Closing the Transaction

A recent survey from the National Association of Realtors found that closing a sale on time has become a greater challenge in recent months. In May of this year, over 70% of survey respondents reported that closing on time was not a major obstacle. This number dropped slightly over the summer, down to around 65%. In the most recent survey, however, only 47% reported their transaction generally closed on time. Some of the biggest obstacles to closing on time were financing challenges and appraisal problems.

What does this mean for the home buyer or seller? Don't expect that everything will progress with any obstacles, and make sure you have an agent that is prepared to deal with any challenges that may arise. Be realistic with your timeline and be proactive in checking in on the progress of the transaction.

10 Cities Where its Cheaper to Buy than Rent

From the Wall Street Journal:

In Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, and St. Louis you would have a lower montly payment on a median priced house if you purchased a home compared with renting.  Portland did not make the list, but many of my first time hombuyers in Vancouver lowered their monthly payment when they purchased a home. 

When deciding whether or not to buy a house, one thing many people overlook is that while rents will continue to rise along with inflation, your mortgage payment is "inflation-proof" and will remain constant. 

If you are thinking about buying a home, call me today and let me help you find your new home!

New Home Sales Continue Positive Trend

Data released today from the National Association of Homebuilders showed the third straight month of improving sales in new construction.  In October, 307,000 new homes sold across the US, while the number of homes available remained steady at 162,000.  Total inventory is significantly down.  In October 2010, there were 200,000 new homes available.  At the current rate of absortion, the existing new homes would last 6.3 months, down from 8.5 months supply in October 2010.

Thinking of buying a new home?  Check out these search results for new homes in Vancouver and new construction in NE Portland from http://www.johnblomhomes.com/.

Places to Stay Cool

With temperatures in the upper 80s today and tomorrow, it's a perfect day to head to the nearest river, lake, or pond and keep cool in the water!  Not sure where to go?  Here are 5 places in the Vancouver area to splash around on a hot day! Click on the links for more information and directions! 

Plan ahead for next summer: check out these homes in Vancouver with a pool!!!

Klineline Pond - a sandy beach, roped swimming area, and floating deck makes Klineline a great place to keep cool!

Wintler Park - set on the Columbia River, Wintler Park has 12.5 acres of recreational area to enjoy.

Battle Ground Lake State Park - warm up with over four miles of hiking trails, than jump in the lake to cool off!

Sandy Swimming Washougal River - launch your boat for a day on the Washougal River, or just relax on the swimming beach.

Lewisville Park - over 154 acres of playground, sports fields, trails, plus a swimming beach on the Lewis River.

Posted by:
John Blom, Broker
Your Vancouver WA Realtor
(360) 977-8329

New Listing - Duplex

Great investment opportunity!  Two adjacent townhomes:  each unit is 1450+ square feet with oversized garage and has 3 bedroom plus 2.5 baths.  Quiet, cul-de-sac location conveniently located in desirable Salmon Creek/Felida near shopping and I-5/I-205.  Only a couple years old and the builder is cleaning and repainting the interiors, so they will truly be like new!  Listed at $289,000 and each unit previously rented for $1150-$1200. 


14008 NE 7th Ct
Vancouver, WA 98685

Call John Blom to schedule a showing!
(360) 977-8329
johnblom@hasson.com

Update: Vancouver Inventory

Based on a large number of e-mails that went out to Realtors this morning, it appears that the RMLS compliance board is going to put short sales with an offer under more scrutiny.  According to the e-mail, if a short sale is still listed in "Active" status, any additional offers must be sent to the bank.  If additional offers are going to be held in backup position only, the listing must be marked "pending." 

The majority of buyers who write an offer on a short sale stipulate that any subsequent offers must be held as a backup, so most short sale properties with an offer should be marked pending.  In a previous post, I commented that there were currently 248 "active" short sale listings that had an offer submitted to the bank.  If the RMLS follows through on enforcing these guidelines, most of these should be marked as pending.  With 2027 total "active" listings, if at least 200 of those short sales are only accepting backups that would reduce the inventory in Vancouver by 10%

Foreclosure Rate at Lowest Point Since 2007

The Mortgage Bankers Association released their quarterly mortgage deliquency suvery today.  While much of the media is focusing on the slight increase in overall deliquency during the 2nd quarter of 2011, which rose to 8.44 percent of all oustanding loans, this is only part of the picture. 

