Allan Nanney

CNN / Money Magazine has just released data which clearly indicates an improving real estate market. Read below to see what I mean. If you've been waiting to buy or sell until things improved, NOW may be the time to act!

Home sales contracts rise for 8th straight month

Real estate rally attributed to first-time homebuyer tax credit that expires at the end of November.

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Last Updated: November 2, 2009: 10:41 AM ET

Mortgage Rates

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of signed sales contracts to buy homes rose in September for the eighth straight month, according to a real estate industry report released Monday.

The September Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) spiked 6.1% to 110.1, consolidating a 6.4% gain in August. It was the index's highest level since December 2006, when it stood at 112.8.

The leap was far better than expected. A panel of analysts surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a 1.2% rise.

Analysts, including Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, have traced much of the improvement to the government's first-time homebuyer tax credit program, which gives an up to $8,000 tax break to new homebuyers. It's estimated that between 200,000 and 400,000 additional sales will have been made because of the credit.

"What we're witnessing is a rush of first-time buyers trying to beat the expiration of the tax credit at the end of this month," said Yun.

The credit lapses after Nov. 30, and the housing industry is bracing for a major turndown in sales if Congress fails to pass some kind of extension.

"Clearly, buyers were eager to get business done before the credit's November expiration," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst for Weiss Research. "So I wouldn't be surprised to see some give back in pending sales over the next month or two."

Favorable long-term prospects

Any fall-off should only be temporary, however, according to Yun. Market conditions are just so favorable for buyers right now that sales should rebound quickly should they suffer through a hangover following the tax credit demise.

With home prices well off their highs and mortgage rates still extremely low, the cost of homeownership is well within the range for many Americans who are not homeowners today. There are, Yun estimates, about 3 million renters who are now financially well-qualified to buy a median-priced home.

"As long as buyers do not overstretch and stay well within their budget, a sizable pent-up demand can be tapped among financially qualified potential buyers," he said.

That will not translate into a new boom, however, according to Larson. "No explosion of pent-up demand will send markets to new heights," he said. "The economy is still not in fantastic shape."

Housing markets certainly do not seem to be out of the woods, but this latest release added to a modest winning streak of positive recent reports. Prices appear to have stabilized, with the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index up four months in a row and completed sales of existing homes at their highest level in two years.

Foreclosures, however, continue to plague many markets, adding to supplies on homes for sale, according to Yun.

"An excess of homes remains on the market despite recent improvements," he said. "Although current inventory is getting closer to price equilibrium, foreclosures will continue to enter the pipeline."

Increased pending sales are a forward-looking indicator since contract signings precede actual closings; they typically take place two to three months later. Although some contract signings fall through, a jump in signings in September usually means NAR statistics on December existing home sales will improve.

First Published: November 2, 2009: 10:04 AM ET

Overcoming Fear of Foreclosure Critical for Many People to Keep Their Homes

RISMEDIA, October 10, 2009-Foreclosure numbers continue to rise and many homeowners are at an increased risk of losing their home. While foreclosure can be prevented, many homeowners remain confused or afraid to confront their mortgage problems and take action to help save their home. "Fear often prevents many consumers from seeking help," said Michelle Jones, senior vice president of counseling for Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Atlanta, Inc. "Overcoming these fears can mean the difference between staying in your home and losing it."

CCCS counselors address some of the common fears homeowners have about seeking help:

Fear: Homeowners are afraid to let the mortgage company know they are having a problem because they think it will speed up the foreclosure process.

Contacting your lender is an important first step if you want to save your home from foreclosure. It provides you with an opportunity to explain why you have fallen behind on your payments and what steps you are taking to get back on track. Lenders have a financial interest in keeping you in your home and may be willing to alter the terms of your loan or devise a repayment plan.

Fear: Homeowners believe that if their mortgage company has already turned them down for a loan modification, there is no point in contacting a counseling agency.

Many homeowners are turned down for a loan modification because the information they provide to their lender indicates that their expenses exceed their income or that they have not provided accurate documentation and information about their loan. In other cases, the lender may have made a processing error or the investor who owns the loan will not modify loans in accordance with the Making Home Affordable program.

