Weekly Roundup October 1-7

The news in real estate in bullet points!

* San Fernando Valley: 33% decline in home sales, yet median resale price continues to rise

* Santa Clarita Valley single-family home sales off 26%, prices down 9%

* Antelope Valley has not published new numbers since early September. Hopefully it will be posted next week.

* Gov. Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday he intends to sign two bills aimed at protecting homeowners from falling prey to unscrupulous lending practices.

* The Mortgage Tax Relief Bill (H.R. 3648) passed the House on 10/4, next step is the Senate. Officially termed the “Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act,” the bill passed by a wide bipartisan majority [386-27] to help address the subprime lending crisis and ongoing turmoil in the housing market.

* August National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sale Index released 10/2 is at an all-time low, but was expected considering the severe credit crunch. Expect September numbers to also be artificially depressed, but with credit market problems largely over, NAR expects October numbers, released in early December to be better.

* Up to 30% of accepted contracts fell through during escrow in August, mostly due to the changes in the mortgage programs.

Other Economic Numbers:
* Job Growth back on track in September. August number revised to a gain.
* Factory-order drop was the worst in 7 months
* Unemployment claims soar, higher numbers than national average in the Southern California area.
* Expect a less than stellar holiday season with average Holiday Sales rising 2-5% (most numbers at the lower end of the range), versus last year’s sales rising 4.6% over the prior year.
* Federal Reserve meets October 30-31. Next rate announcement on Halloween. Most expect at least one or two more quarter-point drops by the end of the year.
* Announcement this past week that CitiBank and other banking companies consider their losses from the mortgage sector to be a one-time hit. CitiBank expects following quarter to be back to normal. These announcements helped fuel the stock market hitting new record highs this past week.
* Fannie Mae stated mortgage rates eased a little bit this week: 30-year prime conforming mortgages was 6.37% versus 6.42% last week. 15y fixed averages 6.03%, 5/1 adjustible hybrid 6.11%, 1y adj 5.58% (all these numbers were on programs with 1/2 point in upfront fees and charges). Jumbo loans (over $417k) were 1/2 to a full percentage point more expensive versus the conforming programs.

Sources: Southland Association of Realtors, KNX-AM los Angeles, CNN, Sacramento Bee

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