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What Obama’s Mortgage Reform Plan Means For Solano County Home Buyers & Sellers

February 17th, 2011 categories: Buying, Contra Costa, Loans / Financing, Selling, Solano, The Economy

You may have heard that President Obama unveiled his plans to reform the mortgage industry last Friday. Since then, his proposal has taken a lot of heat in real estate circles, especially since one of his recommendations is to reduce the maximum loan limits on conventional mortgages in high-cost areas by more than $100,000 as early as this fall.

Among some of the proposals in Obama’s plan:

  • Drop the maximum loan amount in high cost areas (which includes much of the Bay Area) from $729,750 to $625,500.
  • Phase out both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by reducing their loan portfolios by 10% a year
  • Raise fees for borrowers
  • Increase minimum down payments borrowers

What This Means To Solano Home Buyers & Sellers

It’s still unclear whether the White House’s proposal to lower the maximum loan limit would really impact Solano County. Currently, for most of the U.S., the limit is $417,000. The majority of the Bay Area, though is at $729,750 — which is the amount that Obama’s plan wants reduced by about $105,000.

pull quoteIn Solano County, however, our limit is $557,500, which is higher than the rest of the U.S., but lower than most other Bay Area counties.

So if the White House plan reduces the loan limit for all high cost areas on a proportionate basis, then Solano County buyers and sellers could definitely feel a pinch, since buyers of homes priced above the new loan limit would be forced into higher-rate “jumbo” loans, which would no doubt kick some buyers out of the market or force some sellers to lower prices to attract conventional loan buyers.

But if the White House plan keeps our limit at $557,500, since it’s already below the proposed $625,500 ceiling, then Solano County Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Weekly Real Estate Report For Aug 3: Huge Changes In Most Of Solano Since January

August 3rd, 2009 categories: Benicia, Buying, Contra Costa, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo

weekly-solano-home-reportIt’s hard to believe that we now have seven months under our belt for 2009. With the year more than half-over, it’s also hard to believe how much has changed since January, when I started compiling my Weekly Solano County Real Estate Report.

In early- to mid-January, buyers could still negotiate a fairly good price without much competition from other buyers. And, most sellers were more than happy to credit closing costs on top of it.

Well, sometime about mid-February, the landscape began to change and by March, we were seeing a huge increase in activity, particularly in the $300,000-and-below price range.  Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Are Distress-Sales Listings Dominating The Market In Your Town?

May 3rd, 2009 categories: Benicia, Contra Costa, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Investors, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo

distressed-property-recap-shadow-4-27-09New Distress Sale Listing Report Shows Similar Percentages, But Far Fewer Actual Distress-Sale Listings


Like the old song says, the more things change, the more they stay the same. At least that’s the case when it comes to comparing our latest Distressed Property Update Report to the one I prepared back in late February.

That’s because the same five cities that led our market area in the percentage of distress-sale listings in Feburary again top the list in the current report. Those ‘honors’ again go to Pittsburg, Antioch, Vallejo, Oakley and Suisun City. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

It’s Official: FHA Loan Limits Go Up In Solano And Contra Costa Counties

February 26th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Buying, Contra Costa, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Loans / Financing, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo

The Dept. of Housing & Urban Development yesterday made official what had been expected after President Obama signed the economic stimulus bill last week: FHA loan limits will return to their 2008 levels.

That means FHA borrowers in Benicia, Vallejo and the rest of Solano County will now be able to take out a $$557,500 loan, instead of the reduced $400,200 ceiling that went into effect Jan. 1.

In neighboring Contra Costa County, meanwhile, the FHA loan limits are again $729,750, up from the previous ceiling of $625,500.

Find The New FHA Loan Limits For The Rest Of The U.S.

RELATED READING

New Loan Limits Coming To Solano & Contra Costa Counties

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Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Which Cities Lead Solano & Contra Costa In Distress-Sale Home Listings?

February 24th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Buying, Contra Costa, Fairfield-Gr Valley, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo

Pittsburg, Antioch, Vallejo, Suisun City and Oakley are once again the distressed property “leaders” in our Solano/Central-East Contra Costa market area, with more than 8 out of every 10 homes for sale in each of those communities either bank-owned (REO) or a short sale.distressed-property-recap-shadow-2-23-09

Those same five cities were at the top of the list back in early January, when I last prepared this report.

