Banks may not want to be home owners but the New York Times cover story written by Peter Goodman (and reprinted on the front page of the Oregonian this morning), shows that they may be motivated to drag out the short sale process for as long as possible in order to extract fees.
Rather than picking a few quotes out of the story, I recommend reading the whole article linked above.
It was warm yesterday. I showed property from 4-6PM to an out-of-town buyer. The temperature never dropped below 104 according to my car. One of the six houses had built-in air conditioning. One of the others had a window unit (that was not mentioned in the listing). A couple were totally shut up and another had been completely opened up. None of the five without AC were listed as “AC Ready.” I can’t find anything that is a primer in determining whether a system is AC ready. I do know that you have to have sufficient electricity available, space to put the compressor outside and a furnace and thermostat capable of handling the extra equipment required.
The top two houses did not have any AC. Interestingly, we probably lingered in the hottest houses longest because the heat slowed us down.
This week’s record setting is going to be one of those “you only need air conditioning a couple of week’s a year in Portland” weeks. I ran some searches in RMLS to see where we find cooling systems installed. My criteria was area 148 (West Portland), detached houses and had “Heat Pump or “Central Air” or none listed (there are window units, swamp coolers etc).
| Listed | AC/HP | ||
| Area 148 Total | 972 | 463 | 48% |
| Under $200,000 | 8 | 0 | 0% |
| $200,000-$400,000 | 309 | 99 | 32% |
| $400,000-$800,000 | 469 | 225 | 48% |
| Over $800,000 | 199 | 142 | 71% |
| Pre 1950 | 282 | 70 | 25% |
| 1951- | 691 | 393 | 57% |
| Built 2000 on | 216 | 133 | 62% |
We hit 100 degree at about 2:30 today. KGW’s 12:30 forecast was for 105 both today and tomorrow!
The Case Shiller Index reports for May 2009 was released today. Portland gained .13 of a point. The important part of that, at least for those that want to see the market rebound, is that it was not a continuation of the downward trend we have started to expect. Seattle lost about half a point in the same period. Both the Composite 10 and Composite 20 also posted gains under a point.
The Porland index of 146.97 the same as it was in May/June 2005 . The Composite 20 index is at the level it was in April 2003.
Case Shiller reports are for the month two months prior and are released on the last Tuesday of the month. The next report will be released on August 25th.
One of the best views of downtown Portland is from the I-5 Marquam Bridge. At this time of year the setting sun highlights the city, reminding us of why we live here. Last night I got reminded three times as I drove our toddler on laps around the I-5/405 loop in an failed attempt to getting him fall asleep. Each lap around the core of our city is 6.2 miles. To put that in perspective:
The I-405 Preservation Project is happening now and there are there are going to be some delays and closures upcoming:
Scheduled Weekend Closures (weather dependent)
Full directional closures (either I-405 NORTH or I-405 SOUTH) will begin at 10 p.m. on the Friday prior to the weekends listed below and end by 5 a.m. on the Monday immediately following the weekend. When one direction of I-405 is closed, the other direction will remain open. Here is the tentative schedule for the I-405 closures, subject to change:
Case Shiller will be released tomorrow (previous post on who/what Case Shiller is). I’ll report on that during the day.
RMLS reported on lockbox activity during the July 4th week and the following:
Holidays clearly inpact showings. Will record setting heat? Try to stay cool and have a great week.
First morning: painted grass on 7/10/09.
Two weeks have passed since the grass was painted. The pictures are taken from the same spot though the bottom one has the afternoon sun on it. Overall, the color has held better than I thought it would after two weeks.
Two weeks later on 7/23/09
This Saturday is the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon Jr. Board’s Summer Wishes event at Motocorsa in northwest Portland. I am a member of the Junior Board. The format is a repeat of last year’s event with a fashion show featuring local designers and a silent auction. Online ticket sales ($35) go through noon on Friday and then tickets can be bought at the door for the Saturday 7PM event ($50). Take a look at the Summer Wishes website for more information about the event or the Oregon chapter of the Make-A-Wish-Foundation site to see how your participation helps grant wishes in the Oregon and SW Washington area. Please join us for an evening of fashion, food, and fun while raising money to support local wishes.
