New and Existing Home sales Up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you hear that correctly?

NEW AND EXISTING HOME SALES ARE BOTH UP.


The National Association of Realtors reported that sales by homeowners jumped in September to an annual pace of 5.18 million, up 1.4% from a year ago. It was the first time that sales rose compared to a year earlier since November 2005.

September sales were up 5% from the August reading of 4.91 million, marking the largest month-to-month increase since July 2003. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected the report to show existing home sales rose to an annual pace of 4.95 million.
Sales of newly constructed homes rose in September, according to the monthly report from the U.S. Census Bureau, inching up 2.7% from August to an annualized rate of 464,000.

We all know that most of the sales are bank owned, but this is the U-turn in the market. We will see slow growth month to month from here on out.

Congrats to all of us who are still in the industry, I believe the worst has come. Now is the time to get out of that funk and be positive and work harder then you ever have in the past, because there are many of us who are being successful in this environment.

Good Luck to all.

Hot Market Orlando searing as Market Turns

Realtors in the Orlando, Florida, area have found themselves very busy this fall. Sales are up a whopping 37 percent in September with more than 1,300 buyers moving into their new homes compared to the same period a year ago. With prices slipping about 9 percent to a median sales price of $182,000, the area's affordability index leapt in September to 123.74 percent, according to a report from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

ORRA explains how the index works: "an affordability index that is over 100 means that median-income earners make more than is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home. Buyers who earn the reported median income of $51,848 can qualify to purchase one of 13,386 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service for $225,204 or less."

Orlando is Florida's top ranking metropolitan area in the Milliken Institutes list of best performing cities for 2008. The region ranked 11th out of 200 metro areas, dropping from fifth place last year.

It appears that this trend will continue through the rest of the year. Pending sales were up 66 percent in September, pointing toward a larger number of home sales in the coming months.


This is great news for the area. It is only a matter of time before we experience similar growth. I believe the light at the end of the tunnel is in view.

Washington Report: FHA Still Going Strong

The country's top housing official has an urgent message for potential home buyers: You may have heard that the credit markets were "frozen," but FHA has been open for business throughout the credit squeeze, and so are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In fact, FHA's volume has tripled and the agency is now insuring well over a hundred thousand new loans a month.

In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Realty Times, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston said that FHA, Fannie and Freddie -- who account for a combined 90 percent plus share of the entire U.S. mortgage market -- "have kept liquidity alive" for home buyers -- and have virtually unlimited funds for new mortgages.

"There is no credit crisis" for individual home buyers who have at least three percent to put down, documentable employment, and at least a moderately good credit record, said Preston.

Business loans and various other types of credit may have been more difficult to obtain in recent weeks, Preston told Realty Times, but thanks to the government's backing of the three biggest sources of mortgages, buyers and refinancers of houses have had no unusual problems.

Preston and HUD are playing key roles in the $700 billion financial system bailout plan now getting underway. Preston is one of just five members of the Financial Stability Oversight Board that oversees the entire effort. HUD's main task in the weeks ahead, he said, will be to either refinance or help work out thousands of delinquent subprime and underwater homes financed by private lenders during the boom years.

The agency's new "Hope for Homeowners" program, which started October 1, allows it to cut the principal debt, monthly payments and interest rates of delinquent loans through refinancings into fixed-rate FHA mortgages.

In the interview, Preston emphasized the importance of a new, $3.9 billion program that has received virtually no attention in the press, but which could have huge positive impacts on neighborhoods and communities struggling with large numbers of foreclosures.

Congress authorized HUD to provide funds and other assistance to local governments to buy, fix up, resell or rent out foreclosed houses that are dragging down local property values.

Known as the Neighborhood Stabilization program, it offers not only roles for local governments to fight housing blight, but also provides opportunities for alert realty agents, rehab contractors, builders and investors to be involved -- profitably -- in the turnaround efforts.

If you're interested, talk to your city or county housing and community development officials for details. Though HUD will be providing the funds, local officials will be calling the shots.

by Kenneth R. Harney
At www.realtytimes.com

MONEY IS AVAILABLE

The media has created the myth that there is no way to get loan. They say credit is frozen, banks are not lending right now.

THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must admit that it is harder to get a loan and lenders are making sure the borrowers can afford the loan they are applying for. (WOW What a concept, being able to afford the loan you request) Lenders guidelines are tougher, but if you have decent credit (NOT GREAT) and you can prove your income there are loans available.

These loans are normally government backed loans from VA, FHA, and the USDA with certain requirements. Some of those requirements are that the properly is their primary residence, they can prove their income, and their credit scores must be above 540.

We can lend up to 100% on VA loans and 97.75% on FHA loans. When you have a potential buyer have they call me so I can provide an immediate pre-qualification for them to see if they qualify for one of these loans. There is no cost to your client for this service.

