10 Reasons Why Homeownership Never Goes Out Of Style

Source: BuzzFeed Shaun Donovan, the outgoing secretary of the Department of Housing & Urban Development, decided to go out in style with a humorous list of reasons “homeownership is great” on the popular website BuzzFeed. Donovan introduced the list by writing, “For those ready to own, homeownership has historically served as a vehicle for Americans to build equity, start businesses, put kids through college, and retire with comfort and dignity.” Read the full story

Five Star Professional Award Winner - Aracely Gordon!

I am thrilled to report that, once again, I have become a FIVE STAR professional award winner for Orange County and will be featured in Orange Coast Magazine in December 2014.  Be sure to look for me!
I'm currently a two year LA County Five Star award winner

 

 

Young Optimism

Market Matters

Housing Isn’t Overvalued, Except in These 10 Spots Source: Wall St. Journal With winter over and housing data showing a market that is bouncing back, bubble markets are few and far between—that is with California being the exception. Eight of the 10 most overvalued U.S. housing markets are in the Golden State; specifically, Orange Country, Los Angeles, and Riverside-San Bernardino are in the top four. Potential bubbles are determined by using price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios, as well as comparing home prices to historical trends. Read the full story

5 Surprising Missteps That Sabotage Mortgage-Seekers Source: AOL Real Estate   Common credit mistakes could complicate the mortgage process for potential home buyers. Consequently, knowing ahead of time what one shouldn’t do can make all the difference in ensuring that a buyer does not jeopardize the loan approval process. For example, applying for credit during the loan process is a red flag. Read the full story

International buyers are looking for more than just vacation homes Source: HousingWire Dense, urban areas are now attracting the attention of international buyers rather than holiday properties in markets like Miami, Aspen, and Palm Springs. Prospective buyers in Brazil, Australia, France, Italy and Russia are searching for urban areas with greater frequency, primarily in Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami. Read the full story Housing prices cooling slightly Source: San Francisco Chronicle   While home prices aren’t exactly falling, they are rising at a slower pace. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, prices rose "only" 10.8 percent in April, compared with April of last year, which was a smaller increase than the 11.6 percentage increase that experts were expecting, and substantially lower than in previous months. Read the full story

Market Matters

Loosened Mortgage Rule Advances After SEC Drops Objection Source: Wall Street Journal Concerns about a down-payment requirement that could crimp access to credit and impede the fragile housing recovery led to a revised approach to mortgage rules that won’t hold borrowers to a 20 percent down-payment to get a loan (or lenders having to retain five percent of a loan's risk once it was packaged and sold to investors). Under the revision, regulators wouldn't require a down payment and would include a broad exemption for banks and other issuers of mortgage-backed securities from having to retain a portion of the credit risk on their books. Read the full story

Home Price Gains of 20% Vanish as Hottest Markets Cool Source: Bloomberg   For the first time in almost two years, none of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas had increases of more than 20 percent in residential asking prices last month. In light of softened demand from buyers, asking prices gained 8 percent last month from a year earlier, the slowest pace in 13 months. Read the full story

Why Renters Are Ending Up in the Suburbs Source: The Atlantic In fast-growing suburbs and exurbs, rentals are the major force driving growth—just not multifamily rentals. Due to an abundance of stock left over from the single-family housing boom (and the subsequent Great Recession), this housing stock is being opened to a new generation of suburban renters by investors who bought up inventory only to rent it out. Read the full story

Real Estate Crushes

Market Matters

Americans Shut Out of Housing as FHA Fees Jump Source: Bloomberg For many buyers seeking a mortgage backed by the Federal Housing Administration, homeownership may no longer be attainable with increases in mortgage insurance fees, especially at a time when housing affordability remains a challenge for many Americans. The new FHA fees can tack on a couple hundred extra dollars every month, which experts argue has contributed to the decline in first-time buyers. Read the full story

Are Student Loans Really Killing the Housing Market? Source: The Atlantic   Derek Thompson of the Atlantic points out that student debt is destroying demand among first-time buyers, but it's not affecting their share of the market. Examining the statistics, he argues, “First-time home buyers make up a historically normal share of new homeowner families, but a historically small share of new home buyers, because a big slice of the housing market is owned by big institutional investors who aren't living in the homes they buy.” He concludes that student loans are indeed depressing demand for homes, but only slightly more than the overall market for homes is already depressed. Read the full story

One in Three SoCal homes paid for with cash: Who's buying? Source: KPCC Around 33 percent of all home purchases in California were paid in cash in the first quarter, the highest level since 2011, according to RealtyTrac. Beverly Hills, Arcadia, and San Marino were areas with a high percentage of home sales paid in cash, with many all cash buyers coming from overseas. Read the full story