From A Slow Crawl…To a Brisk Walk

I heard someone earlier this week say that the housing market has gone from a slow crawl to a brisk walk. I think that is the perfect metaphor to explain the recent changes in the real estate market. The market is coming back. It’s not roaring, but it’s coming back.

This week, according to Reuters.com, U.S. mortgage applications jumped as record low interest rates spurred a surge in demand for home refinancing loans. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, increased 32.2 percent to 1,159.4 for the week ended March 20. Refinancing accounted for 78.5 percent of all applications.

Furthermore, interest rates on mortgages fell after the Federal Reserve last week said it would buy Treasury securities for the first time in more than four decades as well as more than double its planned purchases of mortgage-related securities. Reuters.com reported that “Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 4.63 percent, down 0.26 percentage point from the previous week, reaching a record low….Interest rates were well below year-ago levels of 5.74 percent.”

Meanwhile, according to Realty Times, housing starts took a surprise jump of 22 percent in February over January's depressed levels. Most of the increase was attributable to apartments and condominiums, but single family starts were up by one percentage point, and new home permits were up by 11 percent, after months of sharp declines.

Existing home sales are also seeing some good trends. NAR reported this week that sales activity for single family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops rose 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units in February from a pace of 4.49 million units in January.

The West is leading much of the nation’s recovery, with California leading the charge. Our median listing price is beginning to rise for the first time in three years. Existing home sales in the West increased 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.2 million in February and remain 30.4 percent higher than a year ago.

Last week I recommended that you watch Coldwell Banker president and CEO, Jim Gillespie on CNBC’s “Roadmap to Rebound” which focused on the state of the housing market. If you missed it, Gillespie stated that “the government could do a lot more than they are already doing in order to get the real estate market moving again.” Congressmen and economists continually say that in order to get the economy going, we need to first get real estate going. Gillespie believes that two key changes are needed in order to get the economy moving, and the first item that needs to be addressed is to set a fixed-rate mortgage. “Lowering the interest rate to 4% to 4.5% for 12 months is one way to get the inventory moving.” Along with setting a fixed-rate mortgage, increasing the tax credit to $15,000 and including all buyers of primary residences will help move buyers along and get the market to shift.

Gillespie also stated that the demand side needs to be looked at closely, because once we start to burn off the inventory that we currently have, prices will begin to stabilize and go up again, which will help those in distressed situations. “Fifty-five percent of loan modifications have failed after six months because jobs are not being created and homeowners are losing the jobs they have,” says Gillespie. “In order to create jobs, we need to create demand, both of which will get the housing market and economy moving.”

I for one appreciate seeing our leadership team speaking out on our behalf, serving as the visionaries for our industry. It’s enlightening and certainly makes me proud.

Now, let’s take a look at this week in local real estate:

• Dixon-Davis—The market continues to be the same. Listing inventory is down. Our Agents are going to do some listing marketing in our area. Buyer activity continues to be busy and time consuming.
• Elk Grove-Laguna—Open home traffic has a good trend right now. The traffic counts continue to be consistently in the double digit range. We had one Agent who had 43 people through one open house. The bulk of our business is in REOs/short sales and what a difference a year makes. Approvals—within a couple of weeks in many cases. We continue to see a dramatic increase in buyer activity. Inventory levels are the lowest they have been in the last three years. Our closes average sales price increased for the first time in two plus years.
• Folsom—We’re seeing great closings and strong open escrows! Our listings are still slow coming in but lots of Agents are working buyers and not just the low end. We had five ratified offers this week and 11 closings. We had some good luxury activity this week. One listing of $1,500,000, one sale of $1,300,000 and one recording of $650,000. It was a good week!
• Roseville/Granite Bay—We have steady inventory on both ends including two multiple offers and nine ratified offers as well as seven opens with various traffic levels. The buyers are still reluctant and sellers are getting squeezed on equity and repairs. The Agents are being very positive and are staying with our motto “look for opportunities.”
• Sacramento—Our Sacramento Metro office reports that sales have increased in our core areas this month. We have very few REOs but short sale activity is up in the office. Activity level in our luxury market is also up. We had one $900,000 sale and one listing for $1.8 million. Our Sacramento Sierra Oaks office reported 23 ratified offers this week. It seems that in the price range of under $100,000 there are a ton of multiple offers. Open house traffic has been very busy. The inventory in this market is very low.
• Tahoe/Truckee Region—The listing inventory for the Tahoe-Truckee market had an increase of 17 new land/lot listings while the residential listings increased by three properties. To date, there are 1,385 residential properties and 605 lots/land listed for sale. Of the active listings, there are 104 properties listed as short sales, (5.2%) and 51 properties listed as REO, (2.6%). The median price for the active short sale properties is $384,950 and for the REO properties it is $394,900. Based on the current inventory and sales year to date the market has roughly 16-months of inventory available. On a year to date basis there have been 131 properties sold in the market as compared to 199 for the same period in 2008 which is 34.2% reduction in sales. For the week of March 16th through 22nd, there were nine properties sold which is a slight decrease from the week prior. All but three of the properties sold last week were in the Tahoe Donner area where most of the sales activity is occurring. The North Lake Tahoe areas remain slow. We held nine open houses over the past weekend with a fair amount of activity but nothing significant. There was a snow storm over the weekend which may have further hampered activity. A fair number of Agents reported favorable buyer showings for higher priced properties $900,000 and higher. We had six offers accepted this past week. It is apparent that buyer interest and activity is picking up as there are continued great values in the market. Market comments: Great closings and strong open escrows! Our listings are still slow coming in but lots of agents are working with buyers and not just the low end!

