by rtdosen | Feb 18, 2015 | Ryan Dosen Real Estate Articles
Home Buyers’ Undiscovered Treasure Trove By Ryan Dosen Much has been made of late regarding the federal government’s efforts to prop up the housing market with special new programs designed to encourage home ownership. The programs have been both lauded for their potential positive impact on the economy and real estate market, and harshly criticized as overreaching and irresponsible measures similar to those that led to the real estate collapse of the late 2000s. For better or for worse, the programs are here, and the result will be more people qualifying to buy homes and more people buying homes. But government assistance to the housing market does not stop at the federal level. Many do not know that there is a treasure trove waiting out there with state and even county funds to help individuals purchase homes by providing down payment assistance. Down Payment Resource Earlier this month, RealtyTrac released the findings of their recent study on down payment programs in America. To help them conduct their study, RealtyTrac enlisted the help of Down Payment Resource, or DPR, an organization that “helps potential homebuyers become qualified buyers by connecting them to down payment assistance funds they may not have otherwise known existed.” RealtyTrac examined 2,290 down payment programs from DPR’s Homeownership Program Index and found that 87 percent of the single family homes in the 1,792 counties surveyed would qualify for a down payment program. Down Payment Assistance in Pennsylvania To help figure out what programs are available to Pennsylvanians and Chester County residents, I sat down with local mortgage expert Karen Jackson of Waterstone Mortgage in West Chester....
by rtdosen | Feb 12, 2015 | Ryan Dosen Real Estate Articles
Dominoes Fall and Home Buyer Momentum Surges By Ryan Dosen The wise guys crunching the numbers for the real estate industry have noticed some important developments in the lower tier real estate market that are expected to support across-the-board home buyer momentum in 2015. Clear Capital, a solutions provider for real estate asset valuation and collateral risk assessment for large financial services companies in the mortgage and lending industries, just released a market report this week entitled, “Traditional Homebuyers, Make Your Move.” The report, backed with hard numbers from today’s improving market, forecasts a bright near-term future for real estate. A Transitional Year for Real Estate Clear Capital’s report states that “2015 has the promise of a transitional year where full buyer momentum in the low and mid tiers reinforce a strong housing recovery.” The report cites “sustained national price growth in the low tier segment, once driven by investor activity,” as being good news for first-time homebuyers. Clear Capital notes that fewer and fewer people are underwater on their mortgages, and that “with more equity to play with, the mid tier homeowners could move-up, creating more opportunity and driving healthy demand in the low and mid tiers of the market.” In addition to there being fewer homeowners underwater on their mortgages, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and RealtyTrac report that the number of “equity rich” homeowners has taken a big step forward in the past year. RealtyTrac’s U.S. Equity & Underwater Report for the fourth quarter of 2014 reported that about 20 percent of all mortgaged properties (around 11.3 million) are now considered “equity rich,” with...
by rtdosen | Feb 6, 2015 | Ryan Dosen Real Estate Articles
Lower Gas Prices and the Impact on Housing By Ryan Dosen Oil is under $50 per barrel, the AAA Fuel Gauge Report says that the national average gas price is almost down to $2 per gallon, and almost everyone is feeling better for it. According to AAA’s data, gas prices have been shaved by over one third in the past year, leaving more change in consumers’ pockets, and giving them more reason to be confident about the economy and their own futures. And as we’ve said time and time again, confident people buy stuff, including houses. Household Savings The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) delivers a monthly short-term energy outlook that reports current energy prices and trends, and also forecasts future prices. The EIA’s most recent report from January 13, 2015 (when national gas prices at $2.14 per gallon), estimated that gas prices would average $2.16 per gallon for the first quarter, and $2.33 per gallon for all of 2015. Prices have fallen below the EIA’s forecast, but it is early and there is little certainty regarding the longer-term direction of gas prices. Nevertheless, the EIA projects the average household to “spend about $750 less for gasoline in 2015 compared with last year because of lower prices.” The EIA forecasts that U.S. household gasoline expenditures in 2015 could be the lowest in 11 years. Confident Consumers Riding the wave of lower gas prices, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index increased in December to 92.6. This number is close to the seven-year high hit a few months ago. Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board,...
by rtdosen | Jan 23, 2015 | Ryan Dosen Real Estate Articles
Chester County, PA Real Estate: 2014 Year in Review By Ryan Dosen A fellow once said: “If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.” This week we thumb our noses at the words of George Bernard Shaw and examine what happened in the Chester County, Pa., real estate market in 2014 — and see if we can learn a few things that we can expect for the coming year. Low Winter Inventory Inventories bottom out this time of year, then climb during the spring, top out during the summer, and fall fairly steeply at the end of the year. Inventories were flat from December 2013 to February 2014, possibly due in part to the unusually harsh winter weather. Fewer transactions occurred during the winter months as people took refuge and we were stuck playing catch-up all year. Despite the slow start, inventories in 2014 actually reached higher levels than were seen in 2013. It is also interesting to notice that despite the higher highs, home inventories have actually fallen below the lows of last winter. Indeed, we are seeing a shortage of good homes for our buyer clients. Well-priced homes that are in good condition are not lasting long, despite the myth that people will wait until spring to buy a home. We sold a West Chester listing last week in two days with multiple offers; the home was shown almost 10 times in the first 24 hours. Remember: There may be more buyers in the spring, but there are always buyers in the market. Home...
by rtdosen | Jan 17, 2015 | Ryan Dosen Real Estate Articles
FHA Premium Rate Cut a Big Break for Home Buyers By Ryan Dosen President Obama unveiled a plan earlier this week designed to help cash-strapped home buyers hop into the housing market. The Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”), a mortgage insurer and government agency within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), will be cutting insurance premiums in the near future, opening the doors for more people to buy homes as we approach the spring home buying season. The FHA The FHA is the largest insurer of mortgages in the world. According to its website, the “FHA insures mortgages on single family and multifamily homes including manufactured homes and hospitals…. FHA mortgage insurance provides lenders with protection against losses as the result of homeowners defaulting on their mortgage loans.” The FHA says that it “is the only government agency that operates entirely from its self-generated income and costs the taxpayers nothing. The proceeds from the mortgage insurance paid by the homeowners are captured in an account that is used to operate the program entirely.” In truth, the FHA costs the taxpayers nothing—unless it needs to be bailed out by taxpayers—which happened in 2013, to the tune of $1.7 billion. The 2013 bailout was the first in the agency’s 80 years of existence. FHA loan programs are designed to help individuals that may not meet conventional loan lending standards. FHA home loans are available with down payments as small as 3.5 percent. FHA loan programs also are generally available to people with lower credit scores. The FHA’s website says that applicants are now required to have a...
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