FANNIE MAE RESURRECTS PAYING BUYER CLOSING COSTS
FANNIE MAE EXTENDS HOME BUYER CLOSING COST ASSISTANCE PROGRAM THROUGH JUNE 30, 2010!
Fannie Mae extends their home buyer assistance incentive program of paying home buyer closing costs up to 3.5% of the sales price through June 30, 2010 when you buy one of their foreclosed Phoenix homes. Fannie Mae Closing Cost Assistance and Appliance Incentive is extended through June 30, 2010 to coincide with the expiration of the $8000 First Time and $6500 Existing Home Buyer Tax Credit Program. Even if you do not qualify for the Tax Incentive program you can get your home buyer closing costs paid when you buy a Fannie Mae foreclosed Phoenix home.
Foreclosure home buyers are given the option to use the 3.5% closing cost incentive to pay closing costs and purchase new Whirlpool appliances at the discretion of the home buyers.
Eligibility requirements include:
1- Foreclosed property sale must close on or before June 30, 2010
2- Buyer must be an owner-occupant (second homes are eligible as long as they are owner-occupied) — but investors are excluded.
The incentive reinforces Fannie Mae’s commitment to stabilizing communities and assisting buyers purchase a foreclosed Phoenix home. For more information about this incentive, visit HomePath.com, read the press release or contact a Fannie Mae listing broker.
Contact Sam Elam with Prudential Arizona Properties to help you purchase one of the foreclosed homes in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe or Queen Creek and have Fannie Mae pay much, if not all, of your closing costs before this program expires!
Phoenix Homes Sales Soar in March 2010
PHOENIX HOMES SALES SOAR IN MARCH 2010
Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) data shows March 2010 Phoenix Homes Sales of 8969 properties is a 39% increase over February 2010 sales numbers and a 19% increase over sales a year ago during March 2009! We’re not “out of the woods” yet, but indicators point to an improving Phoenix real estate market.
OTHER GOOD NEWS
The number of Traditional (non-distressed) Sales of Phoenix homes matched the number of sales of REO or Foreclosed Phoenix homes with each representing 40% of March sales. Short sales lagged at 20% of Sales.
This indicates buyers are looking for homes that are a very good value and are salable – as the tax credit deadline of April 30, 2010 deadline to have the property in escrow rapidly approaches.
Phoenix Average and Median Home Sales Prices increased slightly and remain above where they were when the Phoenix real estate market bottomed out in the Spring of 2009.
Builders continue to build new homes since buyers are willing to pay a substantial premium to purchase a brand new home. As a result, the number of actively selling new home subdivisions reversed direction and have increased modestly and so have the number of Spec homes being built in anticipation of buyer purchases.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT?
If the jobs market stabilizes and starts to improve, buyer demand for homes remains strong after the tax incentives expire this month, interest rates remain low since the government stopped buying mortgage backed securities in March, lenders don’t saturate our resale market with foreclosed REO properties, and Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae and responsible banks continue to rehab foreclosed homes before putting them up for sale, we should continue to see an improving Phoenix real estate market. That’s a lot of “ifs”. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next month. Stay tuned!
Sam Elam, ABR, CRS, GRI, e-PRO, Associate Broker, Prudential Arizona Properties http://www.SamElam.com
Arizona Short Sale Seller Advisory
Arizona Association of REALTORS in conjunction with the Arizona Department of Real Estate have just released a factual, unbiased Arizona Short Sale Seller Advisory to help Arizona Homeowners faced with loosing their homes to learn their options and understand their legal and tax consequences. This essential advisory arms homeowners in financial trouble with information and the tools they need to evaluate their alternatives and make a sound decision.
The Arizona Short Sale Seller Advisory lists ”red flags” to help you identify predatory “Rescue” Scams and Short Sale Fraud, links to HUD approved counselors, a FREE Arizona hotline number, sources of FREE or low cost legal and tax advice, identifies alternatives to a foreclosure, tells you how to communicate with your lender(s) and provides links to Arizona short sale disclosures your REALTOR will use in the Short Sale transaction to protect and inform you about a short sale in the event you, your tax advisor and your attorney decide this is your best course of action. If you don’t have one, they are available to advise you for little or no cost.
Sam Elam, Associate Broker with Prudential Arizona Properties is a Certified Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource and offers additional distressed homeowner resources that go into greater detail and lists several other government help programs. Sam can refer you to Tax Attorneys (pro bono – that’s FREE) to evaluate your potential tax liabilities as a result of a foreclosure, bankruptcy, short sale, etc.