After a week of positive indicators, my best advice is for buyers to get out there. There are some fantastic deals out there right now and as more people begin to realize it, competition will come back and begin to drive activity. You know what they say about the early bird!

Until next time,
Make it a great one,

Bob Bronswick

It Was a Week of Surprises…And Best of All, Spring Has Sprung!

First, CNNMoney.com reported a sudden, unexpected surge in U.S. housing starts. According to the Commerce Department, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 last month, up 22% from a revised 477,000 in January. The big surprise: Economists were expecting starts to decline to 450,000, according to consensus estimates by Briefing.com.

Furthermore, applications for building permits, considered a reliable sign of future construction activity, rose 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000 last month. The other big surprise: Economists were expecting permits to fall to 500,000.

Also interesting this week, retail sales figures fell much less than expected in February, and surprisingly strong January sales were revised even higher. According to CNNMoney.com, “U.S. store sales showed a smaller-than-expected decline in February after an unexpected surge in January that was bigger than originally reported…The Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 0.1% last month, compared with January’s revised increase of 1.8%. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had been expecting a decrease of 0.5% for February.”

So, is it safe to call this a trend? Are we out of the woods yet? It’s tough to say. In all honesty, you don’t know whether or not you’ve hit bottom until you’re on your way back up but it seems some of the critical signs are starting to show signs of life which is welcome relief for our wounded economy.

Also in the news this week, the Federal Reserve announced plans to purchase up to $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities and up to $300 billion in longer term Treasury securities. Our representatives at the National Association of Realtors applauded the plans noting “This is great news for American home buyers and homeowners because mortgage interest rates will continue at historic lows.”

What this means for Americans is that a greater number of home buyers will be able to purchase a home and homeowners facing challenges will be able to refinance into better terms. As NAR noted, “We already are experiencing a great improvement in housing affordability due to historically low interest rates and the Fed’s move will push affordability conditions to the best levels in 40 years. In addition, continued low rates will lessen foreclosure pressure and help stabilize home prices sooner, as more Americans buy homes and draw down inventory.”

Along the lines of mortgage relief, the Treasury Department this week launched a new website for consumers seeking information about the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable loan modification and refinancing program. The site, www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov, offers features including interactive self-assessment tools that will empower borrowers to determine if they are eligible to participate and calculate the monthly mortgage payment reductions they could stand to realize under the Making Home Affordable program.

This is a helpful site that we should all be sharing with our friends, families and clients alike.

Finally, on Friday, Jim Gillespie, president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, will participate in a discussion about the state of the housing market, live from the New York Stock Exchange on CNBC. This will occur on Friday at approximately 4:30 p.m. (Eastern).

Jim will participate on the “Roadmap to Rebound” segment hosted by Maria Bartiromo. Yale economist Dr. Robert Schiller and Sanjiy Das, CEO of CitiMortgage, will also participate.

In another powerful symbol of what our Coldwell Banker and Realogy leaders are doing on behalf of consumers and the real estate sector in general to enact change that will stimulate housing and ultimately the economy, Jim plans to call upon government leaders to enact a $15,000 non-refundable tax credit to ALL buyers and also a mortgage buy down that would bring rates to the 4-4.5% range. This, NAR reports, could generate an additional 840,000 home sales over 12 months. This home buying activity would have major implications in stimulating the overall US economy since NAR also reports that each home sold generates more than $60,000 in economic activity. The proposal would also have a greater impact on foreclosures than the current stimulus package. I hope you will all watch.

