October 20, 2008 — Prudential California Realty has announced that its two regional charitable foundations, the Los Angeles-based Aaroe Associates and the Orange County/San Diego/Coachella Valley Pickford Cares, now share a new name. The Charitable Foundation - Agent Community Outreach of Prudential California Realty will continue to operate agent-driven, locally focused regional chapters.
All foundation grants are funded by personal contributions from Prudential California Realty agents and employees, with many agents automatically donating a portion of every transaction to the foundation. A board of representatives meets monthly to review funding applications and award grants. To date, the company’s regional foundations have given a combined total of over $3.5 million to hundreds of local organizations focused on health, education, community, and the environment.
The board also recruits and coordinates company volunteers for efforts large and small across the Southland. In September of last year, some 1,500 Prudential California Realty volunteers turned out for Beach Clean-up Day, clearing one ton of trash off beaches from the Central Coast to San Diego. “The scope of participation by Prudential California Realty agents in the Beach Clean-up Day was unprecedented for any one company. When it comes to caring for the ecological resources of our community, Prudential California Realty is actually walking the walk, not just talking the talk,” said Nancy Hastings of the Surfrider Foundation. Company volunteers returned to the beaches Oct. 25 for this year’s Beach Clean-up Day.
“Our professionals have always been known for their collaborative approach to making a difference, both for their clients and their communities,” said company President and CEO Steve Rodgers. “For years, they have generously contributed their own money and time to support local causes that matter. Because our jobs connect us very closely to the communities where we live and work, we care deeply about making those communities better places to live. That personal passion has always powered our charitable efforts. As a united force, we can do even more.”
More information on the Prudential California Realty Charitable Foundation can be found at http://foundation.prudentialcal.com.
With over $17 billion in sales volume and more than 18,000 transactions across Southern California and the Central Coast last year, Prudential California Realty is one of the top five brokerages in the nation and the largest company in the Prudential Real Estate network. Prudential California Realty is proud to be a member of HomeServices of America Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. For more information, visit www.prudentialcal.com.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Despite Credit Crunch, There's Still Plenty of Mortgage Money
By Kenneth R. Harney
Washington Post Writers Group
October 19, 2008
WASHINGTON - Credit squeeze, credit freeze, credit system seizures: Everybody knows how severe and painful the global financial breakdown has been -- with banks unwilling to lend even to other banks.
But what about mortgages? Can you still get a home loan with less than a 20% or 30% down payment? Or with a credit score below 720?
Absolutely. It would be a big stretch to label housing the sunny side of the market at the moment, but there's more light there than in other financial sectors. Consider these facts:
* There is no shortage of money available for home mortgages, no freezing of credit to purchase or refinance a house. Why? Because the American mortgage market effectively has been federalized -- at least for the time being.
More than 90% of new loans now are being made through the Federal Housing Administration insurance program, plus Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHA is owned by the federal government, and Fannie and Freddie are operating under federal conservatorship. All three have unfettered access to global capital markets at rock-bottom costs because their borrowings are fully guaranteed by the Treasury. Ginnie Mae, which is FHA's pipeline to the bond market, recorded an all-time high of $29 billion in new mortgage-backed securities issued in August.
* Loan terms and credit underwriting standards have been toughened up, but you can still put down 3% (3.5% after Jan. 1) on an FHA-insured mortgage and 5% on certain Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan programs with private mortgage insurance. FHA's credit standards are generous and forgiving -- the agency exists to help people with less-than-spotless credit histories.
Fannie and Freddie have raised their credit-score requirements over the last year, but buyers and refinancers with scores in the upper 600s can still qualify for loans carrying reasonable rates and fees.
* Despite the global financial system's quakes, mortgage rates not only remain low by historical standards but have actually declined recently. For the week that ended Oct. 8, according to the Mortgage Bankers Assn., 30-year fixed rates fell to an average 5.99%, and 15-year mortgages averaged 5.71%. Freddie Mac said 30-year rates dropped to an average 5.94%.
* Maximum loan amounts through FHA, Fannie and Freddie in high-cost local markets on the West and East coasts continue to be $729,750 through December. In January, the maximum is projected to drop to about $625,000.
