Brodie Stephens- Broker Associate Selling Homes in Folsom | Placerville | Pollock Pines | El Dorado Hills | Elk Grove | Roseville | Rocklin

The San Francisco Chronicle

Banks may seize more than 1 million U.S. homes this year after legal scrutiny of their foreclosure practices slowed actions against delinquent property owners in 2011, RealtyTrac said.

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/12/BUPF1MOFAU.DTL

Late last year, C.A.R. launched Sucasa.net, a Spanish-language property search website that offers Spanish-speaking home buyers MLS listings based on the California Living Network’s database.   Powered by NAR’s REALTOR.com® (www.realtor.com/california), home buyers can search for California homes using common sorting characteristics such as city, price range, and number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Results appear in a list or on a map, and driving directions are available in Spanish. The website also is a useful tool for REALTORS®, allowing agents to forward their clients a link to a specific property in Spanish. To view the site, please visit www.sucasa.net.

Pending home sales in California rose in October and were up from the previous year for the sixth consecutive month.  Additionally, distressed home sales rose in October from both the previous month and year, C.A.R. reported this week.
California pending home sales climbed 3.1 percent in October and were up from a year ago, according to C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)*.  The index was 122.0 in October, based on contracts signed in that month, up from September’s index of a revised 118.2.  The index also was up 10.7 percent from October 2010.  October marked the sixth consecutive month that pending sales rose from the previous year.  Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.
“October’s increase in pending sales is encouraging, especially the six straight months of year-over-year increases,” said C.A.R. President LeFrancis Arnold.  “Despite all the challenges the housing market has faced this year, California home sales continue to perform modestly well and should be on pace to match or better last year’s level.”
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Lower home prices and interest rates led to an increase in home affordability in the third quarter, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® reported.

Making sense of the story

• The percentage of California households that could afford to purchase a median priced home of $292,120 rose to 52 percent in the third quarter, up from 51 percent in the second quarter.
• C.A.R.’s HAI measures the percentage of all households that can afford to purchase a median-priced, single-family home in California.  C.A.R. also reports affordability indices for regions and select counties within the state.
• Home buyers needed to earn a minimum annual income of $61,530 to qualify for the purchase of a $292,120 statewide median-priced, existing single-family home in the third quarter of 2011.  The monthly payment, including taxes and insurance, would be $1,540, assuming a 20 percent down payment and an effective composite interest rate of 4.63 percent.
• Regionally, housing affordability rose in most counties in the San Francisco Bay Area but was down in Los Angeles County and Fresno County.  At 77 percent, San Bernardino County was the most affordable, while San Mateo County was the least affordable, with only 25 percent of households able to purchase the county’s median-priced home.   

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http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-housing-affordability-20111111,0,6083426.story

Foreclosure filings increased 7 percent compared with September, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac.
Including notices of default, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions – of which all increased month-over-month – filings were reported on 230,678 U.S. properties in October.
Defaults in California, Florida, and Michigan all rose to their highest levels in at least a year. California notices of default increased 17 percent from the previous month to 29,240, pushing the state’s foreclosure rate to the second highest in the nation.
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