How is the market?

The most bearish of Wall Street economic analysts have made the same point for the past 18 months. There’s no recovery or rebound in the housing market, they said, until home builders start building again.

“Show us positive numbers on new home starts for a few months,” they say, “and then we will we agree that the housing market has finally turned around.”

Hey there bears, here are the numbers you asked for: Last week the Commerce Department reported an unexpectedly large increase in new single family home starts during May – up by seven and a half percent.

That was the THIRD consecutive monthly gain in single family starts. Total starts, including multifamily apartment starts and condos, were up by 17 and a half percent!!

A little bit of good news in Seattle

If the Seattle residential real-estate market is coming back to life — and that’s still a big if, despite a relatively upbeat monthly report Tuesday — it’s because of people like Lori Gifford. She and her fiancé, Scott Brush Goodwin, bought their first house last month. It’s a two-bedroom, one-bath former rental in the Arbor Heights neighborhood that the previous owner lost last year through foreclosure. Goodwin and Gifford paid Washington Federal Savings $249,000 for it. “I’ve been living in Seattle for 14 years, and I never really thought I could afford to buy a house,” Gifford says. But when they started looking this spring, “it all kind of came together,” she says. The key elements: Lower prices. Lower mortgage-interest rates. And new incentives for first-time buyers. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reported Tuesday that pending single-family home sales in King County topped 2,000 in April, the first month that level has been reached since August 2007.

Homebuyer Tax Credit-2009

February 17,2009 2pm

The $790 billion stimulus package signed by President Obama today increases the home buyer tax credit to $8,000, drops the repayment feature, reinstates last year’s 2008 loan limits for FHA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae loans, and provides $2 billion in additional funding for states and localities to be used to purchase, manage, repair and resell foreclosed and abandoned properties.

Homebuyer Tax Credit.

The bill provides for a $8,000 tax credit that would be available to first-time home buyers (those who haven’t owned in at least three years) for the purchase of a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. The credit does not require repayment for buyers who hold onto their property for at least three years. Most of the mechanics of the credit will be the same as under the 2008 rules: the credit will be claimed on a tax return to reduce the purchaser’s income tax liability. If any credit amount remains unused, then the unused amount will be refunded as a check to the purchaser.

Washington REALTORS®

Yes, I love here too.

Looking for accessibility, affordability and diversity? That defines the sometimes-overlooked, historically blue-collar South Beacon Hill neighborhood, where buyers can find a home in good condition for $350,000-$450,000, minutes from downtown Seattle. “We don’t have to listen to the traffic reports on the radio, since we can get downtown without using the freeway” says local resident David Nicholson, who also is a John L. Scott Real Estate agent. It’s a short trip by car or bus now and will be even faster when the new Sound Transit Light Rail opens next year, with its main route along Beacon Hill’s eastern edge and a station on North Beacon Hill. The resurgence of North Beacon Hill, home to Amazon.com’s headquarters, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and bordering the Chinatown International District, started in the early 1990s.

Are you thinking about investing?

Real estate industry experts expect financial and real estate markets in the United States to hit bottom in 2009, then flounder for much of 2010, with ongoing drops in property values, more foreclosures and delinquencies, and a limping economy that will continue to crimp property cash flows, according to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2009 report, released in late October by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Seattle was singled out as the top-ranked real estate investment market to watch.

Merry Christmas!

What are you waiting for?

Mortgage rates have plunged since the Federal Reserve said it would spend $600 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities and debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, but tightened underwriting standards mean many people won’t be able to take advantage of them.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said applications for refinance loans shot up 203 percent on an adjusted basis for the holiday-shortened week ending Nov. 28. Applications for purchase loans were up a more modest 38 percent.

The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.47 percent from 5.99 percent, and points decreased to 1.16 from 1.23 for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans, the MBA said.

“Many borrowers missed an opportunity to take advantage when rates dropped sharply for a brief period when the GSEs were placed under conservatorship,” said MBA forecaster Orawin Velz in a statement. “When rates plummeted following the Fed’s announcement that it would buy GSE debt and MBS, many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound.”

Rates on loans eligible for purchase by Fannie and Freddie have come down by nearly a full percentage point since the Fed’s Nov. 25 announcement that it would provide massive liquidity to mortgage markets (see story).

Each 1 percent decrease in interest rates translates roughly into a 10 percent increase in home buyer purchasing power, which the National Association of Realtors estimates can generate 500,000 additional home sales.

Read more…

By Inman News, Thursday, December 4, 2008.

Is your property tax too high?

Property owners with questions about the assessed value of their home can call the King County Assessor at (206) 296-7300 or go online: www.metrokc.gov/Assessor/

The county tax adviser, who can answer some questions and give tips on preparing an appeal, can be reached at (206) 296-5202.

An appeal must be submitted within 60 days of when your home valuation was mailed to you. It will be heard by the Board of Equalization, www.kingcounty.gov/appeals/ or call (206) 296-3496 for more information.

First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.

• The tax credit is available for first-time home buyers only.
• The maximum credit amount is $7,500.
• The credit is available for homes purchased on or after April 9, 2008 and before
  July 1, 2009.
• Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.
• The tax credit works like an interest-free loan and must be repaid over a 15-year period.
• http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/faq.php

Seattle is growing!

It should come as a surprise to no one that Seattle is growing fast.

But this fast?

In just over three years, Seattle already is halfway to reaching its targeted housing growth for 20 years.

And a few sections of town — Ballard, Eastlake, the Central Area, Greenlake, Lower Queen Anne and downtown — already have exceeded their 20-year targets. The numbers, included within a city report on residential growth, provide fodder for those who argue that runaway growth has sacrificed Seattle’s quality of life. They plan to use the report to oppose a proposal at City Hall that would expand tax exemptions for developers who build condos and apartments in areas targeted for significant growth. To get the tax breaks, some of the units must be priced below market rate.