Santa Clarita Real Estate Forum

santaclaritarealestateforum August 28th, 2008

It was announced earlier this week that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will be increasing the Mortgage Premium charged to all purchase money mortgages, and full credit qualifying refinances. The increase is 25 basis points, bringing the Mortgage Premium charged to 1.75% from 1.50% of the loan base loan amount.

For a borrower seeking a loan in the amount of $200,000, this would equate to an extra $500, charged in the closing costs. FHA loans tend to have higher closing costs than conventional loans, this Mortgage Premium is one of the contributing factors to that fact. The need for FHA loans will likely only increase, as many potential buyers are lured into the market by lower housing prices, and the attractiveness of the FHA loans that provide attractive options such as only 3% down payment, and generous credit guidelines to those with lower scores.

The FHA needs to increase the Mortgage Premium in order to cover losses on bad loans, or seek taxpayer funds. Just when thousands of Americans are seeking out these FHA loans in order to qualify for their home of choice, and just as affordability is returning, cutting back on FHA loan availability is really out of the question for the time being.

To learn more about housing and loan options available to you when buying a Santa Clarita Home, contact The Scv Agents Team @ 661-291-2707.

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santaclaritarealestateforum August 6th, 2008

Looking for some great Santa Clarita Real Estate Statistics? Here you go! Paul Atkins over at Re/Max of Santa Clarita did another good job compiling some stats from the last 6 months of activity.

If you want to some proof that the local Santa Clarita market has experienced some very positive trends recently and really more so over the last 6-7 months, look no further than the numbers below:

Thanks Paul!

March 7th

April 7th

May 7th

June 7th

July 7th

August 7th

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

August 7th 2008 Re-Cap, we have broke out REO listings into our report this month.

SCV TOTALS 1,673 active of that 612 are short pays 183 are REO=47% of actives are~distressed sales. 

We closed 281 escrows in the last 30-days at July’s closed pace we would have 6.9 months inventory.

Broken down to areas it looks like:

Acton /Agua Dulce 15~months inventory

Canyon Country 6~months inventory

Castaic~6.8 months inventory

Newhall~11 months inventory

Saugus~5 months inventory

Stevenson Ranch~4.5 months inventory

Valencia~4.5 months inventory

The calculation was derived calculating the last 30 days closed activity in that area divided into the active listings in that area as of today.

• Stevenson Ranch….. 122~active….. 14~are short pay… = 11%
• Stevenson Ranch…….127~active…..24~are short pays..= 19%
• Stevenson Ranch ……….129~active…….19~are short pays……= 15%
• Stevenson Ranch………..117~active…….30~are short pay……..= 25%
• Stevenson Ranch………..127~active…….32~are short pay…….= 25%
• Stevenson Ranch………..119~active……36~short pay…6~REO=35%
• ************2% drop in inventory sinceMarch 7th 2008********
• ____________________________________________________
• Valencia………………..447~active….. 101~are short pay..= 22.5%
• Valencia………………..442~active……121~are short pay.=  27%
• Valencia……………………….377~active………133~are short pays.= 35%
• Valencia……………………….368~active………128~are short pays= 35%
• Valencia……………………….363~active………128~are short pays = 35%
• Valencia……………………….362~active……….130~short pay..31~REO=44% 
• ************19% drop in inventory since March 7th 2008***********
• ____________________________________________________
• Saugus………………….357~active…….99~are short pay…= 27.7%
• Saugus………………….334~active……125~are short pay = 37%
• Saugus…………………………300~active………138 are short pays..= 46% 
• Saugus…………………………265~active………118 are short pays = 44%
• Saugus………………………….269~active……..119 are short pays = 44% 
• Saugus………………………….232~active……..104~short pay..32~REO=58%
• ********35% DROP IN INVENTORY SINCE MARCH 7th 2008******** 
• ____________________________________________________

