index has been trending in positive market territory, the severity of the short term impact of price-slashed distressed properties, tightened credit and extremely low market psychology will continue to hinder market conditions for the balance of 2008. The over correction will eventually serve to restore buyer confidence.

Since the market has already reached equilibrium, this further decline reflects a housing market that is in the process of over correcting, due to the high foreclosure rate.

An over correction is common and lays the foundation for the next cycle. An over correction can continue for years, as it did in the late 1990s.

Mild price appreciation, within 18 months as foreclosure activity recedes and the credit crisis resolves.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home

Under the $8.7-billion loan workout program that Bank of America will announce today for Countrywide borrowers, interest rates will be slashed as low as 3.5% for some borrowers, and foreclosures will be frozen for thousands of borrowers who might qualify.

An estimated 125,000 Californians who are struggling with risky mortgages from Countrywide Financial Corp. may get their loans modified and payments reduced under a program to be announced today.

Bank of America said Countrywide mortgage-servicing employees would be trained to carry out the program by Dec. 1 and would then begin reaching out to eligible customers. The plan includes a foreclosure freeze for borrowers who are likely to qualify until Countrywide has determined their eligibility, the bank said.

The program will first identify customers who have fallen behind on their mortgages by more than 60 days or are likely to do so because of loan features such as rate or payment increases, said Benjamin Diehl, a California Department of Justice attorney. These customers will be contacted by Countrywide starting Dec. 1.

Various options will be considered for eligible customers, with employees handling the workouts instructed to first consider refinancing into a fixed-rate Federal Housing Administration loan, Diehl said.

The options on subprime mortgages also include keeping the initial rate for five or 10 years, having the borrowers pay interest only and reducing the interest rate to as low as 3.5%, Diehl said.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home