http://ift.tt/eA8V8J
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and National League of Cities (NLC) today announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help fight against veteran homelessness in cities across the country. To date, more than 255 cities, counties and states are pledging to end veteran homelessness in their communities by 2015 using the power of federal, state, local, and non-profit resources.

Vía HUD Press Releases http://ift.tt/1yd8uVZ

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

For release:
November 25, 2014

Back-to-back increase in October pending home sales point to year ending on a high note

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 25) – Pending home sales in California picked up steam in October and rose for the second straight month, portending a pickup in closed sales for the remainder of the year, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today.

Pending home sales data:

• California pending home sales were up in October, with the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* rising 2 percent from a revised 102.6 in September to 104.6 in October, based on signed contracts. October’s increase was the first back-to-back increase since early this year, when pending sales rose for three straight months, starting in January.

• Pending sales dipped 0.5 percent from the revised 105.2 index recorded in October 2013. The yearly decrease was significantly lower than the six-month average of -6.7 percent from April 2014 to September 2014.

Equity and distressed housing market data:

• The share of equity sales – or non-distressed property sales – edged up in October. Equity sales made up 91.1 percent of all sales in October, up from 90.9 percent recorded in September. Equity sales have been more than 80 percent of total sales since July 2013 and have risen to or above 90 percent for five straight months. Equity sales made up 85.5 percent of sales in October 2013.

• Conversely, the combined share of all distressed property sales dipped in October, down from 9.1 percent in September to 8.9 percent in October. Distressed sales were down nearly 40 percent from a year ago, when the share was 14.5 percent.

• Half of the 41 reporting counties experienced a month-to-month decrease in the share of distressed sales, with 17 of the counties recording in the single-digits, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Orange, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Yolo counties — all of which registered a share of five percent or less.

• Of the distressed properties, the share of short sales remained at its lowest level since February 2008, holding steady at 4.6 percent in October, unchanged from September. October’s figure was less than half the 9.3 percent recorded in October 2013.

• The share of REO sales dipped in October to 3.9 percent from 4 percent in September and from 4.7 percent in October 2013.

• The supply of REO properties eased slightly in October, while the supply of equity and short sales tightened. The Unsold Inventory Index of REO sales ticked up from 3.1 months in September to 3.2 months in October. The supply of equity sales fell from 4.1 months in September to 3.8 months in October, and the supply of short sales dropped to 5.7 months in October from 6.2 months in September.

Charts (click links to open):

• Pending sales compared with closed sales.
• Historical trend in the share of equity sales compared with distressed sales.
• Closed housing sales in October by sales type (equity, distressed).
• Housing supply of REOs, short sales, and equity sales in October.
• A historical trend of REO, short sale, and equity sales housing supply.
• Year-to-year change in sales by property type.

Share of Distressed Sales to Total Sales
(Single-family)

Single-family Distressed Home Sales by Select Counties
(Percent of total sales)

NA = not available

*Note: C.A.R.’s pending sales information is generated from a survey of more than 70 associations of REALTORS® and MLSs throughout the state. Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, offering solid information on future changes in the direction of the market. A sale is listed as pending after a seller has accepted a sales contract on a property. The majority of pending home sales usually becomes closed sales transactions one to two months later. The year 2008 was used as the benchmark for the Pending Homes Sales Index. An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2008.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 165,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.
# # #

Vía Home http://ift.tt/1pjL1AE

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

For release:
November 24, 2014

C.A.R. applauds FHFA for keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits unchanged

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 24) – The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today issued the following statement in response to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) announcement to keep the 2015 maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at $417,000 on one-unit properties in most areas and a cap of $625,500 in high-cost areas. Loan limits were increased in Monterey, Napa, San Diego, and Ventura counties:

"C.A.R. applauds the FHFA for retaining the existing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits, and even raising the limit in some California counties," said C.A.R. President Chris Kutzkey. "The FHFA recognizes that home prices have risen significantly in California, especially in high-cost coastal areas, where lowering the loan limits would have hurt the housing recovery."

C.A.R. and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) both have long advocated for making higher conforming loan limits permanent. As a result of C.A.R.’s and NAR’s efforts, Congress made permanent the maximum conforming loan limits at $625,500.

