Upscale home sales lag as jumbo loans are hard to get.

Upscale home sales lag as jumbo loans are hard to get.

WASHINGTON – July 15, 2009 – More than four months after the Obama administration launched its housing rescue plan, scores of lenders are focused on rewriting mortgage loans to make them more affordable.

But one demographic is being largely ignored: homeowners with higher-price loans, which his hrting sales and affecting realtors in Jupiter.

They don’t qualify for mortgage modifications under the Obama plan. They can’t get today’s low interest rates if they try to refinance. And with newly cautious lenders warier about who they lend to, just try to sell a home that costs $730,000 or more these days. In many cases, finding a buyer who can get financing takes far longer than for lower-price homes, because banks want as much as 30 percent down and six months of mortgage payments in reserve.

The result is a housing market in which sales and purchases of higher-price homes have come almost to a standstill, and it’s a predicament that could undermine the housing recovery. Move-up buyers (homeowners who want to buy larger, pricier homes) are getting locked out by lack of financing. Too many unsold homes in the top tier of the market also can push down prices for homes in the midprice range. Realtors in Stuart have reported that the recent boo in sales has not yet hit the higher priced market.

“We need to have a market recovery in all segments,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors (NAR). “If the high-end market weakens, those in the middle have to reduce prices.” Prices on luxury water front homes have dropped over the past few months report several realtors in  Jupiter Island

While the number of homeowners with higher loans is small relative to the entire market, Yun says, “All of Middle America is undoubtedly impacted.”

Jumbos and super-jumbos

Bigger loans, known as jumbo loans, come in three types.

Loans up to $417,000 are considered “conforming,” and can be sold to mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which also guarantee them when they resell those mortgages to investors. But after that, the situation is more complex.

Loans between $417,000 and $729,750 are “conforming jumbo,” and loans above $729,750 are “super-jumbo.” Fannie and Freddie back only conforming jumbos, and what qualifies as conforming can vary depending on location. In San Francisco, Fannie and Freddie will back loans up to $729,750. In Atlantic City, the maximum is $453,750.

Lenders are leery of making loans above the amount that Freddie and Fannie will guarantee, because if a jumbo loan borrower defaults, it’s harder for a bank to quickly sell a higher-end foreclosed property. And because Freddie and Fannie don’t buy non-conforming jumbo loans, there’s less of a secondary market for super-size loans.

States with the highest percentages of jumbo mortgages include Hawaii, California and New York, as well as the District of Columbia. In New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, Connecticut, Washington, Nevada and Florida, jumbos account for 10 percent or more of all loans.

Jumbo loans aren’t just for the very rich: In some pricey areas, $500,000 may buy only a modest single-family house or condo.

Sales of higher-price homes have slowed to a glacial pace, driving the supply of homes for sale above $750,000 from 18.7 months in 2007 to 41.1 months in 2009, according to NAR.

With home values still falling in many areas, borrowers who took out jumbos a few years ago are finding they can’t refinance, and their mortgages are sliding into default. The number of jumbos 90 or more days delinquent reached 4.83 percent in March 2009, up from 1.68 percent in March 2008, says First American CoreLogic.

That trend is helping spread the foreclosure crisis from real-estate-bubble markets, such as California and Florida, where the housing crisis started, to other areas. Data from First American CoreLogic show that delinquency rates on jumbo mortgages under $1 million have more than doubled in areas such as Atlanta, St. Louis and Portland, Ore.

Some cities with high percentages of jumbo loans that are 90 or more days delinquent include Merced, Calif., Muncie, Ind., and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.

It’s been a costly situation for Victor Montalvo-Lugo, a clinical program manager at MedImmune in Gaithersburg, Md. He and his wife, Janette, bought a $1.6 million home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in late 2005. He moved to Maryland for the MedImmune post in December, contracting for an $800,000 home to be built by late August. But with the California house on the market for weeks, he’s had no luck selling, even asking $1.05 million.

If he can’t sell that home before a company buy-out option expires, Montalvo-Lugo worries about the financing on the new one. A similar but smaller home down the block from his in California is listed in the $900,000s, forcing him to lower his initial asking price. “I’m very concerned. We are already listing for less than what we owe,” Montalvo-Lugo says. “We lost all of the initial equity, and we owe the bank more than we will get.”

Pressure on prices

Those with jumbo loans who lose a job or have an adjustable-rate mortgage that resets to a higher amount are struggling. But help is scarce: Under the Obama housing rescue plan, homeowners with loans above $729,750 aren’t eligible for mortgage modifications. Lenders may make such modifications on an individual basis, however.

Many homeowners in higher-end markets are finding they must drastically lower prices to try to get buyers. From July 1, 2008, to July 1, 2009, nearly 26 percent of homes on the market for more than $1 million have seen price reductions, and the average reduction is 13 percent off the asking price, according to real estate information provider Trulia. Homes on the market for less than $1 million have seen an average reduction of 9 percent off the asking price.

