| The April edition of my newsletter is now available. While most of the content of the newsletter is included below, there are charts and graphs and pictures that aren't included in this email, but are included online. Also try my new interactive market statistics site. I encourage you to check it out... I think you'll love it! HIGHLIGHTS
- Santa Cruz County home sales up ninth month in a row. Year-to-date, home
sales are up 28.4%.
- Inventory declined for the eleventh month in a row: 19.7% from last March.
- The median price for homes fell 4.4% from February, but was down 36.5% year-over-year.
For the four-page printable version of the report, click here: Santa Cruz Real Estate and Community News To view the on-line market statistics with a city-by-city breakdown, go here: Interactive Market Statistics
Or to check out a house you noticed: search listings or use the map-based search. P.S. If you find my newsletter useful and know someone else who might, please feel free to forward this e-mail to them.  Walter Stauss
Lifestyles Real Estate
(831) 246-4663
http://www.831.com
mailto:walter@831.com
Santa Cruz County Home Sales Rise Ninth Month in a Row
Sales of single-family, re-sale homes were up, year-over-year, by 40.8% in March. Year-to-date, home sales are up 28.4%.
The median price for homes fell 4.4% from February. The median price was down 36.5% year-over-year. The average price fell 6.9% month-over-month, and was off 34% compared to last March.
Inventory was down 19.7% from last March. This is the eleventh month in a row inventory has declined year-over-year.
Our Days of Inventory indicator dropped 45 days and is now at 223 days. In a balanced market, the supply of homes is usually around five to six months. For condos, the indicator was down six days to 293 days.
The sales price to list price ratio rose 1.1 points to 97.5%.
Days on market gained nine days to 101 days.
Condo sales were up 5% from February, but were down 8.7% year-over-year. Year-to-date, condo sales are up 31.9%.
The median price for condos rose 8.1% from the month before, but was down 37.9% compared to last February.
Condo inventory was down 25.2% compared to March 2008.
The real estate market is very hard to generalize. It is a market made up of many micro markets. For complete information on a particular neighborhood or property, call me at 831.246.4663. C.A.R. launches Mortgage Protection Program LOS ANGELES (April 2) – The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today launched the C.A.R. Housing Affordability Fund Mortgage Protection Program (C.A.R.H.A.F. MPP) for first-time home buyers. Through the Housing Affordability Fund Mortgage Protection Program, first-time home buyers who lose their jobs due to layoffs may be eligible to receive up to $1,500 per month, for six months, to help make their mortgage payments. A qualified co-buyer also can participate in the program, and receive a monthly benefit of $750 per month for up to six months. Program benefits also include coverage for accidental disability and a $10,000 death benefit. C.A.R.’s Housing Affordability Fund is dedicating $1 million toward its Mortgage Protection Program, and estimates that as many as 3,000 families will benefit from the program this year. “The Mortgage Protection Program was developed to help ease the anxiety of consumers who are concerned about potential job loss and its impact on their ability to pay their mortgage should they purchase a home,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “It also provides peace of mind to those buyers who are actively searching for a home.” - To qualify for the Mortgage Protection Program, applicants must: Be a first-time home buyer – someone who has not owned a home in three or more years
- Open escrow April 2, 2009, or later, and close on or before Dec. 31, 2009
- Use a California REALTOR® in the transaction
- Purchase the property in California
- Be a W-2 employee (cannot be self-employed)
To apply for the program, home buyers must request an application for the H.A.F. Mortgage Protection Program from their REALTOR®.
Obama Urges Americans to Refinance President Obama urged Americans to take advance of the administration’s new program, which allows homeowners whose loans are underwater to refinance. Obama pointed to historically low interest rates and estimated that if 7 million to 9 million homeowners refinance, they will save $1,600 to $2,000 a year.
"That is money in their pocket," Obama said. "We are at a time where people can really take advantage of this . . .if you are having problems with your mortgage – and even if you're not, and you just want to save some money – you can go to makinghomeaffordable.gov." Which States Have The Highest Taxes?
According to Forbes magazine, here are the 10 states with the highest taxes, including property, individual income, sales, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, motor vehicles, hunting and fishing, motor fuels, death and gift taxes, as well as insurance premiums. The per capita tax was derived by adding up all the taxes and dividing the total by the number of citizens.
1. Vermont, $3,861
2. Hawaii, $3,856
3. Connecticut, $3,596
4. Minnesota, $3,203
5. New Jersey, $3,024
6. New York, $3,019
7. Massachusetts, $2,953
8. Washington, $2,553
9. Wyoming, $2,357
10. Pennsylvania, $2,223 Attend a Composting Workshop and Get a Free Composting Bin!
If you’re a Green Waste Recovery customer, you can get a free composting bin if you attend a composting workshop. Here are the dates of upcoming workshops:
Santa Cruz: Saturday April 18
Aptos: Saturday May 9
Watsonville: Sunday, May 17
Scotts Valley: Saturday, June 27
To register for a composting workshop, call the Rotline at 423-HEAP.
