Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) — Existing U.S. home sales fell to a 10-year low in the second quarter and the median price for a single-family house dropped 7.6 percent as the real estate recession deepened.

The median price tumbled to $206,500 from $223,500 a year earlier, the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors said today. Sales of single-family houses and condominiums fell 16 percent to 4.913 million at an annualized pace.

Prices are declining with the U.S. on the brink of a recession, consumer prices rising and 30-year fixed mortgage rates at a six year high last month. A third of all sales in the quarter were foreclosures or “short sales,” in which lenders take a loss on a property, the Realtors said. Bank repossessions almost tripled in July from a year earlier, RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of foreclosure data, said in a separate report today.

“It’s getting worse,” Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s executive vice president for marketing, said in an interview. “The number of properties that have been foreclosed on by the banks and still haven’t sold is the highest we’ve ever seen.”

U.S. economic growth slowed to 1.8 percent in the second quarter as unemployment rose. Forecasters say home values will drop more. The S&P/Case Shiller home price index that tracks 20 cities may tumble as much as 12 percent this year, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac, the No. 2 mortgage buyer, said in an Aug. 11 report.

California Prices

The biggest declines reported by the Realtors today were in Sacramento, the capital of California, with a 36 percent drop, followed by the metropolitan area around Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, Florida, down 33 percent.

Riverside and San Bernardino, California, tumbled 32.7 percent, and Los Angeles dropped 30 percent, according to the report. The metropolitan New York area, including parts of northern New Jersey and Long Island, fell 5.3 percent, and Boston dropped 11 percent.

Bank seizures of properties in default rose 184 percent to 77,295 in July, according to RealtyTrac. That was the steepest increase since the Irvine, California-based company began reporting data in January 2005.

More than 272,000 properties, or one in 464 U.S. households, got a default notice, were warned of a pending auction or were foreclosed on, RealtyTrac said. Nevada, California and Florida had the highest rates, RealtyTrac said.

Foreclosures Spur Sales

“In many areas with large concentrations of foreclosure sales, homes are being purchased below replacement cost values,” Richard Gaylord, president of the Realtors’ trade group, said in the report.

Price discounts are spurring buyers in some areas of the country, according to the Realtors report. One quarter of the states had price increases in the second quarter when compared with the prior three months.

“Once the inventory is drawn down, price pressure will return because the costs of construction are rising,” Gaylord said.

There were 4.49 million U.S. homes for sale at the end of June, the highest in a year, according the Realtors’ association. At the current sales pace, that represented 11.1 months’ worth, up from 10.8 months’ worth at the end of May, the trade group said in a July 24 report.

Foreclosures are depressing home prices, contributing to job losses and weakening consumption as fewer people borrow against the value of their home, New York-based analysts at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said Aug. 7.

Banks Take Property

U.S. home prices fell 15.8 percent in May, the most since at least 2001, according to S&P/Case-Shiller. One-third of home sellers in the second quarter lost money, Zillow.com, a Seattle- based provider of home valuations, reported this week.

Bank seizures, known as real estate-owned or REO properties, are the “fastest growing segment of foreclosure activity,” James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in the statement. The REO properties in the company’s database represent about 17 percent of the inventory of existing homes reported in June by the National Association of Realtors, he said.

Default notices in July increased 53 percent from a year earlier and auction notices rose 11 percent, RealtyTrac said.

Foreclosures could put 8.4 percent of total U.S. homeowners, or 12.7 percent of homeowners with mortgages, out of their homes, according to New York-based analysts at Credit Suisse. About 53 percent of subprime borrowers, those with poor or incomplete credit histories, will have negative equity in their homes this year, and that percentage will rise to 63 percent next year, the analysts said in an April 23 report.

National legislation is designed to help up to 400,000 homeowners refinance their adjustable-rate mortgages into fixed- rate loans. That bill, backed by the Federal Housing Administration, may help borrowers who take advantage of the state relief. Almost one-third of homeowners who bought in the last five years owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth, Zillow reported.

By now all of you have seen or heard about the new Housing and Economic Recovery Act recently passed by Congress.   One of the results of that act is the elimination of Down Payment assistance by HUD on FHA Loans as outlined above.   It is still acceptable for the Seller to provide closing costs assistance, this change only applies to the practice of using  Programs such as Genesis that allow Sellers to indirectly pay all or part of the Buyers Down Payment.

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) — Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. mortgage- finance company, will raise a fee that the company charges lenders to buy their mortgages or guarantee home-loan securities, potentially boosting costs for borrowers.