Again THERE IS PLENTY OF MONEY TO LEND.
Just call your mortgage professional to see what you qualify for.

More Signs of Credit Easing

Bank-to-bank lending rates dip again, the day after the U.S. government unveils its plan to buy equity in banks.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The credit markets continued to show signs of relief Wednesday after the U.S. federal government announced a plan to get capital directly into banks by buying their stock.

The overnight bank-to-bank lending rate slid, with the London interbank overnight rate (Libor) slipping to 2.14% from 2.18%Tuesday, according to data obtained from Bloomberg.com. The measure had been as high as 5.09% Thursday.

When the rate at which banks are willing to lend to each other decreases, that is a positive sign for the credit markets, and eventually translates into lower borrowing costs for consumers.

Frozen pipelines of credit stalled the economy in the United States and around the world, pushing lawmakers to make global coordinated efforts to increase liquidity in the markets and give banks the confidence to begin lending to each other again.

On Tuesday, the government announced that the Treasury will buy up to $250 billion in senior preferred shares in a variety of banks, and so far, nine banks have agreed to have the government take a stake. In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will temporarily provide unlimited coverage for all non-interest-bearing accounts.

Despite a slew of historic and extraordinary moves, however, it could take a while for the economy to return to health.

Market gauges: The 3-month Libor continued its descent, ticking lower to 4.55% from 4.64% Tuesday, according to data from Dow Jones. The measure had reached 4.82% Friday, the highest since mid-December 2007. On Sept. 15, by contrast, it was only 2.82%.

Libor is a daily average of what 16 different banks charge other banks to lend money in London and is used to calculate adjustable rate mortgages. The higher the rate, the tougher it could be for homeowners to pay those mortgages. Libor is also used to calculate other types of loans, including student and auto.

A market gauge known as the "TED spread" was 4.20%, after moving between 4.30% and 4.09% Tuesday.

The TED spread measures the difference between the 3-month Libor and the 3-month Treasury bill, and is a key indicator of risk. The higher the spread, the bigger the aversion to risk. The spread was 1.04% just a little more than a month earlier and reached a record high of 4.65% on Friday.

Another indicator, the Libor-OIS spread, dipped to 3.35% from 3.39% Tuesday, after touching a record high 3.67% Friday. The Libor-OIS spread measures how much cash is available for lending between banks, and is used by banks to determine lending rates. The bigger the spread, the less cash is available for lending.

Treasurys: Treasury prices rallied Wednesday as stocks retreated from their rallying points earlier in the week.

The benchmark 10-year note was up 17/32 to 99-29/32 while its yield fell to 4.02% from 4.07% late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The 30-year bond rallied 23/32 to 104-13/32 while the yield decreased to 4.24% from 4.27%.

The 2-year note ticked up 5/32 to 100-16/32 and its yield dipped to 1.75% from 1.81%.

The yield on the 3-month Treasury note was at 0.35%, up from 0.27%. The yield is closely watched as an immediate reading on investor confidence. Investors and money-market funds shuffle funds into and out of the 3-month Treasury bill frequently, as they assess risk in the rest of the marketplace.

After the stock market's 936-point rally on Monday, investors dumped Treasurys in favor of the more profitable equity markets. However, after watching Wall Street's more tepid performance Tuesday, with the Dow closing down 76 points, investors returned to the bond market, causing prices to bounce.

Government debt is considered by investors to be among the safest assets, and so in times of uncertainty, demand for Treasurys increase, sending the price higher.

Investors also shift their funds in and out of the Treasury market based on the movements in the stock market. While government bonds are safe, they do not offer high returns.

Illinois Sheriff: No Foreclosure Evictions on My Watch

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Sheriff Thomas J. Dart said Wednesday he is suspending foreclosure evictions in Cook County, which had been on track to reach a record number of evictions, many because of mortgage foreclosures.

Sheriff Thomas J. Dart of Cook County, Illinois, says proper eviction procedures aren't always been followed.
He said many of the evictions involve renters who are paying their rent on time but are being thrown out because the landlord has fallen behind on mortgage payments.

Mortgage companies are supposed to identify a building's occupants before asking for an eviction, but sheriff's deputies routinely find that the mortgage companies have not done so, he said.

"These mortgage companies only see pieces of paper, not people, and don't care who's in the building," Dart said. "They simply want their money and don't care who gets hurt along the way.

"On top of it all, they want taxpayers to fund their investigative work for them. We're not going to do their jobs for them anymore. We're just not going to evict innocent tenants. It stops today." Watch sheriff announce he won't evict innocent tenants »

Dart said he wants the judiciary or the state Legislature to establish protections for those most harmed by the mortgage crisis.

In 1999, Cook County had 12,935 mortgage foreclosure cases; in 2006, 18,916 cases were filed and last year, 32,269 were filed. This year's total is expected to exceed 43,000.

