http://chrisblesch.com/blog Chris Blesch's Southern California Real Estate Blog Thu, 01 Jan 2009 04:14:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Pace of home sales at California new-home communities was extraordinarily slow in October, primarily due to the global credit crisis, according to a recent California Building Industry Association report. The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI) New Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that new home sales in October were ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/credit-crisis-paralyzed-new-home-market-in-october/ Over the last few months, the Federal Reserve has reduced its key interest rate, the overnight LIBOR, to as low as 1 percent.  However, mortgage rates have not declined as dramatically.  One of the most commonly-followed indicators to determine where mortgage rates are headed is the yield on ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/how-interest-rates-are-set/ Due to the large number of foreclosures, many financial institutions have created mortgage modification programs to help homeowners in default modify their existing mortgage loans into fixed-rate, more affordable loans. Many banks are overwhelmed with borrowers applying for mortgage modifications, resulting in some private companies, real estate brokers, ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/beware-when-looking-for-forclosure-help/ Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced they will postpone foreclosure sales and evictions on occupied single-family residences that were scheduled to occur between Nov. 26, 2008 and Jan. 9, 2009.  During this time, the companies will streamline their mortgage modification programs, scheduled to launch Dec. 15.  Foreclosure ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-halt-foreclosures/ Calif. median home price - September 08: $316,480 Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region September 08: Santa Barbara So. Coast $935,000 Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region September 08: High Desert $159,720 Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Second Quarter 08: 48 percent Mortgage rates - week ending 11/13/08 30-yr. ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/the-latest-18/ Foreclosure filings -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- were reported on 279,561 U.S. properties in October, a 5 percent increase compared with the previous month and a 25 percent increase compared with October 2007, according to recent report from RealtyTrac®. One in every 452 U.S. housing ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/foreclosure-filings-up-25/ The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced a new loan modification program designed to reduce preventable foreclosures with a simplified, streamlined program to put struggling homeowners into mortgage they can afford. The goal is to have a uniform process for loan modifications that the majority of lenders and servicers will use. ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/fhfa-announces-foreclosure-mitigation-effort/ The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that the "new" conforming loan limit for 2009 will remain at $417,000 for most areas in the U.S., unchanged since 2006. Loan limits for high-cost areas, including California, are capped at $625,500, down from the previous $729,750 limit. Loan limits for many areas ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/new-conforming-loan-limits-announced/ Calif. median home price - August 08: $350,140 Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region August 08: Santa Barbara So. Coast $930,000 Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region August 08: High Desert $169,200 Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Second Quarter 08: 48 percent Mortgage rates - week ending 10/16/08 30-yr. ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/the-latest-17/ Housing production continued to decline in September, when 4,364 permits were pulled throughout California, down 32 percent compared with the same month a year ago and down 6 percent from August, according to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board. Single-family permits totaled 2,326, down 35 percent from September 2007 ... http://chrisblesch.com/blog/california-housing-production-decline-continues-in-september/