“Borrowing remains light as few commercial property owners are selling or refinancing their properties unless they have to,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research. “Life insurers, CMBS conduits and others are back in the market and lending, and rates are at extremely attractive levels. However, low volumes of property sales, depressed property values, stressed cash flows and modest loan maturities are all keeping borrowing to a minimum.”

Commercial real estate lending up slightly over first quarter. (Svilen Milev/sxc)

Among the key findings in the report are:

• Second quarter commercial and multifamily mortgage originations were flat from last year’s levels, and increased 35 percent from first quarter volumes.
• Originations for life insurance companies and CMBS conduits increased dramatically on a percentage basis.
• Originations for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell by more than half from Q2 2009 levels.
• On an absolute level, volumes remain low.

SECOND QUARTER 2010 ONE PERCENT HIGHER THAN SECOND QUARTER 2009

The one percent overall increase in commercial/multifamily lending activity during the second quarter was driven by increases in originations for office and industrial properties. When compared to the second quarter of 2009, the increase included a 183 percent increase in loans for industrial properties, a 180 percent increase in loans for office properties, an 18 percent increase in loans for hotel properties, a 76 percent decrease in loans for health care properties, a 25 percent decrease in multifamily property loans, and a nine percent decrease in retail property loans.

Among investor types, loans for conduits for CMBS saw an increase of 173 percent compared to last year’s second quarter. There was also a 148 percent increase in loans for life insurance companies, a 12 percent decrease in loans for commercial bank portfolios, and the dollar volume of loans for Government Sponsored Enterprises (or GSEs – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) saw a decrease of 55 percent.

SECOND QUARTER 2010 35 PERCENT HIGHER THAN FIRST QUARTER 2010

Second quarter 2010 mortgage originations were 35 percent higher than originations in the first quarter of 2010. Among investor types, loans for conduits for CMBS saw an increase in loan volume of 106 percent compared to the first quarter, loans for life insurance companies saw an increase in loan volume of 57 percent compared to the first quarter, originations for GSEs increased 21 percent from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2010, and loans for commercial bank portfolios decreased by two percent during the same time span.

Compared to the first quarter, second quarter originations for hotel properties saw a 405 percent increase. There was a 114 percent increase for industrial properties, a 107 percent increase for health care properties, a 56 percent increase for office properties, a 38 percent increase for multifamily properties, and an 11 percent decrease for retail properties.

Report is courtesy of the Mortgage Banker’s Association’s public relations department. For more information call Carolyn Kemp at (202) 557-2727 or via e-mail.

Similar Posts:

• Mortgage Applications Slide 4.2%
• Central Ohio March Homes Sales Increase 54%
• FHA Begins to Charge Based on Risk

The Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly mortgage applications survey today for the week ending July 23, 2010.

Mortgage applications slid 4.2 percent last week according to the Mortgage Bankers Associations. (Sergio Roberto Bichara/sxc)

The Refinance Index decreased 5.9 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.0 percent from one week earlier and is the highest Purchase Index observed in the survey since the end of June. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 34.3 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is up 1.6 percent. The four week moving average is flat for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is up 2.0 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 78.0 percent of total applications from 79.4 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.7 percent from 5.2 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.69 percent from 4.59 percent, with points decreasing to 0.88 from 1.04 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.12 percent from 4.05 percent, with points decreasing to 0.83 from 0.88 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 7.15 percent from 7.17 percent, with points decreasing to 0.23 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The survey covers over 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.

This report provided by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s public relations department for more information contact Melissa Key at 202-557-2799 or via e-mail.

Similar Posts:

• Quarterly Commercial Mortgages Increase, Slightly
• Central Ohio Home Sales Up 27%
• Where Will Rates Go in 2010?

Revisions to National Association of REALTORS Code of Ethics to provide equal rights for sexual orientation. (Andrew Beierle/sxc)

It isn’t so much the “title” or even the majority of practitioners in the market today — but the efforts of a few people that have soiled the name of our entire industry. However, today I’m proud to have that REALTOR pin on my lapel.

