Lending, the holidays, and the market

The lender forum this morning at the weekly MLS meeting was insightful. Many condominiums are now being classified as condo hotels (condotels) which makes getting a loan to purchase or refinance one difficult. The buyers who are can easily pay cash are the only buyers qualifying for loans to buy these condos, ironic. This is one issue holding back our recovery. These loans require 30% plus down and have rates about 1% higher than conventional, currently around 6%. One lender this morning compared our market to NV and Florida, where HOA's are going bankrupt. Here is a quote from Diana Olick:

"So here's this cul-de-sac, barely 15 minutes from the Las Vegas strip, with three really enormous, gorgeous occupied homes, one 3/4-finished home with broken windows, a dumpster and a port-o-potty, and one enormous slab of concrete where a house should be.  The lunacy in Las Vegas goes on."

The Steamboat market has slowed the past two weeks and the holiday slow time is in full swing. There are still price drops and more listings going to Short Sale and Foreclosure. Check out listing # 122566 and #125566 in the MLS search above. Coincidence with the numbers ending in 566. They are both very good deals.

Check out the curb appeal tips for selling in winter:

http://www.frontdoor.com/Sell/Tips-for-Winter-Curb-Appeal/2560

And, check out the sell now or wait article:

http://www.frontdoor.com/Sell/Sell-Now-or-Wait/55408

Until next time, Happy Holidays!!!

2010 Predictions

Happy Thanksgiving, here is a some thoughts from one of many real estate experts:

"1. The residential housing market will dip again in mid-2010 before settling into a recovery in the back half of the year.

Photo: Jeff Turner

The end of government programs that have been artificially buoying housing (home buyer tax credit and Fed's Fannie Freddie mortgage purchase program) will result in a slowdown in demand right at the height of the Spring season. Rising foreclosures will also push more inventory onto the market, putting additional downward pressure on home prices.

2. Foreclosure inventory will be a lot higher than some predict.

Shadow inventory should be seen not just as homes the banks are holding on to or that are still in the foreclosure process, but homes where borrowers have stopped making payments and have not heard from the banks.

3.  No more historic lows on the 30-year fixed.

Unless the government decides to extend its Fannie-Freddie purchase program or do something else to juice the credit markets, mortgage rates will rise steadily, probably leveling off somewhere around 6 percent.

4.  Commercial real estate will continue to suffer the ills of low vacancy rates, low rents and high default rates.

The biggest concern is credit, as billions of dollars in commercial debt come up for refinance with little to no takers."

I'm still sticking strong with the Ski Town Realty market predictions available in the seller and buyer tabs of my web site. www.SkiTownRealty.NET. Cheers.