Mortgage rates down, applications up

30-year fixed-rate hits at least 37-year low
December 19, 2008 11:40 AM
By Inman News Inman News
Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are at their lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking them in 1971, the mortgage financier said in releasing the results of its weekly primary mortgage market survey.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, attributed the decline in part to the Federal Reserve's statement this week that it stood ready to expand purchases of mortgage-related assets as it cut the federal funds overnight rate to a record low of zero to 0.25 percent (see story).
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.19 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Dec. 18, down from 5.47 percent last week and 6.14 percent a year ago.
The 15-year FRM averaged 4.92 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from 5.2 percent last week and 5.79 percent a year ago. The 15-year FRM has not been lower since April 1, 2004, when it averaged 4.84 percent.
Rates on adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) were also down, with the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid ARM averaging 5.6 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 5.82 percent last week and 5.9 percent a year ago.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.94 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from 5.09 percent last week and 5.51 percent a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association said applications for the week ending Dec. 12 were up a seasonally adjusted 2.9 percent, driven by a 6.5 percent jump in refinance applications. Applications for purchase loans fell 4.5 percent, while the government purchase index (largely FHA) was unchanged.

Low prices boost valley home sales

Foreclosure sales drive valley's third quarter.

Coachella Valley home sales during the third quarter of 2008 jumped 51.5 percent compared to 2007, driven predominately by buyers nabbing foreclosures and other distressed properties that have been sharply discounted.
The rise in sales is a dramatic turnaround from 2007, when third-quarter housing sales were down 23.3 percent from the same period in 2006.
The new housing analysis comes from Real Data Strategies, which provided statistics to The Desert Sun for a comprehensive look at sales from July through September 2008.
While sales are up, average prices are down as banks try to clear out the rising number of foreclosures and other sellers try to compete with the deals offered on distressed properties.
“It's creating new market-level prices and competition,” said Patrick Veling, president and founder of Brea-based Real Data Strategies.
“Traditional sellers can agree to meet or beat (bank prices) or simply wait it out.”
The quarterly analysis of homes sold through the Desert Area Multiple Listing Service reveals:
A total of 1,935 Coachella Valley homes were sold during the third quarter of 2008.
That's up from the 1,277 sold during the same three months of 2007 and up from 2006, when 1,665 homes were sold.
The bulk of homes sold are going for less than $500,000, a price point that traditionally has been described as the entry-level market
In 2007, homes priced under $500,000 made up 68 percent of all local sales. In the third quarter of 2008, they accounted for nearly 85 percent.
Traditional entry-level communities such as Coachella, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs saw a boom in sales of homes priced under $500,000.
Experts say not all those are traditional entry-level homes. Some are move-up or upscale homes that have seen dramatic price reductions in order to draw buyers.
“You're seeing condos with a ‘1' in front of it instead of a ‘2,'” Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors executive officer Sam Schenkl said. “You're getting a second chance at a home that may have been priced out of your reach.”
The sales of foreclosures and the resulting predominance of falling prices across the board are having a notable influence on the valley's market.
In many cities where sales are up, the total volume of sales — the value of all the sold homes' prices — is on par or even less than years where they saw fewer sales.
Take the 92240 ZIP code of Desert Hot Springs.
In third quarter 2006, 176 entry-level homes were sold equating to nearly $50.1 million in sales.
Compare that to third quarter 2008, when 220 homes were sold — a 25 percent increase — but average prices have dropped about $150,000.
Total sales equated to $29.5 million.
Cathedral City, where entry-level home sales jumped 144.4 percent in third quarter 2008.Significant number of his buyers are people looking for second homes who are now able snag properties that used to be out of their price range.
“Some of these homes that are selling in the 200 or $300,0000 range were selling for 4, 5, $600,000.”
“They're priced extremely competitively and aggressively. It's all a matter of pricing and products.”

Donald Trump: 'Now is the time to buy'

Donald Trump: 'Now is the time to buy'
Sunday, October 28, 2007
On his new CNBC show, "The Billionaire Inside," Donald Trump believes this is one of the best times to get into real estate.
Question: With everything going on in real estate right now and the fallout of the subprime market, is this a good time to invest in real estate?"
Trump's answer: It's the best time. Two years ago I would be making speeches and telling people 'don't go into real estate.' People would be paying me lots of money to tell them how good it is and I would be saying don't go in.
I also told people to stay away from those mortgages; I called them 'exploding mortgages' — stay away.
This is the best time. You can make great deals today that you could not have made a year ago, you couldn't have made two years ago. It's funny, there is less interest in real estate now because people have been hurt and this is where there should be more interest. This is the time to really go in, this is the time to really bargain, really chisel away and go in and make some really good deals. You could not have done that a year ago.

