Maggie Moore's – Short Sale Scene

The Orange County Register
California house prices had the seventh-biggest price drop among U.S. states in November, falling 5.9 percent from year-ago levels, according to data firm CoreLogic
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http://lansner.ocregister.com/2012/01/10/156906/156906/

The Mercury News

Mortgage interest rates, near all-time lows, are likely to remain attractive throughout 2012.  That means opportunities for new home buyers and for homeowners who want to refinance.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19683720

Homeowners who had a mortgage loan on a primary residence and who believe were financially harmed during the mortgage foreclosure process by GMAC Mortgage, HSBC Finance Corporation, SunTrust Mortgage, or EMC Mortgage in 2009 or 2010 can request an independent review and potentially receive compensation.

The review is intended to determine if borrowers suffered financial harm directly resulting from errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies that may have occurred during the foreclosure process. The servicers are required to compensate borrowers for financial injury resulting from deficiencies in their foreclosure processes.

A number of servicers supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are also required to conduct independent reviews.

Borrowers are eligible for an independent foreclosure review if

• the property securing the loan was the borrower’s primary residence;
• the mortgage was in the foreclosure process (initiated, pending, or completed) at any time between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010; and
• the mortgage was serviced by one of the mortgage servicers listed here.

There are no costs associated with being included in the review; the review is a free program. Borrowers should beware of anyone who wants payment to assist with the independent foreclosure review or any other foreclosure assistance program.

Requests for review by the servicers’ independent consultants must be received by April 30, 2012.  Borrowers are encouraged to carefully consider the information about the review program to determine if they are eligible to participate.

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Calif. median home price: November 2011: $280,960 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by region/county November  2011: Marin: $736,410 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by region/county November 2011: Madera: $103,330 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: November 2011: 109.8, an increase of 11 percent compared with the prior year.

Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Third quarter 2011: 52 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 1/5/2012 30-yr. fixed: 3.91% fees/points: 0.8% 15-yr. fixed: 3.23 fees/points: 0.8% 1-yr. adjustable: 2.80% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

Home values in the United States were essentially unchanged in November, decreasing a marginal 0.1 percent from October, according to this month’s Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. Annually, the Zillow Home Value Index fell 4.6 percent from November 2010 to $147,800 and has returned to late 2003 levels.

Regionally, home values appreciated or remained flat from October to November in 60 percent of the 165 housing markets covered by Zillow, compared with 24 percent the year prior. Major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that experienced flat or increasing home values include Los Angeles, Washington, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., San Francisco, and Detroit. On an annual basis, the median home value is down for nearly all (90 percent) of the 165 MSAs covered by Zillow, although the rate of annualized depreciation has slowed significantly in the majority of the markets.

“Even with the anticipated increase in foreclosures, look for 2012 to be a transitional year in which home values fall modestly followed by a prolonged period of flat home values,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “We’re still three to five years away from ‘normal’ housing market conditions.”

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Sacramento Bee
California landlords who have long had the right to restrict pets, noise, and even water beds in their units, can now prohibit smoking under a new law that took effect Sunday.

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http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/02/4157073/state-now-allows-smoking-bans.html

President Obama signed into law a bill directing the Inspector General of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Government Accountability Office to study the effects of bank failures.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., introduced H.R. 2056, which passed the House in August. There were 97 bank failures in 2011, according to the FDIC, down from more than 150 the year before.

The FDIC inspector general will look into the effect of loss-sharing agreements between the FDIC and the receiver bank. It will consider if more loans could be modified without an LSA and if these agreements could be “phased out altogether,” according to the legislation.

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The Wall Street Journal
The Justice Department faces the daunting task of tracking down more than 210,000 alleged victims and determining how to compensate them, following last week’s $335 million fair-lending settlement with Bank of America Corp.’s Countrywide unit.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203686204577116860378024808.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

Instances of financial abuse and fraud against the elderly increased from November 2010 to January 2011, according to a recent report from MetLife, which found overall investment fraud targeted towards older Americans is on the rise.

Americans over the age of 65 lost nearly $3 billion to financial abuse from April to June 2010, up 12 percent from the same period in 2008, according to the report. During that time, 51 percent of the fraud cases reported were perpetrated by strangers, 34 percent by family, friends, and neighbors and 12 percent by businesses.  In a separate look at the holidays, MetLife reports fraud by family and friends increased to 45 percent.

The Wall Street Journal

Mortgage rates are expected to remain very low at least through mid-2012, while housing activity improves slightly, according to Freddie Mac’s economic and housing outlook.

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http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/12/14/freddie-low-mortgage-rates-to-hang-around-next-year/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_Real Estate_BLOGSDEVELOPMENTSFEED