Real Estate Related Matters

The Market
I suppose its about time we chatted about this, having two mortgage brokers in the room and an agent. Pat Fuller asked Kevin, "What's going on out there?".

Kevin (please comment), was excellent in his description of local conditions which are impacting pricing, seller behavior, buyer behavior, etcetera. In a nutshell, the market is flooded with inventory, but transactions are happing on pace with prior years. Princing has come down.

Some of the Reasons
-Inventory dilution; sellers are holding prices too high/too long on the market, when they may be better off holding
-Sellers that need to move are not realistic in following the market
-Banks and other lenders are toughening their lending standards; will restrict the number of buyers in the market (What's the opportunity here?)
-Consumer costs are increasing, dollar doesn't buy as much. This doesn't do well for the family who just barely recently qualified to buy, who isn't increasing their income fast enough. Credit cards will be hit first, then a refinance if possible. If not possible, the owners may have to just walk away.

Mortgage Info Tidbits
-Thanks Mike for the breakdown on A Paper, Alt A, B-Paper, Stated and No Income
-Bottom line is our clients if a move is on the horizon must pay attention to their credit scores as it will be hard to refy and purchase without top-notch scores. 680/20% down, with disclosed income will always be bankable. Michael, any info links that can be spell this out in more detail?

Banks
-Are the banks holding or short-selling? Locally, we discussed one instance where they are holding. It might be interesting to obtain info on what dynamics keep a bank from selling. It seems in the case of one local builder, there was not enough upside to meet the minimum bank price and property was not auction-able. There has to be a point where they bust though, anyone know?

Appraisers
-Last six months of comparatives is yielding lower values; this is making it harder for consumers to refinance. Shouldn't have an effect as much on home purchase if a realtor is performing diligence in Market Analysis.

Attendence: Thank you Lisa Jewette, Michael Gallatis, David Kiley, Patrick Fuller, and Craig Childs, and Kevin Wallace Next week, we should have a full house; if anyone would like to suggest a topic in advance or voluteer their conceptual map on Rob's sheet, please shout!