“What you’re seeing are those properties sitting on the market for a lot longer because people can’t get loans,” says David Kerr, a ZipRealty agent in the San Francisco area. “I got a call about a property in Berkeley for more than $1 million and almost fell out of my chair. All of what we’re showing is in the $200,000 to $300,000 price range.”

Jumbos are still being offered at Investors Savings Bank in Short Hills, N.J. But demand has slacked off because those taking out or refinancing jumbo loans must pay higher interest rates than other borrowers, says Richard Spengler, chief lending officer. Rates on jumbos are hovering around 6 percent, vs. 5.20 percent on a 30-year, fixed conventional loan.

The bank requires down payments of 20 percent to 30 percent, depending on the size of the jumbo. Spengler says many banks have gotten out of jumbo lending because of the lack of a secondary market. Investor Savings Bank keeps jumbos it issues in its own portfolio.

The overall stagnation in the market has a spillover effect on the economy. NAR estimates the slump in the jumbo home loan market has led to a $42 billion decline in economic activity.

That’s because borrowers who take out jumbos have much higher incomes than a typical borrower (an average $207,600 in 2007, says NAR’s most recent data) and when they buy a home, they spend a lot to furnish it. When sales of costly homes slow, sellers of furniture, carpeting, flooring and appliances get hurt.

Z Gallerie, a home merchandise retailer, is the latest in a string of higher-end stores to feel pinched. The store filed for bankruptcy-court protection from creditors in April, citing a severe sales drop. January sales were down 19 percent from a year earlier.

“The high-end retailers are being impacted,” says Gary Drenik at BIGresearch, a consumer intelligence firm. “When people buy a home, home-improvement and related sales go up.”

Those who can buy higher-end homes are seeing their discretionary income further whacked by strict lending conditions. Lenders are requiring some borrowers seeking to finance 80 percent of their home purchase keep 40 percent of the total loan value in a reserve account, says Michael Tooker, a mortgage planning specialist for Valley Private Mortgage Group in Scottsdale, Ariz. On a $1 million loan, “that’s $400,000 in reserve,” he says. “Some want six months total debt service in reserve. It’s so arbitrary.”

Camille Swanson, a Realtor at Realty Executives in Phoenix, can relate to the struggle. After selling her home, she fell in love with a foreclosed stacked-stone home in the desert that had been abandoned. But she discovered that no lender wanted to give her a jumbo loan on a property that needed so much renovation.

Swanson is almost finished obtaining a loan for the new place with an approval up to $640,000, but details are still being negotiated. With her 20 percent downpayment, the total investment will be $800,000. She approached five lenders as far as Washington before finding one in her area to give her a loan. She didn’t need money in reserve because of her retirement assets. “For them, it’s an issue of risk,” Swanson says.

Raising the roof

Real estate groups such as the NAR are pressuring Congress and the Obama administration to increase the jumbo loan limits that Fannie and Freddie will guarantee and make them permanent. Current amounts were raised in 2008 and are set to expire Dec. 31. They also want the Federal Reserve to buy jumbo-backed securities because Freddie and Fannie can’t. The hope is that Fed purchases would create enough of a secondary market for these loans so banks would be more open to lending higher amounts.

Meanwhile, in jumbo-heavy markets, homeowners are increasingly frustrated by their inability to sell. They can’t relocate for jobs or retirement. They can’t unload vacation homes that they may now struggle to afford this could be hurting realtors in Sewalls Point.

One such homeowner is Robert Westover, who works for the federal government in Washington, D.C. He’s been trying for months to sell a home in Hawaii with an ocean view. He bought it for $585,000 six years ago; it was valued at $1.1 million during the real estate peak in 2006. But there are no offers. He planned to list it for $940,000, but his Realtor suggested $890,000. Then he lowered it to $850,000. At one point, a potential buyer came forward but had no financing.

“It’s just been tough. It was getting crazy,” says Westover, 45, who now is taking the home off the market and renting it instead. “I hope I’ve learned a lesson, which is don’t put anything on the market in this economy. Most people who have homes in the jumbo (price range) are reliable, pay bills. Why are we suffering while the government gives help to everyone else?”

June housing construction rises unexpectedly

  WASHINGTON (AP) – July 17, 2009 – Construction of new U.S. homes rose in June to the highest level in seven months, a sign builders are starting to regain confidence as they emerge from the housing bust good news for realtors in Port St Lucie

The Commerce Department said Friday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 3.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000 units, from an upwardly revised rate of 562,000 in May.

That was better than the 530,000-unit pace economists expected, and the second straight increase after April’s record low of 479,000 units.

In another encouraging sign, applications for building permits, seen as a good indicator of future activity, rose 8.7 percent in June to an annual rate of 563,000 units. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected an annual rate of 520,000 units.

The jump in housing starts reflected a more than 14 percent rise in construction of single-family homes. Recent reports on waterfront condos on Hutchison Island show an increase in sales over the past few months as reported by several realtors on Hutchison Island.