Fannie Mae’s “adverse market delivery charge” introduced earlier this year for all mortgages that the company helps finance will rise to 0.50 percentage point on Oct. 1, from 0.25 percentage point, according to a letter to lenders posted on the Washington-based company’s Web site.

Government-chartered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been tightening standards and raising fees since last year to boost revenues and limit losses amid the worst housing slump since the 1930s. The changes have made it harder for borrowers to get home financing, contributing to deeper price drops, said consultant David Lykken of Mortgage Banking Solutions in Austin, Texas.

“Everyone has to go to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac right now, as there’s very few alternatives,” Lykken said in a telephone interview. The latest fee increase will “increase loan prices and the housing market is going to get worse.”

Fannie Mae also adjusted what it will pay for, or charge in bond guarantee fees on, mortgages with certain down payments, borrower credit scores or combinations of the two, according to the letter dated Aug. 4. The costs will fall for some loans to consumers with scores greater than 620, out of a possible 850, and loan-to-value ratios of more than 85 percent, while rising for some loans with down payments or home equity of between 15 percent and 25 percent.

Rising Delinquencies

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finance about 70 percent of new U.S. home loans. Analysts expect the companies to report net losses through the first quarter of 2009 as home-loan delinquencies rise to the highest on record.

Fannie Mae announced the adverse-market fee in December and put it into effect in March. McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac also began charging a similar 0.25 percentage point fee.

“We’re always looking at our fees in light of market developments,” Brad German, a Freddie Mac spokesman, said in a telephone interview today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jody Shenn in New York at jshenn@bloomberg.net.

Approximately 2 years ago, Wachovia acquired Golden West Financial. This was driven by the success Golden West had with mortgages from the bank branches. Wachovia began to model its’ mortgage operation after that of Golden West. In doing so, they actually created two mortgage origination teams, one for the banks and one for Realtors and the public. This also created parallel management teams, also known as duplication of expenses.

After approximately two years of diligent work, coupled with the market challenges, Wachovia has decided to return to mortgage banking as it used to be. This eliminates the parallel management.

In addition, Wachovia has closed the wholesale division, which means Wachovia WILL PROCESS AND FUND ONLY LOANS ORIGINATED by WACHOVIA EMPLOYEES, not loans originated by mortgage brokers or other lenders. This is a policy shared by a number of other mortgage industry leaders.

It is these two actions that represent the vast majority of the staff reductions announced by Wachovia.

Wachovia, as is the case with most other mortgage companies, is returning to a mortgage market that is served predominantly by government insured or guaranteed loans. That is, FHA, VA, RD, VHDA and conforming conventional loans.

In the past, as the market grew rapidly, there was great pressure on lenders to expand their product mix to accommodate home buyers who did not fit the standard mold, much like putting a square peg in a round hole. As we have seen, this eventually lead to disappointing results. In a nut shell, that is what caused the mortgage debacle.

There is not a major participant in the mortgage industry that has not been hurt by this fall. The result is an old adage, “Only the strong will survive.” To that end, Wachovia is financially strong, they have a good cash reserve position, without borrowing huge amounts as some other mortgage companies have done.

Yes, there are rumors that another bank will buy Wachovia. Such rumors are always on the street. Those rumors are also not limited to the purchase of Wachovia. They exist for several of the top 15 banks in the country.

In case you were not aware, a bank can not simply go into a community and open a branch, they must have FDIC approval, and in some cases, it is ruled that the community has reached a saturation level and the only way to gain entry into that market is to purchase an existing bank or branch.

I ask that you consider your history with me and my 35 years of history and experience in the local financial community. I have included excerpt from Bob Steel’s memo of 7/22 for your information (see below).

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.

EXCERPTS FROM

FROM:   Bob Steel, CEO

RE:         Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results and Related Actions

Cutting the dividend and eliminating positions were difficult decisions. But both are the right moves for our company at this time. I am confident that these actions, and others we will take in the weeks ahead, will allow us to be good stewards for our company so that we can serve-at the highest level-our shareholders, customers and communities.

Here are some second quarter details for our four core businesses:

• The General Bank posted earnings of $1.1 billion and total revenue of $4.7 billion, which reflects strong sales momentum.
  Wealth Management reported 9 percent growth in year-over-year earnings to a record $98 million on 6 percent revenue growth. Net interest income increased 11 percent on 10 percent loan growth.
  The Corporate and Investment Bank has returned to profitability with earnings of $209 million, reflecting lower market disruption losses compared to the first quarter of 2008.
  Capital Management delivered earnings of $297 million on 29 percent revenue growth from the second quarter of 2007. The group posted an 18 percent increase in net interest income year-over-year, driven by the A.G. Edwards acquisition and solid growth since then.