• Canyon Country……….570~active…… 184~are short pay..= 32%
• Canyon Country………..546~active……206~are short pay..= 38%
• Canyon Country…………….504~active……….221~are short pays..= 44%
• Canyon Country…………….491~active……….218~are short pays = 44%
• Canyon Country…………….475~active………..227~are short pays = 47%
• Canyon Country…………….439~active………..201~short pay…54~REO=58%
• ********23% DROP IN INVENTORY SINCE MARCH 7th 2008********
• ____________________________________________________
• Castaic…………………..194~active….. 50~are short pay…..= 25.7%
• Castaic…………………..189~active……55~are short pay….= 29%
• Castaic…………………………..184~active………67~are short pays….= 36%
• Castaic…………………………..169~active………60~are short pays….= 35%
• Castaic…………………………..158~active………55~are short pays….= 34% 
• Castaic…………………………..164~active………59~short pay..25~REO=51% 
• *******17% DROP IN INVENTORY SINCE MARCH 7th 2008******
• ____________________________________________________
• Newhall…………………….266~active… .66~are short pay….= 24.8%
• Newhall…………………….264~active……77~are short pay…= 29% 
• Newhall…………………………..238~active………..82~are short pays…= 34%
• Newhall……………………………234~active……….82~short pays……….= 35%
• Newhall……………………………234~active………..76~are short pays..= 32%
• Newhall……………………………221~active……….67~short pay….27~REO=42%
• *****16% DROP IN INVENTORY SINCE MARCH 7th 2008******
• ____________________________________________________
• Acton Agua Dulce……..158~active…. 19~are short pay….= 12%
• Acton / Agua Dulce…….155~active…..19~are short pay…= 12%
• Acton / Agua Dulce………….144~active…….18~are short pays….= 12%
• Acton / Agua Dulce…………..146~active…….18~are short pays…= 12%
• Acton / Agua Dulce…………..138~active……..15~are short pays..= 10%
• Acton / Agua Dulce…………..136~active…….15~short pay…8~REO=17%
• ******14% DROP IN INVENTORY SINCE MARCH 7th 2008******* 
• ___________________________________________________
• All SCV……………………2,114 active 533~are short pays….= 25%
• All SCV…………………….2,057 active 627~are short pays…= 30.4%
• ALL SCV………………………….1,876~active….691~are short pays……= 36.8%
• ALL SCV…………………………..1,790~active….654~are short pays….. = 36.5%
• All SCV……………………………..1,764~active….652~are short pays…..= 36.9%
• All SCV……………………………..1,673~active….612~short pay…183~REO=47%
• *********21% DROP IN INVENTORY SINCE MARCH 7TH 2008*****

If you’re looking to buy or sell a Santa Clarita home, we can help you. Santa Clarita foreclosure home? Santa Clarita short sale? Santa Clarita resale? We do it all, and have the insight & experience you’re looking for…give us a call @ 661-291-2707 anytime. Our team can help you view homes 7 days a week, and we have a website @ TheScvAgents.com like no other! try our new Santa Clarita Foreclosure Radar! 

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santaclaritarealestateforum August 2nd, 2008

The inventory of homes for sale in Santa Clarita continues to drop. Today, reaching below 1,700 down to 1,692 active Santa Clarita home listings.

Taking a look at the last several months, we can see how this welcomed reduction in homes for sale has played out:

June 2008: 1,840 Santa Clarita Listings

May 2008: 1,946 Santa Clarita Listings

April 2008: 2,014 Santa Clarita Listings

March 2008: 2,085 Santa Clarita Listings

February 2008: 2,182 Santa Clarita Listings

Expect to see this number shrink even more as we head into the fall, thereby reducing the homes to choose from, for the large pool of buyers that are out there house hunting right now - and that pool is crowded right now! The frenzy won’t dry up over fall and winter due to the fact that the type of inventory in large part that will be hitting the market will be Santa Clarita foreclosures, which means competitively priced homes that home buyers will have and are having a hard time ignoring!

If you’re interested in purchasing a Santa Clarita home, or want to consider selling a home in Santa Clarita that you own…contact The Scv Agents Team @ 661-291-2707, or just visit us at TheScvAgents.com!

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santaclaritarealestateforum August 1st, 2008

CLICK HERE FOR THE BEST SANTA CLARITA FORECLOSURE SEARCH TOOL AVAILABLE!

Over at TheScvAgents.com we implemented today’s very best consumer foreclosure search tool on the market here in California.

We hired Foreclosure Radar to provide our customers with the most detailed foreclosure data available. With the new easy search tool, and a little help from us at The Scv Agents Team, you’ll now have access to hundreds of Santa Clarita bank owned homes on the market, and those that haven’t even hit the market yet.

Give it a try - on the right hand menu of this blog, you’ll see the new Santa Clarita Foreclosuresearch tool interface. You can elect to find pre-foreclosures, auction homes, and actual bank owned homes. Many of the homes you’ll find there are actually on the market and for sale, some aren’t. If you ever want more details on a particular home - AND WE MEAN DETAILS…just shoot as an email from the Santa Clarita Foreclosure search tool interface, and we’ll get you back the details within hours.

