Lawyers: Chinese drywall makers may ignore suits

Lawyers representing homeowners and homebuilders who used drywall suspected of causing corrosion and possible health risks say they expect Chinese companies that made the wallboard to ignore hundreds of lawsuits filed against them in U.S. courts. So, who's going to be on the hook for any damages courts might award? That's the pivotal question for lawyers as they pursue about 300 lawsuits in U.S. District Court in New Orleans that allege a flood of defective Chinese drywall was sent into the United States after a string of hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. The material is known to decay, creating corrosive chemicals and fumes. Among tactics lawyers are considering are suits against U.S. investment bankers who financed the Chinese companies, and seizing ships that brought the drywall to the United States. This would not be the first time Chinese companies have ignored U.S. liability suits, said Russ Herman, a lead plaintiffs lawyer in the drywall litigation.

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Tampa experiencing slow home price gains

Home prices in the Tampa metropolitan area were up between June and July by as much as 1.4 percent but are still tracking more than 18 percent lower than they did a year ago. The latest study of 20 markets by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices shows substantial improvements in home prices over the last few months in the Greater Tampa area. The rate of growth between May and June was just 0.4 percent, according to the study. Among the 20 markets tracked by S&P/Case-Shiller, Tampa’s price growth rate is in line with other areas such as Cleveland, Denver and Miami, and well ahead of the growth in Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas, New York and Seattle. In fact, Las Vegas and Seattle reported price declines between June and July, although Las Vegas’ decline was half of what it was between May and June, according to the report. Home prices across the board remain sharply lower than they were the year before with Phoenix reporting the worst decline at 28.5 percent despite growing 1.8 percent between June and July. Home prices in Miami, the only other Florida metro area tracked by S&P/Case-Shiller, were off by 21.2 percent.

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U.S. home prices up in July for third straight month

U.S. home prices in July rose for the third straight month, surpassing forecasts and suggesting that the housing market is stabilizing after a three-year plunge. The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of house prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose 1.6 percent in July from June, more than triple the estimate of a 0.5 percent rise found in a Reuters poll. The index rose 1.4 percent the month before, S&P said on Tuesday. The 10-city index gained 1.7 percent in July after a 1.4 percent rise the previous month.

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Mortgage Rates Remain Unchanged (And Low) In Latest Weekly Survey

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.04 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending September 24, 2009, unchanged from last week when it averaged 5.04 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.09 percent.

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August Tampa Area Home Sales Up 17%, Prices Down 17%

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA reported a total of 2,370 homes sold in August compared to 2,029 homes a year ago for a 17 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $144,600; a year ago, it was $173,900 for a 17 percent decrease. The average home price is up 18% from the low point in January 2009 of $122,400. With this current trend, we may see the first increase in the median home sales price by the end of December. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 553 units sold in the MSA last month, up 15% from a year ago when 482 condos sold. The market’s existing condo median price was $104,700; a year ago, it was $141,400 for a 26 percent decrease.

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Federal Index Shows Home Prices Rising

U.S. home prices rose 0.3 percent in July compared to June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday. The index is 4.2 percent below what it was in 2008 and 10.5 percent off its peak in April 2007. The index excludes most expensive homes from its calculations, so prices appear to have declined less than they have by other measures. The report "supports other evidence that the three-year long decline in prices has come to halt," Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics, wrote in a note to clients.

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Realtors group calls for tax credit extension

The tax credit that has helped lift home sales expires in just over two months, and the National Association of Realtors wants it extended. The $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit will expire November 30, giving any buyers hoping to take advantage of it a very short window to qualify, when factoring in the time it takes to find a property and to close on its sale. “Now is the time for Congress to keep this recovery going by extending the tax credit through 2010 and making it available to more homebuyers, says NAR president Charles McMillan. “The credit needs to be available for an additional period of time in order to sustain the progress that’s been made so we can continue to see our markets fully recover.” The first-time buyer credit, which was implemented earlier this year, has brought 1.2 million new buyers into the market, the NAR estimates. It says 350,000 of those buyers would not have purchased a home without the credit.

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Closing on a mortgage costly here

Home prices may be falling in Florida, but buyers still have to fork over more cash than those in every state but one to close a deal, according to a study from Bankrate.com. Only Texas charges more in origination, title and closing costs than Florida, the study shows. Buyers of Florida homes are charged an average of $3,368. In Texas, it's $3,655. The figures are based on a $200,000 mortgage. Nationwide, the average origination and title fees on a $200,000 mortgage this year totaled $2,732, down from $3,118 in 2008. The least expensive state to close a deal is Nevada, where the combined fees total $2,276, according to the study.

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Best place to haggle your home price? Florida

If you're a house hunter in Florida, prepare to haggle. The Sunshine State is the easiest place to negotiate a price cut on your new home. Of the 25 cities with biggest median discounts in August, 14 of them were in Florida, according to a report released Thursday by Zillow.com. But hurry, because negotiating a better deal is getting harder. Nationwide, buyers got a median discount of 3.3% -- or $7,039 off the last listing price -- on homes they purchased in July. But in June, the discount was 3.5%. Back in January, the median cut was worth 4.6%. The city where sellers offered the deepest price cuts was Vero Beach, Fla. Buyers there negotiated prices down by 10.2%, a savings of $23,500. Other Florida hot spots were Sarasota (8.2% discount), Naples (7.8%) and Daytona Beach (7.5%).