We are a strong company, as these underlying numbers show, but we still have significant challenges ahead of us. It’s important to recognize the environment may become tougher before it improves. We are taking decisive actions to correct issues, address challenges head on and continue moving forward. We also are focused on our short-term priorities of growing, protecting and preserving our strengths: our capital, our liquidity and our core businesses and the earnings they produce.

“H.R. 3221 will give the FHA greater flexibility to respond to the needs of borrowers, enable more working families to become home owners, expand affordable mortgage loan opportunities for seniors and allow the agency to play an important role in stabilizing the mortgage markets,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn.
Over the past two decades, the popularity and relevance of FHA’s single-family programs has waned because statutory and regulatory constraints have limited the agency’s ability to carry out its mission to spur housing opportunities for America’s working families.
The differences between FHA’s requirements and those for conventional mortgages have been viewed by lenders, appraisers and others as a disincentive to use FHA programs.

FHA’s program and operational requirements, which are established by Congress, have seriously limited its ability to deliver the range of mortgage products that are needed to fulfill its housing mission.

H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, contains several provisions that will allow the FHA to deliver a range of mortgage products more effectively. However, the FHA’s minimum downpayment has been increased from 3% to 3.5%. The bill:

• Increases the current limit for FHA-insured mortgages to enable deserving potential buyers to purchase homes in more markets across the country. “Permanently raising the FHA loan limit to 115% of an area’s median home price, up to $625,500, will enable more creditworthy borrowers to purchase an FHA-insured home in high-cost markets,” said Dunn.
• Also increases the floor for area FHA limits from $200,160 to $271,050.
• Enables the FHA to simplify requirements for condominium loans, which have often been burdensome and have differed significantly from the rules applied to mortgage loans for detached single-family homes.
• Expands opportunities for seniors to tap into equity in their home through FHA reverse mortgage loans. The bill creates a higher, nationwide uniform loan limit equal to $625,500, reduces and caps the maximum fee lenders can charge seniors for FHA reverse mortgage loans and establishes protections to prohibit requiring seniors to purchase other financial products in conjunction with these loans. This will help more seniors who are at least 62 years old access the equity in their homes without having to make mortgage payments until they move out.
• Permits the FHA to extend the maximum loan maturity to 40 years to enable borrowers to reduce their monthly mortgage payments while ensuring that some part of the monthly payment is used to reduce the outstanding loan balance.
• Allows the FHA to charge higher mortgage insurance premiums, but places a one-year moratorium on implementation of risk-based mortgage insurance premiums.

This is an expensive lesson as appraisals can cost upwards of $400 depending on your location and home value. The following is a list of resources for checking your homes value before you apply for a mortgage or try to refinance.

Yahoo Real Estate Home Values Yahoo actually gives you both the Zillow value and a value from eppraisal.com. This is a totally free service and gives you a map of what houses have sold in your area and the price. It will also give you a graph of your home’s value over the last year or 5 years.

Zillow.com Zillow gives you a little bit different view of the value. This is still a free service and there are no strings attached.

Eppraisal.com Once again, gives a slightly different view and apparently, slightly different statistics. You can sign up on eppraisal and look at market insights for the area.

If you are thinking of selling, the best advice is to check all of these tools and get a comparative market analysis from several realtors before you make any decisions.

“This is going to go down in very historic terms,” said Peter Dunay, chief investment strategist for New York-based Meridian Equity Partners. “This is about credit being overextended, and how bad it is for major financial institutions and for individuals. This is why we’re probably heading into a recession.”

JPMorgan purchased Bear Stearns for $236.2 million dollars or approximately $2 per share.  This discounted purchase was made possible by the Fed guaranteeing up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns more risky assets.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said, “These steps will provide financial institutions with greater assurance of access to funds.” According to the Fed, these steps should “bolster market liquidity and promote orderly market functioning.”

This discount rate cut only effects short term loans that financial institutions get from the Federal Reserve.

FHA Limits have also been increased in other VA localities including :

We would expect to have Pricing and computers updated by early April to be able to facilitate these new limits.   The attached Excel file has the complete listing for changes nationwide.    PLEASE remember that under current legislation, this increase is temporary  and will revert back to the prior limits as of 12/31/2008 unless Congress extends the program.  This gives us a window of opportunity to provide financing for more homes with better terms.