Now, with all of that exciting news for the week in tow, let’s take a look at our local real estate news:

• Auburn—Listing inventory and sales inventory is steady out of our Auburn office. We had a few REOs in the area and we are in multiple situations on a couple of the short sales. Listings are sparse and land listings are sitting. Many of the Agents believe that we are going to finish strong in 2009 and that the confidence level is beginning to be a bit more positive.
• Dixon-Davis—Our Dixon-Davis office is reporting very slow inventory and very active sales, though prices remain low. If you looked at our inventory in our area you might actually think the market was taking a turn. We’re seeing less inventory and more multiple offers over the list price. Hopefully when the REO listings are released they will come out slow but steady to keep the market from being shocked again.
• El Dorado Hills/Placerville—Our inventory in El Dorado Hills and Placerville has stayed about the same this year. El Dorado Hills has 345 listings and we had over 450 the middle of last year. About 10% of our market is REO and 20-25% is short sales. Traffic at open houses has been spotty depending on the weather. We’re seeing occasional multiple offers on homes priced at or below market. We seem to be getting more traffic on floor but overall the market has remained the same all year which is certainly better than the declining market we experienced last year.
• Elk Grove/Laguna—What a difference a year makes. Many buyers are still frustrated because most listings are receiving so many offers they are having to write a lot of offers to get one to stick. For the second week in a row, traffic counts remain high. Short sale approvals are occurring at an increasing pace. REO listings have slowed, but there are a lot waiting in the wings. Multiple offers are still common place on properties below $300,000.
• Folsom—Open house traffic has been super! One listing, with help of a home builder promotion, drew 40 groups! Our REO inventory is decreasing. Three of our 11 sales for the week were short sales. Overall it was a good, solid week. Everything was working, including floor time, open homes, new home sales, etc. The weekend was very busy with all of the conference rooms tied up most of Saturday.
• Rocklin/Lincoln—Inventory is down but, according to some reports, banks reportedly have 700,000 REOs waiting to unload on the market, many in California. High end homes have not seen much movement or activity in the area.
• Roseville/Granite Bay—Looking forward to new stimulus and when the next foreclosures will be hitting the market. Spring starts on the 20th and everyone needs to hear our motto: “LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES.”
• Sacramento Fair Oaks—The local market overall is slower. The inventory is out about three to four months—a lot slower than what we are accustomed to. REOs have been very slow. Our open home traffic has been fairly good. Now with the weather warming up, we expect more.
• Sacramento Metro—Our biggest challenge right now is that the banks are holding the REOs which are the majority of our business so once that increases, the inventory will be the same. Experienced, veteran Agents are seeing less activity on traditional listings; we’re seeing some offers fall apart for various reasons. Agents are doing what they can to stay in the game. Activity in the office is more steady than the crazy pace we were previously feeling.
• Sacramento Sierra Oaks—Sierra Oaks is our “Steady Eddy” office. Several REO Agents are working steadily, not as crazily as like before. We’re awaiting the bank flooding to open up again (likely April). Multiple offers are the norm; we had 11 Short Sales approved by the banks last Friday. All major players (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, CitiBank, etc.) that want to get the assets off of their books. Open homes that were listed at a good price point had a fair amount of traffic.
• Tahoe/Truckee Region—The listing inventory for the Tahoe-Truckee market had a slight increase last week with 1,382 residential properties and 588 lots/land listed for sale. Short sales represent 5% and REOs were 2.6% of the active listings in the market respectively. The majority of the short sales and REOs listed, (86%) are priced below $750,000 which is where the sales activity is most brisk. Based on the current inventory and sales year to date, the market has roughly 17-months of inventory available. There continues to be meaningful price reductions within all price points yielding great buying opportunities for discerning buyers. On a year to date basis there have been 122 properties sold in the market as compared to 177 for the same period in 2008 which is a 31% reduction in sales. For the week of March 9th through 15th, there were 13 properties sold which is a slight increase from the week prior with three being over $750,000. We held eight open houses over the past weekend with a fair amount of activity but nothing significant. One of our open houses on the west shore had eight groups through which was encouraging. A fair number of Agents reported their listings are receiving showings at all price points. Over the weekend we had six walk-ins in the Tahoe City offices and a number of sign calls. The time to buy Lake Tahoe-Truckee real estate couldn’t be better.
• Vacaville-Fairfield—This week our market continues to be robust. We are experiencing multiple offers on the majority of our listings. Buyers are in our market place and taking advantage of the low interest rates and the availability of the $8,000 credit. Our Agents are actively seeking out their investor clients, as they see positive signs in the marketplace.