Enjoy!

The Scv Agents Team

• Santa Clarita Foreclosures
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santaclaritarealestateforum July 25th, 2008

I received a good email today from Old Republic Title, detailing how the housing rescue bill set to be approved at The House, will actually help those it’s intended for.

After passage in The House, it’d be off to the Senate for their approval (possible changes), then eventually off to the President for his siganture, which he has indicated he’s intending to sign.

Have a look at how this Housing Rescue Bill is potentially going to work:

How housing rescue bill can help youThe legislation - likely to be enacted soon - devotes $300 billion to helping troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure. See if you qualify.

The House on Wednesday passed a $300 billion housing rescue bill aimed at helping troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure and supporting mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
If the bill is now passed by the Senate and signed by President Bush, who today withdrew his threat to veto it, thousands of at-risk borrowers will be able to refinance their unaffordable old mortgages into new low-cost fixed-rate loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 400,000 borrowers with $68 billion in loans may benefit from the program - but the bill allows for as many as 1 million or 2 million borrowers to participate in the program.
Here’s what homeowners need to know.
Who’s eligible?
Qualified borrowers must live in their homes and have loans that were issued between January 2005 and June 2007. Additionally, they must be spending at least 40% of their gross monthly income on all household debt to be eligible for the program.
They can be up to date on their existing mortgage or in default, but either way borrowers must prove that they will not be able to keep paying their existing mortgage - and attest that they are not deliberately defaulting just to obtain lower payments.
Before homeowners can get FHA-backed mortgages, they must first retire any other debt on the home, such as a home equity loan or line of credit. Borrowers are not permitted to take out another home equity loan for at least five years, unless it’s to pay for necessary upkeep on the home.
To get a new home equity loan, borrowers will need approval from the FHA, and total debt cannot exceed 95% of the home’s appraised value at the time.
How can I apply?
Borrowers can contact their current mortgage servicer or go directly to an FHA-approved lender for help. These lenders can be found on the Web site of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
How does the refinancing process work?
This is a voluntary program, so lenders holding the original mortgage have to agree to rework a given loan before things can get started. The bill requires lenders to make major concessions, writing down the value of the loan to 90% of the home’s current value. In areas where prices have plummented by as much as 20%, that will mean a substantial loss for the lender.
But lenders won’t sign off on a workout unless they think that they’ll lose less money on that than they would by allowing a home to go through the costly foreclosure process.
Each loan will have to be underwritten by an FHA lender on a case-by-case basis. That means the banks will do a new appraisal to determine the home’s current value, as well as examine and verify income statements, bank accounts, job histories and credit scores.
Based on that new appraised home value, the FHA lender must determine how much the original lender has to reduce the original mortgage, so that it will reflect 90% of the home’s market value.
If the original lender agrees to the writedown, the new lender buys the old loan and takes over the reworked mortgage.
As part of the deal, the old lender writes off any fees and penalties on the original mortgage, including prepayment penalties, and accepts the proceeds from the new loan on a paid-in-full basis. Additionally, it pays the FHA an up-front premium equal to 3% of the mortgage principal.
What does it cost?
There should be little up-front costs for borrowers to bear. Loan origination fees will vary by lender, but these can usually be paid by the borrower over the life of the loan in the form of a slightly higher interest rate.
However, the refinanced loans do come with many strings. For one thing, borrowers are responsible for paying an insurance premium to the FHA guaranteeing the loan, which will be 1.5% of the principal annually.
Borrowers also agree to share any profits from future home-price appreciation with the FHA. To do that, they’ll pay a “3% exit fee” of the mortgage principal to the FHA when they resell or refinance.
Plus, they’ll agree to pay the FHA 100% of any profits they realize from higher home prices if they sell or refinance within a year. So if the original loan principal is $200,000 and the home sells for $250,000, the borrower will owe the FHA $50,000, minus costs.
After a year, borrowers will share 90% of the profits with the FHA. The percentage keeps dropping in 10% increments to 50% after the fifth year, where it stays.
What will I save?
Savings depend on what borrowers are paying for their present loan and where they live, but for most people it will be substantial, even after factoring in the FHA fees.
In areas that have sustained huge price drops, such as Sacramento, Calif., where prices have fallen by about 30% over the past year, some loans might be reduced by more than 40%.
Additionally, the FHA loans carry reasonable interest rates, which are fixed for the life of the loan, as opposed to a subprime adjustable-rate mortgage that can jump higher every six months.