This deliquency rate remains significantly lower than the 2nd quarter of 2010: while deliquency rose 12 basis points over 1st quarter 2011, it is 144 basis points lower than the 2nd quarter of last year.  The deliquency rate includes all oustanding mortgages that are at least 30 days late, but not in foreclosure.  Serious deliquencies, loans that are more than 90 days past due, dropped compared with the previous quarter and the same quarter last year.  Foreclosure starts dropped to the lowest level since 2007 and foreclosure inventory is the lowest since 3rd quarter 2010. 

According to the MBA's chief economist, "While some have argued that this drop in foreclosures is a temporary drop which does not reflect the problems yet to come, this does not appear to be the case, at least at the national level.  There are still problem loans that need to be resolved, but the idea that there is a growing backlog of loans being held back from foreclosure is simply not supported by these numbers."
It will be important to see whether this increase in deliquencies starts a new negative trend, or whether this rise was a temporary setback.

Read the MBA press release here.

Posted by John Blom, Broker
Hasson Company Realtors
johnblom@hasson.com

Real Inventory in Vancouver

One of the most common statistics used to determine the health of the real estate market is Months of Inventory.  This number is found by taking the number of homes that are currently listed and dividing by the average number of sales per month to show how long the current pool of homes for sale would last if no additional homes came on the market.  For example, if there are 100 homes listed and an average of 10 homes per month are sold, 100 homes/10 sold per month = 10 months of inventory.  Pretty simple, right?  Well, not really...

Currently in Vancouver WA, there are 2027 homes listed as "active" the RMLS.  In the last 3 months there have been 964 sales, so an average of 321 sales per month.  2027 / 321 = 6.3 months of inventory.  In reality, though, not all 2027 homes are actually available.  Of the homes currently marked as "active" in the RMLS, 248 are short sales that have at least one, if not multiple offers, already submitted to the bank for approval.  That's over 10% of all active listings! Another 259 homes are new construction listings that are either "proposed," meaning the builder intends to build that house at some point, or "under construction," which means the house is not move-in ready.  Some of these might be ready within a couple weeks, but others might be several months from completion. 

If you take out the short sales with offers submitted and the proposed/new constrution homes, the actual amount of standing inventory is only 1,520.  At the current pace of sales, based on the last three months, that means there is only 4.7 months of inventory, not 6.3!

In statistical terms, when there is more than 6 months of inventory is considered a "buyer's market."  If inventory is below 4 months it is a "seller's  market."  Stabilization of inventory will lead to a stabilization of housing prices, the first step towards recover in the real estate market. 

If you are considering taking advantage of the low interest rates to make a home purchase, now is a great time!  To start your home search and receive daily updates with new listings, e-mail johnblom@hasson.com or give me a call at (360) 977-8329.

Showing Activity Up 8/1-8/7

For the week of August 1st through August 7th, showing activity in SW Washington increased 2.4% over the previous.  Over 3100 houses were shown last week, the highest number since the week of May 9th.

Walnut Grove HOA - Ultimate Care Free Living

The homeowners association at Walnut Grove Estates provides totally care free living since all exterior maintenance, including landscaping, watering, gutter cleaning, plus siding and roof care.  With homes starting at $169,900, there is no better value in new construction on the market.  Low HOA fees of $50/month covers all the following:

Landscaping

·         Watering – front and back yard

·         Mowing – front and back yard

·         Lawn re-seeding and repair

·         Sprinkler maintenance

·         Barkdust replacement

·         Weeding

Building/Structural

·         Gutter repair and cleaning

·         Vinyl siding repair and cleaning

·         Fence repair

·         Roof moss removal and treatment

·         Reserve for roofing replacement

Common area

·         Road maintenance

·         Common area cleaning and pest control

Quality Building Features to Keep HOA Costs Low

·         Through and through color vinyl siding

·         30 year architectural roofing shingles

·         Long life vinyl fence

·         Powder coated aluminum eaves

For information on available homes, call John Blom at (360) 816-2627.

John Blom, Broker
Hasson Company Realtors
Your Vancouver WA Realtor

Home Price Projections Positive for Pacific NW

Although national projections for home values remain grim, recent analysis of our local market is significantly better.  While analysts project prices in Miami may drop another 20%, they expect to see prices in the Pacific NW remain stable over the next seven months, followed by rapid gain in the next two years.  Prices in Tacoma are expected to rise to 25% by March 2013, while Seattle and Portland could see 10% annual increases between March 2012 and March 2014.

