Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

May 21, 2009

News reports that the federal government is backing away from its plan to permit eligible borrowers to monetize the first-time homebuyer tax credit are off the mark, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says.

“The technical details are still being finalized and will soon be published in a mortgage letter and posted on our Website,” Lemar Wooley, a HUD spokesperson, told REALTOR Magazine Wednesday afternoon.

Under the guidance that’s under development, state agencies and other HUD-approved entities would be able to provide short-term bridge loans that households could use to help with their downpayment. The loans would be repaid with the proceeds from the households’ federal tax credit.

The loans were announced on the opening day of NAR’s 2009 Midyear Legislative Meetings in Washington, D.C., last week. In this announcement, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said guidance would be issued shortly.

When the guidance is released, it is expected to cover eligible lenders and set parameters for loan terms and repayment.

Source: REALTOR Magazine Online

The Tri-City housing market got off to a slow start this year, but low interest rates, a first-time homebuyer tax credit and the return of confidence have jumpstarted home buying and selling, industry officials say.

Agents were showing a lot of homes to potential buyers who weren’t quite ready to bite and offering market analysis to hesitant sellers, but that’s changing.

During the first three months of the year, 541 homes sold, compared with 643 during the same time in 2008, according to information last week from the Tri-Cities Multiple Listing Service. That’s a drop of about 16 percent.

The average sale price also declined, from about $186 200 in the first quarter of last year to $181,500 during the same time this year, about 2.5 percent decrease.

The median sales price, meaning half of the homes sold for more and half for less, declined about 3 percent during the first quarter, from $165,000 to $159,900.

“Anytime the statistics show the numbers are down, it’s of some concern,” said Glen Clark, president of the Tri-City Association of Realtors. He attributed the slow first quarter to bad weather and continued “doom and gloom” national news.

Notices of trustee sales, meaning homeowners have 90 days to get their home loan payments current or sell their homes before foreclosure, took a jump in the first quarter.

The Benton-Franklin Title Co., reported 259 notices through March, compared with 213 during the same time last year. That’s nearly a 22 percent increase.

But the number of homes on the market has remained steady and even declined a bit. There were 1,249 homes for sale on April 1, according to the association down from 1,344 a year ago.

“We’ve got a lot of folks coming into town,” Clark said.

Add that to contractor financing for new spec homes, new jobs opening up at Hanford as a result of federal stimulus money and low apartment vacancy rates, and officials see a market gaining speed.

“I’d say that the market’s definitely heating up,” Clark said.

The fact that spec homes are starting to sell means builders can get loans for more construction, said Jeff Losey, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities.

“Last October, when the financial industry started to collapse….the spec market ceased to exist,” he said.

During the first three months of the year, 180 new home permits were issued, according to the HBA. That’s down nearly 46 percent from the 331 permits issued in the first quarter of 2008.

“Banks will lend money if you’re not already sitting on some (spec homes),” Losey said. “The first quarter was dismal, but the second quarter is shaping up to be much better. Activity is really starting to pick up.”

Custom homes and remodels made up much of builders’ recent work, he added.

Don and ShaRon Winder are getting ready to add to local builders’ workload. The Richland couple just sold their home and are building a new one in West Richland.

“We were worried about the economy…..but it fit our timing,” said ShaRon. The Winder home was on the market for nine months, with one deal that fell through in September, but it was set to close last week, she said, at a sale price of $234,000.

Now they’re waiting for a city permit to start construction on their new home, built to suit them as they get older, SharRon said.  “We’re able to make things the way we need them for the future,” she said.

The fact that Tri-Citians are feeling more confident and buying homes again is encouraging. More than 220 homes went under contract in April, compared with about 230 a year ago, according to MLS information. And the inventory of homes in lower price ranges is getting ever tighter.

In the $125,000 to $149,999 range for example, it would take less than three months for inventory to run out based on the number of homes on the market in March and the number that went under contract.

Historically low interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers also are starting to stimulate the market, officials said.