Photographic evidence used to be as close to the truth as you were ever going to get. What you see is what you get. Computers and technology have changed that for both the better and worse. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about painting your lawn green for curb appeal (update coming soon). An article in the San Francisco Chronicle discusses virtual staging: adding furniture to the vacant listing pictures.
These are a before and after picture on Virtual Staging Solutions website, one of the companies cited in the article:
I confirmed with RMLS that the picture on the right violates RMLS rule 3.7 which states, in part, “The photographs are to be submitted without any added text or graphics…” The article does not specifically mention whether the modified photos are being used or not being used in MLS photos elsewhere. They could be used in other marketing materials in our area.
They really aren’t any different than an architectural rendering of proposed new construction but is the expectation different in an existing home? I like the idea of showing what a room may look like but am also concerned that a buyer might feel duped when they walk through the door. Some of the agents in the article disclose the photos are enhanced, others do not.
Your thoughts?
The next part of the government’s mortgage reform comes into effect on July 30th. The new rules in the Disclosure Improvement act have to potential to slow a transaction down by increasing disclosure periods in the Truth and Lending Act. The danger of delay is probably greatest when the buyer holds off locking the interest rate to the latest possible moment or switches lenders when the transaction is nearing closing. The following is part of the four page PDF that I received. It does not state who the author is (appears to be the mortgage industry):
Three key elements you need to know
1-lf the borrower is financing the property, these new regulatory and investor guidelines will impacted could even dictate-the closing date.
Historically, borrowers and sellers would agree on a closing date, and then service providers – including mortgage brokers and lenders – would work as best they could toward meeting that date. Going forward, contracts can still be written with a specific closing date in mind, but all parties need to take into account that the earliest any home financing transaction can close is 7 business days after the borrower is issued their initial mortgage disclosures from the lender. (Note: Saturdays, with the exception of Federal holidays, do count as a business day for the purpose of disclosures only.)
2-The borrower must be provided with a copy of the appraisal a minimum of 3 business days prior to closing. The appraisal is considered ” received” 3 business days after mailing, not counting the day mailed or 3 days after emailing including the day emailed.
If the borrower believes the 3-business-day required review period is not necessary for whatever reason, he or she has the right to waive that requirement. (Some lenders are erring on the side of caution and have indicated they will not honor these waivers).
3-An increase of more than .125% in the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) from the initial Truth in Lending Disclosure (TIL) requires the TIL disclosure to be revised and reissued to the borrower. The borrower must receive a revised TIL disclosure at least 3 business days before closing, providing the borrower with the time required to determine if the borrower is comfortable with the loan choice. Same mailing rules as above.
A more typical contract date may be 30-45 days – or possibly longer (such as with a new construction loan). Considering that many things occur and may be changed or finalized throughout the course of the transaction, there are a number of things that can impact the borrower’s APR. Therefore it is critical on the front end to ensure that estimated fees are as accurate as possible. Some of us might choose to replace the word accurate in the last sentence with the word HIGH thereby reducing the number of times we subject everyone to the clock resetting because of changes.
Portland real estate inventory dropped to 8.2 months, the lowest level since August 2007 according to the RMLS Market Action report released today. Many say six months of inventory is market equilibrium. Anything higher indicates a buyer’s market and anything less is a seller’s market. Is that an outdated model in a new economy?
Monthly average sales price was up from May but median price was down. Average price is now just shy of $300,000 and median is $249,900. The graph on the left is a rolling average of the last 12 months according to footnote 2.
North Portland days on market is 93 contrasting Lake Oswego/West Linn’s 230 days. Days on market calculations have changed so there is no comparison to 2008. Southeast Portland has the greatest number of homes sold this year: 1056.
As always the “buy now” question is individual and local. Under the current rules (and no saying they won’t change) the first time buyer credit purchase has to close on or before November 30th. We’ve had buyers lock under 5.0% on 30 year fixed mortgages lately but those rates are VERY dynamic and of course each individual has to qualify. There’s no saying rates won’t drop and prices won’t drop.
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