It has taken more than three years of hard work and effort by lots of people – led by Eric Kodner or LaPointe, Wisconsin – to bring about changes to Article 10 of the National Association of REALTORS code of ethics. The addition to the code includes “sexual orientation” making it unethical for any member of the National Association of REALTORS to discriminate against another person based on their sexual orientation.

The coolest thing to me is that this a rare thing to occur — the Association does not usually move ahead of governmental legislation. One long-term real estate broker from Philadelphia made a comment at NAR’s Mid-Year Conference that “this is historic. It is the first-time I’ve ever known the association to move ahead of the law.”

There is currently a bill – The Fair and Inclusive Housing Rights Act of 2010 – which would prohibit violation of ethics based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

It is important to note that until this become a law of the land, it isn’t going to have the power that the other protected classes enjoy. Violating the NAR’s Code of Ethics is bad – very bad – however they are unable to revoke a license. If or when it becomes the law of the land then it will be afforded much stronger implications.Similar Posts:

• Tax Credit Will NOT Be Extended
• Real Estate Among Top Non-Degree Money-Makers
• Are You Looking for a Short Sale?

The second phase of Westfield Hills has recently opened and M/I Homes is currently developing the roads and access ways.

The new section of Westfield Hills will include 28 lots along the extended Seatrain Drive and connected with Beckler and Cambridge Roads just south of Merrick Boulevard. The development is located north of Central Avenue (State Route 37), east of Houk Road, and south of Merrick Road.

Beckler Road being developed in Westfield Hills for future M/I Homes development. (toby boyce)

The lots will range from 0.185 acres up to 0.330 acres. The majority will be in the 0.19 to 0.22 range with a handful along Seatrain’s west side north of Beckler Road will be between 0.27 and 0.33 acres.

The Houses To Be Built in Westfield Hills

The development will include a collection of M/I Homes Hallmark Collection, Townsquare Collection and its new Eco series homes. The Hallmark Collections options include Brady, Bromley, Edgington, Emerson, and Quinlan. The Townsquare collection will include the Guilford and Harrison; while the Eco Series will be the Angelica, Camellia, Lavendar, Rosemary, and Sage.

Rendering of Parkside which will be one of the homes available at M/I Homes new Westfield subdivision.

The houses will range in price from a base model Angelica will be $149,900 to a base model Brady or Bromley with a sticker of $191,900. The ranch homes will have minimum of 1,250 square feet, two-story of 1,400 square feet, and multi-level for 1,760 square feet.

Are you considering purchasing a new-build home?

You need to get Toby’s ebook on purchasing a new-build home! It isn’t rocket science but you deserve a professional to guide you through the transaction. E-mail Toby for your copy today!

Similar Posts:

• Locust Curve: The Market
• There’s a New Builder in Town
• Mid-Year Delaware Market Report

June home closings in central Ohio continued to improve over last year, increasing by more than 10 percent to 2,315. Not only that but the number of days homes spend on the market and month’s supply are both down.

Despite that, the number of homes in contract slumped to 1,309, a 19 percent decline over this time last year. “It’s not surprising that in the wake of the home buyer tax credits, prospective home sales may slip,” said Sue Lusk-Gleich, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “But what is truly revealing is the other indicators that show the continued growth of central Ohio’s market.”

Days on market declined 12 percent and month’s supply, a measure of long term inventory, remains sustainable. The average home sale price rose three percent from last year and five percent from last month to $174,522. The listing inventory also shows promise, adding 1,194 homes, an eight percent increase over June of last year.

“One of the strongest aspects of our market is its diversity of available homes,” said Lusk-Gleich. “There are properties for all budgets and all buyers.” More than 9,000 homes for sale are priced $150,000 or lower and the vast majority of the inventory is listed for $250,000 and below.

The first half of 2010 has shown a 20 percent growth over the same time last year in the total number of sold listings and a nearly 26 percent increase in total dollar volume.

“Buyers should be aware of the incredible variety of available homes,” Lusk-Gleich said. “That, coupled with low interest rates and affordable prices, creates one of the best housing markets we’ve seen in years.”

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Champagne, Clark, Hocking, Licking, Fairfield, Knox, Logan, Marion, and Ross Counties.