According to the David Stiff, the Chief Economist for Fiserv, a real estate market research and analysis firm: "Homes are undervalued in the Northwest.  The economy is diverse and the demographics strong. It has tech, manufacturing and extractive industries (like lumbering and mining) and people are still moving into the area."  Read the full article here.

Don't wait for prices and interest rates to start rising...if you are considering buying a new home, now is a great time to start looking.

To receive daily updates with new listings, contact me at johnblom@hasson.com or call me at (360) 816-2627!

John Blom
Your Vancouver WA Realtor

New Listing - Battle Ground

New listing in Battle Ground with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, plus a den and nearly 3000 square feet.  Open floorplan and upgraded finishes throughout.  Master suite features vaulted ceiling, soaking tub with tile surround, separate tile, and walk-in closet.  RV parking.  Built in 2008, not a short sale or bank-owned.  Lease option available, call for more details. 

View Photo Slideshow

MLS #11117948
http://johnblom.hasson.com/

Call John for more details: (360) 977-8329
johnblom@hasson.com

Distressed Property Stats

The Regional Multiple Listing Service released statistics for distressed property sales for 2010, some of which contradicts common impressions of the local market.  Despite the sentiment that bank-owned and short-sale properties are the only segment of the market that is active, the number of non-distressed sales is closely proportionate to the number of non-distressed new listings.  For each quarter of 2010, non-distressed listings represented between 56.8% and 71.1% of all new listings.  The percentage of non-distressed sales ranged from 59.5% to 70.7%. 

In each quarter, the number of closed short sales was smaller percentage than new short sale listings, reflectign the challenges that go with these transaction.

Least surprising of the data was the high number of bank-owned properties that sold.  In the first quarter, only 8.9% of all new listings were bank-owned, but 22.9% of all closed sales were bank-owned. 

Bank owned properties continue to provide the best value for buyers who are willing to come in and do a little work, as these homes are usually in need of some TLC.  If you are interested in getting a list of bank-owned properties, e-mail me at johnblom@hasson.com. 

-John Blom
Your Portland and Vancouver WA Realtor

New Housing Starts

Data on New Building Permits and Housing Starts was released today and continued the trend of mixed market news.  Both permits and starts increased significantly of February, but both were lower than the March 2010 data.  The western region saw a greater increase in month-to-month starts, with March up over 27% from February, but a greater decline in year-to-year starts, down 18% from last year. 


New Permits (seasonally adjusted):

• March 2011 - 594,000
• February 2011 - 534,000
• March 2010 - 685,000

New Housing Starts (seasonally adjusted):

• March 2011 - 549,000
• February 2011 - 515,000
• March 2010 - 634,000

If you are thinking about buying new construction or building a home, give me a call (360-977-8329) or send me an e-mail at johnblom@hasson.com.  I can help you walk through the pros and cons of new construction and help you find the builder and location that is right for you!

Search for New Homes

John Blom
Your Porltand and Vancouver WA Realtor

New Custom Home in Felida

This custom, to-be-built home in Felida has the features you want: hardwood floors, slab granite, a spa-like master bath, theater/game room, and a perfect floor plan. No more going up and down stairs with a master bedroom on the main floor. Open kitchen/living room with soaring, vaulted ceilings featuring exposed beams and a cultured stone fireplace. Three additional bedrooms upstairs, plus a large bonus room. Desireable neighborhood, just blocks from Felida Park. Built by Dar Mar Homes Inc, "Custom Home Dreams Within Your Means." Plan can be customized to fit your needs.

Can be built on your lot as well, or we can help you find the perfect lot to build your dream home.

View Video Tour...Call today to schedule your new home consultation!

John Blom
Your Vancouver WA Realtor
(360) 977-8329
johnblom@hasson.com

Open House Today - 1 to 5 PM

New construction featuring master on the main, great room with gourment kitchen, and all the features you want. Buy this home or have it built on your lot!

• 4 Bedrooms/3 Bathrooms
• 3,215 square feet
• 3 Car Garage
• Hardwood Floors
• Travertine Tile
• Slab Granite Countertops
• Full Listing Details and Photos

Search for additional Vancouver WA New Construction

-John Blom, Your Portland and Vancouver WA Realtor

HomePath Program for Investors

If you have ever considered purchasing an investment property, the HomePath Mortgage program is a great program for getting started. Available on certain bank owned properties, a HomePath mortgage allows you to purchase an investment property with as little at 10% down (compared with 20%-25% with conventional financing). The program also has a higher cap on seller-paid closing costs than conventional loans, allowing you to purchase a property with less cash out of your pocket. These loans do not require an appraisal, and there is no mortgage insurance on the loan, which are available as both fixed or adjustable-rate.

