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