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"Making Home Affordable" Picking Up Steam

The Obama administration's $50 billion "Making Home Affordable" mortgage relief plan is picking up steam, with 360,000 borrowers, or 12 percent of the eligible group, signing up for a three-month trial mortgage modification. "There are signs the plan is working," says Michael Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions. "But we can do better." Bank of America has enrolled about 7 percent of its 836,000 eligible loans, compared with 25 percent for JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Treasury Department’s decision to publish these numbers is driving the banks to do better. Lenders are "concerned about the report card showing them in a worse light than their peers," says David Stevens, assistant secretary for housing and FHA commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "Nobody wants to be a low performer on that score card."

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Mortgage Rates Continue Downward Trend

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.07 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending September 10, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.08 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.93 percent.

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Foreclosure drops in two Tampa Bay counties, but U.S. up 18%

Foreclosure rates have dropped in Pinellas and Sarasota counties, bucking a national trend of near record-high numbers of homes on the brink of being reclaimed by banks. Sarasota witnessed a 17.7 percent drop in foreclosures between August 2008 and last month with 849 filings representing one in every 260 homes, according to a new report from RealtyTrac. Pinellas had a 5.7 percent drop year-over-year with its 1,944 filings representing one in 257 homes in some form of foreclosure. The country as a whole was not as fortunate. Foreclosure rates were up nearly 18 percent nationwide with one in every 357 homes experiencing some level of foreclosure either from a default notice, scheduled auction or bank repossession.

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Home loan demand at 3-month high

U.S. mortgage applications surged last week to their highest since late May as consumers sought to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages tumbled to a 3-month low, spurring a surge in demand for home refinancing loans. Applications to buy a home, a tentative early indicator of sales, also climbed, hitting their highest since early January. The overall trend bodes well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which has been showing signs of stabilization.

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Yes, the Housing Market Has Rarely Looked Better

Last week, Standard & Poor's reported that its S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price index of real-estate values increased this past quarter over the first quarter of 2009, the first quarter-on-quarter increase in three years. Its index of 20 major cities also rose for the three months ended June 30 over the three months ended May 31, with only hard-hit Detroit and Las Vegas experiencing declines. The week before that, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales volume of existing homes was up 7.2% in July from June. In short, the data suggest that real-estate prices hit a bottom some time during the second quarter, and have now begun to rise. There's no way to be certain that this marks the end of the long, painful correction that followed the real-estate bubble, but clearly prices are no longer in free-fall. That means if you've been sitting on the fence, it's time to act.

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Foreclosures in neighborhood hurt your home's value

A Bradenton couple recently found a buyer willing to pay $137,000 for their home. But the deal fell apart when the appraised value came in 12 percent lower - at $120,000. Ouch! It's a painful scene playing out all over the Tampa Bay area. In Riverview, a homebuyer agreed to pay $162,000, but the appraisal came back at $150,000. A Trinity homeowner had a contract to sell for $207,000 - 6 percent more than the appraisal of $195,000. All of these homes appraised for less than the amount a buyer was willing to pay because of one thing: too many foreclosures and distressed sales in the neighborhood, said David Teacher, who was hired to appraise the homes by the buyers' lenders.

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Bond Yields Push Mortgage Rates Down Slightly This Week

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.08 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending September 3, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.14 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.35 percent.

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Fannie and Freddie Mac Rules On Loans For Condos

Here are some rules Fannie and Freddie require if a lender seeks government backing for a condo loan:

1. - Owner-occupancy must be 51% or more throughout the complex.
2. - At least 70% of units must be pre-sold, in a new complex .
3. - Approval is required by Fannie's Project Eligibility Review Service, in a new complex.
4. - Condo association dues can be late for no more than 15% of unit owners.
5. - No more than 10% of units can be owned by a single investor, individual or firm.
6. - A minimum 25% down is needed for a condo loan. Otherwise buyers must pay closing-cost fees equal to 0.75% of the loan, regardless of credit score, under new rules that began in April.

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July US pending home sales rise to 2-year high

A gauge of future U.S. home sales rose more than expected in July to the highest level in over two years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall. The report showed the housing market is rebounding faster than expected from its historic bust. Low prices and the looming expiration on Nov. 30 of a first-time homebuyers' tax credit of up to $8,000 have spurred sales. Prices in much of the country have begun to rise from the depths of the slump. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in July for previously occupied homes rose 3.2 percent to 97.6. It was the sixth straight increase, and 12 percent higher the same month last year. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected the index to edge up to only 96.5.

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Subprime lenders benefit

Subprime lenders who were blamed for the turmoil in the banking industry may receive billions in taxpayer dollars through a program aimed at stemming foreclosures, according to the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity. Under the $75 billion federal program, Making Home Affordable, lenders will receive money in exchange for lowering mortgage payments of distressed homeowners. Of the top 25 participants in the program, at least 21 were heavily involved in the subprime lending industry, the report states. The majority specialized in servicing subprime loans, meaning they collected payments but did not originate the loans. Several of the firms receiving money, however, serviced and originated the loans.

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