Mortgage Interest Rates for Fixed and Variable Rate Mortgages*

Rates as of Thursday, 22nd July, 2010:

Term    Conforming    APR    Payment per
$1,000    Jumbo    APR    Payment per
$1,000    Arm Reset Term
3-Yr Fixed ARM to $417,000 / $1.5M    360    3.250%    3.307%    $4.35    3.000%    3.078%    $4.22    36
5 Year ARM to $417,000 / $729,750    360    3.250%    3.307%    $4.35    3.500%    3.580%    $4.49    60
15-Yr Fixed to $417,000/$729,750    180    3.750%    3.855%    $7.27    4.250%    4.398%    $7.52    -
30 Year Fixed Rate to $417,000/729,750    360    4.250%    4.310%    $4.92    4.375%    4.459%    $4.99    -
5 Yr Fixed ARM to $1M / $1.5M    360    3.75%    3.808%    $4.63    4.00%    4.082%    $4.77    60
15 Year Jumbo Fixed to $1M / $1.5/M    180    4.500%    4.607%    $7.65    4.625%    4.775%    $7.71    -
30 Year Jumbo Fixed to $1M / $1.5/M    360    5.000%    5.063%    $5.37    5.250%    5.339%    $5.52    -

Important information about July Real Estate Sales
Laguna real estate sales volume has been pretty strong in ’10 with 34 sales in June, which is almost equaling the boom times sales volume of June ’05 with 38 sales.
But here we are 2/3 through July 23rd and we’ve only 14 closed sales and 14 new homes going into escrow. If it continues at this pace that means 18 sales and 18 going into escrow.

Is it more than just a seasonal drop?

And there are 400 homes on the market.

20%  of the sellers have made price reductions already this month.

While there’s a typical slow down at this point of the year it’s more than in the past years.

But what can you expect with this economy. I’m sure you’ve had many conversations about ‘what the heck is going on?’.

Up, down, sideways.

But when others zig, you zag, and therein lies the opportunity.

Lots of great listings, jumbo loans are really cheap and much more plentiful, and a great opportunity to negotiate a great deal.

It might be time to cherry pick a great deal if you’ve been waiting on the sidelines. And there are a lot of you on the side line. You know who you are.

Stay tuned…

Mortgage rates continue their trend this week. We’ve reached new low points with Jumbo’s leading the way to their lowest rates ever. I call your attention to the Jumbo Fixed Rates to $1.0 Million and $1.5 Million. And, we have other jumbo programs available up to $4M.

Mortgage Interest Rates for Fixed and Variable Rate Mortgages*

Rates as of Thursday, 8th July, 2010:

Term    Conforming    APR    Payment per
$1,000    Jumbo    APR    Payment per
$1,000    Arm Reset Term
3-Yr Fixed ARM to $417,000 / $1.5M    360    3.250%    3.307%    $4.35    3.500%    3.580%    $4.49    36
5 Year ARM to $417,000 / $729,750    360    3.250%    3.432%    $4.35    4.000%    4.082%    $4.77    60
15-Yr Fixed to $417,000/$729,750    180    3.750%    4.231%    $7.27    4.250%    4.398%    $7.52    -
30 Year Fixed Rate to $417,000/729,750    360    4.375%    4.561%    $4.99    4.625%    4.836%    $5.14    -
5 Yr Fixed ARM to $1M / $2.0M    360    4.250%    4.310%    $4.92    4.500%    4.585%    $5.07    60
15 Year Jumbo Fixed to $1M / $1.5/M    180    4.750%    5.188%    $7.78    5.000%    5.465%    $7.91    -
30 Year Jumbo Fixed to $1M / $1.5/M    360    5.250%    %    $5.52    5.500%    %    $5.68    -

Great article from a well respected building consultant, John Burns http://ht.ly/29jUm

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/13/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“BEACH-CLOSE HOMEBUYING HAS RISEN THIS YEAR”

Beach-close homebuying is up 32 percent from a year ago. Laguna Beach sale activity is up 109 percent in a year….selling is better than a year ago, but it comes by serious discounting.

