What's New at Moore Appraisals

"The introduction of this legislation is a victory for consumers and members of the industry alike," said NAMB President Marc Savitt, CRMS. "We thank Congress for recognizing the need to address the issue of appraiser coercion without causing undue harm to borrowers or diminishing competition in the marketplace."

NAMB has taken an active stance against the HVCC since its introduction in March of 2008. "We urge Congress to pass H.R. 3044 as soon as possible to ensure that more borrowers will not be negatively impacted by this de facto rule," stated Savitt. "In the period of time since its implementation, the HVCC has increased costs to consumers and decreased the quality of appraisals and has provided a level of uncertainty in an ailing housing market. Tens of thousands of consumers have already been robbed of their opportunity to enjoy historically low rates by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's rule."

A total of 20,514 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the six-county Southland last month. That was up 5.2 percent from 19,506 in March and up 31.4 percent from 15,615 a year ago, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick, a real estate information service.

Last month’s sales were the highest for that month since April 2006, when 27,114 homes sold, but were 18.2 percent below the average April sales total since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin.

Foreclosure resales – homes sold in April that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 53.6 percent of all Southland resales last month. It was the seventh consecutive month in which post-foreclosure properties made up more than half of all resales.

The deep discounts associated with foreclosures have created stiff competition for builders, who last month sold the lowest number of newly constructed homes for an April since at least 1988.

At the same time, the number of single-family houses that resold last month was at record or near-record-high levels for an April in many of the more affordable, foreclosure-heavy inland markets. They included Palmdale, Lancaster, Moreno Valley, Perris, Indio, San Jacinto, Lake Elsinore and Victorville.

The sales picture was dramatically different in many older, high-end communities closer to the coast, where foreclosures and deep discounts are less common. Sales of existing houses remained at or near record lows for an April in markets such as Beverly Hills, Malibu, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Manhattan Beach and Pacific Palisades.

Among the reasons high-end sales remain so sluggish: The “jumbo” mortgages needed to buy such homes have been more expensive and much harder to obtain since August 2007, when the credit crunch hit. Before then, nearly 40 percent of Southland sales were financed with jumbo loans, then defined as over $417,000. Last month it was 10.9 percent.

In the more affordable inland areas, first-time buyers have relied heavily on government-insured FHA financing. Such loans were used to finance a near-record 39.1 percent of all Southland home purchases last month, up from 18.4 percent a year ago. In the Inland Empire, more than half of all April home purchases were financed with FHA loans.

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,090 last month, down from $1,081 for the previous month, and down from a revised $1,940 for February year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments were 49.9 percent below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They were 58.9 percent below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is off its 2008 peak but remains at historically high levels, while financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is at an all-time low, as is financing with multiple mortgages. Down payment sizes and flipping rates are stable, and non-owner occupied buying activity is above-average in some markets, MDA DataQuick reported.

	Sales Volume			Median Price
All homes	Feb-08	Feb-09	%Chng	Feb-08	Feb-09	%Chng
Los Angeles	3,468	4,590	32.4%	$460,000	$299,000	-35.0%
Orange	1,471	1,879	27.7%	$520,000	$375,000	-27.9%
Riverside	2,147	3,420	59.3%	$325,000	$190,000	-41.5%
San Bernardino	1,242	2,324	87.1%	$290,000	$153,000	-47.2%
San Diego	1,954	2,473	26.6%	$415,000	$285,000	-31.3%
Ventura	495	545	10.1%	$445,000	$327,000	-26.5%
SoCal	10,777	15,231	41.3%	$408,000	$250,000	-38.7%

A total of 15,231 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was essentially unchanged from 15,227 for January, and up 41.3 percent from 10,777 for February 2008, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

Sales have increased on a year-to-year basis since last July. February a year ago was the slowest February in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. The February average is 18,120.

Regionwide, foreclosure resales accounted for 56.4 percent of February’s resales activity, which was the same as the revised January figure and up from 36.2 percent in February 2008.

The median price paid for a Southland home was $250,000 last month, the same as in January. That was down 38.7 percent from $408,000 for February a year ago. The median peaked at $505,000 in mid 2007.