The tax credit is available to buyers who haven’t owned a home in three years and who buy a home before December 1, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The credit applies mostly to those whose income is capped at $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers. And the credit doesn’t have to be repaid if the buyer stays in the home for three years.

Statewide, the tax credit and low interest rates made for a March that was improved over an “abysmal” January and February, said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research, a Washington State University research group.

“There’s a lot of unwillingness on the part of potential buyers to actually pull the trigger and to undertake a long-term commitment,” he said.

But home prices are lower and interest rates continue to hold below 5 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“This is a good time to make a purchase,” Crellin said.

The Eastern Washington campus of the University of Phoenix recently opened a new satellite learning center in the Tri-Cities. The new resource learning center will offer extra support for the growing number of Tri-City students enrolled in the online school, said Paul Green, Eastern Washington campus director in Spokane.

Four staff members and a faculty member advise students on enrollment, career planning and tutoring. The 1,200 square-foot facility on West Tucannon Avenue in Kennewick also has computer stations for online studies.

Green said the location is temporary until the university can find a permanent site for the center. “We want to make sure we are in the right area,” he said.

Two years ago, the school abandoned plans to offer business management classes in Kennewick. Students came to us for online classes so offering classroom teaching didn’t make sense, Green said. No onsite classes are planned at the new location.

The University of Phoenix is primarily an online learning institution, which is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and says it serves almost 400,000 students.

The school says it has about 1,500 students in Eastern Washington including Spokane and the Tri-Cities. Business administration, criminal justice, health care, information technology, nursing, counseling and psychiatry are some of the popular courses in the Tri-Cities, he said.

Most students are working professionals, ages 18 to 27, who’re engaged technology-wise, Green said. “They want to be connected. That’s what they want with their online education.”

The center is located at 8904 W. Tucannon Avenue, Suite A, Kennewick, and is open 8am to 7pm Monday through Thursday and 8am to 3 pm Friday.

Credit crises, mortgage scandals and home prices falling like a rock…in some places. Yet Pasco and the Tri-Cities continue to avoid the worst.

Mortgage money is still available locally – though you do need a reasonable credit score to get it. Homes are still selling locally – though for slightly less money and in a slightly longer time.

Just under 3,000 homes sold in the Tri-Cities last year at an average price $1,400 lower than the year before – about a one percent drop from 2007 to 2008.

Tri-City Association of Realtors President Glen Clark says the disparity between national media coverage and local experience is because, “all real estate markets are local. We get some effect from national news, but the local market is holding up well.”

The Tri-Cities appears to be dodging a bullet in terms of foreclosures, too. In Phoenix, for example, nearly 100,000 homes appear to be headed for foreclosure, Locally, the number is closer to a few hundred.

Clark points out that one Hanford contractor recently announced the imminent addition of 3,000 jobs, Also, hundreds of jobs will be added in Connell in the next year, with only 1,200 – 1,300 homes for sale and rentals getting scarce, the Tri-Cities could quickly become a seller’s market.

As a side note, Fortune Magazine – quoting Manpower, Inc., – reported that the number one and two markets nationally for employment growth in the 2nd quarter of 2009 would be, respectively, Yakima (21%) and Tri-Cities (19%).

Source: Pasco Chamber of Commerce

For the first time since 2000, the Tri-Cities showed an annual loss in jobs, with about 200 fewer jobs reported in March, the State Employment Security Department said Tuesday.

Jobs were lost in construction, wholesale trade and transportation, manufacturing, and leisure and hospitality.

The Tri-Cities’ job loss was mild when compared with losses of 2,700 in Yakima, 7,700 in Spokane and more than 99,000 statewide as effects of the national recession and tight credit set in, said Dean Schau, regional labor economist.

During the year, Tri-City federal jobs remained steady and state government jobs showed a modest increase. Local government also saw a growth of 800 jobs for the same period, Schau said.

Public school districts, which are included in the local government category, increased employment by 4.3 percent, up from 6,476 in March 2008 to 6,759 last month.

“We appear to be relatively an island of prosperity amid a sea of economic despair,” Schau said. “But we’ve slowed down.”