Or, attend a Wormshop and receive a free Can-O-Worms composting bin. Learn how worms can eat your food scraps and make beautiful vermicompost for your garden
The next few worming workshops:
Felton: April 26
Aptos: May 30
Santa Cruz: June 20
To register for a Wormshop, call the Worm Doctor at 427-3452.
If you can’t attend a workshop, you can purchase a Biostack or Can-O-Worms for $25. Call Green Waste Revory at 800-665-2209 to order.
There is a limit of one free or reduced-cost Biostack or Can-O-Worms per customer per five-year period.
Additional bins can be purchased at wholesale prices of $69 for Biostack and $65 for Can-O-Worms. Call Green Waste Recovery at (800) 665-2209 to order.
Workshops and Wormshops are FREE for residents of the unincorporated area of Santa Cruz County and Scotts Valley. Residents of the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola, and Watsonville will be charged a $50.00 admission fee per household.
What to Do if Your Mortgage Application is Rejected
(it happens a lot these days)
The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that about half of all mortgage applicants are now being turned down. Though refinancing approvals remained static, the acceptance rate on mortgage applications dropped from 63 percent in the first half of 2007 to 53 percent in the first half of last year, according to mortgage data tracked semi-annually by the association. Since then, we’ve seen further tightening of credit standards.
If your application is rejected, you should adopt a pragmatic stance, since clear-eyed determination may eventually land you a loan. Here's how: 1. Find out why
If you've submitted a formal application, you're entitled to a formal rejection.
Expect an "adverse action" notice, spelling out the reasons for turning you down, which these days is likely to state that the loan amount you're seeking is too large compared to the current appraised value of your home.
If it's not your home's value that's the issue, it may be your personal credentials, such as your creditworthiness, work history or debt load.
When credit is the issue, the bank has to name the credit reporting agency that provided the data on which the lender based its decision. You're also entitled to a free credit report; see the FTC Web site for more information.
Before you pay an application or appraisal fee, ask your lender to pull your credit score, and tell you what you're likely eligible for. 2. Find a fix
You might qualify for a different loan product. If you don't qualify at 5.5 percent, for instance, you may be able to get the nod for a loan at 6 percent or 6.5 percent.
Or, to get a good rate, consider lowering the amount of the loan you seek.
If you’re close to a 740 credit score (which is usually required for the best rate) you might pay down a balance on a credit card. 3. Seek out other opinions
Not every lender adheres strictly to the same guidelines; one lender may approve what another rejects. Try a different lender.
A local "community bank," meaning a smaller, hometown institution, may be more flexible. And, while they still use independent appraisals, a local bank might look at comparable home values differently because they know the neighborhoods and local market better.
Some credit unions may judge loan eligibility based upon the unique relationship they have with their members. For instance, many credit unions offer membership to employees of specific companies and would know more about a member's job stability. If you belong to a credit union, give them a call, as they might be more forgiving. 4. Give it another try
The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting that 30-year fixed rates will hover near the 5%range through 2009. So if interest rates stay low, you should have time to try again if the factors behind your rejection improve. Fortunately, a rejection shouldn't bring down your credit score, says Craig Watts, public relations director for Fair Isaac Corp. Making a formal application and then reapplying more than a month later could lower your score, but only by about 5 points. Most scoring systems allow consumers to make multiple mortgage applications within a 30-day period without any negative impact on their credit score. But mortgage inquiries older than 30 days will count as a single inquiry if they're made within a 14-day or 45-day window, depending on the scoring model used.
Selling a Property? Ask me how a Stuctured Sale might help you defer taxes. It’s a cross between an 1031 exchange and an annuity. Call me at 831.246.4663 or send me an email: walter@831.com.
Green Corner
What about biodegradable plastic bags?
Biodegradable plastic is a mixed bag (pun intended); while biopolymers like polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and Polylactide (PLA) are completely biodegradable in compost (and very, very, very slowly—if at all—in a landfill) and are not made from petroleum products, they are often derived from our food sources.
The primary feedstock for bioplastics today is corn, which is rife with agro-political conflict and often grown and harvested unsustainably; because of these reasons, and because it competes with food supply, it is not likely to be a long-term solution in the plastics world.
Plus, some bags marked "biodegradable" are not actually so—they're recycled plastic mixed with cornstarch. The cornstarch biodegrades and the plastic breaks down into tiny little pieces but does not actually "biodegrade," leaving a yucky polymer mess (if in small pieces). The only way to avoid this? Look for 100% plant-based polymers, like the two mentioned above.
So, while it's good to have the alternative (and to recognize the innovation it represents), bioplastics aren't quite ready to save us from the paper or plastic debate. |
