Number of Improving Housing Markets Soars

Number of Improving Housing Markets Soars, Image by fotographic1980 & FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Short Sales Surge Before Potential Tax Hike

Short Sales Surge Before Potential Tax Hike, Image by sdmania & FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Real estate professionals are rushing to get short sales completed before the end of the year. That’s when a tax break expires that could leave borrowers responsible for paying any unpaid mortgage debt.

Short sales from borrowers behind on their payments jumped 22 percent over last year for the three months ending Sept. 30, RealtyTrac reports. Short sales also jumped 17 percent among borrowers who were still current on their payments.

On Dec. 31, the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act is set to expire, and the number of short sales before that date is expected to jump much higher.

Unless lawmakers extend the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act, the IRS in January will treat any unpaid mortgage debt as taxable income for many borrowers.

As such, real estate agents are “encouraging people to sell before the tax break ends,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. “ If that law expires, home owners who agree to short sales could see their income tax jump significantly because the portion of unpaid loan balance not covered by the short-sale proceeds will be considered taxable income in many cases.”

In some areas, borrowers won’t have to worry about the expiring act. For home owners in California, Arizona, and 10 other states, the IRS does not tax forgiven debt due to those states’ laws.

Source: “Short Sales Jump Ahead of Tax Hike,” CNNMoney (Dec. 6, 2012)

Home Prices Post Another Big Gain

Home Prices Post Another Big Gain Image by arztsamui & FreeDigitalPhotos.net

More housing surveys are showing a rise in home prices, and the latest coming from CoreLogic this week shows values soared to their largest annual increase in more than six years.

CoreLogic says the Home Prices index jumped 6.3 percent in October compared to a year ago, marking the eighth-consecutive increase in national home prices year-over-year. It also marked the largest increase since June 2006.

“The housing recovery that started earlier in 2012 continues to gain momentum,” says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. “The recovery is geographically broad-based with almost all markets experiencing some appreciation. Sand and energy states continue to experience the most robust appreciation and some judicial foreclosure states are even recording increasing prices.”

Reduced inventories and increasing buyer demand is helping to contribute to the stability and growth in home prices, says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.

The five states with the highest home-price appreciation in October were:

• Arizona: +21.3 percent
• Hawaii: +13.2 percent
• Idaho: +12.4 percent
• Nevada: +12.4 percent
• North Dakota: +10.4 percent

Meanwhile, the five states with the greatest home-price depreciation, according to CoreLogic October housing data, are:

• Illinois: -2.7 percent
• Delaware: -2.7 percent
• Rhode Island: -0.6 percent
• New Jersey: -0.6 percent
• Alabama: -0.3 percent

Source: CoreLogic

Luxury Home builder Sees Profits Surge

Luxury Homebuilder Sees Profits Surge – Image by Stuart Miles & FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. is being considered one of the top performers in the home-building sector, reports The Wall Street Journal. The home builder saw its quarterly profits surge, with its home building rising across all regions.

The Northeast makes up 60 percent of Toll Brothers’ business and, given the devastation caused by super storm Sandy in October, some analysts were worried how the storm would bite into Toll Brothers’ profits. But the Luxury home builder reported that in the fiscal fourth quarter, net signed contracts were up 75 percent compared to a year earlier and at their highest level for any fiscal year since 2006.

“Pent-up demand, rising home prices, low interest rates, and improving consumer confidence motivated buyers to return to the housing market in [fiscal] 2012,” says Chief Executive Douglas Yearley. “As household formations accelerated and unsold home inventories dropped to record lows, the industry took further steps toward a sustained housing recovery.”

Toll Brothers reported a profit of $411.4 million for the quarter ending Oct. 31, compared with $15 million a year earlier. A large tax benefit helped lift profits, with the latest quarter reflecting a net tax benefit of $350.7 million.

The Luxury home builder had revenue climbed the most in the North by 39 percent, followed by 37 percent in the Mid-Atlantic region. The company’s average price of homes delivered was $582,000 in the fourth quarter compared to $565,000 a year prior.

Source: “Tax Benefit Boosts Toll Brothers’ Profit,” The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 4, 2012)

No Foreclosures for the Holidays From Fannie, Freddie

No Foreclosures for the Holidays From Fannie, Freddie. Image by Stuart Miles & FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced Monday that they will temporarily halt all bank repossessions and evictions beginning in mid-December until Jan. 2, 2013.

The temporary foreclosure suspension goes into effect beginning Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, respectively. The moratorium will not affect the filing notices of default or the scheduling of auction sales.

“The holidays are a chance to be with loved ones and we want to relieve some stress at this time of year,” says Terry Edwards, Executive Vice President of Credit Portfolio Management, Fannie Mae.

Bank of America also recently announced that it is halting foreclosure evictions for the holidays for loans it owns and for those it services for investors. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citibank have yet to release a statement on whether they’ll follow suit, although they have done so in the past for the holidays.

Source: “Fannie and Freddie Halt Foreclosures for the Holiday,” CNNMoney (Dec. 3, 2012)

Can Rising Home Prices Actually Delay the Recovery?

Can Rising Home Prices Actually Delay the Recovery?

The rapid increase in home prices in some markets may wind up hampering the housing recovery, CNBC columnist Diana Olick reports.

“The reason is that the rise in prices is mainly due to investors, mostly large hedge funds, that have been swooping into the most distressed markets and inhaling properties as fast as their plentiful cash will allow,” Olick writes.

Investors are snapping up properties and turning them into rentals, unlocking some big returns–up to 12 percent–on their investments too. But as home prices rise, they’re seeing their returns shrink.

“The worry with investment demand is that the very recovery in prices that it is driving will eventually reduce rental yields and undermine the investment case,” says Paul Diggle of Capital Economics.

Olick says that the housing recovery is dependent on investors, since they tend to make all-cash purchases. With heavy restrictions in the mortgage market still in place, many typical home buyers are being shut out of the market, unable to finance a home purchase. Also, many home owners are still underwater–owing more on their home than it is currently worth–so they are unable to move.

Source: “How Rising Home Prices May Stall the Housing Recovery,” CNBC.com (Dec. 1, 2012)