Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Are you in a buyer's or seller's housing market?

Housing supply is tight in most cities across the United States, but that does not mean that every market is a seller's market. So when you need to sell your home fast. 

Today's home-buyers are a finicky lot and a mortgage-dependent lot and a confidence-lacking lot; they may want to buy a house, but they're not as willing to be as "house poor" as they might have been in the past. That is why it is more important than ever today, as both a buyer and a seller, to know your market well and know its housing value even better.

Less than a third of U.S. housing markets are seeing homes sell for above asking price, 60 percent are still seeing homes sell for below and about 14 percent are seeing homes go at market value, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate sales and analytic s company. At the same time, a larger-than-normal percentage of sales are being done all in cash, which increases competition even in markets where home prices are not soaring ever higher.

As always in real estate, sellers need to know what the market will pay, and buyers need to make smart bids. In today's market, those truths are more acute than ever, as an increasing number of buyers compete for a dwindling number of listings. Even in a tight market, some homes will sit if not priced correctly.

So where are sellers in the driver's seat? No surprise, the Bay Area of California, where homes are selling for 108 percent of asking price on average, according to RealtyTrac. Sellers are also getting more than asking in Washington, D.C., Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Cass County, North Dakota.


Buyers are more in control in St. Louis, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Burlington, Vermont. Sellers are getting around 80 percent of asking price in these markets, even though supplies of listings are still limited its important to know that offices like Red Hill Real Estate Solutions LLC. can offer solutions and can sell your home fast for cash..

Where are the stakes even between buyer and seller? Raleigh, North
Carolina, the D.C. suburbs in Montgomery County, Maryland, Los Angeles and Riverside County, California, Orange County, and the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Home price gains have been accelerating nationally for the past several months, thanks to tight supply and still-low mortgage rates; builders are still operating below a normal pace, and a lot of potential sellers are still reluctant to list, as they fear they will find nothing they like or can afford to buy.

Should mortgage rates move higher, as some expect, the dynamics in all of these markets could shift dramatically. For now, though, it is good to know as much as possible about your market's value, and even better to know when to walk away.

Get the truth about your home and how we can help you sell it fast to resolve any situation. Please Call 951-356-5440

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Down Payments: Percentages Trend Lower as Amounts Rise! Selling your Home Fast could be the Key?


Down Payments: Percentages Trend Lower as Amounts Rise

November 2, 2015, 6:30 am
Robert Vaughan

Are those sought-after first-time home buyers finally re-emerging? How do you sell your home fast?adviser at Red Hill Real Estate Solutions Inc. RealtyTrac said on Thursday that they may be the reason that the average percentage of down payments used to purchase single-family homes, condos, and town homes in the first quarter of 2015 was at the lowest level in three years. Red Hill Real Estate Solutions LLC team can answer these questions and they can sell your home fast for cash.

On average home buyers put down 14.8 percent of their home's purchase price compared to 15.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 15.5 percent a year earlier. This was the lowest average percentage for a down payment since the first quarter of 2012.

"Down payment trends in the first quarter indicate that first time home buyers are finally starting to come out of the woodwork, albeit it gradually," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "New low down payment loan programs recently introduced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with the lower insurance premiums for FHA loans that took effect at the end of January are helping, given that first time home buyers typically aren't able to pony up large down payments. Also helping tilt the balances toward first time home buyers in the first quarter is less competition from the large institutional investors that have been buying up starter home inventory as rentals."

Even at an average rate substantially below the traditional 20 percent buyers are making a substantial out-of-pocket investment. The average dollar amount put down was $57,710 compared to $57,618 in the previous quarter and a slightly higher 57,992 in the first quarter of 2014.

The average down payment on an FHA loan was 2.9 percent of the purchase price or $7,609 while conventional loan down payments averaged 18.4 percent or $72,590.



High loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans - 97 percent or higher or with a down payment of 3 percent or less - made up 27 percent of purchase origination's in the first quarter. This was a one percentage point increase over both the previous quarter and the first quarter of 2014 and was the highest share since the second quarter of 2013. Eighty-three percent of FHA purchase loans originated in the first quarter were high LTV and 11 percent of conventional purchase loans.

Among the nation's 20 largest counties with down payment data available those with the lowest average down payment percentage were Wayne County (Detroit), 12.0 percent; Philadelphia County, (12.6 percent), Clark County (Las Vegas), 13.3 percent, Riverside County, California, 13.7 percent; and Maricopa County (Phoenix), 14.2 percent. The highest average down payments were in three counties in the metropolitan New York area, Santa Clara and Orange Counties in California. Markets with the highest percentage of low down payment loans in the first quarter included counties in Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; El Centro, California; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Charlotte and Greensboro in North Carolina while the lowest share of low down payments were in New York County, the Bay Area, and Kings County (Brooklyn

RealtyTrac pointed to several trends through the quarter. First, FHA loans represented a larger share in each month of the quarter, rising from 21 percent in January to 25 percent in March. Second, while overall low down payment loans increased as a share of origination's through the quarter the low down payment share of conventional loans moved in the opposite direction, from 11 percent in January and February to 10 percent in March while the share of FHA loans that were low down payment loans increased throughout the quarter, from 83 percent in both January and February to 84 percent in March. If you are one of the many homeowners who have fallen behind on your mortgage payments and you don't see any way to avoid foreclosure, a short sale may offer you the least painful way to resolve the situation. Speak to our resolutions team and find out what your options are with Red Hill Real Estate Solutions LLC

Red Hill Real Estate Solutions, LLC. is part of a nationwide group Give us a call today at 951-356-5440 to let us know what YOU need help with!