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"The people we're interacting with are, many times, oblivious to the financial straits their landlord might be in," Dart said. "They are the innocent victims here and they are the ones all of us must step up and find some way to protect."

The Illinois Bankers Association opposed the plan, saying that Dart "was elected to uphold the law and to fulfill the legal duties of his office, which include serving eviction notices."

The association said Dart could be found in contempt of court for ignoring court eviction orders.

"The reality is that by ignoring the law and his legal responsibilities, he is carrying out 'vigilantism' at the highest level of an elected official," it said. "The Illinois banking industry is working hard to help troubled homeowners in many ways, but Sheriff Dart's declaration of 'marshal law' should not be tolerated."

Maybe we should all stop paying our mortgages, they can't take all of our homes.!

from www.cnnmoney.com

Pending Home Sales Show Surprise Rise

The National Association of Realtors says pending home sales increased 7.4% from July to August; highest since June 2007.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Association of Realtors says pending home rose 7.4% from July to August, an unexpected piece of positive news for the battered U.S. housing market.

The group said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 93.4 from an upwardly revised July reading of 87. The reading was the highest since June 2007.

Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would fall to 84.9.

The index, which sunk to a record low of 83 in March, stood at 85.8 in August 2007.

What about my mortgage?

The government faces many complications in helping struggling homeowners get affordable loans.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Bush administration wants to help beleaguered financial institutions - and prevent the financial crisis from getting worse - by spending $700 billion to buy up troubled mortgage securities.

But many struggling homeowners are asking: "Where's my bailout?"

Democratic lawmakers have taken up their battle and say they will include more help for homeowners as part of the proposal, according to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, who heads the House Financial Services Committee. Final details are still being hammered out, but it appears that the idea is gaining traction.

Here's how the bailout could work: Once the Treasury Department takes hold of the securities, it can review the terms of the underlying loans and the financial shape of each homeowner. The department then could opt to modify the loans - by reducing the interest rate or principal balance - to affordable terms for borrowers.

The problem, experts said, is that the mortgages will be bundled into investments and sold. Therefore, the ownership of each loan is divided among all the investors who purchased the security.

And that complicates the process of helping individual homeowners.

"The No. 1 barrier to keeping people in their homes has been the challenge of these loans being in mortgage-backed securities," said Ken Wade, chief executive of NeighborWorks America, a national community revitalization group chartered by Congress whose board is made up of bank regulators. "Counselors across the board say that is the major hurdle they are facing."

Unless the government scoops up all the securities associated with a specific mortgage, they'll run into the same problems in trying to modify the loans as the banks did, experts said. Often it depends on the terms in the securities contracts.

"Mortgages of questionable value have been sold into highly-complex securities, which have been carved up and sold to thousands of investors around the world," said Kathleen Day, spokeswoman for the Center for Responsible Lending. "The government can't put these Humpty Dumpty slices back together again because it won't own or even control them all."

And unless all stakeholders agree to the change in terms, other investors could take the government to court over the modifications, said Chris Mayer, real estate professor at Columbia Business School.

Another complication is that some borrowers just can't afford to keep their homes. The government can't do much for them.

"They key question here is, we want to help homeowners that want to stay in their homes and have the financial capability to stay in their home," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Sunday. "And the vast majority of foreclosures in this country...are coming from people who either don't want to stay in their home, took out loans they couldn't afford as the result of irresponsible lending practices."

IndyMac example
Many community activists, however, point to IndyMac Bank as an example of how government-led modifications could work.

When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over IndyMac in July, it quickly suspended foreclosure proceedings on any delinquent loans within the $15 billion portfolio owned by the failed institution. The next month, regulators announced the implementation of a systematic loan modification program available to about 25,000 borrowers.

The loans owned by IndyMac can be changed without too much trouble, experts said. But the agency itself acknowledged that some mortgages serviced by IndyMac are subject to additional terms, forcing regulators to take extra steps to comply with the contracts. The loan servicing portfolio totals about $185 billion.

"IndyMac is really the model," said Kurt Eggert, law professor at the Chapman University School of Law. "I would hope the government only buys loans where they can institute that model."

Reviving economy depends on helping borrowers
Bailing out the banks will only have a limited impact on boosting the economy, experts said. The key is to stabilize the housing market, which can only be done by stemming the onslaught of foreclosures, which hit a record 1.2 million filings in the second quarter.

The Center for Responsible Lending, along with more than 30 other community groups, is pushing for changes to the bankruptcy law that would allow judges to modify mortgages. Congressional Democrats support this measure, as well as a systematic approach to modifying troubled loans.

Once foreclosures subside, home values will stabilize and banks will be more likely to resume lending. This will lift up the economy, experts said.

"The focus should be more on relieving the stress on households rather than bailing out banks," said Christian Menegatti, lead analyst at economic research firm RGE Monitor.