The conforming loan limit determines the maximum size of a mortgage that government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy or "guarantee." Non-conforming or "jumbo loans" typically have tighter underwriting standards and carry higher mortgage interest rates than conforming loans, increasing monthly payments and hampering the ability of families in California to purchase homes by making them less affordable.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than 165,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

Vía Home http://ift.tt/1AJzrTB

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

For release:
November 24, 2014

HUD Secretary Julián Castro stresses need for expanding credit and reforming housing finance system at C.A.R.’s inaugural Real Estate Summit

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 24) – An audience of nearly 300 real estate executives and practitioners, industry stakeholders, economists, and policymakers gathered this month in Los Angeles for the inaugural Real Estate Summit: Partnering for Change in California, which featured a keynote speech from U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro. Convened by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.), Secretary Castro, along with other industry thought leaders, exchanged ideas and solutions about housing affordability, California’s infrastructure, consumer trends, and foreign investment challenges.

Notably, Secretary Castro’s speech signaled a shift in tone at HUD about opening the doors of homeownership to every American who’s responsible and ready to buy following a period of constrained access in response to the financial crisis. Castro and other speakers at the invitation-only event directly addressed a variety of pressing issues related to real estate, homeownership, and the state’s economy.

"While we are considered the ‘golden state,’ our state of affairs is facing many challenges," expressed C.A.R. President Chris Kutzkey. "Having Secretary Castro shed light on the U.S. housing situation created a forum that allowed the top economists in our state, along with policy makers and CEOs to share ideas, exchange viewpoints, and challenge possible solutions with the goal of moving the needle to solving some of these issues."

Castro’s remarks were the centerpiece of a variety of viewpoints offered by dozens of influential policymakers, business leaders, and top real estate economists from partner institutions, including the UC Berkeley Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, UC Irvine Center for Real Estate, UCLA Anderson Forecast, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, and Stanford Professionals in Real Estate.

Castro addressed the need for housing finance reform and expanding access to credit, particularly for communities of color because lending to minorities is at a 14-year low after they were the hardest hit by the economic crisis. He added that it’s time to remove the stigma from promoting homeownership and wants to make helping responsible people buy their first home one of his top priorities. "The pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and now we’ve got to move the market back to a point that balances opportunity with responsibility," Castro said.

"When I talk about helping more responsible borrowers access credit, it doesn’t mean returning to the lending abuses of the past. We are talking about helping families who are recovering from the great recession—and doing everything right—rebuild the American dream."

"One of the factors holding back the market is that many folks are feeling unsure about their financial security," said Castro. "Young people today are using their money to pay off loans rather than save for a down payment. If we help them prosper, our housing market will prosper."

Castro continued to emphasize the challenges and possible solutions in lending practices toward minorities, President Obama’s housing agenda, the Federal Housing Administration, and housing finance reform.

C.A.R. Chief Executive Officer Joel Singer set the stage for the day with a brief discussion about the state of California’s housing market, saying that in 1976, California was more affordable than the nation as whole, but in the past 20 years, affordability has dropped more steeply than the nation. "The housing market has slowed down in areas where we saw a strong recovery, and even with interest rates around 4 percent, the demand for housing is less than we anticipated due to diminished housing affordability," said Singer.

In four separate panel discussions, top real estate leaders and economists also addressed four key subjects, including housing financing and homeownership; the impact of foreign investment on the state’s economy; changing demographics; and the state’s aging infrastructure.
Key to the homeownership discussion was the impact of the younger millennial generation – members of which are delaying marriage, preferring the flexibility of renting and who no longer see homeownership as a primary aspiration. "We have to offer a cautionary note about homeownership," Stuart Gabriel, director of UCLA’s Ziman Center for Real Estate said. "We have a lot of recent evidence that low down payment mortgages won’t work well. We want mortgages and a housing finance system that performs."

Foreign investment panel discussants agreed that the influx of foreign capital is one the strongest drivers of real estate. "While many of us here see our market as soft, from an international perspective, we have a very strong marketplace. As a result, international investors – such as those from Canada a year ago and more recently Chinese investors, who in the past year have invested $22 billion into our housing market – see the U.S. as a strong, stable, and in fact, undervalued market," said Richard Green, director of USC’s Lusk Center for Real Estate. "As a result, they see it as a safe place to invest their money."

To view video of Castro’s full remarks as well as each of the day’s four panels, visit the Real Estate Summit website.

Leading the way® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with nearly 165,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

# # #

Vía Home http://ift.tt/1uymTpJ

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

WASHINGTON (November 24, 2014) – Despite a slowing global economy, forward economic momentum in the U.S. should keep commercial real estate activity on firmer footing, according to the National Association of Realtors^® quarterly commercial real estate forecast.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says commercial activity should progress at a gradual pace heading into 2015. “Solid economic growth in the third quarter proved that… Read More

Vía RSS feed for Items tagged ‘news releases + for-the-media’ http://ift.tt/1xMhIbG