LOS ANGELES TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 6/13/2010

Lew Sichelman

“HOME SHORTAGES COULD DEVELOP AS RECOVERY UNFOLDS”

Sooner or later, the economy will rebound. When that time comes, however, there might not be enough housing to accommodate all of the new family formations.

LOS ANGELES TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 6/13/2010

Lauren Beale

“COMPOUND INTEREST SOARS ON WESTSIDE”

Rich homeowners seeking privacy buy adjacent properties. Now in the ultrahigh end it’s the norm to strategize about amassing multiple properties. They seek even greater privacy by increasingly buying adjacent properties as a buffer zone around their mansion.

A graded eight-acre lot above Bel-Air Country Club is on the market for $49.5 million .

LOS ANGELES TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 6/9/2010

Roger Vincent

“COMMERCIAL PROPERTY REBOUNDING”

Prices are not soaring, but investors are on the prowl again and bidding wars are back. After 3 years of decline there are signs that Southern California’s beaten-down real estate market has struck bottom – setting up the possibility of a rebound later this year.

Abrahan Lincoln:
“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”

Benjamin Franklin:
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy:
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

Week Ending 6/7/2010

“Glass Half Full” Perspective

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/6/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“OCEAN BREEZES ARE IN DEMAND”

Homebuying tracking shows surprising momentum in beach-close areas. The market’s momentum seems to be at the beach with nine of the top 25 performers on the momentum rankings.

The increased volume and momentum points to the fact that the discrepancy between buyers and sellers has narrowed. The narrowing has come from sellers being more realistic and buyers being more optimistic.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/6/2010

Jeff Collins

INDUSTRY LEADER SAYS HOUSING MARKET HAS HIT BOTTOM”

According to Parker Kennedy, CEO and Chairman of First American Corp…

I feel the values in some communities will drop but not by much. Values have improved. Investors are back in the market, which means we have hit bottom. I don’t think real estate markets will go back to where they were in ’05, but I don’t think they should…that was not realistic. We’re now back to a good real estate market. It is hard to get a loan however…

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/6/2010

Kelli Hart

“DISTRESSED ORANGE COUNTY HOMES…LOW SHARES”

Seal Beach                3.9%

Newport Coast        5.4%

CDM                           6.7%

Laguna Woods        6.8%

Laguna Beach          9.3%

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/6/2010

“TRENDS FOR ORANGE COUNTY HOME PRICES AND SALES ARE ALL UP FOR MAY”

PRICES

15.7 % increase for resale homes

34.9%  increase for new homes

13.5 % increase for resale condos

SALES VOLUME

7.0 % increase for resale homes

61.2%  increase for new homes

18.9 % increase for resale condos

Median price is up 12 percent from a year ago…$440,000 from $390,000 a year ago

Sales volume is up to 3,056 from 2,709 a year ago

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/6/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“BEST STATES FOR PRICE APPRECIATION”

The five best states for price appreciation, EXCLUDING distressed sales, in March were:

Maine                        Up 8.3 %

California Up 7.7 %

North Dakota          Up 6.4 %

Virginia                      Up 4.9 %

Montana                   Up 3.8 %

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/5/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“MEDIAN HOME SALE PRICE AT 21-MONTH HIGH”

The median of $440,000 was last seen in August of 2008. In this most recent period, orange County shoppers bought 2,056 residences, up 12.8 percent vs. year-ago buying activity. This sales pace is 85 percent of the average of 3,597 homes sold per month in the 20 years ended in 2009.

Home pricing is up in ZIP codes representing 70 percent of the current Orange County market.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/4/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“HOME PRICES TO RISE 6% LOCALLY, STUDY SAYS”

Chapman University ‘s revised forecast…after price losses for Orange County of 23.2 percent in 2008 and 12.3 percent in 2009, Orange County will rise 6 percent in 2010 and 5.4 percent in 2011

HSBC PRIVATE BANK  5/2010

Mortgage Bulletin

“ARE MORE EXPENSIVE HOMES DOING BETTER”

Home price data of markets in California suggest that, on average, the more expensive homes have suffered smaller declines so far in the downturn. The most plausible explanation is that the markets with high-prices homes did not experience the same level of speculation during the market boom.

