Foreclosures 24% Of 4Q 2011 US Home Sales

Residential properties linked to foreclosure--either in default, scheduled for auction or bank owned--represented 24% of all home sales in the fourth quarter.

The sale price of a foreclosed property averaged $164,944 in the fourth quarter, down 5% from a year earlier.

Looking ahead, expect to see foreclosure-related sales increase this year--particularly pre-foreclosure sales--as lenders start to more aggressively dispose of distressed properties.

Pre-foreclosure sales increased more than 20% from a year earlier in a handful of states during the fourth quarter, including Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.

Million-Dollar + Foreclosures

America’s wealthiest families are now losing their homes to foreclosure at a faster rate than the rest of the country — and many of them are doing so voluntarily.

Over 36,000 homes valued at $1 million or more were foreclosed on — or at least served with a notice of default — in 2011.

Out of all foreclosure activity, the share of foreclosures on properties valued at $1 million or more has risen by 115% since 2007 while the share of multi-million dollar foreclosures — or homes valued at more than $2 million — jumped by 273%. Meanwhile, the share of foreclosures on mid-range properties valued between $500,000 and $1 million fell by 21%.

In Miami, homes priced over $1 million represented 9% of all foreclosures last year.

Many high-end homeowners have chosen to pursue a “strategic default.” Even though they can afford the monthly mortgage payments, they still decide to walk away from their home because they owe more on the property than it is worth.

In million-dollar homes, you’re looking at people who can afford it, but they have to make a business decision: Does it make sense to make payments on a mortgage when the home is worth less than they owe? In many cases, it often makes more financial sense to walk away.

But don’t expect a few depressed mansions to bring down the neighborhood. A single foreclosure in an otherwise wealthy area is unlikely to impact surrounding values.

We're feeling a little better

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to the lowest point in almost four years last week, the latest signal that the job market is steadily improving.

A surge in apartment building offset a drop in starts of single-family homes, pushing housing starts up 1.5% in January from December.

The Labor Department says the producer price index, which tracks price changes before they reach the consumer, rose 0.1 percent. Wholesale prices fell by the same amount in December. In the past 12 months, they have increased 4.1 percent, the smallest rise in a year.

Florida gets the most attention

Many house hunters from locales such as New York and Chicago search for properties in the Sunshine State, according to a new report from Trulia.com.

The study used searcher’s IP addresses to identify location origin of prospective home buyers and renters from the Northeast and Midwest.

What they found was that for every home search that a resident made in another market, there were nearly nine home searches by out-of-towners for a place in Florida.

Developer / City still haggling over senior housing project

In 2007 63 percent of voters authorized the city "to lease real property of approximately four acres (deeded to Key West by the Navy) at the Truman Waterfront to a qualified operator or management company ... for a period of 99 years for the exclusive use as a mixed-income senior citizens assisted living and independent living facility." The nonprofit Florida Keys Assisted Care Coalition Inc. then selected a Rick Dover company as the desired developer, with Senior Solutions management group as the operator of the project.

Dover's company originally suggested 60 assisted living rooms or apartments, with 10 low-income units. The plan now calls for 70 assisted-living units, with 42 priced at market rates and 32 with the "moderate" designation. An additional 18 units would be priced in the "low income" range. All determination of such values is based on Key West Housing Authority standards.

Some of the sticking points over the approval are:

*The City's desire for a 49 year lease at $1 per year and a cost of $50,400 per   year thereafter. Dover wants the full 99-year lease at $1 per year.

*The city, wants appraisals of the fair market value costs for rooms, to determine what people will pay, with caps built into the lease. Dover rejects the idea of a cap.

*The city wants power over assignment of the lease, meaning the potential for Dover to have someone else take it over, for any reason or no reason at all. Dover wants the agreement to state that such assignment "shall not be unreasonably withheld."

Commissioners meet again on Feb. 7 and will discuss the project further.

Interest Rate Snapshot

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate (national average) is at 3.72%, down from 3.82% last week. The rate for a 15-year fixed home loan is at 3.01% down from 3.12%. The rate for a 5-1 adjustable-rate mortgage is 2.63%, down from 2.76%; a 5-1 ARM has an initial rate that applies for the first five years of the loan and then adjusts annually.

Obama "No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks"

With about 10.7 million U.S. borrowers, roughly 22 percent, of all outstanding loans underwater, the Obama Administration has declared that banks should cover the cost of a (new version) mortgage refinancing plan, "because they helped cause the crisis."

Three months ago, the White House loosened requirements on a federal effort, called the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, to make it easier for underwater homeowners with government-backed loans to lock into mortgages at lower rates. Cutting costs for borrowers whose mortgages are backed by government-run housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the new plan would be open to all borrowers who are current on their payments.

The Home Affordable Refinance Program, aka HARP 2.0, is a program to help underwater borrowers refinance to lower current rates.  HARP 1 was announced in March 2009, allowing borrowers up to 105 or 125% of amount owed to current market value.  But, less than 900,000 home owners have taken advantage of this program.  So President Obama announced an 2.0 version of the HARP program, with the hope of reaching more underwater borrowers.  The HARP 2.0 program essentially removed the 125% cap for the amount being underwater to unlimited.  The program took effect in Dec. 1, 2011 with only bank servicers allowing refinance until Fannie Mae can update their software to allow non-servicing lenders to originate these loans, expected by March 2012.