The Housing Bubble

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports from California. “Tuesday was a record-breaking day for foreclosures in Santa Cruz County. Compared to this time last year, foreclosure sales are up more than 300 percent, topping 600. Tuesday’s large number of foreclosure auctions was due in part to Labor Day, and partly because there is no slowdown in the number of people with adjustable-rate mortgages falling behind on payments.”

“A small crowd gathered as Liese Varenkamp, who handles auction sales for lenders, read off addresses and asking prices for the properties, many purchased in the 2005 and 2006 boom years. Ten were sold back to the lenders after no one bid. Last year, four to five foreclosure sales took place in a typical week.”

“Another 21 sales were postponed, six because the borrowers filed for bankruptcy. In the rest, the borrowers and lenders are talking to see if there are options other than foreclosure.”

“Usually foreclosure auctions wrap up in a half hour, but Tuesday’s took nearly 90 minutes as Varenkamp waited for instructions from lenders as to asking prices for 16 properties.”

“‘I’ve never been here this long,’ she said, as the clock approached 3 p.m.”

“In Santa Cruz County, default notices to delinquent borrowers have grown steadily, topping 50 a week, according to the Santa Cruz Record. The foreclosure pipeline is even bigger in Monterey County. Varenkamp said the number of default notices filed last week reached 191, the second highest number in that county’s history.”

The Sun Post. “The abundance of dry grass and weed-filled yards of foreclosed houses are keeping code compliance officers busy, but a new state law could help them force lenders to maintain their properties.”

“‘It’s obviously a big problem,’ Lathrop Code Compliance Supervisor Lane Avilla said. ‘Last month (the number of foreclosures) was pretty high, and April was pretty high. It hasn’t slowed down. We average 15 a week.’”

“‘It doesn’t make the community look very good,’ said Shawna Snodgrass, who moved to Lathrop recently after she bought a foreclosed home. ‘Our grass was dead, but it was green before we moved in. I think the realtor did it.’”

“‘It’s terrible,’ said Phyllis Maxwell. ‘The real estate agents have too many to monitor. Fifteen houses (on Daffodil Hill) are foreclosed and we’re getting ready to go too. It makes you feel terrible.’ Maxwell added that she feels her entire neighborhood is disappearing.”

“City officials criticized TCN Properties last week for failing to uphold its promise to build parks in Mossdale Landing, despite protests from the developer that the project is unrealistic given the state of the housing market.”

“But it appears that residents will get the parks anyway, as they will soon be built by the bonding company that insured the project.”

“Assistant City Manager Cary Keaten told the council that Mossdale Landing residents have already been paying for the parks’ maintenance through the various fees associated with purchasing a home.”

“‘TCN Properties already sold all the land for the houses to KB Homes and they are in the process of building all the houses right now,’ Keaten said. ‘They’re almost done.’”

“The issue came to the council on Tuesday, Aug. 19 when building industry lobbyist John Beckman, who formerly worked as a business developer for the City of Lathrop, delivered a letter to the council on behalf of TCN.”

“‘Considering the severe downturn in the housing market and the exceptionally large number of foreclosures which have occurred in Lathrop, it would be a wise decision for the City of Lathrop to reconsider the timing of new parkland development,’ Beckman read.”

“Public Works Director Steve Salvatore said there are 10 parks slated for the Mossdale Landing area. Five parks have been accepted by the city, two have been only partially accepted because their public bathrooms remain unfinished, and the three promised by TCN remain unbuilt, he said.”

The Merced Sun Star. “The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept plans for the largest housing development ever proposed in Merced County. If it’s built as envisioned, Laguna San Luis would add 16,000 homes and 45,000 people during the next three decades to the area just west of Los Banos and south of Santa Nella.”

“Three other massive housing developments are also in the works on the county’s Westside. If all goes as developers plan, the four projects would add about 80,000 people over the next 30 years to the region just west of Los Banos, now home to a few thousand.”

“During a public hearing before the board’s vote, a handful of people spoke against the project. They questioned why the county would consider building more houses when countless homes already stand empty here and dozens of subdivisions sit half-built and basically abandoned in the wake of an unprecedented market meltdown.”

“‘For the last 20 years, and especially the last 10, our collective elected officials have brought a colossal housing bust that has made national and international headlines,’ said Bill Thompson, secretary-treasurer of the Merced County Farm Bureau. ‘Why are we planning for more people when there is no clear and present need?’”

The Tribune. “Real estate developer and broker Patrick Aurignac has bought another building in downtown San Luis Obispo for $1.125 million. And he’s developing a 16-unit condo project called Campus Point Townhomes, although that project is outside the San Luis Obispo downtown core.”

“The latest purchase is 745 Higuera St. ‘When you consider how dynamic and attractive San Luis Obispo is - its low congestion and crime, its great schools and its location - it’s a lot like ocean-front property; there’s only so much of it, and I believe the value will only continue to go up,’ Aurignac said.”

From CNN Money. “A rock-bottom price just isn’t enough for buyers these days - it’s a starting point. If the furnace is out of date, they’ll demand a new one. Cracked driveways have to be repaved, and dirty carpeting torn out and replaced. All at the seller’s expense.”

“Buyers are in the driver’s seat and they know it. They’re using that leverage to pry more concessions out of desperate sellers than they ever dreamed of during the bubble.”

“‘Now it’s my turn,’ is the attitude,’” said Mike Byrd, a real estate agent in San Luis Obispo, Calif. ‘Some buyers are really putting the screws on.’”

“‘[During the boom] buyers usually accepted the property as-is, and we even occasionally offered to pay the seller’s state and county transfer taxes,’ said agent John Sullivan, who is president elect of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer’s Agents. ‘No more.’”

The Ventura County Star. “After nearly three decades in business, Ventura Volvo shut down Friday. ‘We’re closing today because the economy is so bad and we can’t sell enough cars to make a profit,’ said owner Chris Norstedt.”

“Ventura Volvo is the third local dealership to go out of business over the past few years. Ford of Santa Paula closed in March, 18 months after Ojai Ford shut down. Ventura County car and truck sales have tumbled according to Western Automotive Consultants, a Ventura firm that tracks new vehicle registrations.”

“‘It’s just the way it is,’ Norstedt said. ‘There’s a lot of people who’ve lost their homes and lost their jobs. The country’s a mess and we’re just part of it.’”

The Daily Breeze. “The continued high cost of housing hurts young workers, the middle class and businesses by forcing employees to live far from their jobs, according to a report released Tuesday by the Los Angeles Business Council.”

“Despite a building boom that created more supply, and the current foreclosure crisis that has pushed down prices, too few residents can afford to live near their places of work.”

“‘A lack of housing near job sites consistently serves as one of the major obstacles to doing business in this region, and the situation is getting worse,’ said Antonio Manning, a VP for Washington Mutual and one of the report’s authors.”

“The Westside, Santa Monica, Santa Clarita, Pasadena and San Fernando Valley all boosted home construction to keep pace with new jobs. But the report doesn’t say whether the new homes in those communities were affordable for the people working in those new jobs.”

“Fewer than 11 percent of the homes for sale during the first quarter of 2008 were affordable to families earning the median income of $53,000.”

“‘Where it gets tricky is when you talk affordable housing,’ said Mary Leslie, the council’s president.”

The Warwick Beacon reports from Rhode Island. “With statewide home sales down by 5 percent from last year and the median single-family home price down 12.5 percent from $280,000 in July of last year to $245,000 this year, many realtors miss the days of the housing bubble. Over 26 percent of all houses sold from April until July were either foreclosed properties or short sales-both of which sell at far below the market price.”

“Robert Scaralia, president of the Rhode Island Realtors Association said it’s an exciting time to be a first-time homebuyer. But realtors have a reputation for being eternal optimists. When the housing prices are down, they say it’s a great time to be buying homes. When prices skyrocket, as they did beginning in 2003, they incessantly point out that it’s a great time to be selling houses.”

“‘The affordability is back for the first time home buyer. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, and I have never seen a better opportunity for people to get into home ownership for the first time,’ said Scaralia.”

“Richard Torres, a loan officer for Countrywide Financial who works in Warwick, said he’s seen a recent pickup in business. More people are seeking loans than a year ago, but the amount of money they’re looking for has decreased.”

“The old ways of no credit check loans have given way to solid background checks, said Torres, and he thinks that’s a good thing.’

“‘There are a lot of people who come in here and say, ‘oh my credit is good, but when I check it, it’s far from good.’ And these people would have gotten the loans in the old days,’ said Torres.”

The Republican from Massachusetts. “Springfield had 61 mortgage foreclosures in July, the second highest number of any city in the state behind Worcester’s 68. The Warren Group released mortgage data from across the state today. Springfield had 56 foreclosure deeds filed in June and 47 filed in July 2007 for an increase of nearly 30 percent year over year.”

“‘The numbers about foreclosures are no surprise,’ said Kevin M. Sears, a Realtor in Springfield. He said he’s seeing a number of owners attempt a short sale only to fail.”

“Sometimes, large lenders can’t approve the short sale and the house goes up for auction. It happened this summer to a Sears client with a home in the East Forest Park neighborhood. ‘I just drove by there the other day and the grass is up to my knees, and that’s just the beginning,’ Sears said.”

“Sears said squatters and thieves often target vacant homes. Foreclosed properties are also driving down the real-estate prices, especially the prices paid for multifamily homes because many multifamily homes are getting foreclosed upon.”

“‘It’s noticeable when there is a glut of bank-owned properties that are listed for 60 percent of what market properties are listed for,’ Sears said.”

The Boston Herald from Massachusetts. “Lenders took legal ownership of nearly 8,000 Massachusetts homes during 2008’s first seven months - more property titles than banks seized for mortgage nonpayment in all of 2007, new figures show.”

“‘Foreclosures (continue to be) a serious problem,’ Warren Group CEO Tim Warren said. ‘I think there are still a lot more foreclosures to come. Median (house-sale) prices are down 10 percent so far this year, and that can’t be good news for foreclosures.’”

The Boston Globe. “The Carruth, a mix of affordable apartments and market-rate condominiums in Dorchester, opened earlier this year, as the market for condos had turned sharply downward. Sales of the 42 condos in the building languished, with only three sold to date.”

“So, developer Trinity Financial Inc. of Boston decided to offer the units as a variation of rent-to-own - leases with an option to purchase at a potential discount.”

“Rent-to-own arrangements typically are offered in newly built condo developments in which units are not selling or are selling slowly.”

“‘It is getting more difficult to sell at the speed developers need to recover their investment,’ said Jon Gollinger, East Coast CEO of Accelerated Marketing Partners. ‘There is cash flow that is needed when they are sitting there empty.’”

“‘You see it in Florida and other areas where there are more distressed properties,’ said Jesse Holland, president of Sunrise Management & Consulting in Latham, N.Y. ‘Often a developer has sold some of the units and can’t sell any more. You can’t go forward and you can’t go back.’”

The Westminster Advocate from Maryland. “Jill and Jim Gallagher placed their Westminster home on the market nearly 10 months ago, and it’s still sitting there today.”

“In today’s real estate market, however, this is nothing out of the ordinary, as houses are staying on the market much longer than in previous years before the real estate bubble burst and the credit crisis began, said Russ Blackburn, president of the Carroll County Association of Realtors.”

“‘At the current time there’s about 1,300 homes on the market in Carroll County,’ Blackburn said. ‘That’s higher than usual.’”

“Blackburn said more houses are continuing to add to the inventory than are being disposed of. In July, 281 new county listings went on the market, while just 90 properties went under contract to be sold during that same month, he said.”

“Home values are also down from recent years in today’s market, and Blackburn blamed numerous variables for that. Factors contributing to the lower property values include the higher housing inventory, inflation, the uncertain economy, sellers competing with foreclosures and sellers taking any ‘reasonable offer’ after an extended amount of time on the market, he said.”

“Jill Gallagher said she thought her home was listed at a fair price, with the $310,000 asking price below it’s tax assessment. ‘We think that we’re asking a fair price, however if it sits another six months we may consider lowering it,’ Jill Gallagher said.”

“Prior to listing the house online, Jill Gallagher said they placed a sign in the front yard and used a broker in Virginia to get multiple listings for the house. ‘It seemed as though houses weren’t moving one way or the other whether you listed it with a real estate agent or not,’ Jill Gallagher said. ‘Financially we can save a few thousands [of dollars] and it just made sense.’”

“Two offers have been made on Jill Gallagher’s house so far, she said, but in both incidences the buyers couldn’t get the financing they needed so the offers weren’t able to materialize into a deal.”

“According to Blackburn, banks are being more selective about giving out loans these days. ‘You can throw their previous requirements out the window,’ he said.”

The Frederick News Post from Maryland. “Amid the housing crisis, the president of the local real estate association said the media are making the problem worse and should spread more uplifting messages.”

“Larry Riggs, president of the Frederick County Association of Realtors, argued in a recent newsletter to his organization that the media should work with agents for the good of the country to increase consumer confidence.”

“The media is no longer reporting news but is practicing ’social engineering’ when it comes to reporting the housing market, Riggs said. ‘If they don’t like those in power, they will put a certain spin on their reporting, and sure enough society will produce the fruit of the bad news they are listening to,’ Riggs said.”

“Journalism and business experts said media coverage stems from the troubled housing market. ‘What’s going on as far as declining housing prices is a reflection of economic fundamentals,’ said Steve Pilloff, a Hood College management professor. ‘If the media is being accused of painting a doom-and-gloom picture, that’s a reflection of what’s going on.’”

“Riggs partly blames the media for some consumers not buying homes. ‘The reason they aren’t is because they are afraid of the present market because of the press,’ Riggs said. ‘That’s why the number of foreclosures in relation to all sold (homes) is high.’”

“The real estate industry has an interest in portraying an environment that will sell houses, said Bernie Kohn, president of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, a nationwide organization that represents business journalists.”

“‘That’s not our duty,’ Kohn said. ‘Our duty is to inform consumers about the reality of what’s going on, not to put spin on it for the benefit of the real estate industry.’”

“Reporters are focusing more attention on the economy, said Al Weinberg, a Hood College journalism professor. Journalists should remain objective, he said.”

“‘What’s the alternative? The news media should not be the chamber or commerce or the boosters of the economic forces of the country,’ Weinberg said. ‘They’re supposed to simply report what they perceive as reality.’”

“That isn’t stopping the real estate industry from trying to convey the benefits of the current market. NAR started its Surround Sound Campaign in March to encourage real estate agents to speak at public events and talk to media outlets, said NAR spokeswoman Liz Giovaniello. About 1,500 agents took classes related to the campaign, but no classes were held in Frederick.”

“‘We’re not turning folks into cheerleaders and denying there is some pain out there,’ Giovaniello said. ‘We really want buyers, especially those on the fence, to understand there are opportunities out there.’”

“Consumers aren’t always getting the full picture of the market, Giovaniello said. ‘We tell Realtors to not sit around and complain about the news coverage,’ Giovaniello said. ‘We say, ‘Let’s get out there and make sure your story is told.’”

“National headlines don’t always reflect local markets, Giovaniello said. ‘What troubles us is when local papers don’t have reporters tell local stories, and just run an AP story,’ Giovaniello said. ‘We feel like the AP story might give an OK overview of the national picture, but it doesn’t paint the picture of the local market.’”

“The association’s campaign focuses on low interest rates, decreasing home prices in most areas and a greater selection of homes on the market, Giovaniello said.”

“NAR is simply doing its job to represent real estate agents, Kohn said. ‘It’s what you do on behalf of an industry that faces tough times,’ Kohn said. ‘You have to find that little bit of silver lining.’”

The Virginia Pilot. “Nearly a year after work halted on Granby Tower, the city is finally moving to clean up the construction site, which some officials describe as an eyesore. Surrounded by chain-link fence, the corner of Granby Street and Brambleton Avenue is stark. There are deep holes filled with water, piles of discarded wood and steel and weeds growing 6 feet high amid rubble.”

“Cement pilings meant as the foundation for the 34-story, $180 million condominium project lay discarded.”

“The man behind the project, developer Buddy Gadams, lost his financing last September amid the meltdown of the credit markets, and has been pursuing new investors ever since. City officials have been steadfastly supportive.”

“However, Mayor Paul Fraim took the first step toward cleaning up the site earlier this summer. Gadams complied. By the middle of the summer, city officials began telling Gadams to do more.”

“‘The time is growing closer where the city will have to take some affirmative steps to reclaim the street, if Buddy hasn’t made real progress,’ Fraim said.”

“City officials say that cleaning up the site is necessary for the survival of businesses operating in the area. Keith Large and Richard Grether, owners of the Oasis restaurant at York and Boush streets, say their business has dropped 40 percent since construction for Granby Tower blocked York Street.”

“Responding by e-mail, Gadams said Tuesday he continues to pursue financing. If it hasn’t happened by the end of this month, the City Council may take stronger action.”

“‘At some point we’ve got to say, you’ve got 30 days to get your financing, or we’re going to take all of the barricades down,’ Councilman Don Williams said.”

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