Pittsburg again leads the way, with a staggering 93% of its 409 listings either bank-owned (191) or short sales (also 191). A mere 27 listings are being sold by traditional sellers with enough equity to avoid selling at a loss. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

What The New Loan Limits Will Be In Solano, Contra Costa & The Rest Of The U.S.

February 15th, 2009 categories: Contra Costa, Loans / Financing, Solano, The Economy

loan-limit-soupAs I wrote the other day (click here), the Stimulus Bill that should be signed into law on Tuesday by President Obama will raise conforming (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae) and FHA loan limits to what they were at the end of 2009.

For Solano County, that means both the FHA and Conforming ceilings will go up to $557,500. Since Jan. 1, they had been at $400,200 and $417,000 respectively.

In Contra Costa County, the limits will go from $625,500 to $729,750. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

More Stimulus Bill News: Higher Loan Limits, First-Time Buyer Credits & More

February 12th, 2009 categories: Buying, Contra Costa, Loans / Financing, Solano, The Economy

congress

Details Still A Bit Sketchy, But Here’s What We’ve Learned So Far As It Relates To Housing

Though the actual bill itself hasn’t yet been made public, from what I’ve been reading in various real estate and general news outlets today, it looks like the Economic Stimulus Bill will, among other things, increase the maximum FHA and Conforming Loan Limits back to where they were in 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: 3 Comments »

Foreclosures Up…But Pre-Foreclosures Down In 4th Quarter: Could The End Be In Sight?

January 29th, 2009 categories: Contra Costa, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Market Update, Solano

Even though foreclosures in the fourth quarter were up substantially over the same period a year earlier, the number of pre-foreclosures actually dropped throughout the state in the last quarter of 2008, compared to the last quarter of 2007, according to a just-released report from real estate data guru Dataquick.

Statewide, notice of default recordings were down 7.7% during that period, but here in the Bay Area they were down 12.2%, led by Solano County, which had 20.9% fewer NOD’s recorded in the last quarter of ‘08 than during the same quarter of ‘07. Contra Costa was down 17.6%.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Antioch, Pittsburg & Vallejo 1-2-3 In Percentage Of Active Distress Sale Listings

January 9th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Contra Costa, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Market Update, Solano, Vallejo

For those communities that had the highest number of distress-sale listings last Fall, the news hasn’t gotten any better. In fact, it’s gotten slightly worse in places like Antioch, Pittsburg and Vallejo, where today nine out of every 10 listings are either a short sale or bank-owned.

Those three cities rank 1-2-3 in our market area, with distress properties accounting for 94%, 93% and 90% of their total listing inventory, respectively.

By comparison, the last time I prepared this report, back in late October, Antioch and Pittsburg each had 91% and Vallejo, 86%.

The news wasn’t much better for those right behind the Big Three: Suisun City, Oakley, Fairfield, and Concord, clocked in with 89%, 85%, 80% and 79%, respectively. Only Fairfield saw a decrease (albeit by a single percentage point). The other three cities all saw their percentages go up, including Concord, which jumped from from 72% in October to 79% today. Right behind Concord is Brentwood, at 77% (up from 76% in October). Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Why Savvy Real Estate Investors Are Now Licking Their Chops…Especially In Places Like Antioch, Fairfield and Vallejo

September 5th, 2008 categories: Buying, Contra Costa, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Investors, Market Update, Solano, Vallejo

Four or five years ago, when prices were skyrocketing month after month, buyers often lamented about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

These Antioch homes are all more than 2,200 sq. ft. and below $300,000

These Antioch homes are all more than 2,200 sq. ft. and below $300,000

I’d pull up a property’s history and when they saw that the home they were about to pay $600,000 for had been purchased a dozen years earlier for $210,000, they’d say “if I’d only bought several homes back then when I had the chance.”

The ‘good ‘ol days, were long gone, with prices outpacing rents by such a long shot that any savvy real estate investor didn’t even have to crunch the numbers. Unless they were in it for a quick flip, they knew that the numbers didn’t come close to penciling out when a $550,000 home would only rent for $1,500/month. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: 1 Comment »