Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 11/28-11/29, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/27/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/26/2009

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Oh, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

The Shrinking Buyer Pool

Washington Post: "Starting Dec. 12, the automated system that Fannie Mae uses to approve loans will reject borrowers who have at least a 20 percent down payment but whose credit scores fall below 620 out of 850. Previously, the cut-off was 580.

Also, for borrowers with a 20 percent down payment, no more than 45 percent of their gross monthly income can go toward paying debts. Fannie declined to disclose the previous threshold, except to say that it was higher."

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/25/2009

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S&P/Case-Shiller® September Home-Price Index

The S&P/Case Shiller® composite index (graph here) for the month of September was released today.

"'We have seen broad improvement in home prices for most of the past six months,' says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. 'However, the gains in the most recent month are more modest than during the seasonally strong summer months. Fewer cities saw month to month improvements in September than in August in both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted figures. Nationally, the U.S. National Composite rose by 3.1% in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2009. Both the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted their fifth consecutive monthly increase with September’s report. Earlier some analysts voiced concern that the end of the first-time home buyer program would result in a drop in activity. While housing starts did slip in October, the federal government recently extended and expanded the first-time homebuyer tax credit.'"

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/24/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/23/2009

Late afternoon edition . . .

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From Calculated Risk today:

"The key to reducing the overall inventory is new household formation, and the key to new household formation is jobs. Encouraging renters to become owners accomplishes nothing in reducing the overall housing inventory, and leads some analysts to mistake activity for achievement."

Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 11/21-11/22, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/20/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/19/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/18/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/17/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/16/2009

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Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 11/14-11/15, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/13/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/12/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/11/2009

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Northern Virginia October Housing Sales

Source: MRIS

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/10/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/9/2009

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Northern Virginia Weekend Bits Bucket 11/7-11/8, 2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/6/2009

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Fannie Mae Becomes a Landlady

Hmmm . . . I wonder how many this will actually help.

"Thousands of borrowers on the verge of foreclosure will soon have the option of renting their homes from Fannie Mae, under a policy announced Thursday.

The government-controlled company, through its new "Deed for Lease" program, will allow borrowers to transfer ownership to Fannie Mae and sign a one-year lease, with month-to-month extensions after that".

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/5/2009

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News and Things

VA_Investor has a strategy to consider:

"FHA loans are assumable at the original rate and terms. The new buyer must qualify under FHA underwriting guidelines.

This could be a huge hedge against rate increases causing your home value to drop or simply freezing the Market. Your house will sell with 5% financing when the going rate is 8+. Conventional loans have a due on sale clause and cannot be assumed.

I'd be going FHA if it were me buying now."

And this from Calculated Risk: FHA Delays Fiscal Report. They might need a bailout.

Also, the Senate's finally done it. They passed a bill today (98-0) extending the housing tax credit:

"The measure would also extend through April 30 an $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit and create a new $6,500 credit for homebuyers who have been in their current residence for the last five years or more".

Current Housing Inventory

As we head into the quiet months of November through the end of January, total housing inventory in Northern Virginia is at its lowest point since June-July, 2005. The big question is what's in store for the Spring selling season (which tends to get an early start after the Super Bowl).

Also from Virginia MLS is a roller-coaster-looking graph of the percent of active homes that are available.

The total "Northern Virginia Inventory" represents the combined housing inventory (listed on the MLS) of Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax City, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Loudoun County, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, and Prince William County.



(Here's the spreadsheet on a separate page).

Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/4/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/3/2009

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Northern Virginia Bits Bucket 11/2/2009

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