 I  have been involved in the property and building industry for 30 years. My experience together with my personal knowledge of the market in Florida is an extremely valuable asset to have working for you in your search for a Florida vacation home or investment property.I would be happy to act as your Realtor in Jensen Beach Florida. http://kenduncanrealtor.com/

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Florida’s existing home, condo sales up in May 2009

Florida’s existing home, condo sales up in May 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. – June 23, 2009 – Florida’s existing home sales rose in May – the ninth month in a row that sales activity increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). Statewide sales showed gains over the previous month’s sales level in both the existing home and existing condominium markets. Also, for the first time in many months, the statewide median sales price in May for existing homes and for existing condos rose over the previous month’s figure.

Existing home sales rose 16 percent last month with a total of 13,921 homes sold statewide compared to 12,044 homes sold in May 2008, according to FAR. Statewide existing home sales in May increased 6.2 percent over April’s statewide activity. Florida Realtors also reported a 21 percent rise in statewide sales of existing condos in May; existing condo sales last month rose 3.8 percent over the total units sold in April.

“The improving sales of existing single family homes and condos is a trend we have been seeing for several months in Florida. What is new in this month’s data release is that we are seeing evidence of prices beginning to firm,” says Dr. Sean Snaith, director for the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “While one month of data does not a trend make, it is the first green shoot we have seen in some time as far as prices are concerned. Until prices stop declining, we cannot state with confidence that the housing market has stabilized. Sales have risen to levels we have not seen since 2006, though the economy still faces headwinds. As credit markets begin to thaw this will help speed along this process of recovery in the housing market.”

Thirteen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased existing-home sales in May and 13 MSAs also showed gains in condo sales. A majority of the state’s MSAs have reported increased sales for 11 consecutive months.

Florida’s median sales price for existing homes last month was $144,400; a year ago, it was $203,800 for a 29 percent decrease. However, the statewide existing home median price in May was higher than the statewide median price reported in each of the previous four months. According to housing industry analysts with the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to lower the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in April 2009 was $169,800, down 14.9 percent from a year earlier, according to NAR. In California, the statewide median resales price was $256,700 in April; in Massachusetts, it was $275,000; in Maryland, it was $255,587; and in New York, it was $185,000.

According to NAR’s latest housing industry outlook, buyers are responding to favorable market conditions. “The $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by Nov. 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.” Many homebuyers are taking advantage of the bargain prices offered on foreclosed listings in states like Florida, California and Nevada, Yun noted, which should “set the stage for healthy market conditions going forward.”

In Florida’s year-to-year comparison for condos, 4,839 units sold statewide compared to 3,998 units in May 2008 for a 21 percent increase. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $113,400; in May 2008 it was $181,700 for a 38 percent decrease. May’s statewide existing condo median price was the same as January’s statewide median, and was higher than the median reported in February, March or April. The national median existing condo price was $173,900 in April 2009, according to NAR.

Interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.86 percent last month, down significantly from the average rate of 6.04 percent in May 2008, according to Freddie Mac. FAR’s sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

Among the state’s smaller markets, the Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay MSA reported a total of 584 homes sold in May compared to 491 homes a year ago for a 19 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $123,700; a year ago, it was $163,100 for a 24 percent decrease. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, 123 units sold in the MSA last month, up 6 percent compared to 116 condos sold the previous May. The market’s existing condo median price last month was $134,400; a year earlier, it was $144,300 for a 7 percent decrease.

I would be happy to act as your Realtor for luxury homes in Palm City, Stuart , Sewalls Point and the Treasure Coast

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Fractional Ownership A Growing Market World Wide

Fractional Ownership is one of the fastest growing sectors of the property market and in 2005 accounted for $1.5 billion of sales in the US alone. It provides both a legal and use structure that makes sharing a holiday property easy and brings ownership within reach of many people.

There are a number of different fractional programmes but the bottom line is that there is a carefully documented plan in place to ensure that each of the owners has absolute certainty about when they can use the home.

From the outset all parties sign up to an agreement that clearly states the obligations and responsibilities of both the Owners and the Management Company.

The structure may cater for several categories of owner within a single property. For example, families with children may wish their fraction to include weeks during school holidays whereas retired couples might be keen to have ownership at quieter times of the year.

Some structures may mean that you own a number of shares in a company specifically set up to own the property. You will buy an asset not a lease.

Typically fractions range from 1 to 13 weeks and the programme at each property should normally reflect its location and the profile of the people to whom it will appeal.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
When you become a fractional owner, you will be responsible for your share of the running costs (insurance, utilities, etc) maintenance and replacement of furnishings.

It is really the same as owning your own house only it is yours to use for a specified period of time

With so many luxury properties available in the South Florida market it could be a very good idea for several people to buy one unit and fraction off the ownership.

Our partner, “Your Fraction Ltd”  has been involved in this business for several years. They currently have fractions in several European countries and are looking seriously into the US market. Neil MacAllister of Your Fraction would be happy to help you with any questions you have regarding the fractional market

Contact Neil
Email: neil@yourfraction.net
Tel: 44-1620-842989

Fractional Ownership – another way of owning a luxury Florida vacation home