Mulling over the names on the latest notice of default lists, and it seems to me that there is a disproportionate number of Hispanics appearing- on this list and past lists.
Mendoza, Garcia, Santos, Amaya, Gapuz, Gunzon, Fuentes, Saldana, Lopez, Ramirez, Suratos, Sanchez, Meraz, Guerra, Rodriguez, Gomez, Perez.
Well, they don't all have to be Hispanic, but Jesus, Angel, Maria, Rigoberto, Romeo, Santos as surnames sure seem to point that way.
From what I review every week, I believe that the foreclosure crisis is disproportionately hitting Hispanics.
It's my experience that Hispanics in particular are victims of predatory lending practices, way out of proportion to their percentage of population.
I haven't seen any actual breakouts of subprime loans by ethnic groups, but I would not be shocked to discover that Hispanics make up a larger percentage than they ought.
No one should be put in the position of where they lose their home because of someone else's greed. No one.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
April Market Update
Sales Figures Climb for Single Family Homes and New Condos
Despite continuing bad news on all economic fronts, spring is the traditional buying season, and home buyers were actively snapping up bargains in April. With over 100 homes a week in Reno/Sparks receiving notices of default, and 569 REO (bank owned) single family homes (and 105 condos) as of this writing, buyers are finding more affordable housing in the area than in the previous several years.
Morbid economic news continues to hit, and the answer to the question of "Is the United States in a recession?" seems to be a resounding "YES!”. Some, such as Warren Buffett are saying that the economy is in a depression. However, in our local housing market, REO properties are moving briskly and multiple offers are the norm for many of them at the moment
Surviving banks are getting smarter about marketing their REO properties, now requiring the buyer to get loan approval through their institution. Whatever the motivation, they are making back some of their losses on selling mortgages again on the same home they just foreclosed on!
Still, lenders show little inclination to negotiate with borrowers who are having difficulty making their payments. With mortgage credit and underwriting requirements squeaky tight, it is nearly impossible for home owners who are behind on their payments to refinance or to sell their homes to stave off foreclosure. Not a few buyers have experienced being told they have loan approval, only to discover in the midst of the buying process that credit has tightened, and the approval has been yanked!
Banks are desperate to rid their books of these "non-producing" loans, and are steeply discounting offering prices on REO properties. The unending flood of foreclosures entering the market is depressing all sales prices in the area and making it very difficult for home sellers to command a higher price for their well taken care of home.
All homes improved their sales in April. Condo sales rose to about 84 units, an improvement of 9 over March. The surprise was approximately 52 new condos sold in the area.
Resale home figures rose to 291 in April, a healthy increase of 66 from March. The median sales price decreased very slightly to $272,500, a drop of $2,500 or .9%.
The high end of the market stayed steady, with 6 resale homes selling for over $900,000 in April.
April's average sales price increased .6% to $322,617 from March's $322,238. The median sales price decreased .9% from March. The spread between initial asking price and sales price was about 13%.
New home sales stayed steady with about 54 new homes sold in April (52 in March). (It's difficult to obtain an accurate timely accounting as recordings trickle in.) The median new home sale price increased slightly to approximately $337,717 and the average new home sale price decreased slightly to about $400,379.
Soft markets equal longer times on market. The average days on multiple listing for sold homes in April stretched again to 170 days
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Foreclosure Rates in Reno
Recently released data from the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco is reported here and analyzed in depth.
Anyone interested in the local housing market should take a look at this- it's only available through this blog:
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