More potential foreclosures

Zillow: Percentage of Underwater Borrowers Up

In what could be another sign that the housing crisis is far from over, the percent of mortgage holders who are underwater on their homes continued to rise in the third quarter and some say it could be another eight to 10 months before that trend turns around.

In the U.S., 23.2% of U.S. mortgage holders were underwater, owing more money than the house is worth. That's up from 21.7% from a year ago, according to Q03 data out Wednesday from Zillow.com. Roughly 13.9 million homes now have negative equity. Many of these homes could end up in foreclosure should borrowers give up making payments on homes that aren't worth what they owe-let alone building equity. (See "The Great Mortgage Mystery")....

...Some economists expect there's more to come-into 2011. "One-quarter of homes [with mortgages] with negative equity is a huge number, but I don't believe this will hit bottom until June or July," says Cameron Findlay, chief economist at LendingTree.com. He projects that average homes prices could drop another 4% from now before they bottom out.

Home Builder Confidence Tempered by Credit Access

Jann Swanson of Mortgage News Daily reports:

Home builder confidence as measured by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) popped up a notch from October figures to reach a still dismal 16...
... A score of 50 or more on the HMI or any of its components indicates that more builders view the market as good than "poor." The last time the HMI topped 50 was in April 2006 and it has not risen above 20 for 39 months...
...Crowe noted "The most concerning aspect of the report is that survey participants say they have observed absolutely no improvement in their ability to access credit to build viable new projects. This problem is clearly a roadblock to recovery in many markets."

Pending Home Sales Fall 1.8 Percent in September 2010

By Ruth Mantell

Commercial Real Estate's Uneven Rebound

http://www.businessweek.com/print/investor/content/nov2010/pi2010114_345944.htm

Georgia Property Tax Appeals

Here are some highlights from the changes to the Georgia property tax law:

Requirement that every property owner receive annual Notice of Assessment, which guarantees right to appeal
Every Notice of Assessment must contain estimated property tax
Expansion of appeal time-period from 30 to 45 days
Alternative streamlined appeal option for property valued in excess of $1,000,000
Automatic taxpayer victory on appeals when government fails to respond within 45 days
Requirement that all relevant sales, including distress sales, be included when determining Fair Market Value
Requirement that only “current use of property” be used in determining Fair Market Value
Taxpayer must be given access to all data used in determining Fair Market Value
Sales price establishes Fair Market Value for next tax year

For information/clarification please contact us, thanks.

Yes, we are ALL part of the problem

http://rismedia.com/2010-11-04/faithful-mortgage-payments-and-their-effect-on-the-economy/

Have Commercial Real Estate Prices Bottomed Out?

Investment grade real estate continued its positive trend from August with a strong 5.48% increase in September, according to CoStar Group's newly released Commercial Repeat-Sale Indices (CCRSI).

Also, for the first time since the second quarter of 2007, all four primary property types within the commercial real estate repeat sales index (office, retail, industrial and multifamily) showed an increase in pricing in the third quarter.

The CoStar investment grade real estate index remains down 4.89% from the same period last year, and down 29.08% from two years ago. However, for the third quarter, the investment grade real estate index increased 5.46%. This is a significant reversal from the previous quarter, as the investment grade real estate index was down 3.24%. The CoStar investment grade index is therefore showing positive price movement quarter over quarter...

Commercial RE News

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Residential vacancies

The Census Bureau has released its survey of Residential Vacancies and Homeownership for the third quarter of 2010. They report that 14.4% of housing units are vacant.

Separately, The PulteGroup Inc., the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, reported a wider third-quarter loss as the company recorded almost $1 billion in impairments and other charges amid slumping home sales.

More housing weakness

On Tuesday, October 26 the Wall Street Journal reported "Home sales picked up in September, but the long-term picture for housing is growing grimmer, say analysts and economists who are pushing back forecasts for a housing recovery...Now, some economists don't see a recovery until late next year or early 2012."

On Wednesday, October 27 the Journal reported "Home prices appear to be weakening, which could create a drag on the economy and leave more homeowners stuck with houses worth less than their mortgages. Home prices slipped in August according to the S&P Case-Shiller home-price indexes."

Zillow: Percentage of Underwater Borrowers Up

Have Commercial Real Estate Prices Bottomed Out?

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