Use of FHA loans in San Diego, U.S. fall in February

BY LILY LEUNG
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011 AT 1:05 P.M.

Fewer borrowers in San Diego used FHA loans to buy homes in February, mirroring drops seen throughout the country.

In the U.S., the percentage of people using the government-issued mortgages in February fell to its lowest point in 27 months, according to a DataQuick Information Systems review of 20 major metro areas. The company's analysts say the biggest reason for the decreases is stricter lending rules for low down payments loans.

In February, a third of purchase loans among the 20 areas were FHA-insured, down from 38.2 percent one year ago and 34.2 percent in January. Still, FHA lending rates are significantly higher than they were in 2007, when the percentage of home-purchase loans that were FHA ranged from none to 9 percent, data show.

Use of FHA-insured loans have soared over the years because they're popular with starter-home buyers and folks wanting to move up.

"That's because the subprime lending meltdown and credit crunch of 2007 made non-government-insured home loans, especially low-down-payment mortgages, more difficult to obtain, making FHA the obvious choice for many," according to a statement from DataQuick officials.

FHA use was highest in Orlando, at 43.2 percent and lowest in Honolulu at 10.3 percent. San Diego's percentage was 24.4 percent, ranking it 16th among the 20 areas.

Lily Leung: (619)293-1719; lily.leung@uniontrib.com; Twitter @LilyShumLeung

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Where Have All the Foreclosures Gone?

by THE KCM CREW on APRIL 6, 2011

The inventory of foreclosed homes for sale has been dwindling for almost six months. Everyone is wondering if the worst of our challenges with distressed properties are behind us. We are sorry to report that isn’t the case. We must realize that the problems banks have experienced with their paperwork on these properties has done nothing but delay them from coming onto the market.

The robo-signing blunders and then the MERS mess have caused the banks to slow down the foreclosure process dramatically. Just last week, the Office of Thrift Supervisionreleased their Mortgage Metrics Report covering the 4th Quarter of 2010. In that report, they showed how foreclosure completions fell sharply because of these paperwork complications. Here are the numbers:

Foreclosures are not disappearing. They are just being delayed.

Bottom Line

If you think that waiting to sell your home makes sense, you may not be correct. Check with a local real estate professional to see how this will impact your market.

Highlights of DataQuick’s Orange County homebuying report

Highlights of DataQuick’s Orange County homebuying report. For the 22 business days ending March 14 – the latest numbers — Orange County’s real estate market saw …

· Median selling price for all residences of $418,300 – that is off 0.9% vs. a year ago.

· Total Orange County sales of 1,929 residences closed in the latest period — that is off down 13.3% vs. a year ago.

· Note: 8 of 83 Orange County ZIPs had both rising sales and prices in the period. Is your ZIP one of those neighborhoods? To see, CLICK HERE!

Here’s the breakdown of recent activity by key category; included is how the latest results compare to the average monthly sales pace from 1988 through 2010:

Slice	Price	Price vs. year ago	Sales	Sales vs. year ago	Sales vs. ’88-’10 avg.
Houses	$485,000	-4.9%	1,398	-13.4%	-38.1%
Condos	$285,000	-1.7%	692	-22.2%	-19.6%
New	$500,000	-7.2%	165	+70.1%	-68.6%
All O.C.	$418,300	-0.9%	1,929	-13.3%	-47.1%

And more analysis ….

· $418,300 median selling price is up 2% since the year started.

· This median is 35% below June 2007′s peak of $645,000.

· Current price is 7.0% below 2010′s peak (May and July) of $450,000.

· The most recent median is 13% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000 — so the median has recouped 18% of the $275,000 price drop from the peak.

· Compared to cyclical low, single-family house median is 16% higher ($418,250 in January 2009); condo median is 13% higher ($252,000 in March 2009.) Builder prices for new homes are 18% above June 2009′s $424,000 bottom.

· The median selling price of a single-family home is 34% less than their peak pricing (June ’07). Condos sell 39% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 42% below their February ’05 top.

· Single-family homes were 70% more expensive than condos in this period vs. 76% a year ago. From 1988-2010, the average house/condo gap was 57%.

· Builder’s new homes sales were 9% of all residences sold in the period vs. 4% a year ago. From 1988-2010, builders did 14% of the Orange County homeselling.