A housing counselor may be able to suggest alternatives that better suit your current financial situation or help you make adjustments that make you a better candidate for a loan modification with your lender.

Fear: Homeowners fear being judged by others for seeking help.

These are challenging financial times. While it may feel like you are the only one struggling, the reality is that many of your friends and neighbors are also finding it difficult to stay afloat. By seeking help, you will not only increase your chances of avoiding foreclosure, you may also serve as an inspiration to others.

Fear: Homeowners think it is better to use all of their financial resources before seeking help.

Many homeowners try to ride out the financial storm, using their savings and depleting their retirement accounts before seeking help. By the time they do seek help, they are in an even more desperate financial situation and they have spent the resources that may have given them more options in dealing with their mortgage crisis.

Fear: Homeowners facing foreclosure fear that their situation is hopeless.

For homeowners facing foreclosure, the feelings of hopelessness and despair can be overwhelming. While for some, seeking help may mean saving their home, it is inevitable that some homeowners will end up in foreclosure. A certified housing counselor can help homeowners work through the foreclosure and build a new path for long term financial success.

Fear: Companies claiming they can save your home charge large, up-front fees.

You can receive counseling from a reputable, nonprofit housing counseling agency at no charge. While there are unscrupulous businesses looking to take advantage of homeowners, there are also many HUD-approved housing counseling agencies that offer help for struggling consumers.

For more information, visit www.cccsinc.org.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-10/overcoming-fear-of-foreclosure-critical-for-many-people-to-keep-their-homes/#ixzz0TkL2k4LL

Record Streak Continues for Pending Home Sales

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RISMEDIA, October 3, 2009-Pending home sales have increased for seven straight months, the longest in the series of the index which began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August 2009, rose 6.4% to 103.8 from a reading of 97.6 in July, and is 12.4% above August 2008 when it was 92.4. The index is at the highest level since March 2007 when it was 104.5.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said not all contracts are turning into closed sales within an expected timeframe. "The rise in pending home sales shows buyers are returning to the market and signing contracts, but deals are not necessarily closing because of long delays related to short sales, and issues regarding complex new appraisal rules," he said. "No doubt many first-time buyers are rushing to beat the deadline for the $8,000 tax credit, which expires at the end of next month."

The Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast jumped 8.2% to 85.3 in August and is 12.0% higher than August 2008. In the Midwest the index rose 3.1% to 90.8 in August and is 7.6% above a year ago. In the South, pending home sales increased 0.8% to an index of 104.6 and is 8.2% above August 2008. In the West the index surged 16.0% to 130.5 and is 22.3% above a year ago.

"There is likely to be some double counting over a span of several months because some buyers whose contracts were cancelled have found another home and signed a new contract to buy," Yun explained. "Perhaps the real question is how many transactions are being delayed in the pipeline, and how many are being cancelled? Without historic precedents, it's challenging to assess."

Yun also noted that the data sample coverage for pending sales is smaller than the measurement for closed existing-home sales, so the two series will never match one for one.

NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said first-time buyers need to act now. "Potential first-time buyers must make a contract offer very soon to have a reasonable chance of qualifying for the tax credit," he said. "Congress needs to extend and expand this program because it's stimulating the economy and reducing inventory close to price stabilization points."

McMillan said a sizable number of homebuyers already in the pipeline could be let down because of the tight deadline. "We know there is a pent-up demand because sales are below normal levels for the size of our population. The faster we absorb excess inventory, the sooner we'll turn the corner on home prices, prevent additional families from becoming upside-down in their mortgages, and give Wall Street the confidence to extend credit to other sectors," he said. "Each home sale pumps an additional $63,000 into the economy through related goods and services, so the benefits of extending and expanding the tax credit far outweigh the costs."

Yun said the forecast for home sales and prices depends very much on whether a tax credit is extended. "All we can say for certain is sales will decline when the tax credit expires because we are not yet on a self-sustaining recovery path. It also raises a risk of a double-dip recession," he said. "Extending and expanding the tax credit is the best tool in our arsenal to encourage financially qualified buyers to stimulate the economy and help reduce the budget deficit."

