Government to Decrease Financial Involvement in Freddie and Fannie
February 11, 2011
The Obama administration has announced a ‘winding down’ of financial involvement in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at an annual rate of no less than 10% per year. Timothy Geithner predicts it will take three years for the housing market to recover. Then, an additional two to three years for legislators to come to agreement on the government’s role in funding future loans. After an agreement is reached it should  result in new legislation. At this time, the three proposed ideas under consideration are:
1)Â Â Â Â Â private system - where lenders and investors fund new mortgages, with a limited subsidies for the poor and veterans.
2)     private system – where government is involved during market stress to guarantee home loans.
3)Â Â Â taxpayers would insure securities backed by home loans
Forbes Bayonets Stockton and Central Valley Real Estate
February 4, 2011
Each year Forbes magazine analyzes the 200 largest U.S. cities and ranks them into their ‘Top Miserable List’. This year, for the first time Forbes introduced housing as one of the criteria, in addition to the previous criteria which included unemployment, weather, taxes, traffic and violent crime. Stockton, in California’s Central Valley, was number one. Stockton was closely followed by the other California cities of Merced, Modesto and Sacramento. Stockton’s, recent real estate market decline of 58% and unemployment rates hovering around 14.3% were the primary contributing factors for the rating. Bob Deis, Stockton’s City Manager feels this analysis is unfair and misleading. He told Forbes “Stockton has issues that it needs to address, but an article like this is the equivalent of bayoneting the wounded,” “I find it unfair, and it does everybody a disservice. The people of Stockton are warm. The sense of community is fantastic. You have to come here and talk to leaders. The data is the data, but there is a richer story here.”
Readers Rate Local Economy San Joaquin #2 Story of the Year
January 5, 2011
According to The Record readers, the local economy was the number two story of the year. One factor contributing to the overall economy was the housing market. San Joaquin county was number two in the nation for foreclosures in 2010 but housing prices remained relatively unchanged with an average home price of $181,000.
Short Sales Influence Home Sales In November
January 5, 2011
Home sales had an uptick in November partly due to an increase in short sales driving down home prices. This helped to influence a rise in sales up 9.2 % over October but still down 8.6% over November of last year. The median home price in San Joaquin is down 4.1% from last year. For more information about Central Valley housing trends, feel free to call Pat Holkesvig & Your Home Team at 209.471.6516 or complete our Contact Us form.
San Joaquin County 8th in AP Economic Stress Index
December 15, 2010
Ten of the twenty most economically stressed counties in the nation are in California according to the Associated Press. San Joaquin ranks eighth followed by Stanislaus and Merced respectively. High foreclosure rates and continued unemployment contributed to the San Joaquin ranking. The ranking is based on statistics for the months of September and October.
California October Foreclosures are Down
November 12, 2010
RealtyTrac, has reported that 66,475 properties foreclosed in California this October. That is down nearly 12% from September and 22% from last October. However even with the drop in overall reported foreclosures, Modesto and Stockton still remain in the top 5 cities nationwide for foreclosures. Although this downward trend has been consistent over the past many months, it is likely to slow down over the winter which is a traditionally slow time for real estate sales.
Stockton Foreclosure Rates Decrease
October 1, 2010
According to the Central Valley Business Times, CoreLogic reports foreclosure rates in Stockton decreased in July compared to a year earlier. Foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans were 4.38 percent down from last year’s 5.42 percent. However foreclosures are still higher than the national average of 3.13 percent and  the mortgage delinquency rate has increased. The 90 day delinquency rate is at 15.09 percent of mortgage loans, up from the 14.96 percent last year. This could mean that the numbers of successful loan modifications and short sales is keeping the foreclosure numbers down despite the increase of defaults. If you are considering a short sale or would like to learn more feel free to call Pat Holkesvig & Your Home Team at 209.471.6516 or complete our Contact Us form.  Pat Holkesvig and Your Home Team are The Central Valley’s Short Sale Specialists. We process Stockton Short Sales, Elk Grove Short Sales, Lodi Short Sales, Lathrop Short Sales, Manteca Short Sales, Modesto Short Sales, Mountain House Short Sales and Tracy Short Sales.
Posted via email from www.Homes-In-Stockton.com Posterous
Stockton Credit Holds On - Know Your FICO and Vantage Scores
September 23, 2010
According to Experian the Stockton area currently ranks 79th out of 142 credit markets the company follows. This is optimistic news for the area which has been the real estate poster child for this recession with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. Stockton with a current score of 744 is now just below the national average of 749.
Do these numbers sound exceptionally high for a national average credit score? If so, it’s because this statistic is measured using the new Vantage score credit rating system launched in 2006. Vantage Scores differently than the FICO system by utilizing data from millions of credit files reviewed by the Experian, Trans Union and Equifax while FICO credit ratings are based on individual credit file factors such as personal debt-to-income ratio, current credit usage and credit history.
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Consumers should know the difference between these two scores. What appears to be a good score based on the consumer’s familiarity with the FICO system could actually be a poor Vantage score if the borrower is unaware of which scoring system is being used. This possible confusion is due to the difference in how these two scores are rated.
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Vantage Scores are rated as follows:
- 901-990 A
- 801-900 B
- 701-800 C
- 601-700 D
- 501-600 F
FICO scores are rated as follows:
Anything below 600 Â = High risk borrowers
620 = Dividing line between good and bad credit
640+ = Â Pretty good
650 = Average general credit-use behavior
690+ = Very good
720 = Excellent
In order to avoid any misunderstandings always be sure to know your FICO and Vantage scores and discuss what scoring system the lender will be using to determine your credit worthiness beforehand.
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San Joaquin First In and Last Out of Recession
September 21, 2010
Expert economists announced on September 20th that the recession ended in June 2009. This is good news for the country, but not all areas are benefitting at the same rate of progress. Due to ongoing unemployment struggles faced by California and the valley, analysts are adjusting their previous economic predictions of relief in late 2010. However, the new projections have not been released yet. San Joaquin was one of the first areas affected by the recession and it will be one of the last areas to recover. Â
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The Good News and the Bad News for San Joaquin
September 16, 2010
Real estate market analysts have been hard at work crunching the latest round of numbers but what does it all mean? Wednesday the news looked optimistic for San Joaquin when it was reported that the area experienced a second quarter decline in foreclosures despite the fact that Stockton still remained 96th in the nation for foreclosures. However on the heels of that report it was announced that US home seizures had reached a new record and are now 25% higher than a year ago and that California accounted for 1/5th of the national total. UCLA economists predicted that California is on the road to recovery, but it will be slow stating that unemployment is not likely to fall below 10% until late 2012. This is something to look forward to for San Joaquin county which currently ranks 99th in the nation for employment and housing prices.
