Judy Stringari's Real Estate Blog

Here is a useful article for anyone that is a first time buyer or seller. A good percentage of today’s buyers are purchasing homes for the first time working with FHA loans. As such, the FHA appraiser has certain guidelines he/she must adhere to when evaluating a property for mortgage purposes. As a homeowner looking to sell, it’s important to understand what is involved in the FHA loan process. With limited cash/conventional buyers in the market, your chances of having an FHA buyer are more likely and knowing what the FHA program requires will give you a better success rate of closing your transaction.

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2011 Housing Market Forecast

Reflecting back on 2010, the first part of the year was primarily fueled by the $8,000 tax credit. Once the tax credit expired, which was heavily influenced by a lack of consumer confidence, (even with rates dipping down to 3.875 percent), the market became stagnant. The question then becomes “What can we expect this year for 2011?”  Well, we are already three months into the new year and no one can really say for sure what is on the real estate horizon. Some areas are seeing stabilization of home prices, even though our unemployment rates remain high. Foreclosure activity will continue to increase based on the number of Americans that continue to find themselves underwater on their mortgages. More than 380,000 new foreclosures occurred in the fourth quarter of 2010. This makes the number of in-process foreclosures close to 1.2 million nationally, a 10 percent increase over 2009. With more foreclosures entering the market, it will adversely affect an industry recovery. Many analysts don’t see a recovery until at least 2013.

  While this real estate scenario may seem bleak, keep in mind that the real estate market is cyclical and values will eventually stabilize and bounce back into a more healthier cycle. If there ever was an opportunity to buy a home, this is it. Interest rates are incredible low and homes can be purchased with as little as 3.5% down . Yes we live in trying times, but this too is cyclical. If you have the determination and desire to be a home owner, this is the time to act. Don’t let fear prevent you from achieving the American dream of home ownership.

source: The Voice of the FORCE 1-2011

Related articles

• Home Prices Still Low But San Francisco Real Estate Market On Road to Recovery (prweb.com)
• The Benefits Of Buying A Home In Pre Foreclosure (pro2sell.com)

According to the CaliforniaAssociation of Realtors the state’s existing home sales market is expected to end 2010 on a low note with only a slight improvement next year. Overall, the numbers show we have had a decline of 10 percent compared with 2009, CAR predicted in its forecast for next year a gain of only 2 percent. Statewide sales are project to come in at the end of the year at 492,000 compared with 546500 in 2009. Bear in mind this is the projected forecast for the entire state. When you focus on our local market here in Silicon Valley we tend to fair much better than other areas of the state. Even though inventory levels are low, competition for existing  Short Sale and REO properties continues to remain strong.     

Related articles

• California home sales to drop 10% this year (lansner.ocregister.com)
• Slump to last 3 to 5 more years (lansner.ocregister.com)
• Short Sale and Credit: What’s the Impact? (brighthub.com)