For more information, visit www.realtor.org.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-03/record-streak-continues-for-pending-home-sales/#ixzz0T5JFs3Oz

Money Magazine Names Its 25 Best Places to Retire - Look Who Made the List at #4!!!

• Tee up your retirement

Population: 12,000

% over 50: 57%

Typical 3-bedroom home: $300,000

Housing prices down: 27%

State income tax: 7.75%*

Most Americans know this town as the home of Pinehurst Resort, which contains one of the country's oldest and most prestigious golf courses. Yet it's also a friendly year-round community with a bustling downtown, first-rate regional hospital, and mild weather.

Granted, at $300,000, the typical home in Pinehurst isn't rock-bottom cheap. But all residents are eligible for membership in the resort, which boasts eight golf courses, 24 tennis courts, three pools, and a 200-acre lake with a beach. If you buy a home from someone who already has a membership, you can pay $12,000 to join vs. $40,000 normally.

While the ability to hit the links all year is a big attraction, social life need not center on the sport. "We don't even golf," says Richard Fumea, 65, a retired human resources executive who moved here four years ago with his wife, Susan, 56. "Yet we made more friends in the first three months of living here than we'd made during our 20 years in the Chicago area." --S.M.

See complete data, including tax rates, for Pinehurst

RISMedia has published a report on housing prices. In it, there are signs we may have bottomed out, but the pressure is still on for Congress to take further action, including an extension of the First-Time Homebuyers' Tax Credit, currently set to expire on November 30th of this year. While much of the buyer activity over the past several months can be attributed to that credit, there remains such high unemployment that many economists feel an extension could do even more good by giving additional would-be homeowners the opportunity to buy as soon as they can land a job and get back to work. These people need that extra time to turn things around.

Positive Signs - House Price Declines Continue to Moderate

RISMEDIA, September 8, 2009-House prices in the U.S. continued to depreciate in the second quarter 2009 but at a much more moderate rate compared to the fourth quarter 2008, the peak of the collapse in home prices, according to a quarterly housing valuation analysis by IHS Global Insight. Prices fell at a 2.7% annualized rate in the second quarter 2009, compared to 2.1% in the first quarter and a 12.5% rate of decline in the fourth quarter 2008, according to the new House Prices in America, the quarterly U.S. housing valuation analysis from IHS Global Insight, one of the world's leading companies for economic and financial analysis and forecasting. Nationally, house prices have fallen 11.0%, on average, below their peak in the spring of 2007; when weighted by market value, the nation is now 11.1% undervalued, and 12.6% undervalued when weighted by housing units.

Prices declined in slightly more than one-third- 113 metros- of the 330 metropolitan areas in the study, down from 191 areas in decline in the first quarter, and down sharply from 317 areas registering declines in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The second quarter data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) may represent the bottom of the cycle, said James Diffley, group managing director of IHS Global Insight's Regional Services Group, "though it is too early to tell for certain, and the waves of foreclosures and short sales may be obscuring the underlying trend."

"Economic conditions remain dire and the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers expires at the end of the year," said Jeannine Cataldi, senior economist and manager of IHS Global Insight's Regional Real Estate Service. "But available monthly data since May 2009 suggest that the broad decline has ceased."

Metro areas in California, Florida, and Nevada, states that experienced the highest levels of overvaluation as the housing bubble expanded, and Michigan, which has been hit hard by the recession and cutbacks in the auto industry, have experienced the greatest declines. More than one-third of the nation's metro areas- 127- have seen prices decline by more than 10%, and nine have seen prices drop by more than 50%, with Merced, Calif., experiencing price declines of 65% off their peak. The largest second quarter home price decline was 6.1%, in St. George, Utah.

Only 16 metro areas, most in the middle of the country and six in Texas, have escaped net home declines during this cycle. Extreme home price overvaluation is essentially nonexistent. Only Atlantic City, N.J., remained extremely overvalued, in stark contrast to 2005 when 52 metro areas, fully one-sixth of the nation's metropolitan areas, were extremely overvalued.

For more information, visit www.ihsglobalinsight.com.