Here the link to read more:
http://www.thereibrain.com/realestate-blog/donald-trump-depression/139/

Desert Estates Network Members Honored For Corporate Achievements

Several members of The Desert Estates Network, a consortium of high-profile, top- producing REALTORS and brokers of high-end estate properties in the Coachella Valley for 19 years, have been honored for professional achievements in the real estate industry.

Brenda Rudman of Prudential California, a founding member of The Desert Estates Network, was one of only 200 agents across Southern California to attain the new Luxury Property Specialist designation during the recent debut of the division at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. The company's new Luxury Property Specialist designation is reserved for agents who have outstanding records of performance in the luxury property field. Each specialist will be requalified annually.Susan Canavan and Deirdre Coit of Coldwell Banker Previews in Palm Desert again have been awarded for their distinguished accomplishments in being named to Coldwell Banker/NRT's Top 1,000 Agents nationwide for the second quarter of 2008.

Louise Hampton of Prudential California Realty in Palm Springs has been named a director of their new Luxury Property Division. Only 200 agents across its Southern California company attained the new Luxury Property Division designation during the recent debut of the division at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. The company's new division is reserved for agents who have outstanding records of performance.Hampton also was honored at this years National Prudential Realty's Convention. She was earned the Prudential 20 Year Legend Award. The Louise Hampton Team sold and listed enough property to be in the “Chairman's Circle” for the last 20 consecutive years. Only two agents have achieved this award among 47,000 Prudential agents.For more information about Desert Estates Network, visit online at http://www.desertestatesnet.com/Desert Estates Network, 19 highly experienced brokers and agents from the most reputable brokerages, boutique offices and the most prestigious country clubs and gated communities, have worked together to represent the most discriminating buyers and sellers.Their collective expertise in matching buyers and sellers personalities with the right home in the right community is reflected in their new advertising campaign to mark their years of commitment to be the “number one” luxury property sales and listing team in the Coachella Valley.The current Desert Estates Network roster reads like the “who's who” of the most reputable local brokers and real estate agents in the Coachella Valley:Kay Bastasini, Desert Vintage Realty; Michael Fogarty and Ginny Becker, Dyson & Dyson Sotheby's International; Beverly Bell, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage; Valery Neuman, Dyson & Dyson Sotheby's International, Bruce Blomgren, Dyson & Dyson Sotheby's International; Susan Canavan, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage; Deirdre Coit, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage; Susan Eberle, Prime Desert Properties, Inc; Mary Garcia, Dyson & Dyson Sotheby's Associates; Chris Gilfillen, Gilfillen And Gilfillen; Louise Hampton, Prudential California; Paul Hoffman, Windermere Real Estate; Nelda Linsk, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage; Sandi Phillips, California Lifestyle Realty Team; Brenda Rudman, Prudential California Realty; Janine Stevens, Discovery Land Properties; Sandy Walton, The Reserve and Eva Welsh, The Eva Welsh Company.

