New Real Estate Laws for California
Just this month, Schwartzinager signed over 700 new laws. Summaries of a few of these new laws affecting real estate are shown below:
- REO Buyer Can Select Escrow and Title: Effective October 11, 2009, the Buyer’s Choice Act prohibits an REO lender selling residential property up to four units from directly or indirectly requiring the buyer to purchase escrow services or title insurance from any particular company. A buyer, however, who has received written notice of the right to make an independent selection, may agree to the REO lender’s escrow or title recommendations. An REO lender that violates this law can be held liable for three times the charges the buyer incurred, whereas a violation by the seller’s agent may be subject to license disciplinary action. This law expires on January 1, 2015. Assembly Bill 957. Read more
Yale’s Shiller Discusses U.S. Housing Market
Robert Shiller, an economics professor at Yale University and co-creator of the S&P/Shiller home-price index, talks with Bloomberg’s Carol Massar about the U.S. housing market. Shiller also discusses U.S. stocks. (This report is an excerpt of the full interview. Source: Bloomberg)
Point Loma real estate
Mortgage Fraud Becomes a State Crime in California
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California mortgage fraud
Mortgage Fraud Becomes a State Crime: As of January 1, 2010, anyone who deliberately makes any misrepresentation or omission during the mortgage lending process with the intent of influencing that process will be guilty of mortgage fraud under California law. A violation of this law is a crime punishable by one-year imprisonment. Under existing federal law, loan fraud against a federally-insured lender is a crime punishable by a $1 million fine, plus one-year imprisonment (18 U.S.C. section 1014). Senate Bill 239.
San Diego Real Estate 2010 Forecast
2010 real estate forecast
Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm, which forecast the home price crash, but underestimated the scope, is now predicting a further drop in national median home prices of 11.3% by June 30, 2010.
According to this forecast, those areas with high concentrations of foreclosure sales will experience the steepest drops. Miami is cited as an example and home prices there are forecast to plunge 29.9% by next June — after having already fallen a whopping 48% during the past three years. Read more
U.S. Mortgage Giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Are Broke
San Diego home
America is relying on Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to bail out the troubled housing market, yet Fannie and Freddie have needed bailouts of their own. Bose George, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, has reported that the quasi government mortgage giants have zero value to common shareholders. After nearly $100 billion government bailout, many believe these two will need the full $400 billion that the Treasury has already pledged if they are to survive. Read more
California Tenant 60 Day Notice Law Extended
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California rental agreement
60-Day Notice to Terminate Tenants Extended: Existing law generally requiring a 60-day notice to terminate a month-to-month residential tenant, which was originally slated to sunset on January 1, 2010, has been extended indefinitely. A 30-day notice to terminate is sufficient if the tenant has lived in the property for less than one year, or if the landlord has sold the property and certain requirements are met. The 60-day notice requirement does not apply to fixed-term leases, such as a one-year lease. Other laws address tenants in properties foreclosed upon. Senate Bill 290.
National City California real estate
Housing Market Forecast … Don’t Buy The Bull
housing market forecast
With may ‘experts’ saying we are nearing a bottom – is now the time to buy real estate?
A recovery is going on, and confidence will return if it is sustained … and the jobs issue will work itself out. Yes, looks like times are changing. Just one major problem …home foreclosures are accelerating as moratoriums on foreclosures, resets, and unemployment hit home owners harder and harder. Plus, commercial real estate looks like it will be a repeat of the residential real estate story. Read more
Home Price Outlook
Too much supply and too little demand means fewer new homes built and lower margins. Meredith Whitney (is a prominent banking analyst. Whitney manages her own advisory firm, Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC, where she produces company-specific equity research on financial institutions and analyzes the sector’s operating environment. She was formerly a managing director at Oppenheimer & Co.) says home prices will fall another 25% and she has been right about everything else, so why not now? Barclays says 13%. Split the difference and you get 19%. In August, home prices for new homes fell 12% year over year.
US Apartment Rents Decline
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported declines in the indexes for rent and owners’ equivalent rent, the first decreases in those indexes since 1992.
In another report, it was shown that at least 40% of U.S. markets surveyed by RealFacts sustained an annual rent loss of more than 2% through April 2009.
Only three metro areas showed any rent increases in the first quarter of 2009:
- Houston at 0.8%
- Oklahoma City at 0.3%
- Vallejo-Fairfield, CA at 0.2%.
Declines were seen in:
- Oxnard, CA at -5.3%
- Phoenix and Orlando at -4.9%
- Inland Empire at -4.5%.
Encinitas real estate
California New Home Sales at Historic Lows
California new home sales
The California Building Industry Association (CBIA) reported that new home sales in California remained at historic low levels in August, signaling that the state’s housing sector may be slow to recover from a stubborn recession.
“While there are some encouraging signs in California housing markets, activity remains low,” said CBIA President and CEO Liz Snow. “These reports are evidence that housing markets remain depressed and continue to hamper a broader economic recovery in California.” Read more