The number of workers in the Tri-Cities–including those who are unemployed — declined from 124,520 in February to 123,880 in March, and the unemployment rate for Benton and Franklin counties increased to 8.9 percent in March, up from 8.3 percent in February.

That means unemployed workers in the Tri-Cities may face a tough time finding a job, Schau said.

But the increase in the unemployment rate surprised Todd Dixon, WorkSource’s area director for Benton and Franklin counties. He said job seekers at WorkSource Columbia Basin declined in March compared with the previous two months. Also, a relatively good number of jobs were available, he said.

Dixon said he’s also optimistic about growth in employment opportunities as more federal economic stimulus money flows into the Tri-Cities.

Schau echoed that thought. He said the almost $2 billion coming in stimulus money for Hanford projects will help create thousands of jobs and potentially revive the area’s housing market and retail sector.

Meanwhile, state job numbers show the retail sector added about 100 workers in March for a count of 11,100, and education and health services also jumped by 100 to 10,300.

Professional and business services also gained about 100 jobs in March, bringing the number of workers in that section to about 21,000. Administrative and support services increased 200 workers to a total of 9,900 in March.

Food services jobs remained constant over the month, but over the year the sector added about 100 jobs. The leisure and hospitality sector lost about 100 jobs over the year, but gained about 100 in March over February.

Schau said leisure and hospitality was boosted by visitors from elsewhere in the state as well as many Tri-Citians spending money locally. The sector employed about 8,600 workers last month.

Dixon said WorkSource has a few job orders for restaurant workers, and landscape workers are needed for projects that will become available in late spring.

In the agriculture sector, growers hired 8,500 workers in March from the local labor supply, Dixon said. More seasonal ag jobs will open as food processing production ramps up.

Dixon said he expects a lot of general workers will be needed at Hanford together with skilled craftsmen as the federal stimulus work begins. That will allow unemployed construction workers to rejoin the work force, he said.

The additional economic activity in the Tri-Cities also may help the wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing sector, where the number of jobs declined from 16,200 in March 2008 to 15,300 last month, Dixon said.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Nationally, questionable real estate lending led us into this mess, and real estate will lead us out.

Irresponsible lending and borrowing have caused a large number of foreclosure nationwide and driven prices down in a lot of areas where “irrational exuberance” had pushed prices up 20 percent or more per year for the last few years (i.e. Florida, Las Vegas, Phoenix, California).

The bubble burst in 2008 with the fallout hitting Wall Street and Main Street worldwide. Our 401(k)s were decimated, and mainstream media is spelling doom and gloom. However, here we are in the sunny in the Tri-Cities where we enjoy living and working. A year ago, I would have told you we were the most affordable major market on the West Coast, and we probably still are, due to inexpensive, abundant land, and non-restriction development regulation by our elected officials and appointed boards.

The Tri-City housing market has experienced steady growth both in number of sales and moderate price increases over the last 10 years due to a stable job base and new jobs being created in our area. We have not had the non-sustainable price increases of other areas. In other words, no bubbles, no burst. Our local lenders have been largely moderate in loaning in the subprime arena, and stable employment has kept the foreclosures to a minimum (although one is too many).

In 2008, closed sales were off by 15 percent to 20 percent in large part to almost all subprime and states-income loans going away and new residents moving here to work or retire being unable to sell their homes in other areas of the nation. In spite of that, almost 3,000 homes were reported sold in our Multiple Listing Services. The number of active listings (homes available) has stayed fairly stable for the past five years at about 1,200 properties.

Looking ahead in 2009, interest rates are at or near historic lows, and real estate loans are readily available for qualified buyers. Also, let’s not forget the recently enacted $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers (those not owning a home in the last 3 years). This tax credit has changed and is not repayable. If, as reported in the Herald, the economic stimulus pan creates lots of new jobs in this area, it will possibly create an interesting challenge — a lack of homes. You will not see this on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, but all real estate markets are local.

One thing is certain: In this or any other market, if you do not own your home, you will never have any equity in it.