Click here to view properties that are eligible for HomePath investment financing.

For more information, or to set an appointment to view one of these homes give me a call!

John Blom - Your Portland and Vancouver WA Realtor

Reading Your Market Report

Request a Free Neighborhood Market Report

John Blom, Your Vancouver WA Realtor

Showing Activity Up in Clark County

Showing activity increased 2.5% in Clark County for the week ending 2/27/2011 compared with the previous week. There were 2,926 showings between 2/20 and 2/27. Activity has remained fairly consistent throughout most of 2011.

For more information on Homes for Sale in Vancouver WA, call me today!

-John Blom, Your Portland and Vancouver WA Realtor

Grand Opening - Model Home at Hunter Ridge Estates

Hasson Company and Cascade West Development are please to announce the opening of the model home at Hunter Ridge Estates on Prune Hill. Tomorrow, from 10 AM to 5 PM, Cascade West will unveil a the model home in an extended open house. The event, sponsered by NW Natural, US Bank, and Sunset Mortgage, will include refreshments and a grand prize drawing for a 4 night stay at Las Mananitas Resort in San Jose del Cabo!

Hunter Ridge Estates is a an upscale, gated community located at the top of Prune Hill in Camas. Starting in the $400,000s, Cascade West has many plans to choose from and can customize plans to meet your needs, or start from scratch to design your dream house.

Search for New Homes in Camas WA.

If you considering building in Vancouver WA, call me today at (360) 977-8329 to talk about the many possibilities!

John Blom - Your Vancouver WA Realtor

Home Energy Calculator

If you are thinking about buying a new home and want to estimate what you energy bills will be, or if you want some suggestions on ways to reduce your monthly expenses, the Department of Energy has an online Home Energy Saver that does both!

Start by going to http://hes.lbl.gov/consumer/ and enter your zip code. On the following pages, fill in as much information as you have about the house (size, type of windows, insulation levels, etc) as well as current energy pricing. If you don't have this information, estimate the best that you can (HINT: On my last statements, Clark Public Utilities charged 7.98 cents per kilowatt hour. NW Natural charged $1.077 per therm). Once you entered all the information, it will provide you with an estimate of your annual energy expenses.

The next page will give you suggestions on potential upgrades, as well as estimates on what each project could save you annually.

If you are a homeowner, be sure to keep records for any major energy upgrades you make, as those can be a helpful selling tool next time you move!

Average Remodel Costs and Return

Remodel Magazine recently released its annual cost vs. value report that compares the average price for various remodelling projects with the estimated value the project adds to the home. In addition to national and regional averages, the report includes reports for 80 US cities, including Portland. So what projects bring the best and worst returns?

According to the Remodeling Costs vs Value Report 2010-2011, one of the best projects you can do is replacing old siding with new, fiber-cement product. In Portland, the average cost for this project was $13,685 and increased the value of the home by $10,546, a 77.1% return. Other projects that bring a great return are remodelling an attic or basement, replacing your entry door with a new, steel door, and a midrange, major kitchen remodel. All of these projects provide near or over 70% return on investment.

What projects are the worst? In general, upscale remodels do not provide as good a return. An upscale master suite addition provides less than 50% return. An upscale major kitchen remodel comes with a high price tag...on average over $114,000, while returning less than $66,000.

In any project, there are lots of ways to save money. Find a contractor that will let you do some of the work yourself, such as painting or removing old cabinets. Do your homework! Research various products before talking to a contractor and get quotes from several different companies before starting your project.

To read the full Costs vs. Value Report, go to http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2010/costvsvalue/national.aspx

Local Market Conditions in Vancouver

The real estate market as a whole did not do well in 2010 - closed sales declined 4.8% and average sales price dropped 0.7%. Not all neighborhoods in Vancouver and SW Washington felt the pain equally. Average sale price increased in Camas (6.8%), North Hazel Dell (6.4%), and North Salmon Creek (11.8%), compared with 2009. The number of pending sales in both Hazel Dell and Salmon Creek were significanty higher than they were in December 2009, indicating that the market in those neighborhoods has started its recovery.

