Bucking The Real Estate Trend-Waynesville and Maggie Valley Real Estate

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2010 Guide to Home Buying Tax Credits [Great chart from Fixr].

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Source: Fixr

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• Snapshot of 2010 Home Sales in Maggie Valley, Waynesville (Haywood County), NC. (buckingtherealestatetrend.com)
• Daily Update of New Listings, Foreclosures, of Homes for Sale in Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Asheville, etc. (buckingtherealestatetrend.com)

Check out Fixr – the “eBay for Contractors.”

Must Read: Shadow Inventory [HousingWire].

The real estate rodeo ‘ain’t over yet.’ (I know… I said that before.) There’s no way to predict the future, but gathering information for decision ammunition is to the advantage of anyone who might be considering a real estate purchase. The article below from HousingWire is quite interesting. Today’s Wall Street Journal The Home-Credit Derby Has Its Price article is also a good read.

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010, 1:03 pm

Write to Jon Prior.

The “shadow inventory” of bank-repossessed properties, as well as distressed mortgages facing foreclosure, will take nearly three years to clear at the current sales rate, according to a report from the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P). The analysts add that during this period many servicers will likely shift their emphasis from mortgage modification to loan liquidation.

The “shadow inventory” of homes includes all delinquent loans and real-estate owned (REO) property that has not reached the market. REO property are foreclosed homes taken back by the bank for liquidation. As for the total amount of homes in the shadow inventory, Amherst Securities places the total at 7m. The Royal Bank of Scotland found 2.7m, and First American CoreLogic counted 1.7m.

S&P estimates the inventory to equal a 33-month supply of homes. Analysts added the estimate is actually conservative, as they did not assume homes not showing signs of distress would default and push the overhang of supply even further.

Furthermore, court delays, political pressure and servicing backlogs constricted the flow of foreclosures hitting the market to a trickle. These delinquent borrowers who have not received a foreclosure fuel the “rapidly” growing shadow inventory of properties, according to the report.

“Overall, it is our opinion that recent positive housing reports should not be construed as a sign that the distress in the residential housing market is abating, but rather should be attributed to the temporarily limited supply of homes on the market,” according to the report.

Another credit rating agency, Moody’s, showed that the underwhelming performance of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which the US Treasury Department launched in March 2009 to give incentives to servicers for the modification of loans on the verge of foreclosure, will drive down housing prices another 8% from Q409 to the end of 2010.

According to the S&P report, homes are falling into serious delinquency faster than REO transactions are closing. The total balance of seriously delinquent loans reached well over $400bn through November 2009, while the balance of REO properties reached its peak in September 2008 and declined to $50bn. On average, $14.5bn of seriously delinquent loans or REO property liquidates each month. According to the report, it will take 29 months to clear this supply of homes:

*****Read the rest of the article here.*****

Write to Jon Prior.

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• New wave of foreclosures threatens market (msnbc.msn.com)
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NYT Article: Short-Sale Program Will Pay Homeowners to Sell at a Loss.

Interesting New York Times article:

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.

This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to speed them on their way, is one of the administration’s most aggressive attempts to grapple with a problem that has defied solutions.

More than five million households are behind on their mortgages and risk foreclosure. The government’s $75 billion mortgage modification plan has helped only a small slice of them. Consumer advocates, economists and even some banking industry representatives say much more needs to be done.

For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy’s tentative recovery — the last thing it wants in an election year.

*****Read the rest of the article here*****

More very recent articles pertinent to the real estate market:

• Asheville #1 on the 100 Best Places to Retire 2010 List
• Asheville on 10 Best Places for Second Homes List
• 5 Metro Areas on the Real Estate Mend

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• Calculated Risk: Freddie Mac: “Potential Large Wave of Foreclosures” (buckingtherealestatetrend.com)
• Residential Real Estate Foreclosures, REO and Short Sales in the Haywood County MLS. (buckingtherealestatetrend.com)

Barron’s “10 Best Places for Second Homes.” (Asheville Made the List).

Asheville, North Carolina,  just made another great list ~ Barron’s “10 Best Places for Second Homes.” Terrific news for Asheville, and this most recent recognition goes well with Asheville recently being named Number 1 on the 100 Best Places to Retire in 2010. See the article: “Sunbelt Shines on the 100 Best Places to Retire List for 2010“

From BARRON’S “10 Best Places for Second Homes”:

AT LONG LAST, THE MARKET FOR LUXURY REAL estate is coming back to life.

Prices for primary residences, which plunged at least 20% from the peak in 2007, appear to have bottomed. In some of the snappiest locations, scattered bidding wars are breaking out and prices are turning upward.

In Greenwich, Conn., realty brokers say, the final months of 2009 were almost record-setters for sales volume, as two years of pent-up demand was unleashed. Even the megadeal is back. In Beverly Hills, film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg just plunked down $35 million for an 8,700-square-foot home on six acres.

There’s nothing like a stabilized economy and a huge rebound in stocks to send folks looking for the perfect manse. The return of hefty Wall Street bonuses hasn’t hurt, either.

With all that in mind, and with summer just around the corner, Barron’s sized up the market for upscale second homes, one of the greatest luxuries of all. We scoped out dozens of deluxe enclaves across the country, speaking with brokers, homeowners and others. Our conclusion: Now could be an excellent time to buy.

Prices are way down — 40% off the peak in some locations. Seemingly at or near bottom, they are starting to attract the first wave of bargain hunters — and not just families in need of R&R. Hard-nosed investors also are on the prowl, says Jan Reuter, head of residential real estate at U.S. Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management: “We’ve seen an uptick in buying in just the last couple of months.”

***See the list here.***