With spring break on the horizon and the warmer, spring weather in the air, look for the first of the garage sales as well as lots of great homes holding open houses! For a schedule of open houses, go to www.OpenHouse.com or www.CaliforniaMoves.com. Spring has sprung!

Until next week,
Make it a great one,

Bob Bronswick

What Will Real Estate’s Big Selling Season Bring?

With real estate’s traditionally busy Spring selling season right around the corner, what do we expect March-June to do for our market this year? Well as much as I’d love to say that we anticipate a sudden, overwhelming surge in sales and that all of our challenges are behind us, I won’t. What I can say is that we are seeing some bright spots thanks to heightened consumer confidence, following the recent legislation passed by the Obama administration. January and much of February had many buyers sitting on the fence as they awaited the results of the Economic Stimulus Package. The lowering of interest rates, induction and improvement of the home buyer tax credit, reduction in preventable foreclosures and reinstatement of the higher loan limits now have some buyers getting off the fence.

We’re definitely feeling the beginning effects of this, in many markets, with an increase in calls to our branch offices and Agents as well as increased traffic at our open houses.

But will this “interest” translate into closed transactions is the million dollar question.

Though none of us holds a crystal ball, I would say that we’re anticipating a moderate Spring. In markets hardest hit by foreclosures, we still have quite a few distressed properties to weed through before we can begin to work our way up. Our hope is that the recent passing of the foreclosure prevention plan will significantly reduce the number of foreclosures hitting the market over the next several months, and once this takes effect, we should be able to weed through the current inventory and start making our way through to the other side. In all honesty, this could take several months before we really feel its full impact.

For those markets impacted less by foreclosures and more so by Wall Street and the general state of the national and global economy, we’re really facing two main challenges: a lack of quality inventory and buyers who are struggling with whether or not to get off the fence.

Many buyers right now have misgivings about whether or not now is the best time to buy. Many are trying to time the market. My response to this is, it is very difficult to time a market. Just as you can’t time the stock market, you can’t time the real estate market. Real estate needs to be seen as a long term investment. If you plan to stay in your home for two, three or even five years, buying now probably makes good business sense. And that is solely if you are looking at purchasing a home from a business or investment purpose. But as we all know, purchasing a home isn’t just an investment. Home is where we live. Where we raise our families. Where we create memories. Rather than simply trying to time the market, we should be reminded of this fact and instead, focus on choosing the best home in which we can make that “life” happen. Of course, prosperity in real estate is how the majority of Americans have built their wealth in this country and I for one won’t overlook that fact but I do think it is important for all of us to reflect on the fact that beyond being a solid investment, our home is much more than that.

For buyers who are out there and are considering buying right now, if you plan to stay in your home for a long period of time, you probably can’t go wrong purchasing today. Though we anticipate moderate home sales in the near term, buyers are ultimately expected to respond to much improved affordability conditions as well as the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and the market will pick up. It’s just a matter of time. And when it does, that pick up will translate into more competition, less inventory and possibly higher home prices, resulting in less purchasing power for you. Consider my advice: waiting may cost you.

And with that news in tow, let’s take a look at this week in real estate:

