Home Front

That's a wrap...

2010-09-10T14:29:25Z

This half of Home Front is walking into the sunset, taking a new writing job with California state government. One last Home Front column explains. A big thanks to readers who frequent our real estate/economy niche here in the mass expanse of the World Wide Web.

Sacramento hotels: filling more rooms than last year

2010-09-07T19:30:56Z

Sacramento hotels are filling more rooms in 2010 than last year, hospitality industry analysts PKF Consulting USA and Colliers International reported today.

That's the good news.

Here's the glass-is-half-empty scenario: Room rates are down from 2009.

New convention bookings appear to be boosting the occupancy rates announced this morning by PKF Consulting and Colliers International. (Capital-area details, page 5-7).

The San Francisco analyst reported that occupancy rates from January through July in the capital region are 3.5 percent higher than the same time in 2009. In July, occupancy soared 17 percent above July 2009.

That's testament to new weekend gatherings this year of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses at the Sacramento Convention Center. The group, meeting in Sacramento for eight weekends, has booked nearly 3,000 rooms at 13 hotels in the downtown area, hotel officials say.

PKF and Colliers said 66.7 percent of Sacramento-area hotel rooms were occupied in July. That's up from 57 percent in July 2009.

Occupancy averaged 62.2 percent from January through July, compared to 60.1 percent the same time in 2009.

Room rates averaged $91.52 from January through July 2010. Last year at the same time they, averaged $97.72, said PKF and Colliers.

CalHFA introduces 30-year first-time buyer fixed loan at 4%

2010-09-07T18:43:59Z

The California Housing Finance Agency announced this morning that it's making new, less expensive 30-year fixed-rate loans for-first time homebuyers who meet low- and moderate income guidelines.

Details are here in this news release. More details are in this Web page from CalHFA, including county-by-county income limits for the program.

CalHFA Executive Director Steven Spears says the option helps qualified first-time buyers get around the some of today's extremely tight rules set by conventional lenders.

Spears said: "Housing finance agencies around the country have historically played an important role in each state's housing market. With the disruption in the credit markets over the last two years, we have been limited in our ability to help finance home purchases. This new program offers California families another way to purchase their first home with reliable, fixed rate financing."

Those interested can check with a CalHFA-approved lender or call CalHFA at 1-877-922-5432.

Small businesses expect a double dip

2010-09-01T15:45:39Z

Most small business owners in California are afraid the economy will go into a double-dip recession.

A survey released today by Citibank says 85 percent of the state's small business owners are concerned about a double dip.

The findings are in line with growing pessimism among some economists.

The survey added that 74 percent believe they've prepared themselves for another downturn. Some 67 percent say they've changed the way they're doing business, with many reducing their debt, increasing cash reserves or imposing hiring freezes.

Only 28 percent said their businesses are better off today than a year ago; 51 percent said they believe their business will do better over the next year.

We're hearing about huge uncertainty at HomEq

2010-08-31T19:10:29Z

WEDNESDAY A.M. UPDATE: Here is the story we wrestled together for this morning's print edition. Ocwen remained silent throughout and HomEq employees were told not to talk with the media. But it sounds as if the pink slips might begin this morning.

I got a call about an hour ago that subprime loan servicer HomEq is shutting down today or tomorrow? I don't have anything confirmed yet from its parent firm, Ocwen Loan Servicing. But an insider at HomEq said employees are in meetings today about the operation closing. And they have been ordered not to talk with the media or they will lose their severance pay.

This could mean several hundred layoffs eventually,if true, into a regional economy with 12.7 percent unemployment.

Here is Ocwen's second-quarter earnings report in which it says its purchase of HomEq in May is expected to close Sept. 1. There are mentions in there of closing HomEq and spending $1.5 million to add new facilities. The firm notes on its web site that it outsources some of its loan modification work to Uruguay and India.

Near as we know HomeQ has about 1,000 employees in North Highlands and a couple hundred more in Raleigh, N.C.

It's still pretty fuzzy. If you can shed any light on this please call me at 916-321-1102 or email jwasserman@sacbee.com.

