Waukesha WI real estate listings and homes for sale, home buying, home selling information – New Life Appraisals

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Senate Bill Update

July 15th, 2008 6:26 PM

The following letter was sent today to realtors from the presidat of the NAR:

"I want to personally thank you each of you for taking action on these latest Calls for Action in support of FHA Modernization. More than 90,000 REALTORS contacted the Senate urging passage of the Housing bill. On July 11th, the Senate voted 63 to 5 to approve the legislation. As a result of your efforts, HR 3221 creates affordable housing opportunities by setting loan limits up to $625,500 for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA, and will stimulate housing demand with a temporary $8,000 home ownership tax credit. The bill also includes broad reform for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA, and creates a new FHA program to help homeowners at-risk for foreclosure.

This bill is critical to restoring confidence in the mortgage and housing markets and the nation’s entire economy. But it isn’t complete yet. Now, the bill goes to a conference committee before Congress can send it to the President. Negotiations begin over the next few days and weeks, and both House and Senate leaders hope to get the bill on the President’s desk before the August recess.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without members mobilizing in support of this crucial legislation. Our strong involvement included face to face meetings between members and their Senators and Representatives in their home states as well as in Washington, DC. NAR generated more than 250,000 e-mail messages and phone calls urging Congress to take action on the vitally important Housing bill.

By working “All Together” we have shown that when REALTORS stand united the American dream of homeownership is open to all. Thank you for your successful efforts!

Dick Gaylord
President NAR"

Posted by Mark Tatreau on July 15th, 2008 6:26 PMPost a Comment (0)

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Where have all the buyers gone?

July 15th, 2008 10:09 AM

Realtor reports show a sizeable increase in new market listings for April, May and June. They say this demonstrates an increase in seller confidence in the market. From my observation, most of the markets in southeast Wisconsin showed only a small increase in sales, and certainly not in pace with the rate listings are hitting the market. What does this mean? Look forward to slight oversupply conditions over the next few months, which may mean even lower prices in many areas. But it's an election year, and things tend to stagnate a little. On the bright side, some markets are doing extremely well with their entry level homes. Some of these areas include: Menomonee Falls, West Allis , Wauwatosa and Hales Corners! There are a number of first time buyers in these areas!

Posted by Mark Tatreau on July 15th, 2008 10:09 AMPost a Comment (0)

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Greater Milwaukee Housing Market Statistics

June 3rd, 2008 7:01 AM

2008 April MLS Statistics Analysis

The housing statistics released by MLS show a mixture of optimism and pessimism in the greater Milwaukee housing market.

Sales in April were down -22.1% – closely matching the combined -25.5% decrease we saw in the first 3 months of the year – a sign that buyers are still somewhat tentative about diving into the market.

In contrast, listings – although down from April 2007 – were only down -8.9% (and actually up +2.7% from April 2006), compared to the double-digit declines we have seen over the last 4-months. This is a sign that sellers are confident in the market and that they can get a decent price for their home.

Brokers and agents are reporting, however, that buyers and sellers are far apart in their initial offers. Buyers appear to think that excess inventory means sellers are willing to cut their prices by 20% or more, which often causes sellers not to even bother with a counter offer. Many sellers are willing to bide their time and wait until a reasonable offer is made for their property.

Overall listings were down for the 9th straight month, dating back to August 2007, continuing the market dynamic of bringing supply closer in line to demand.

We have been lucky in southeastern Wisconsin to have avoided most of the price declines seen in other parts of the country. In fact, the Wall Street Journal – no friend to real estate – has declared that the national housing market hit bottom in April, according to its May 6th article titled, “The Housing Crisis is Over.”

There are 3,661 new listings in the 4-county area, meaning buyers do have a wide selection of homes to choose from. But, transactions are also more complex compared to previous years; and considering the finer points of dealing with properties in foreclosure, tighter lending standards and more exact appraisals, buyers and sellers need to sit down with a REALTOR® and analyze the complexities and opportunities in the current market.

Posted by Mark Tatreau on June 3rd, 2008 7:01 AMPost a Comment (0)

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Announcement from GMAR

May 20th, 2008 11:52 AM

REALTORS® Predict Housing Market Rebound in Second Half of Year

Home sales and prices throughout most of the country, including the Milwaukee market are poised for improvement in the second half of 2008, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Speaking at the NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo on Thursday, Yun said "middle-America" cities that performed evenly over the past few years, such as Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Kansas City, Mo., are likely to experience home price gains in the 20 to 30 percent range over the next five years. Markets such as Miami, Las Vegas and Phoenix could see prices go up as much as 50 percent during that time period, Yun said.

Yun blamed most of the softening of the housing market over the last year on the "subprime mess," where consumers with blemished credit records received loans they could not afford when the interest rates reset to higher levels. "In fact, if you look at where home prices fell the most, it's the markets where subprime loans were prevalent," Yun said.

Cape Coral, Fla.; Detroit; Las Vegas; Miami; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix and Riverside, Calif. were among the cities with the highest percentages of subprime lending and where the markets suffered the biggest downturns, he said.

"It's important to keep things in context," Yun said. "While much of the media is focusing on the fact that the rate of foreclosures doubled this year from historic averages, the foreclosure rate has gone from 1 percent of all homeowners with mortgages to 2 percent. Foreclosures are being driven principally by subprime loans."
Now that the subprime market has dried up, and loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration and those purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are making a comeback, the housing markets will strengthen and prices are likely to begin a steady uptick in the coming months, Yun said.

Yun urged the Congress and White House to enact NAR-supported legislation to modernize FHA programs, reform regulation of the government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), establish a first-time home buyer tax credit and make the temporary increases to the conforming loan limits established by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 permanent.

"These measures would quickly stabilize the housing markets and get fence-sitters into the market to buy homes," Yun said. "There are many reasons for people to get into the housing market today, and very few reasons not to. With the plentiful supply of homes for sale at affordable prices, interest rates approaching 40-year lows, and the strong track record of housing as a good long-term investment, conditions are ripe for buyers," he added. "Those are the facts, plain and simple."