If you can’t pay your mortgage or know you will soon be unable to, seek help as soon as possible. Don’t go through your savings and/or walk away from your home without talking with your Lender(s). And don’t make any decisions without first seeking legal and tax advice to understand the consequences of your decisions. The decision you make today may have long term consequences.
The Arizona Seller Short Sale Advisory provides a list of attorneys who can help or call Sam Elam for attorney referrals at (480) 213-1799. I am here to help when you need assistance.
FHA Home Loan Costs to buy Phoenix Homes for Sale Increase
FHA Loan Policy Changes impact loan acquisition costs by reducing the maximum amount of buyer closing costs a seller can pay on behalf of the buyers from 6% to 3% of the total sales price. At the same time FHA is increasing the up-front Mortgage Insurance Premium from 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan amount to be paid at close of escrow or rolled into the new home loan. If approved, FHA will also consider increasing the annual MIP payment. Details to follow upon approval of their recommendation.
FHA is qualifying buyers based upon their FICO score to the extent that those with a FICO score below 580 are eligible for a 90% LTV loan with the minimum down payment increased from 3.5% to 10%. Read the new FHA Loan Policy for more details.
These policy changes show the U.S. government is no longer willing to make what they perceive to be higher risk loans at very favorable loan terms. With the rampant loan defaults and huge amount of government deficit spending, loan interest rates will eventually rise.
Those buyers waiting for the opportune time to buy have already missed their chance. The Phoenix real estate market bottomed out in March/April 2009 and average prices of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale and Phoenix homes have gone up since.
If you continue to wait, you may be priced out of the market as higher loan costs and mortgage interest rates rise. Buy now to lock in a fixed rate loan that are historically very low levels and to take advantage of the First Time and Repeat Home Buyer tax credit (Up to $8000 and $6500, respectively) by contracting by April 30 and closing by June 30. This primer at explains New Home and Existing Home tax credits and how you can take advantage of them. Hurry before they expire. Call Sam Elam for assistance with your next home purchase.
For assistance with the purchase of one of our homes in Chandler, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Mesa or Tempe contact:
Sam Elam, Associate Broker, Prudential Arizona Properties, (480) 213-1799 or SamElam3@gmail.com
Additional buyer resource information and MLS access visit: Phoenix homes for sale – Phoenix real estate & investments
December 2009 Phoenix real estate market conditions
Quick Summary of Phoenix real estate – December 2009 market conditions
Sales are up
December 2009 sales are up 2% over November 2009 and up 39% over December 2008. The number of Phoenix real estate transactions rebounded back close to what they were before the downturn. In fact 2009 sales exceeded 2008 sales by 55%!
Prices of Phoenix homes for sale are down
Unfortunately the increase in the number of transactions has come at the expense of sales price. Our median sales price is off 52% from the peak median price of $264,800 in June 2006. Prices have been sliding since, but bottomed out in April 2009 at $115,500 and closed the year at $126,000.
Our December average sales price increased to $177,572, because more high-end REO homes sold. At this point our average and median sales price are back to where they were in February/March 2001. We have bargains galore!
Of the homes that SOLD in December 2009:
23% were Short Sales
34% were Traditional, Non-distressed Sales
43% were Bank Owned or REO Sales
50% of our Active inventory is Traditional listings
50% of our Active inventory is either Short Sale or REO listings
As a ratio of Active listings of homes in Phoenix by listing type to December Sales:
12.5% of the Short Sale inventory sold with Short Sales being 36% of Active inventory
13 % of the Traditional inventory sold with Traditionals being 50% of Active inventory
58% of the Bank Owned/REO inventory sold with REOs being 14% of Active inventory
There are not as many REO listings as one might expect, but banks price them to sell quickly!
Also noteworthy, there are more Traditional (non-distressed) sales closing escrow than Short Sales.
We see owners of non-distressed properties can sell their home. Buyers will pay premium prices for Phoenix homes that are saleable (don’t require approval to sell), in good condition (with all repairs done before it is listed for sale), staged properly (cleaned, de-cluttered and painted as needed) and easy to show on a moment’s notice (dishes washed, beds made, trash out, clothes in the washing machine and tidy).
I am cautiously optimistic the Phoenix real estate market has “turned the corner”. My expectation is our market will continue to improve, but we’ll see minor ups and downs in trends during 2010.
Check out market statistics for Arizona condos and homes in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe for sale at http://bit.ly/4qpcHJ. Real estate is local and the breakdown by city will be helpful.
Author:
Sam Elam, Associate Broker, Prudential Arizona Properties, Gilbert, AZ (480) 213-1799
SamElam3@gmail.com http://www.SamElam.com