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Mortgage Rates at All Time Lows |
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Results from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey show that fixed mortgage rates have met or are near all-time-lows.
The 30-year-fixed matched the average all-time record low of 3.94 percent for the week ending December 15. This number is down from last week when it averaged 3.99 percent and much lower than last year's reported 4.83 percent.
A new record was set for 15-year-fixed mortgage rates, at 3.21 percent. This is down from last week's average of 3.27 percent and 4.17 percent reported this time last year. The previous record was recently set in October of this year.
The 5-year-adjustable-rate mortgage also set a new all-time record low at 2.86 percent.
"Mortgage rates were at of near all-time record lows this week amid a rough environment for housing," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac.
Many economists predict that the continuance of low mortgage rates and new record-lows will help convince potential homebuyers that owning a home is more affordable than ever. |
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Proposed settlement would force banks to allow short sales for delinquent homeowners |
Los Angeles Times
March 31, 2011
By Jim Puzzanghera and Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
Major banks may be forced to let severely delinquent homeowners sell their houses for less than the loan amounts owed as part of a broad settlement of federal and state investigations into botched foreclosure paperwork, according to government officials involved in the negotiations.
The requirement to allow so-called short sales would be in addition to forcing mortgage servicers to reduce the amount some homeowners owe on their loans, said two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because negotiations are ongoing.
The goal of short sales would be twofold: provide a quicker and more economical way for banks to dispose of distressed real estate and to help stabilize the real estate market by clearing out a backlog of defaulted mortgages that are poised for foreclosure.
They would be used in situations in which borrowers were so underwater that the more costly and time-consuming process of foreclosure would seem to be the only option.
"Short sales just command a better premium than foreclosures," said Glenn Kelman, chief executive for online brokerage Redfin. "It's like day-old bagels. They never sell for the same price. If they sit there for a while, nobody wants them because houses just break down when they are left alone." |
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Castle Heights Elementary is a so successful that it's losing funding and has larger classes. |
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Los Angeles Times Article by: Sandy Banks
May 2, 2009 I wouldn't blame the parents and teachers at Castle Heights Elementary if they are ruing their success. A five-year campaign by local moms has drawn dozens of new neighborhood children to the spruced-up Westside campus. Their parents' money and volunteer efforts have helped teachers raise student test scores by 85 points, enough to put Castle Heights in the top tier of Los Angeles Unified elementaries. So what's the problem? The new kids are too white. And too rich. The school district's guidelines mandate larger class sizes for campuses that are considered integrated. And national funding formulas only allocate federal money to schools with a high percentage of low-income students. Those standards -- coupled with districtwide budget cuts -- cost Castle Heights more than $50,000 this year and will increase class size in fourth and fifth grades from 28 to 36 students come September. |
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Housing index posts biggest jump in 5 years |
MSNBC.COM
Economist: 'We are at or near the bottom of the current housing depression'
The Associated Press: updated Wednesday, April 15, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Homebuilders are feeling a lot more optimistic that the worst housing downturn in decades may be finally starting to turn around. An index of builders' confidence released Wednesday posted its biggest one-month jump in five years in April as many homebuyers seized on lower prices and incentives and took advantage of lower interest rates and tax credits. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index climbed five points to 14. While still near historically low levels, the latest index reading is the highest since October. "This is a very encouraging sign that we are at or near the bottom of the current housing depression," said David Crowe, chief economist for the Washington-based trade association. The report reflects a survey of 360 residential developers nationwide, tracking builders' perceptions of market conditions. |
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L.A. Times Article: Hope Stirs in Housing Market |
Southland median home price holds to $250,000 in February
The figure is unchanged from January but is down 39% from a year earlier. Lower prices boost sales 41%.
By Peter Y. Hong
Home prices in Southern California held steady in February for the first time in nearly a year, figures released Tuesday show, as low prices brought buyers back into the market.
At the same time, home construction rose nationwide last month, helping spark a rally on Wall Street.
Experts say it’s not clear whether prices have hit bottom, but they are now low enough that thousands of buyers are emerging as the traditional spring home-buying season begins.
“This feels like an excellent time to buy, and we’re in steady jobs,” said Rick Asavis, 47, who recently bought a new town house in Sylmar. Asavis and his wife, Karen, 50, were checking out their unit in the KB Home development Saturday to make final interior decorating decisions before moving in later this month.
The Asavises’ home purchase was among the 4,590 in Los Angeles County in February — a 32% increase over the same month last year — as buyers were lured by low prices and a sense that even if the market continues to fall, houses have become cheap enough to make the investment worthwhile.
The increased sales came as developers started construction at an annualized rate of 583,000 homes in February — 22% more than in the previous month, the federal government reported Tuesday. The increase was far more than economists had predicted, and the news was an important driver of a jump of nearly 179 points in the Dow Jones industrial average.
In Southern California, the number of homes sold last month in the six-county region soared 41% from a year earlier, to a total of 15,231. The median price remained at January’s level — $250,000.
Yale University economist Robert Shiller said if prices held up for two more months, it could be a sign that the market was stabilizing. Still, it’s too soon to predict the end of the housing crisis, he said, because prices nationwide have further to fall.
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