LOS ANGELES TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 6/3/2010

Alejandro Lazo

“PENDING HOME RESALES RISE 6%”

The number of previously owned homes that have opened escrow rose 6% in the US in April. Pending sales have risen for three straight months. Pending sales are at their highest level since October.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 6/3/2010

“HOME SALES HELP DOW SHOOT UP 225”

The stock market rebounded Wednesday after a strong increase in pending home sales.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 5/30/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“TRENDS…APRIL O.C. HOME PRICES AND SALES COMPARED TO APRIL 2009”

Prices

14.8 % Home resale sales rose

39.9 % New homes rose

16.6% Condo resale rose

Sales Volume

10.1 % Home resale sales rose

76.1 % New homes rose

29.1% Condo resale rose

Sales volume rose from 2,541 a year ago to 3,003

Median price rose from $385,000 to $435,000

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 5/29/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“O.C. HOME SALES UP 18.2 %”

Buyers bought 3,003 Orange County residences. That is up 18.2 percent vs. a year ago. In the 1997-2006 boom, though, monthly sales averaged 4,304.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 5/29/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“HOME SALES UP IN 55 O.C. ZIP CODES FROM A YEAR AGO”

DataQuick numbers for the 22 business days ended May 10 shows that shoppers bought 3,003 O.C homes…up 18.2 percent.

Taking sales volume into consideration, home pricing is up in ZIP codes representing 72 percent of the county’s market.

11 of the 83 ZIP’s have sales gains of 100 percent or more.

7 out of 83 county ZIP’s had median sales prices above 1 million in the period vs. 11 ZIPs when the county median prices peaked in 2007

A total of 512 homes sold in beach cities’ 17 ZIP codes up 33 percent from a year ago

LA TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 5/27/2010

Alejandro Lazo

“NEW HOME SALES UP 14.8 % IN APRIL, NATIONWIDE”

New home sales in April were up 21% in the West.

LA TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 5/25/2010

Alejandro Lazo

“HOME RESALES INCREASE 7.6 % IN APRIL”

U.S housing market gained grounds in April with sales of previously owned dwellings jumping 7.6% from March

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 5/25/2010

Jonathan Lansner

“APPRAISERS: HOME VALUES IN O.C. HAVE RISEN 1.4 %”

South and Central County and beach cities strong gains. Orange County was one of three Southern California counties showing year-over-year valuation gains.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER BUSINESS SECTION 5/25/2010

The AP

“HOME SALES RISE IN APRIL”

The sales increase sparked a rise in home prices. The median price for a home rose 4% from a year ago.

Sales are up – 38 Sales – Up 8 over April and almost at 2007 levels. Client Short Page
Only 5 were distressed properties (2 short and 3 foreclosed) Client Short Page
Most active price range is less than a million – 20 sales. Almost all of them are in the hills. They’ve been on the market for an average of 150 days and had a 12% discount off the original price. Avg price per sqft was $656. Client Short Page
More homes selling in the $1m to $2m range – 12 sales. The Initial pricing of sold homes more on target with only 8% discount off the original price. Avg price per sqft is $725. They were on the market an average of 100 days. Client Short Page
Slow market for homes over $2m – Only 6 of 180 homes sold – One was for $8m
Steady eddy for amount of homes on the market – 363 Click Here
Foreclosure remain at year highs – 9 Click Here

Mortgage Rates Dip Following Disappointing Employment Report

The journey downward has begun again. After remaining relatively steady last week, mortgage rates this week hit new lows, as indicated by industry reports released Thursday. Freddie Mac says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are now averaging 4.72 percent. The GSE’s chief economist, Frank Nothaft, explained that bond yields headed lower this week following the relatively weak employment report, and mortgage rates followed.

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Sean McCracken The Orange County Realtor showing a North Laguna Beach Real Estate Pristine Cottage for Less then $1 Million

Sean McCracken
The OC Realtor – Eco, Fun & Sun
Laguna Beach Realtor