* Home prices -- pushed by foreclosures and short sales -- have rolled back to 2003 and 2004 levels or lower in many former boom markets. As a result, growing numbers of buyers are coming off the sidelines. The pending home sales index jumped by 7.4% based on purchase contracts signed in August, according to the National Assn. of Realtors. The heaviest increases -- pointing to higher closed sales in the coming two to three months -- were in California, Florida, Nevada and the Washington, D.C., area.
Housing and mortgage leaders say consumer worries about the stock market have obscured positive developments underway in real estate, where pricing pain and downsizing have been facts of the life for the last 2 1/2 years.
David G. Kittle, president and chief executive of Principle Wholesale Lending Inc. and incoming chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Assn., says "the mortgage market has never shut down" despite the global financial crisis. Money is "clearly available as long as you can qualify for it."
Bottom line: Scary as the news has been about stocks and banks, this is not the case for mortgages. Besides shopping at large national lenders, home buyers should check with local banks and credit unions, which may be originating loans for their own portfolios -- not for Fannie, Freddie or FHA. Many of them are healthy and have plenty of cash to lend.
http://www.latimes.com/
From the Los Angeles Times
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Freddi, Fannie cut back mortgage fees
Freddie, Fannie cut back mortgage fees
Article Launched: 10/03/2008 09:00:38 AM PDT
WASHINGTON — Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, seized by the federal government last month, are rolling back fee increases imposed as they struggled to shore up their finances over the past year.
Freddie Mac said today it would not impose a fee increase scheduled to go into effect next month. The announcement followed a similar reversal by Fannie Mae Thursday night.
Freddie Mac, however, will raise fees next year for riskier loan products, including mortgages that allow interest-only payments for the first few years. Freddie also will require higher credit scores for "piggyback" loans that allow borrowers to make smaller down payments by taking out two mortgages.
Taken together, Freddie Mac said the changes would provide "some relief from the challenges in the current market environment," but added that it is following lending practices "that are prudent and largely applicable in all market conditions."
Both companies had announced plans to hike a fee on all loans purchased by the companies to 0.5 percent next month from 0.25 percent. For a $200,000 loan, that's a savings of $500.
The decision comes nearly a month after the companies, the largest buyer and backer of U.S. mortgages, were taken over by the government and saw their top executives outsted.
In recent months, Fannie and Freddie have hiked several fees for borrowers with blemished credit, while asking for bigger down payments. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers and homebuilders have all complained that the moves were stifling the housing market.
Fannie Mae Chief Executive Herb Allison said in a statement Thursday that the company is "evaluating all of our risk-management, underwriting guidelines, pricing and costs."
James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — which regulates Fannie and Freddie — said last month that any changes made by the companies should "reflect both safe and sound business strategy and attentiveness to the (companies') mission."
Homes 4 Athletes Cycling & Tri Kits Coming Soon!
Homes 4 Athletes is proud to announce the pre-order of the official H4A training & racing kits. Reserve your kit now! Pricing and order deadline will be announced soon. Whether you're an H4A client or just want to look "pro" out on the roads, get this kit! Items that will be offered include:
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I'm happy to announce my sponsorship of my longtime tri club -- The LA Tri Club! -- the biggest and baddest triathlon club in the world! Assisting my fellow club members with their real estate needs seems like a natural extension of my involvement in the LATriClub. And as I have worked with, and am working with, many members of the club, it seemed only fitting that I become an official sponsor.
Please visit the "incentives" page at www.Homes4Athletes.com for club-only special rewards when you select me as your Realtor!
Pending home sales up 7.4 percent in August
October 9, 2008
Pending home sales up 7.4 percent in August
By Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer
Pending sales of existing homes in US up 7.4 pct from July to August in unexpected increase
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pending home sales rose 7.4 percent from July to August, an unexpected piece of positive news for the battered U.S. housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 93.4 from an upwardly revised July reading of 87. The reading was the highest since June 2007.
Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not yet closed. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag before a sale is completed.
Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would fall to 84.9.
The index, which sunk to a record low of 83 in March, stood at 85.8 in August 2007.