CoreLogic: 43.4% of Sacramento-area mortgages "underwater"

2010-08-26T20:57:29Z

The numbers are different, but the story is the same. Too many Sacramento-area homeowners owe more than their houses are worth. Zillow said recently it's 38 percent of all mortgages.

But today, Santa Ana-based CoreLogic reported that 43.4 percent of mortgages in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties are in a state of negative equity. Their owners owe more than the house is worth. CoreLogic says there are 214,468 homeowners in that predicament locally.

That's a huge number, but it's been coming down slightly. CoreLogic's first quarter 2010 report said 44.8 percent of Sacramento-area mortgages were underwater.

There's no accounting I know of that explains how the two differ. Both used automated valuation systems to judge what houses are worth in the region against what's owed on them.

The best thing about Sacramento is it's not one of the cities in the Central Valley - or Las Vegas. Look at these numbers for other Highway 99 cities in the Central Valley Business Times.

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right - here I am stuck in a short sale w/you

2010-08-24T23:00:38Z

Sept. 7 UPDATE: Thanks to all who mailed and called regarding this request. Here is the story that ran Sunday, Sept. 5 in The Bee.
Your intrepid Home Front reporter is in early stages of doing the be-all end-all account of the short sale lifestyle that has rooted itself in the Sacramento region. It's an upside down world where little adds up, and where common sense and logic are sometimes in short supply. Yet it's a cornerstone of how houses are bought and sold these days.

I had an enlightening interview this morning with broker Bill Joyce in Roseville, who gives his would-be buyer clients "The Speech." Essentially, he warns them they are entering real estate's version of burning deserts and stormy seas, where they must, above all, endure the punishment and frustration.

I have talked with a couple who lost almost a year of house hunting after getting fixated on a short sale in Natomas that finally went into foreclosure.

I talked with a seller who tried for a year to short sale his house in Elk Grove - and was yanked from the very jaws of foreclosure this month by real estate agents who salvaged a short sale Hail Mary at the last second.

These stories are commonplace in this new market. I'd like to hear a few more - especially what you might have put up with on the journey to finding the good deal you live in now. Or if you are still on that journey I'd love to hear a dramatic tale or two to include in what's shaping up to be a slice of life in our times. Feel free to call 916-321-1102 or drop a line at jwasserman@sacbee.com.

Sacramento's Township 9 takes top state honors

2010-08-24T19:18:21Z

Township 9, a 65-acre transit-oriented development along Richards Boulevard north of downtown Sacramento, won top honors from the California Housing and Community Development Department as a "Catalyst Project," the HCD announced today.

Township 9, a mixed-use development that will include up to 3,000 residential dwellings along with offices and stores and parks, won a Gold award alongside Emeryville Marketplace in Emeryville, Mission Bay in San Francisco, the Village at Market Creek in San Diego and Fullerton Transportation Center in Fullerton.

The project on the site of a former cannery which is being demolished, aims to put thousands of transit-dependent residents in mid-rise buildings in one of the most efficient uses of land in the capital region. Developers are Nehemiah Corp. of America, along with Sacramentans Steve Goodwin and Ron Mellon. A new light rail station is opening next year to serve the project.

HCD, which has approved $30 million in state housing bonds for the project, said Township 9 and 12 other Catalyst Projects across the state provide "great examples of how to build sustainable economically vibrant communities."

The state will monitor them to test strategies for "broad implementation throughout California."

Sacramento builders scale back on single-family houses in July

2010-08-24T17:47:44Z

Homebuilders in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties again applied the brakes in July on building new single-family houses, the California Building Industry Association reported this morning.

Builders in the four-county region applied for just 170 permits to start new single-family houses in July. That was down 43.9 percent from June's 303 construction starts - and 14 percent fewer than June 2009. The numbers speak to continued caution as federal and state first-time homebuyer tax credits have expired.

Builders are also holding back in Yuba and Sutter counties, starting just three single-family houses in July. In June, they started work on 10.

A year ago in July they started 13.

State tax credits up to $10,000 to buy new unoccupied homes in California, however, are still available, according to the California Franchise Tax Board. (Go deeper into the release for info on new-home credits). About $83 million of an available $100 million allocation provided for the credits remain.

