Monday, March 30, 2009

Orange County Register - "Assessor says no comps needed for property tax reviews" (3-29-08)

"Property owners have until April 30 to request an informal review of their tax assessment and get their property taxes reduced. The one-page application includes a spot for owners to supply three recent sales of comparable homes that sold in their neighborhood between Oct. 1 and March 31. With home values down 42% in the past 18 months, properties purchased since 2002 are likely to be eligible for a tax break. But Guillory said that requested reviews still will be made even if that portion of the application isn’t filled out."

Orange County Register - "Could O.C. office rents fall by 10% or more?" (3-28-09)

"We have vacancies in buildings that have not had an opening in the last 8-9 years. In these cases, we are taking a conservative approach and advising investment partners that there will be (1) no leasing activity through 2009; (2) a 10%, or more, drop in rental rates; and (3) free rent associated with new leases. It is important to note that we use these same assumptions on properties we are buying!"

NAR - "2008 Second-Home Sales Decline; More Buyers Pay Cash" (3-30-09)

"The market share of homes purchased for investment was 21 percent last year, unchanged from 2007, while another 9 percent were vacation homes, compared with a 12 percent market share in 2007. The total share of second homes declined from 33 percent of all transactions in 2007. In 2005, the peak year for home speculation, 40 percent of sales were second homes."

The Wall Street Journal - "Defaults Rise on Home Mortgages Insured by FHA" (3-30-09)

"A spokesman for the FHA said 7.5% of FHA loans were 'seriously delinquent' at the end of February, up from 6.2% a year earlier. Seriously delinquent includes loans that are 90 days or more overdue, in the foreclosure process or in bankruptcy."

CNN - "Foreclosures spike - so do mortgage-help plans" (3-30-09)

"Lenders have helped an increasing number of mortgage borrowers to get current on payments and stay in their homes, but the tide of foreclosures is still rising. In February, nearly 250,000 homeowners received either mortgage modifications or repayment plans from their lenders, according to Hope Now, the coalition of lenders, investors and community advocacy groups put together to combat the foreclosure plague."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Home-Loan Bonds Climb on Geithner’s Toxic-Asset Program" (3-30-09)

"Home-loan bonds without government backing climbed off their lows or near records, after the U.S. announced plans to finance buying of the securities to bolster banks and markets. Typical prices for so-called super-senior securities backed by prime-jumbo mortgages rose 4 cents on the dollar last week to roughly 67 cents, according to a March 27 report from Barclays Capital. Similar bonds of 'option' adjustable-rate mortgages climbed 2 cents on the dollar to 35 cents, the report said."


Orange County Register - "Chase swaps all signs of Washington Mutual" (3-30-09)

"JPMorgan Chase today is expected to replace Washington Mutual signs with Chase signs at all 708 branches it acquired in California after the thrift failed last year. Chase said it’s investing $375 million in California in 2009 to refurbish and rebrand existing branches as well as open 20 new ones."

Orange County Register - "Rent or buy? O.C. cost gap sharply narrows" (3-30-09)

"Since everyone’s situation is different, it’s always tricky math in any climate. But my trusty spreadsheet — and data embedded in my Big Orange Index — tells me that the home payments generated by recent homes purchases when compared to a benchmark of local rents look as favorable for ownership as they have in the two decades of housing data I’ve collected"

Orange County Register - "This guy argues cutting property tax not so easy" (3-30-09)

"While real estate Web sites like Zillow.com, Trulia and Redfin can provide lists of recent sales in a home’s area, and while the county provides workshops and a PowerPoint on the tax appeals process, Beans maintains that some homeowners still need professional assistance. For $11 to $65, customers can get the data they need to complete applications for an informal review or an appeal themselves."

Orange County Register - "Subprime is dead, but not this lender’s program" (3-30-09)

"Subprime, the business of making home loans to folks with spotty credit, is dead. But there are still private and public programs for borrowers with lower incomes. For the past decade, Union Bank of California, a midsize San Francisco-based lender, has offered a special program for people who want to buy a home but whose income falls short for where they want to live."

No comments: