About Monroe County, IN

Federal credit market stimulus is clearly evident when examining mortgage recordings in Monroe County in the first two months of 2009. What is also apparent are those parts of the market that are not benefiting from any government action.

The 729 total mortgages securing loans between $50,000 and $500,000 are the most in this dollar range in the first two months of any of the last seven years. Mortgages in this range tend to be overwhelmingly residential first mortgages. I believe that this increased activity is indicative of the fact that Monroe County homeowners are taking advantage of the lower interest rates resulting from various government actions that began in early December 2008. Judging from new order counts in my company, this trend is still continuing.

On the flip side, mortgages outside that range are down significantly. Mortgages under $50,000 fell 46 percent from year ago levels (195 then, 104 now). These mortgages historically have been primarily home equity credit lines or piggy back purchase seconds. This segment has steadily declined during the last two years. Dollar value of loans over $500,000 (primarily jumbo and commercial) declined over 60 percent from year ago levels (after factoring out one $40 million mortgage securing school bonds). Are the declines in these two market segments reflective of tighter credit standards for loans deemed more risky than high equity first mortgages? I think so.

Monroe County benefits from the lowest unemployment rate in Indiana. The community's primary employers are Indiana University, the health care industry and medical supply industry. All three are not immediately affected by the state of the national economy.

The market is not flooded with vacant foreclosed homes and good values exist in all price ranges. Property values in Monroe County are also faring better than most other places. The worst that can be said in this regard is that values are not current increasing. The Office of Federal Housing Oversight ranks Bloomington for 2008 as the 72^nd best market out of 292 nationally with an appreciation rate of 0.64 percent during last year.

Next month I'll look at the first quarter numbers for a variety of measurements including recorded deeds and foreclosures. If you'd like to be added to our mailing list and receive a complimentary copy of our monthly statistical package, please contact me or Tammy Walker through the link to our company home page.

We just distributed our 2008 year-end Monroe County Statistical Package to our clients. Monroe County, although not immune to the effects of national mortgage and home price ills, fared well in 2008 all things considered.

The total number of recorded deeds representing a sale transaction fell to 2178 - a drop of 22.5 percent from 2007, which may seem bad but is much better than most markets in Indiana and around the country. This is the fifth year in a row that sales transactions declined. (I'm hoping to live long enough to once again face the challenges of managing in an improving market.)

The leader in total mortgage consideration in 2008 was again Monroe Bank with over $139 million lent. Monroe Bank and Indiana University Federal Credit Union were neck and neck in total mortgages recorded with 663 and 631, respectively.

Not surprisingly, a number of previously active lenders disappeared completely from our report during 2008, either through merger or ceasing operations. ABN Amro, Fieldstone Mortgage, Washington Mutual all were sporting big fat zeros as the year moved along.

Most interesting to me is that the number of new foreclosures being started has not increased in Monroe County the last two years.

A steady employment picture is one benefit of living here where many people work for either the Indiana University or in the health care profession. I don't see layoffs in the immediate future for either of them.

The statistics are compiled as a by-product of maintaining our property records data base, the most comprehensive and up to date index of all matters affecting title to real estate in Monroe County. This extensive data base allows us to perform most title searching and examining activities within our office at any time rather than at the courthouse only while it is open. As a result, we can meet the narrowest of time frames for getting your transaction completed.

Interested in more detail? We'd be happy to send you a copy of the 15 page report. Please use the contact option on this web page or leave me a comment.

Steve Dalton commented on my last post that sometimes "title companies get in the way" of closing legitimate real estate purchases and refinances.

Title companies are at the bottom of the hill that is a real estate transaction.

And guess what? It all rolls down hill. Delays, misunderstandings, mistakes, and last minute stipulations get compressed as the closing date looms. And since the title company is the last one that generally has to do anything prior to closing, I'm not surprised, and even expect, that clients may feel that we get in the way from time to time.

What may seem as needless meddling in the consummation of the sale or refinance is usually the title company trying to resolve conflicting instructions received from one or more of the parties to the transaction.

Common conflicts between the Purchase Agreement and the Lender's Closing Instructions revolve around the Buyer's net cash back or net cash to close being outside the Lender's permitted tolerance, handling inspection and repair credits, and how the Seller's contribution towards closing cost is defined and set out on the HUD-1. In Indiana, the Purchase Agreement often requires prorating taxes in a way that is simply not possible given the inherent one to two year lag time of tax assessments.

We resolve all the conflicting instructions by requiring written clarifications and Amendments to the Purchase Agreement, Closing Instructions or Title Commitment. If this process seems to you to be getting in the way of a closing, it's probably our fault for not explaining this correctly.

Just like you, we don't get paid unless the deal closes. Why would we want to make things needlessly difficult? We don't. All we're trying to do is resolve the conflicts so that we can close the transaction without compromising our fiduciary responsibilities to all the parties.

There's always a reason behind what a title company may require. If we don't explain it sufficiently keep asking until you understand. Sometimes, you can clear up a misunderstanding that will make things easier or even eliminate the requirement. As always, good communication is the key to a successful closing experience for you and your clients.

Good communication helps us dodge that rock at the bottom of the hill, too. For which we are eternally grateful.

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