28% of Real Estate Sales in Q1 Were Foreclosures

Q1 2001 TOTAL FORECLOSURE SALES

 Average Foreclosure Discount is Nearly 27%

State	# of FC Sales	% ch. from Q1 '10	Pct. of all sales	Avg. price	Avg. discount %
U.S. Total	158,434	-35.79	27.53	$168,321	26.66
Alabama	834	-14.81	20.06	$135,063	20.46
Alaska	134	-27.96	10.9	$230,840	13.83
Arizona	14,274	-20.66	45.19	$128,289	25.34
Arkansas	624	-26.07	17.21	$112,519	25.2
California	44,018	-28.62	45.23	$247,623	33.9
Colorado	4,032	-20.83	29.96	$176,291	29.52
Delaware	246	-12.14	18.54	$158,077	36.18
Florida	25,052	-31.6	32.49	$116,583	27.28
Georgia	3,889	-59.2	27.23	$117,050	32.38
Hawaii	362	-24.58	13.69	$322,317	17.82
Idaho	1,604	-8.19	32.88	$141,845	15.44
Illinois	5,529	-37.72	29.38	$132,983	40.9
Indiana	1,640	-58.35	20.64	$105,914	23.97
Iowa	377	-26.37	6.83	$97,339	29.03
Kentucky	589	-45.51	15.97	$100,126	39.02
Louisiana	497	-37.17	11.85	$116,201	35.86
Maryland	2,443	-37.23	23	$186,712	38.81
Michigan	7,164	-41.1	31.94	$70,358	33.96
Minnesota	1,179	-56.45	15.7	$152,179	19.26
Missouri	2,326	-29.32	20.21	$117,831	16.99
Montana	156	-17.46	10.17	$209,843	-4.97
Nevada	8,322	-23.28	53.32	$128,589	17.5
New Hampshire	101	-81.7	11.07	$156,292	31.09
New Jersey	1,861	-47.56	15.6	$227,288	34.21
New Mexico	210	-53.54	7.19	$192,941	6.98
New York	1,211	-60.81	6.74	$288,138	31.98
North Carolina	1,745	-47.85	11.6	$144,553	25.57
Ohio	4,495	-42.78	24.59	$75,397	41.14
Oklahoma	653	-29.33	13.57	$93,013	35.96
Oregon	2,133	-26.85	31.71	$175,957	24.37
Pennsylvania	2,282	-27.42	13.79	$113,884	36
South Carolina	1,347	-43	19.17	$144,492	23.98
Tennessee	2,331	-51.34	19.02	$100,967	38.14
Texas	6,962	-39.93	12.05	$144,505	25.24
Utah	797	-69.75	15.48	$218,425	-1.59
Virginia	3,216	-37.22	30.2	$202,070	33.8
Washington	2,122	-43.77	16.03	$205,824	27.02
Wisconsin	1,044	-47.27	18.54	$104,760	38.03

Source Realty Trac

Amazing Story of Dog's Treck Home After Birmingham AL Tornado

This is just an amazing story about a pet that crawled back to his home with two broken legs after he was swept away by the tornado in Birmingham Alabama.

More...

By Liz Goodwin

QRM Qualified Residential - Can You Afford a 20% Down Payment to Buy a Home?

Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) and Risk Retention: Background

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) became law on July 21, 2010. Section 941 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires financial institutions that securitize mortgages loans to retain at least 5 percent of the credit risk.

The Dodd-Frank Act, however, exempts from the risk-retention requirement securities backed exclusively by “qualified residential mortgages,” or QRMs—mortgages with underwriting and product features that historical loan performance data indicate result in a lower risk of default. By exempting QRMs from the risk-retention requirement, the cost of securitizing these mortgages is reduced, thus providing a market incentive for the wide origination of responsible loans.

Highlights of the Proposed QRM Standards

The proposed QRM rule would require an 80% LTV, which requires a 20% down payment.

The proposed rule would also limit the mortgage payment to 28% of gross income and limit all debt to 36%.

No credit score requirement is included, but a mortgage loan would qualify as a QRM only if the borrower is not currently 30 or more days past due on any debt obligation.

Borrowers could not have been 60 or more days past due on any debt obligation within the preceding 24 months.

Borrowers could not have, within the preceding 36 months, been through bankruptcy, been foreclosed on, engaged in a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, or been subject to a Federal or State judgment for collection of any unpaid debt.

The QRM definition is of extraordinary importance for three reasons:

1. It will determine the types of mortgages that will be generally available for borrowers for the foreseeable future.

2. It will serve as a precursor for what the successor(s) to the current GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) are likely to be allowed to securitize.

3. Finally, the QRM proposal will telegraph the administration’s intentions for FHA. A narrow QRM will require severe tightening of FHA to prevent huge increases in FHA’s already robust market share.

What to Know Before Buying A Fixer Upper

It is important to research important facts about any property that requires extensive repairs and upgrades.

ACTION REQUIRED-CAN YOU AFFORD 20% DOWN PAYMENT ON HOME?

Tell Congress: 20% Down Payments Put the American Dream Out of Reach

Could your afford a 20% down payment? Could you? Can you envision what this will do to the average American being able to own a home if the Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRM) take effect this year?

Neither can we. And neither can many elected officials in Congress who did not intend for these regulatory provisions to be so narrowly defined. We must continue our efforts to explain how detrimental the new QRM rules would be to the ongoing housing and lending crisis in America.

According to NAR Research, 60% of recent home buyers made less than a 20% down payment, and it would take 14 years for a typical person to save up a 20% down payment to buy a median-priced home.

PLEASE CONTACT CONGRESS TODAY and ask them to make it clear to the regulators that this proposed regulation was not their legislative intent and to instead implement a more reasonable Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) that will keep credit-worthy buyers in the market and able to acquire a loan.

Realtors Meet With Members of Congress...

Realtors meet on capital Hill with Members of Congress to protect the mortgage interest deduction, fixing the short sale process, retaining a government guarantee for the secondary mortgage market, and ensuring that the qualified residential mortgage rule is inclusive of future home buyers In a video from this week's Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo, VP Gary Thomas says, "A functioning real estate market can again lead this country out of recession."

Home Owners to Congress:

LEAVE MID ALONE!

More than half — 53 percent — of home owners recently surveyed say they want Congress to leave the federal tax credit for home owners alone, according to a recent opinion poll at HousingPredictor.com. Those surveyed also say they want Congress to instead focus its efforts on instituting other tax advantages to stimulate the real estate market.

Some congressional leaders have raised the issue of trimming the mortgage interest deduction as a way to increase federal taxes and alleviate the ongoing budget crisis.

The mortgage interest deduction allows home owners to write off the mortgage interest and state taxes paid as itemized deductions on their personal federal income taxes.

The National Association of REALTORS® has strongly opposed any cut to the mortgage interest deduction and has lobbied Congress to protect it.

Source: “Majority of Homeowners Want Federal Tax Credit,” American Banking News (May 2, 2011)