A Tiny Bit of Good Real Estate News (for a change)

(Editor's Note: Here are some snippets of sales trends from our trade magazine. Maybe things will begin to turn around soon....):

NEW HOME SALES ROSE 2.4 PERCENT IN JULYSales of new, single-family homes rose 2.4 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 515,000 units, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development released Tuesday.

The uptick represents a modest increase from June figures at 503,000, but sales still remain roughly 35.3 percent below July 2007 estimates of 796,000 units.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE ON THE RISE, ACCORDING TO NEW REPORT
Consumer sentiment rose to 56.9 in August, up from 51.9 in July, according to The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index™ released Tuesday, indicating a slow shift toward an economic recovery, albeit one that analysts predict will likely take until well into next year to fully materialize.

HOPE NOW REPORTS RECORD NUMBER OF FORECLOSURE WORK OUTS IN SECOND QUARTER
HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors working to prevent foreclosures reported today that it helped a record number of homeowners avoid foreclosure in the second quarter, completing more than 522,000 mortgage workouts for loans that were headed for default.

The alliance adds that its mortgage servicers provided workouts for approximately 181,000 borrowers in June, an increase of 14,000 over May, approximately 105,000 of whom received some form of a repayment plan.

HOPE NOW also reports that the total number of foreclosures prevented by mortgage servicers since its inception in July 2007 has climbed to approximately 1.9 million.

C.A.R. REPORTS SALES INCREASED 43.4 PERCENT; MEDIAN HOME PRICE FELL 40.3 PERCENT IN JULY
Home sales increased 43.4 percent in July in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 40.3 percent, C.A.R. reported Monday.

"Sales improved significantly in July 2008 and remained above the 400,000 level for the third consecutive month," said C.A.R. President William E. Brown. "Deeply-discounted, distressed sales continue to drive volume in many regions of the state. July also was the first full month during which the effects of higher $729,000 conforming loan limits likely had an impact on closed sales."

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during July 2008 was $350,760, a 40.3 percent decrease from the revised $587,560 median for July 2007. The July 2008 median price fell 4.5 percent compared with June's revised $367,130 median price.

Batchelder Property Management Company

We are excited to announce that we are launching a new service to complement our real estate business . . . a property management enterprise called, well you see the image. We now have a broker's license that permits this service and have completed five college courses as well as survived the 5 hour state exam to reach this point.

With sales still in the slow lane many property owners are putting their homes on the rental market to generate cash flow and we are ideally positioned to service clients in Lake Shastina not only because of the license but the fact that unlike most management companies in our county with accounts in Lake Shastina, we live here.

So if you or a friend own a residence that has been on the market for too long and are thinking of putting it up for rent please give us a call. We can send you an outline of our program and explain our service in more detail.

Foreclosure Scams

If it weren't already bad enough, along come the scammers, trying to cheat the already desperate homeowners who are in trouble. As reported in the latest AARP Bulletin, be on guard against unsolicited help. It's a sad fact of life that some people actually grasp onto these cold-callers or cold-mailers in their foreclosure fears.

The truth is what it always has been __ know whom you are dealing with. Many times that means to stay local. Craigslist always warns that but if your bank or lender is distant, take the meaning figuratively. At least you know them, that beats a mail piece from Miami.

In some cases the offer to help amounts to giving title to the suspect "until things get better" at which time you can "buy the home back for nothing". Of course they don't say it like that but after all the fine print you end up homeless and they are on title.

Take heart if you are, or know somebody who is in dire straits with a lender. Just a few days ago President Bush signed into law a massive bail-out measure that will allow homeowners who are in trouble the chance to convert their troublesome mortgages into new 30 (or more) year government-guaranteed fixed-rate FHA loans (see previous story).

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling at 800-388-2277 is all set up to take calls and start the ball rolling. There is even a free home loan counseling service in Redding at 800-750-2227.

I don't know the details yet but the law appears to have two caps; one in dollars and the other in numbers of people (400,000) so the upshot is to get in line EARLY and get the process going.

And in the meantime, do NOT sign anything with people you do not know. This is especially true for online offers, mail offers, and anonymous phone calls. Just say "NO". Then call the 800 numbers above and get started.