Grant Hammond - Nashville Homes

There were 1,267 home closings reported for the month of February, according to figures provided by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors®. This represents a decrease of 33 percent from the 1,892 closings reported for the same period last year.

There were 1,452 sales pending at the end of the month, compared with 2,183 pending sales at this time last year. The average number of days on the market for a single-family home was 90 days. The median residential price for a single-family home during February was $160,000, and for a condo it was $151,120. This compares with last year's median residential and condo prices of $168,000 and $154,650, respectively.

Inventory at the end of February was 23,122, up slightly from 22,473 in February 2008. The housing inventory is up slightly over the 22,509 number posted in January 2009.

There was also a 2 percent uptick in the number of Nashville foreclosures and well as a 7 percent increase in the number of real estate auctions.

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Freddie Mac reports that interest on 30-year, fixed rate mortgages rose to an average of 5.15 percent this past week, up from 5.07 percent a week earlier. Mortgage rates increased along with the increase in bond yields following reports of a decline in economic growth in the fourth quarter and rising jobless claims, according to Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft. He also cites the slowing housing market as a factor.

Also, at the time of this posting, the Dow is surging more than 340 points based upon surprisingly positive news from Citi Group, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others regarding their first quarter earnings. It is way too early to speculate on a banking bottom, but we are taking this as a singular positive sign that lending may loosen up in the Nashville market. This new comes on the heels of a Tennessean article that reports a record amount of condos on the market as well as bank owned auctions in the Nashville area.

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Fannie Mae just released new guidelines - effective March 1, 2009 - affecting short sales. These changes are very much welcomed by any Realtor who has been pressured to reduce his/her commission on a short sale:

"Servicing Guide, Part VII, Section 504.02: Contacting Selected Borrowers Effective March 1, 2009, closing of pre-foreclosure sales may not be conditioned upon a reduction of the total commission to be paid to real estate agents to a level below what was negotiated by the listing agent with the borrower, unless the fee exceeds 6% of the sales price of the property in aggregate. Servicers are reminded that they must continue to obtain any approvals that may be required by interested third parties in connection with pre-foreclosure sales."

* Note that this only affects Fannie Mae mortgages and not all mortgages or short sales. Only applies to the process established by Fannie Mae, not to real estate auctions.

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I normally write a very straight forward, non-opinionated blog, but today I digress. I simply cannot take hearing one more person blaming the Bush administration for today's current economic recession. Yes, the Bush administration did contribute, but the whole chain of events was set in motion by the Clinton administration. In fact, I can tell you that the Clinton administration put us on this collision path with Bank failure on September 30th, 1999. Yes, it was one of those "I'm leaving office, now I am going to make all of my constituents happy" policy changes. It was banking sabotage. It was irresponsible and reprehensible. In an article dated the same day in the NY Times:

A little research can go a long way... pay very close attention to this part of the article:

"Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people..."

And further into the article even predicts exactly was is happening today:

"In moving, even tentatively, into this new era of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk which may not pose any difficulties during economic flush times. But the government subsidized corporate may run into trouble in an economic downtown, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

So to summarize: Stop blaming the Republicans and the Bush Administration for this Banking collapse. Yes, they do share blame in its magnitude, no they DID NOT cause it!

Read more on my Nashville real estate blog

A new article by Marylyn Schwartz on RisMedia's website addresses a topic that's inescapable in the current economic downturn: short sales. Ms. Schwartz interviews an experienced attorney, Rick Cowle, about the procedures and pitfalls involved in the short sale process.

"MBS: Rick, you and I have worked with REO (real estate owned) properties and with sellers in all phases of foreclosure in the past. We've seen markets deal with the onslaught of short sales and foreclosures 15 years ago, but nothing comes close to what we are seeing today. The volume and rapidity of the properties cropping up is unparalleled. What advice do you have for the agents out there struggling to assist people fraught with problems?

RC: While it may be easier said than done, it is important to consult an expert. There are resources out there available to the public such as the Housing and Urban Development website, free credit counseling services, attorneys with extensive experience with distressed seller issues, etc. It is even possible to use Google to find attorneys who advertise their credentials as distressed property experts. The thing never to do is to give advice or guidance when you are not qualified to do so. Taking a three-hour short-sale class does not make one an expert on giving advice on the short-sale process. However, there is much that an agent can do in concert with an attorney. I always advise agents to help the seller find a Nashville attorney before they do anything else."

If you do move towards auctioning your distressed home, be sure you find an expert Nashville real estate auction company. This importance cannot be overstated.