Good News For Ventura County Homeowners

Ventura County sales of existing homes rose 14.8 percent in June from the same month a year ago. The median sales price increased 6.8 percent from May to $443,850, but that still was down 7.6 percent from June 2008, according to the California Association of Realtors.

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The FTC Finally Gets Serious About Loan Mod/Rescue Scams

The Federal Trade Commission today announced a coordinated national effort to crack down on mortgage rescue scams, with federal regulators and 23 state attorneys general taking action against 178 companies accused of deceptively marketing foreclosure rescue and loan modification services.
At a press conference in Los Angeles with California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the FTC announced [...]

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Freddie Mac Calls The Bottom in Q1 of 2009

Steady gains projected for rest of this year, next
Freddie Mac analysts think home sales bottomed in the first three months of 2009 at an annual rate of 4.46 million per year, and will post steady gains each quarter to reach a pace of 5.85 million sales per year by the fourth quarter of 2010.
Sales of [...]

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Feddie Mac Issues New Guidance on Appraisers

Earlier this year Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae came out with a code of conduct for appraisers that had some unintended consequences. After the Home Valuation Code of Conduct went into effect on May 1, critics say lenders began relying more on appraisal management firms employing appraisers with little experience in their local markets. Some [...]

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Record Delinquincies on Home Equity Loans

Late payments on home-equity loans rose to a record in the first quarter as 18 straight months of job losses and a slumping economy left more borrowers unable to pay their debts, the American Bankers Association reported.
Delinquencies on home-equity loans climbed to 3.52 percent of all accounts from 3.03 percent in the fourth quarter, and [...]

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California Update 07/03/2009

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Enjoying Our Freedoms

We usually send out a patriotic email this time of year (Real Estate Marketing 101) but are going to go a different route this year. For the last few weeks we have been pondering the events so far this year and have come to the conclusion that we are at a true crossroads in American [...]

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The State of California Real Estate

. C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in May 2009 was 4.2 months, compared with 8.7 months (revised) for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
. Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged [...]

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