• Auburn—We are seeing some REO activity but more short sale activity. One short sale contract has already been in the process for six weeks. The agents that showed homes this week stated that it was difficult to find a home in the lower price that wasn’t a short sale as the REOs were going so quickly.
• Dixon-Davis—All six of our deals this week are REOs or short sales. Our Agents are busy with multiple buyers who are all prequalified.
• Elk Grove-Laguna—Open house traffic and floor call volume took a big jump this past week. We had 14 floor calls on Saturday alone. On the open house side, most experienced near or above open house traffic.
• Fair Oaks—Last weekend open houses were very good. We had about seven Agents that did them. Two of our Agents had over 30 people in each of their opens. Sales have been decent considering the REOs have not been released. Multiple offers are still going on. The inventory is low causing more activity. The agents in the office are very positive.
• Folsom—Open house activity is very good with our opens averaging about 10 groups. Short sales are dominating right now with four of the seven ratified offers being short sales. We had no REO deals this week. If a property is priced right (especially in the Folsom area) it will sell fairly quickly.
• Rocklin-Lincoln—On the REOs that are priced right, they are receiving multiple offers and many Agents have written over a dozen offers for the same client. With some of the REOs we are also being given a document for the buyer to sign that states they are not in counter offers with other properties. The feeling among many of the Agents is that we are going to turn the corner and have a good year.
• Roseville-Granite Bay—We continue to see struggles. Buyers are reluctant. The positive is affordability and the tax credit. The unfortunate new is the jobless rate.
• Sacramento—Our Sierra Oaks office reports a lot of open house traffic and most sales remain REOs and/or short sales. The inventory for our area is very low right now which is dramatically hindering the number of potential sales.
• Vacaville-Fairfield—Our market appears to be strong and is definitely a sellers market under $250,000. We are noticing an unusual amount of cash buyers. In our opinion this is a great sign. We feel that they represent the most conservative bunch and they obviously see opportunity in the market. Our biggest challenge this week has been with the appraisers, they are taking longer than usual and the conventional appraisers are putting more conditions on the appraisal than even FHA or VA.
• Tahoe-Truckee—The listing inventory for the Tahoe-Truckee market is holding steady with slightly over 2,000 active listings in the area. Of the active inventory there are 53 REO and 93 short sale properties listed which is less than 8% of the total listings in the market. The majority of the REO and short sale listings, (90%) are priced at less than $750,000. Based on the current inventory and sales year to date the market has roughly 19-months of inventory available. On a year to date basis there have been 105 properties sold in the market as compared to 232 for the same period in 2008 which is 54% reduction in sales. For the week of March 2nd through 9th, there were 11 properties sold with 4 being over $750,000. Buyers are being very selective on the properties they are purchasing and many are in a wait and see mode relative to the current economic landscape. Currently there are 111 properties pending sale in the market of which 19 are either an REO or short sale. To demonstrate the selectivity of the buyers, there are currently 28 properties that are active contingent sales and 26 of those properties are classified as short sales. Open house activity has been hit and miss with very little activity on those properties being held open. Part of this is due to the time of year relative to visitors to the area and part of it is due to the slower real estate activity we are seeing. In summary, there are excellent deals available and many great properties to choose from for interested buyers looking to invest in the Tahoe-Truckee market. We certainly expect that as summer approaches and the economic environment improves that sales activity will become more brisk.

As you can see, we really have a mixed bag. Some markets remain slow while others are seeing huge leaps in sales and contracts.

What I’ll leave you with this week is a reminder that, for buyers, opportunity is knocking this Spring. Buyers need to be aware of today’s advantages—attractive interest rates, increased affordability, sizeable inventory, increased loan limits, $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit and motivated sellers. The stars couldn’t be more perfectly aligned.

For sellers, pricing is key. Homes that are priced well (really well) and show well, are selling. Home that aren’t, sit. Consider this as you prepare your home for market and please, take my and your Agent’s advice, and don’t test the market. Price your home well from the beginning to generate the largest pool of potential buyers.

Until next week,
Make it a great one,


Bob Bronswick

Foreclosure Prevention Plan Guidelines Revealed

Earlier this week, the Obama administration released the guidelines which enable lenders to begin modifications of eligible mortgages under the administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. Here is a summary of the guidelines, direct from the Department of Treasury: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/guidelines_summary.pdf.

This “foreclosure prevention plan” (dubbed by the media as such) is estimated to help some seven to nine million homeowners make their mortgages more affordable and help to prevent the continuation of the devastation that foreclosures have caused in this country.

According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, “The Home Affordable Refinance program will be available to 4 to 5 million homeowners who have a solid payment history on an existing mortgage owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Normally, these borrowers would be unable to refinance because their homes have lost value, pushing their current loan-to-value ratios above 80%. Under the Home Affordable Refinance program, many of them will now be eligible to refinance their loan to take advantage of today’s lower mortgage rates or to refinance an adjustable-rate mortgage into a more stable mortgage, such as a 30-year fixed rate loan.

“GSE lenders and servicers already have much of the borrower’s information on file, so documentation requirements are not likely to be burdensome. In addition, in some cases an appraisal will not be necessary. This flexibility will make the refinance quicker and less costly for both borrowers and lenders. The Home Affordable Refinance program ends in June 2010.

”The Home Affordable Modification program will help up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure by reducing monthly mortgage payments. Working with the banking and credit union regulators, the FHA, the VA, the USDA and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Treasury Department today announced program guidelines that are expected to become standard industry practice in pursuing affordable and sustainable mortgage modifications. This program will work in tandem with an expanded and improved Hope for Homeowners program.
With the information now available, servicers can begin immediately to modify eligible mortgages under the Modification program so that at-risk borrowers can better afford their payments.”