Call us at 661-291-2707 if we can help you with a potential home purchase, or sale, here in the Santa Clarita Valley. Always stop by our main site, The Scv Agents! 

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santaclaritarealestateforum July 23rd, 2008

Just wanted to let any and all of you know, that we’re going to be doing a few cool things with our new site: www.SantaClaritaRealEstateVideos.com. There isn’t anything there to really look at “just yet”…but over the next few weeks, you’ll start to see quite a bit of content churn out. We’ll be hosting a ton of unique video content of the Santa Clarita Valley, that we feel will be really helpful to Santa Clarita home shoppers out there, and people simply considering a relocation to our Valley. Maybe insightful to those who already live here too! We’ll see how deep our creative side runs. Just bookmark that site, subscribe to the RSS feed, and let us know what you think once it gets started!

Take care!

The Scv Agents Team!

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santaclaritarealestateforum July 22nd, 2008

UPDATED 7/22/08 CHECK OUT ALL SANTA CLARITA HOMES FOR SALE - at our Santa Clarita Tract Directory.

 We just made a major overhaul to our SCV tract directory, and wouldn’t you know it - it looks great! Now when you click on a community of homes, the results page will be much more user friendly, and provide in depth information about each home for sale.

I encourage you to check it out! It’s by far the best way to find a Santa Clarita home for sale. If you’re the type of buyer, or even seller, who likes to keep close tabs on one particular area of homes, or tract, then the tract directory at www.TheScvAgent.com is exactly where you want to be.

Let us know what you think!

And don’t forget to search for the HOT HOT HOT Santa Clarita foreclosure homes that are hitting the market everyday…you can do that by clicking this: SANTA CLARITA FORECLOSURE HOMES

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santaclaritarealestateforum July 18th, 2008

 A few Santa Clarita Starbucks will be part of a mass closure of 88 stores located in California, which is actually part of a bigger closure of over 600 Starbucks store closures nationwide. Starbucks claims the closures are due to sluggish sales, and a slowing economy.

It’s been mentioned in various news reports that many of the stores identified for closure will be one that have been established in just the last few years. To see the official list of nationwide Starbucks Store closures click here.

The two Santa Clarita Valley Starbucks stores that were identified on the list are:

Castaic Starbucks located at 31818 Castaic Rd

Canyon Country Starbucks located at 26503 Golden Valley Rd

Starbucks.com website today has the following to say regarding the announced store closures:

As we announced on July 1, 2008, Starbucks will close approximately 600 company-operated stores in the U.S. beginning this month and continuing through the first half of FY09.  Partners in the stores listed below have been personally notified that their store has been slated to close during this timeframe. 

In the spirit of transparency with our partners, customers and communities, we have provided the full list of stores below for general information purposes. Store partners will receive advance notice and more details from their leadership team once a specific closure date has been confirmed. After specific closure dates have been communicated to all affected partners, we will continue to update the confirmed store list at http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=880.

Full List of U.S. Store Closures
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/USStoreClosureInfo.pdf.
This list is provided solely for general information purposes, and does not create any obligation or commitment by Starbucks Coffee Company with respect to the closure of any particular store.  This list is based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information.  Actual store closures may differ depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, risks related to finalization of third party agreements, expected costs savings, income tax and other benefits associated with the store closures in the anticipated time frame, if at all.  Starbucks undertakes no obligation to notify third parties of such changes.

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santaclaritarealestateforum July 14th, 2008

Here’s an interesting article put out on CNBC.com today, regarding the turmoil over at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and how that may lend to higher interest rates. The industry insider quoted in teh article says to lock in your rate now, leading one to believe you very well not be able to afford a home of our choice, no matter how low prices get over the coming months or year. View the article here.

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santaclaritarealestateforum July 9th, 2008

New Santa Clarita Listings:     26
Out of the new Santa Clarita listings…  
Santa Clarita REOs:    8                                 
Santa Clarita Short sales:     8
 
Active Santa Clarita Listings:      1743
Avg. Days on Market:  108
 
Pending - Daily New:   18
Pending & Backup Offers-Total:   573
Avg. Days on Market:  65
 
June-Closed to date:   246
Avg. Days on Market:  70
 
July-Closed to date:  31
Avg. Days on Market:  39
 
Closed Escrows - Daily New: 11
YTD Closed Escrows (2008): 1341
Avg. Days on Market:   78

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