REAL ESTATE BUZZZZZ

June 17, 2010

California’s economy to see sluggish recovery this year, UCLA economists say...


California’s unemployment rate, currently at 12.4 percent, will not return to single-digit levels until 2012 and the state’s inland areas will continue to be impaired by excess housing inventory and state budget cuts, according to a forecast released Tuesday by UCLA’s Anderson School of Business.
MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

• California’s economic recovery is contingent on consumer shopping behavior nationwide, as retail spending drives traffic at California’s ports and logistics centers, which are both substantial employers throughout the state, the report said. However, consumers are unlikely to increase spending until businesses begin hiring again, which many economists believe will only happen gradually over time.

• The coastal areas of the state will benefit from growth in health care, education, and technology, while inland areas will be constrained by excess housing inventory and state budget cuts, impacting rural inland areas where government workers account for a significant percentage of the workforce, according to the forecast.

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) recently issued its mid-year housing market forecast. Based on C.A.R.’s forecast, the median home price in California is expected to rise 9.1 percent this year compared with last year, while sales of existing, single-family homes will decline 4.7 percent. Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages will rise to 5.3 percent compared with 5.1 percent in 2009 and 15-year mortgages will average 4.2 percent



CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
Expect a gentle rise in mortgage rates

Inman News:

June 16, 2010
Worries about the European debt crisis have investors flocking to relatively safe investments like mortgage-backed securities that are backed by the government, helping keep mortgage rates low.

But economists with the Mortgage Bankers Association still think rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are likely to rise into the high 6 percent range by the end of 2012, albeit on a more gradual slope than previously projected.

In a June 11 forecast, MBA economists predict rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages will gradually rise to 5.4 percent during the fourth quarter of this year, reaching 6 percent in the last three months of 2011 and averaging 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In a previous May 12 forecast, MBA economists predicted the same endpoint -- rates averaging 6.6 percent by the fourth quarter of 2012 -- but with more of the increase coming sooner rather than later. The previous forecast projected rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages would hit 5.6 percent in the final three months of 2010 and 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Most homes to begin building positive equity by late 2015


The typical U.S. homeowner in a negative equity position will begin to build positive home equity by late 2015 or early 2016, according to a forecast by First American CoreLogic. In some depressed markets, typical borrowers with negative equity may not experience positive equity until 2020 or later, according to the report. Research conducted by First American CoreLogic indicates more than 11.3 million, or 24 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages, had negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009.


FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION TO ACCEPT DOCUSIGN FOR REAL ESTATE CONTRACTS

Regarding Electronic Signatures and if they are considered a legal signature by National Association of Realtors (NAR).  The answer is a resounding YES!!  As of April 8, 2010, e-signed third-party documents, including real estate contracts, are now being accepted by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  This is a great time for eCommerce and real estate in particular.   You can now feel assured that you will have no more problems with lenders and acceptance of your real estate transactions where you have used electronic signatures and in particular DocuSIGN.