Industry online magazine, RISMedia, weighed in on the plan this week and offered this insight that I thought would be helpful: http://rismedia.com/2009-03-04/how-to-help-homeowners-understand-obamas-foreclosure-plan/

I know that many clients have a lot of questions right now and we are working to gather some communication tools to help. One good option in the meantime is a consumer-friendly Q&A recently put together by the Treasury Department, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) located at http://www.financialstability.gov/makinghomeaffordable/.

Now, let’s take a look at this week in real estate:

• Dixon-Davis—Agents are busy with buyers and short sale listings. “Regular listings” increased over the last few weeks. One of our REO Agents continues to stay busy while others’ inventory is still low. Short sales and REOs continue to get multiple offers. All of our short sales continue to get back up offers while they are waiting on acceptance from the banks.
• Elk Grove—We had 12 multiple offers out of our Elk Grove office this week. Much of this is in large part due to REO properties, considering the fact that 85% of our business is short sales or foreclosures. REO and short sale business has dominated for the month. Floor call volume and open house traffic has increased.
• Fair Oaks—Our Fair Oaks office shares that listing inventory has increased because of the number of relocation regarding USSA. Sales inventory has decreased and multiple offers have increased. Our local market in Fair Oaks and surrounding areas are fairly active with buyers. It seems like the real sellers are coming out of the woodwork.
• Folsom—Our Folsom office reports increased sales activity and steady inventory. Our office doesn’t have any REO listings right now, though we are participating on the sale side with other brokers. We are still slow on the new listings. The average sale price of $350,000 for this week was good. We had one sale over $700,000, one sale over $600,000 and one over $500,000.
• Rocklin-Lincoln—Our Rocklin/Lincoln office reports open house activity was slower than usual due to the rain. The largest number of attendees was one open house with 18 visitors. There were five good leads from our open houses this weekend, however, which tells me that the serious buyers are out there, weathering the storms. We had two REO listings and one short sale listing. We also received approval from Wells Fargo for a short sale submitted about 30 days ago that included the first, second and a line of credit. REOs were slow this week but we expect this to change, especially in Lincoln Crossing. We are also getting calls daily with regards to listing short sales.
• Roseville-Granite Bay—We saw decreases in inventory this week and overall, activity was slow.
• Sacramento—Our Sacramento Metro office reports that we had 10 multiple offers this week—all of which were on REOs. We are seeing good open house activity in the core areas. We are seeing signs that REO activity is slowing and with this new, lack of inventory in our core areas, things are slowing in the Sacrament Metro area. Our Sacramento Sierra Oaks office concurs noting that inventory is very low. Though the wet weekend might’ve kept some buyers away, we are still seeing a lot of action—often multiple offers—on REO properties.
• Tahoe-Truckee—We are seeing steady listing inventory and sales activity in our Tahoe-Truckee region. It appears that buyers are in a wait and see mode. There are many buyers who are looking at properties, particularly the short sales and bank owned. However, they are not necessarily writing offers. We’re hoping that the spring will bring closed transactions for those currently looking. We are receiving phone inquiries on short sales of late.

The news of the week is a breath of fresh air for millions of homeowners and for the real estate sector, it is just what the doctor ordered. It is imperative that we continue to move with speed to make housing more affordable and to help stop the spiral in our housing markets. I believe that this plan will encourage additional loan modifications and will ultimately reduce the foreclosure rate. In the end, this is one—and possibly the most important—way to stabilize prices and once again get us moving in the right direction. Helping families keep their homes is critical, both for the health of our economy and in neighborhoods across the country.

What I am most inspired by is the fact that I really do believe that we are headed in the right direction. On a local level, we’re already starting to feel the initial flow of these benefits. Though I can’t say it is across the board, in general, we are seeing increased floor activity, increased open house activity and buyers are finally getting off the fence and inquiring about the first time home buyer credit, increases in conforming loan limits and seeking counsel on whether or not now is the best time to buy.

While I don’t want to sound too much like a Pollyana, I truly believe that we are well-positioned and poised for a recovery. No, it won’t happen overnight but Obama and his team have made it very clear that they can’t fix this economic crisis without fixing the housing woes and with the recent release of the second half of the TARP funds coupled with the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and now the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, the housing sector truly is in one of the best positions for a recovery.

Until next week,
Make it a great one,


Bob Bronswick