Builders in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties are about even with last year for construction starts of single family houses and apartments and condos, says the CBIA analysis of numbers provided by the Construction Industry Research Board. Statewide, building permits are running 21 percent ahead of last year.

Here's how single-family starts have lined up so far in 2010:

January - 225

February - 117

March - 179

April - 188

May - 206

June - 303

July - 170

Source: Construction Industry Research Board

Sacramento: new home sales still trending lower than 2009

2010-08-23T23:31:24Z

June's sales of 252 new homes managed to outperform May across the Sacramento region, but the longer-term trend is still negative. June continued a sustained pattern of year-over-year decline, the California Building Industry Association reported Monday.

The number of closed escrows was 16.6 percent lower than June 2009 in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties, said the CBIA.

The plunge was deeper in Yuba and Sutter counties. June's 11 sales were 69 percent below the same time last year.

Statewide, closings of 2,454 homes and condominiums fell 36 percent from a year earlier, according to data provided to CBIA by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. Median sales prices of new California homes in June were up 3 percent from June 2009.

But prices remained about the same as last year in the four-county Sacramento region. They fell 10 percent in Yuba and Sutter counties.

Coldwell Banker names Kris Vogt Sacramento-area president

2010-08-23T16:50:20Z

Kris Vogt, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's Elk Grove operation, has been named president of the company's Sacramento-Tahoe regional office, Colwell Banker announced this morning.

He replaces fomer president and chief operating officer Bob Bronswick. Bronswick has run the operation for roughly the past five years.

Vogt will oversee operations of the region's largest brokerage with 14 offices and more than 700 sales associates, Coldwell Banker announced.

The company made the announcement in this news release.

Unemployment stalls at 12.3 percent statewide; Sacramento, 12.7 percent

2010-08-20T14:08:02Z

The statewide unemployment rate for July was 12.3 percent, the Employment Development Department said today.

California lost 9,400 jobs during the month, mainly the result of temporary Census Bureau positions ending.

Sacramento's unemployment rate rose to 12.7 percent, up 0.3 percent, as seasonal school layoffs contributed to a 5,300 decline in jobs.

State officials noted that the private sector added 13,700 jobs in California. although it wasn't enough to offset the loss of government work. "There's kind of some good news buried in there," said Dennis Meyers, economist at the state Department of Finance.

He said California's private payrolls have added jobs six of the last seven months.

Still, the numbers underscore the weakness of the recovery. California's unemployment was third highest in the nation, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. No. 1 was for the third straight month was Nevada at 14.3 percent, followed by Michigan at 13.1 percent.

Coming Friday: unemployment report

2010-08-19T20:40:16Z

We're a day away from the monthly checkup on the job market in California and Sacramento, and chances are the numbers will be less than inspiring.

If you'll recall, the number of jobs nationwide fell by 131,000 last month, and the state and local numbers tend to go in tandem with the national figures. While there was a small amount of private sector hiring nationally last month, the new jobs were more than offset by the government layoffs caused by the conclusion of the US Census count.

And as you may have heard, the economic news in general hasn't been too spectacular lately. The stock market tumbled again today, based on some weak economic data, and it's once again appropriate that the state and local unemployment results will be released the same day that Furlough Fridays resume. It's a reminder of the fragility of the economic recovery around here and the Sacramento area's continued dependence on state government.

In June, unemployment was 12.4 percent in greater Sacramento and 12.3 percent statewide.

Look for the July numbers on www.sacbee.com sometime around mid-morning.

Home sales nose dive in Sacramento, too

2010-08-19T17:40:10Z

July sales numbers from MDA DataQuick show almost 1,000 fewer closed escrows in July in the Sacramento area than June. Here is a first look online.

Here is the full chart with July sales prices and sales numbers for Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

Bay Area sales fall in July; Interest Rates fall even lower

2010-08-19T16:22:48Z

Couple of quick updates here.

1) MDA DataQuick of La Jolla just reported that San Francisco Bay Area Home Sales fell sharply in July, hitting a 15-year for the month. That's similar to the Los Angeles region. DataQuick will report Sacramento-area sales within the hour.

2) Mortgage interest rates hit a new low of 4.42 percent for a 30-year fixed loan, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported this morning.