Puget Sound Homes APPRECIATING !!!

by Kathleen Cooper, The News Tribune, Sept. 5, 2012

Sale prices of homes and condos in Pierce County had the highest year-over year increase of 2012 last month, data released Wednesday show.

The combined median sale price of homes and condos in August was $199,950, a 7 percent increase over the price at the same time a year ago, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. At the median sale price, half the homes sold for more than that amount, and half sold for less.

The price increase also was only the second time this year Pierce County has seen a monthly bump in the combined figures.

Other good signs: Closed sales in Pierce County increased by 3 percent compared with August 2011, while about 28 percent fewer homes were for sale.

“Inventory levels are incredibly low, but our hope is that many homeowners who were underwater can now afford to sell because of the continued appreciation of home prices,” OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate Company, said in a news release.

In Thurston County, median combined sale prices fell about 3 percent to $218,000. Closed sales increased by almost 28 percent, and inventory decreased by almost that much.

The Northwest Multiple Listing Service represents 21 counties in Western and Central Washington. An increase in closed sales was the story across the NWMLS area.

Reflecting several months of strong pending sales, closed sales across the 21-county area reached the highest volume so far in 2012. Brokers had 6,612 closings last month, according to the release, continuing a streak of four months of 6,000-plus completed transactions.

“In housing markets, slow and steady recoveries are good,” MLS director Frank Wilson, the branch managing broker at John L. Scott’s Poulsbo office, said in the release. “A market that runs too high or too fast leads to a quick decline in short order,” he said, adding he expects good momentum to continue into the fall.

Principal Reduction Will Solve The Housing Crisis ...

Are the geniuses that created this mess at the banks going to keep telling us how impossible this concept is when nothing they do even dents the problem, but actually continues to exacerbate it? Principal reduction will not only help us out of the housing crisis, but will stimulate the economy! 


This is a great article from Realty Times, written by Tanya Marchiol.


See this link for more info.....
   
   http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20111202_principalreduction.htm

                                         


Sorry Readers & Fans (LOL),  I have been very busy working on Multi-Family deals and haven't written a Blog in almost a month.  If you have Apartments you want to SELL or BUY,  please contact me ASAP.


Sincerely,  Larry Tutino

HOUSING Markets _ BEST Recovery bets

 tacoma, washington 
Here's what CNN Money projects the top 10 markets to be.


Read more at ..... http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/real_estate/1102/gallery.best_recovery_bets/index.html

            Median home price: $240,000

            Drop since market peak: 27.9%

            Forecast gain by 9/2012: 11.8%


             

After living in this area for 50 years, I agree completely.
Special thanks to CNN's  Les Christie, the Author of the article.

Larry Tutino

HOW TO FIX OUR FEDERAL DEFICIT

Wall Photos

Warren Buffett, "I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all
sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th
amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months
& 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in
1971...before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to
the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the
land...all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of
twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do
likewise.
In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the
message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office
and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All
funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security
system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system,
and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for
any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans
do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay
will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the
same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American
people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen
made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor,
not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours
should serve their term's), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take
three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is
time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!! If you agree with the above, pass it on.

20% DOWN PAYMENTS??? R THEY NUTS??? pg 2

NAR - 20% downpayment and stringent regulations unfair

A proposed rule by federal regulators to impose a minimum 20%
down payment, stringent debt-to-income ratio requirements and
rigid credit standards will deny millions of Americans access to
safe, low-cost mortgages, according to the National Association
of Realtors (NAR).

This Author agrees.

This will cut-off first time homebuyers.

This will cut-off Buyers that are rebuilding their finances.

FYI.. over 40% of Homeowners that were foreclosed on were over 50 years of age.

Here's my plan.

If you want to buy a home that is.....

Under $125,ooo you will need 10% down.

Under $199,ooo you will need 15% down.

Over $200,ooo you will need 20% down.

This is a simple Plan that will make it possible for most families to have a home &

protect the U.S. loan guarantee programs (ie. taxpayers) from a huge future meltdown in the housing markets.

This will also stop Buyers from buying a home that is actually too expensive for their budget.

One, easy to implement Plan that will give American investors new confidence in our massive housing market.

Many thanks from Larry Tutino, Blog Founder

Lets get this housing market on it's own 2 feet again!

ITs GETTING BETTER !!!

Here's proof that we are improving in the Single Family markets..

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA ) is the Conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The FHFA oversees all monies that the Fed gives to them and pretty much tells the two agencies what to do.

The Director, Edward DeMarco said more stringent underwriting standards and a stronger price structure have helped.

The companies hold a 60% share of single-family loan production.

The FHFA also oversees the dozen Federal Home Loan Banks and said all 12 reported profits in 2010!

Special thanks to..... News & Commentary by Chris McLaughlin at....http://www.smartrealestatenews.com/

US Government GIVING AWAY $$$$$$ AGAIN !!!

This is CRAZY.......

Have you heard about the "Neighborhood Stabilization Program????

The total appropriation for NSP has been $7 billion.

said Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), chairman of the committee. "These programs may have been well-intentioned but they’re not working and, in reality, are making things worse."

Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) said these programs were put up in haste, executed poorly and have done little to restore stability.

"We need to break down barriers that have delayed the housing recovery, including expensive and ineffective government programs that have failed to help homeowners," Biggert said.

This is our tax dollars given away to Cities and Towns to "buy up the REO bank owned & foreclosed homes".

The intent is to make our communities look better, thinking this will increase Single Family home Sales and maintain communities. All of that makes great sense if the Banks were actually providing more loans to the Buyers. They are NOT!

I say, "PRESSURE THE BANKS to loosen up the $$$$$. They just had one of their most profitable years. Put the screw to em....now.

Larry, Blog author.

Read more at this link....

http://www.housingwire.com/2011/03/02/hud-defends-nsp-funds-effect-on-blight

REDUCTION OF PROPERTY TAXES ????

As I expected, thousands of property owners (residential, commercial, even churches) are requesting hearings & reviews of their tax assessments. Who can blame them? Considering how much values have dropped in the last 2 years.

Read on.....

The backlog of cases from taxpayers seeking to lower property-tax bills of more than $100,000 shot up to 14,236 this year from an annual average of about 6,000 during the past decade. The backlog of smaller claims was at 28,558 at the end of September, eight times higher than a decade ago, according to records at the tribunal, a Lansing-based administrative court.

Go to this link for more.....

http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=301170630&gid=106811&type=member&item=38214115&articleURL=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-08/plunging-home-prices-fuel-property-tax-appeals-swamping-u-s-cities-towns.html&urlhash=8VEi&goback=.gde_106811_member_38214115

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan, atjgreen16@bloomberg.net; Tim Jones in Chicago at tjones58@bloomberg.net.

Thank You, Larry

The NEW YORK TIMES says:

What the NEW YORK TIMES says about housing and residential real estate!!!!!
CLICK on the link above.