Sales are picking up in places that have seen the most severe declines in housing prices -- including California, Florida Nevada and Arizona, plus Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C. area, said Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist. Still, Yun does not expect home prices to rebound until next year and only expects a modest gain of 2 to 3 percent in 2009.
A major unknown is how the worldwide financial crisis and economic slump will affect the housing market.
Despite numerous efforts by the Federal Reserve to encourage banks to lend more, lenders have kept tight reins on mortgage lending, and average rates on 30-year mortgages have remained over 6 percent for most of the year.
The latest effort by the central bank came Wednesday, when the Fed and six other major central banks around the world slashed interest rates Wednesday in an attempt to prevent a mushrooming financial crisis from becoming a global economic meltdown.
The Fed reduced a key rate from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. In Europe, which also has been hard hit by the financial crisis, the Bank of England cut its rate by half a point to 4.5 percent and the European Central Bank sliced its rate by half a point to 3.75 percent. Also cutting rates were the central banks of China, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland.
There's no guarantee, though, that mortgage rates will match the Fed's cut.
That's because long-term interest rates, which influence 30-year mortgages, don't always move in sync with the Fed's action, which lowered the interest rate banks charge each other on overnight loans.
However, the Fed action will reduce borrowing costs almost immediately for U.S. bank customers whose home equity and other floating-rate loans are tied to the prime interest rate. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other banks cut their prime rate by half a point to 4.5 percent after the Fed announcement.
Loan Program
Loan Amount
Interest Rate
Points
APR
30 Year Fixed
$417,000
6%
1
6.157
30 Year Fixed Agency
$729,000
6.25%
1
6.373%
5/1 ARM
$1,000,000
5.75%
1
5.882%
7/1 ARM
$1,000,000
6%
1
6.135%
10/1 ARM
$1,000,000
6.50%
1
6.641%
Pending home sales up 7.4 percent in August
By Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer
Pending sales of existing homes in US up 7.4 pct from July to August in unexpected increase
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pending home sales rose 7.4 percent from July to August, an unexpected piece of positive news for the battered U.S. housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 93.4 from an upwardly revised July reading of 87. The reading was the highest since June 2007.
Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not yet closed. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag before a sale is completed.
Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would fall to 84.9.
The index, which sunk to a record low of 83 in March, stood at 85.8 in August 2007.
Sales are picking up in places that have seen the most severe declines in housing prices -- including California, Florida Nevada and Arizona, plus Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C. area, said Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist. Still, Yun does not expect home prices to rebound until next year and only expects a modest gain of 2 to 3 percent in 2009.
A major unknown is how the worldwide financial crisis and economic slump will affect the housing market.
Despite numerous efforts by the Federal Reserve to encourage banks to lend more, lenders have kept tight reins on mortgage lending, and average rates on 30-year mortgages have remained over 6 percent for most of the year.
The latest effort by the central bank came Wednesday, when the Fed and six other major central banks around the world slashed interest rates Wednesday in an attempt to prevent a mushrooming financial crisis from becoming a global economic meltdown.
The Fed reduced a key rate from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. In Europe, which also has been hard hit by the financial crisis, the Bank of England cut its rate by half a point to 4.5 percent and the European Central Bank sliced its rate by half a point to 3.75 percent. Also cutting rates were the central banks of China, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland.
There's no guarantee, though, that mortgage rates will match the Fed's cut.
That's because long-term interest rates, which influence 30-year mortgages, don't always move in sync with the Fed's action, which lowered the interest rate banks charge each other on overnight loans.
However, the Fed action will reduce borrowing costs almost immediately for U.S. bank customers whose home equity and other floating-rate loans are tied to the prime interest rate. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other banks cut their prime rate by half a point to 4.5 percent after the Fed announcement.
Loan Program
Loan Amount
Interest Rate
Points
APR
30 Year Fixed
$417,000
6%
1
6.157
30 Year Fixed Agency
$729,000
6.25%
1
6.373%
5/1 ARM
$1,000,000
5.75%
1
5.882%
7/1 ARM
$1,000,000
6%
1
6.135%
10/1 ARM
$1,000,000
6.50%
1
6.641%
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