Other neighborhoods saw a far more dramatic decrease in price, compared with the area average. In the SW Heights, although the number of pending sales in 2010 increased 19.7% over 2009, the average sales price dropped 46.4%. This combination of falling prices but increased sales activity should result in a a higher average sale price in the upcoming year, making the SW Heights an attractive investment for savvy buyers.

New Home Sales Up 17.5%

New home sales rose dramatically in December 2010 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 329,000! This represents at 17.6% increase over the November rate. The most substantial increase occurred in the Western region, where estimated sales rose from 64,000 in November to 110,000. Nationwide, inventory of new homes dropped from 8.4 months in November to 6.9 months in December.

Housing Provisions Under the New Tax Law

In December, President Obama signed into law the "Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010." Although most of the publicity over this bill dealt with the extension of the income tax cuts established during President Bush's time in office, the bill also dealt with several tax provisions that affect housing issues. Here are the key points:

• A $2,000 tax credit for home builders that build highly energy efficient homes was extended (retroatively for 2010 and also for 2011).
• Private mortage insurance (PMI) will continue to be tax deductible on mortgages taken out after December 31, 2006 for those making less than $100,000 a year. The deduction is phased out for people making between $100k and $110k, and those making more than that are no eligible for the deduction.
• Perhaps the most popular tax credit program, which gave up to $1,500 for energy efficient remodel projects, was extended, but in sharply reduced form. The credit is currently maxed at $500, which includes any credit claimed on previous years taxes. So, if you claimed the full credit on last year's taxes, you would not be eligible for any credit on this year's. Furthermore, the credit is now only 10% of the cost of material (previously this was 30%). Other items, such as fans, hot water tanks, and HVAC components have a fixed dollar amount.

If you have questions about how any of these provisions might affect you, talk to your tax preparer or accountant.

December Market Report

The market stats for last month continue to be mixed. The good news: pending sales in December increased 4.5% over December 2009, and both closed and pending sales increased over November 2010 (16.8% and 0.5%). Combined with a drop in the number of new listings, the estimated months of inventory dropped to 9.1, compared with 11.7 in November 2010.

The bad news: both average and median sale prices dropped from both December 2009 and November 2010. Closed sales also dropped 17.8% from December 2009.

By every statistical measure, 2010 proved to be a more challenging year for real estate than 2009. The total number of closed sales dropped 4.8% while the average price decreased by 0.7%. The median price declined 1.7%.

There have been some other positive indicators in the economy in the last few weeks. The stock market has been consistently climbing, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% in December. If we continue to see improvement in the employment data in the coming months, it would indicate that 2011 will be a recovery year in the real estate market.

More on the Double-Dip

The National Association of Homebuilders blog has a great piece on the recent Case-Shiller Housing Price Index. It explains why the recent release is not as catastrophic as some have made it out to be:

"The high volatility in house prices over the past 20 months is a side effect of the government assistance programs that have attempted to stem the decline in house prices and assist the recovery in the housing demand. The introduction and subsequent expiration of homebuyer tax credits provided a short boost to housing demand followed by a downturn. Overall, the tax credits were effective in stopping the free fall in house prices, and, despite the volatility in the HPI over the past 20 months, have led to an increase in overall house prices, with the CS20 index up 4% and the CS10 up 6% from their low in April 2009."

Read the full article here.

Are We in for a Double-Dip?

Last week Standard & Poor/Case-Schiller released their monthly index of home prices and the news was not good. In their 20 city composite, average sale price dropped by 0.8% in October. This followed a 1.5% drop in September. This has led some economic analysts to predict home prices are going to continue to decline, essentially a double-dip, in 2011. The chart below (from S&P) shows the change in home prices over the last twenty years. Note: this chart is not actual home prices, but hte amount of change over the preceding year.

You can see the rate of growth in home prices began to decline in 2006, and prices actually dropped in mid-2007. In 2009, the rate of decline started to slow and prices went up early in 2010. However, following the expiration homebuyers tax credit this postive trend reversed.

While this is certainly not good news, its perhaps not as terrible as some analysts have observed. Sales of new homes and existing homes grew over 5% in November, the same period as the drop in the Case-Schiller Index. The NAR sales index showed median prices actually increasing 1.2% over November 2009.

Real Estate Professor Susan Wachter from the University of Pennsylvania said in an interview with Bloomberg that while the months ahead may be bumpy, we should not expect a "double-dip" in home prices. She believes that we are still seeing some of the effects of the tax credit, but by the second half of 2011 the market will begin to improve.