Friday, June 12, 2009
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HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced on May 29, 2009, a program that will allow first-time buyers who use FHA financing to apply the $8,000 federal first-time buyer tax credit toward loan closing costs. In a speech, he announced that FHA-insured loans would allow buyers to turn the credit into cash toward loan costs.
The HUD press release issued May 29, 2009 is published below in in full...
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan Announces New FHA Loan Permits Using $8,000 First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Toward FHA Loan Closing Costs
WASHINGTON - Speaking to the National Association of Home Builders Spring Board of Directors Meeting, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will allow homebuyers to apply the Obama Administration's new $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit toward the purchase costs of a FHA-insured home. Donovan said that today's action will help stabilize...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 11:48 AM |
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Our report is completed for May 2009. And I am happy to inform that amidst the doom and gloom, there is still a positive direction for the market.
With regards to single family resale homes, we have seen closings grow from 183 units in January to nearly double that, at 363 units in May. This surpasses May of last year by 12 units.
Average home prices jumped by $8,000 for Resale homes.
Canyon County and Ada County resale closings have risen consecutively for 5 straight months. Canyon County has more than doubled its closings from 74 units in January to 170 units closing in May. These are very promising numbers!
Ada County Resale inventory has dropped as well as Canyon County. This is the most important element in the overall recovery of the housing market. Supply and Demand!!! The trend for closings will continue for resale homes, as the pending sales are up for the 5th straight month.
Distressed property inventory is holding steady for Resale. The increase in sales ...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 11:31 AM |
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Friday, May 22, 2009
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I had the opportunity to attend the ACAR Agent to Agent program this week with, guest speaker Paul Hiller, of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, Mr. Hiller went over the list of the projects they are working on to bring companies and jobs to the Boise Area. There are 29 projects and 15 are ranked #1, as companies that are more likely to land in the Treasure Valley. We are on their short list! Most communities would do well to have a total of about 12 potential projects and we have 29! With over 10,000 potential jobs from this list, we are easily in a position to land a good number of these jobs.
There are two projects especially promising! Project #4 and project #16 on their list are both Solar Module Mfg. companies. #16 on the list, Apex, is engaged in talks with Micron about their MPC plant in Nampa. They are discussing the possibility of a joint partnership and Apex is very pleased with their talks to date. This represents 1000-1500 jobs, exactly where we desperately need th...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 1:30 PM |
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Friday, May 15, 2009
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It is great to see healing finally taking place in the market! We are still not where we need to be, but here is what we are seeing from the statistics?
In the resale arena we have almost doubled our monthly closings in both Canyon & Ada County from January ?09. The average sales price continues to slip due to the high inventory levels. The levels are being kept high as a result of the short sale and foreclosure problem. Once those begin to wane, we will see a dramatic turn-around in resale inventory levels, as demand continues to increase and the new home inventory continues to decline. This will immediately impact values and we will once again see resale values grow! We now have had four straight months of growth in pending sales. April?s pending number of 1012 units is a 60% increase over January?s number. Inventories were fairly static. As far as the Short Sales, Foreclosures, & REO?s, you will see some fairly big declines. This is in part due to the discov...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 4:42 PM |
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Monday, March 10, 2008
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This is a very confusing time in our economy, and especially in the real estate market. We hear from the national media that values will continue to drop on homes and that we should wait to buy a home.
Interest rates are down and I want to buy, but I?m afraid and not sure what to do! That is what we are hearing from a number of people. It is a very important decision and there is a lot to consider.
First of all not all states and city?s are created equally. Every city or community has their own economy. The problem with these statements from the national media is that they do not tell us what is really happening in our own community. Even the local papers are quoting some expert in Washington D.C., New York or wherever! We need to know our local market. In the Treasure Valley we are very lucky as we have very low unemployment, a healthy commercial building climate, job creation and growth, low crime rates and mild weather, which all create an atmosphere where people want to liv...
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 2:35 PM |
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Thursday, November 15, 2007
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As a marketing manager and one who tracks statistical data for developers and builders, it is very encouraging to see the recent numbers. September of 2007 seems to be the month that we can call the bottom of the market. In October we have seen dramatic decreases in home inventories, especially in the new home arena. We have also seen a slight increase in sales and closings. Homebuyers need to understand that the really great opportunities in the marketplace will soon be gone! Especially in the new home market, where we will have about a 5.5 month supply of new homes in January of 2008. As the market climbs back up to normal levels, we will see the prices climb as well!
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| Posted by Mike Pennington at 4:56 PM |
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