Palm Springs mulls other plaza proposals

Council receives alternatives to Wessman plan

Alternatives to developer John Wessman's controversial proposal to renovate the Desert Fashion Plaza in Palm Springs include lower building heights and fewer hotel rooms and condos.
Four alternative plans were submitted to the Palm Springs City Council last week as a part of the Environmental Impact Report for the Museum Market Plaza, which will be ready for review Oct. 1.
The $500 million to $650 million plan is seen by citizens and city officials as a crucial part of the efforts to revitalize downtown Palm Springs, where vacant storefronts are sprouting on every block. The area is a popular destination for tourists and locals from across the Coachella Valley.
Building housing and new shops in downtown Palm Springs will drive the younger demographic that now resides in Indio and La Quinta to Palm Springs, said Haddon Libby, chief financial officer for El Paseo Bank. He said Palm Springs has a large retirement community that lives around downtown that is not spending money in its city. The only way to change the dynamic, Libby said, is to increase the population downtown.
Required by environmental law, the alternatives to the Museum Market Plaza project must be submitted to determine which plans would be the least environmentally damaging, said Nicole Criste, a consultant for Wessman Development who is preparing the report.
The Environmental Impact Report will consider the effects of each alternative plan on downtown. The City Council is free to choose any plan it likes. However, studies are being conducted by the developer to see which will be the most financially feasible.
“(There will be) an alternative review (to see if) the alternative meets the project goals,” Criste said.
She added a fiscal impact report will be included in the Environmental Impact Report — now about one-third finished — to determine what the financial impact of each alternative would be.
“Less intense development generates less revenue and cost to the city,” Criste said.
Libby said Wessman will need density to make its project viable.
“They have to create their own density of the population groups they are looking for to bring in and spend money,” he said.
The following is a look at the plans as presented to the City Council:
Wessman's preferred plan. It includes the following on a sliding scale, which means if there are more hotel rooms, there would be fewer condos, for example. There would be 955 condos, 620 hotel rooms and 400,000 square feet of retail, including a bookstore.
Buildings would range from about 30 feet to 79 feet high, with some additional height for equipment storage. There would be a two-acre, open plaza/park in the center.
No project. This alternative is required to be listed by state law. It will involve refurbishing the Desert Fashion Plaza. The Town & Country Center across the street would be maintained. The only construction would be a 45-room hotel at the southwest corner of Cahuilla Road and Tahquitz Canyon Way, where Wessman planned the Palm Hotel that was overturned last week by the City Council.
Preservation of the Town & Country Center. This plan submitted by the Palm Springs Modern Committee involves preserving the 1948 structure where Zeldaz sits.
However, one building facing Palm Canyon Drive where Grill-A-Burger sits would be be razed to open up the courtyard.
City of Palm Springs plan. This alternative would include 144,000 square feet of retail shops, 40,000 square feet of office space, a 42,500-square-foot supermarket and a 68,000-square-foot movie theater. There would also be 120 condos.
The maximum height would be 57 feet. Building height along Palm Canyon Drive would be 17 and 29 feet. Buildings next to the Hyatt Regency Suites would be 34 feet for the movie theater.
A park would be provided in the center, which Councilman Rick Hutcheson said should be treated as importantly as the shops.
Wessman's alternative plan. The less intense version of the developer's preferred plan would include 765 condos, 300,000 square feet of retail and 255 hotel rooms — 55 at the Palm Hotel site and 200 at the Town & Country site. No building would be higher than 68 feet.
The center plaza with two single-story buildings would remain.
Craig Ewing, Palm Springs director of planning services, said the City Council will need to look at each alternative to decide what the impact to traffic and views would be.
“You have to look at the effects of the project and ask ‘Is it the best fit for the community?'” Ewing said.

Legendary Palm Springs golf course on tee to lose 'private' status

Legendary Palm Springs golf course on tee to lose 'private' status.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians may vote today to take over ownership of the storied Canyon Country Club now operating as the Palm Springs National Golf Club.Members of the private-equity golf and country club at 1100 Murray Canyon Drive which is known for its Don Wexler-designed mid-century modern clubhouse, Walt Disney-donated copper lily pad water fountain, a starter shack with a red phone to the White House and a history of attracting Hollywood stars out of no where, received a letter dated July 29 that "cut to the chase" on a movement that would lift the exclusive, private status.The letter, penned by Marvin Stern, advised members that after a "steep decline" in membership and literally "dozens of initiatives taken in the last several years" to assuage that decline, dues, assessments and trail fees for the 2008-2009 year would have to anywhere from $22,000 per year to $26,000 per year on a worst case scenario to keep its members-only status."Given our recent lack of ability to attract new members, and given the slowing economy and housing market plus the severe competition in our valley, it appears, with almost certainty, that we can no longer sustain our ability to remain private,'' Stern wrote.The letter noted that the club would need 130 membership commitments to remain private. It also suggested this possible fate for the golf course:Development of a new, semi-private golf club on the course now reserved for private members.If that line of action was taken, the private club would close on Sept. 2, the letter said.Nancy Conrad, a spokeswoman for the tribal council, confirmed the Agua Caliente will be taking steps to take over ownership of the course and will probably operate a north and south course as part of Indian Canyons Golf Course Resort."One course will be semi-private and one will be public,'' she said.More information about the tribe's plans were expected to be made later today, Conrad added.