Source: Columbus Board of REALTORS

Similar Posts:

• Central Ohio Home Sales Up 27%
• Central Ohio March Homes Sales Increase 54%
• Area Home Sales Soar 59.5 percent in November

A few hours of preventitive maintenance could save you lots in the long run. Home inspector Tony Mangini will give insight during Make Your Home Work For You on August 2.

Commercial & Home Inspection Service’s Tony Mangini will provide home owners with tips on maintaining their home as part of the Make Your Home Work: Tips for Maximizing Home Ownership series on Monday, August 2, at Park National Bank in Worthington.

The Make Your Home Work series is co-sponsored by Keller Williams Consultants’ Toby Boyce and Park National Bank’s David Zambo. The event is free and open to the public and is being hosted at the Park National Bank branch (7140 North High Street, Worthington).

Reservations are requested can be sent to Boyce (toby@tobysellshomes.com/740-990-9748) or Zambo (614-841-0771/ DZambo@parknationalbank.com).

Additional Make Your Home Work sessions will include maximizing the space in your home with home stager Susan Wong (October 4), tips for an energy audit by American Electric Power (November 1), and tax accountant Jon Granson will help home owners maximize those end of the year tax deductions (December 6).Similar Posts:

• Got Housing Questions?
• Open House Forum Coming to Central Ohio
• Ohio Buyer’s Tip: Looking at Vacant Houses

Ashley Dupre, who has a checkered past, has earned her broker's license in New York City.

When (presumed) former call girl Ashley Dupre earned her broker’s license to sell real estate in New York City this tag line took on a slightly different hue.

Do You Really Want an Agent That Goes All the Way?

Well that depends on what the definition of “all the way” is — no this isn’t a play on former-President Bill Clinton. However, I don’t see myself as being the “decision maker” in this transaction. There are always times when my job isn’t to go all the way, but rather to guide you through the transaction and allow you to self-discover the best situation for you at this time.

• You Want to Buy a House. I’ve got a lot of clients that are on a drip-campaign as they work on credit issues or their life becomes more stable. However they all came to me with the same assumption — they wanted to buy a house. However, I led them to self-discover that they are not currently in the best position to purchase a home.
• Little Things Getting in the Way. Every house has issues. Period. End of Story. There is a disclaimer that has to be signed that states that every home has mold in it — and it is true. Should that stop you from buying the house? Not if you are comfortable with the state of the home. Sometimes, my job is to get through the “clutter” and get you past small things – wall color, etc. – and looking at the big things like that huge crack running through the basement.
• Over-Stated Marketing. Home buyers are more informed than they’ve ever been. They know how much you paid, they know what Zillow says about your house, they know all this before they walk in the front door. So us telling them that your 2-bedroom 800 square foot home on a block of 5-bedroom 5,000 square foot homes is the “best value on the block” isn’t going to sell the home. This is the world of transparency.

I wish Ms. Dupre the best of luck in her real estate career, but I’ll just continue to work my way.Similar Posts:

• Time for Cash Investors to Get Back In Market?
• Banks Being Fradulent in Short Sales
• Q&A: Does My Zestimate Matter?

Locust Curve is a quiet subdivision on Delaware, Ohio’s west side. Unfortunately, for the 343 home owners in the development – which includes me – home sales have also been quiet during the second-quarter of 2010.

Locust Curve Inventory

Inventory is pretty universal way to look at the market. How many months would it take for the current inventory to sell based upon the number of sales in the past “x” months. Industry “experts” state that an inventory number of 6-8 months is considered equal; while anything less than six is a seller’s market; and anything over eight is a buyer’s market.

There are currently, as of July 17, 20 houses on the market in Locust Curve. During the second quarter there were a total of three homes that sold. So their is currently 20 months worth of inventory for sale in the community.

By comparison, the city of Delaware has an overall 7.8 months worth of inventory and the local subdivisions range from two weeks to years worth of inventory.

Why Does it Take So Long to Sell?

This is not an easy – or uniform – answer.

• Holding Values – Compared to its neighbors Locust Curve is holding a stronger value. The three houses – and this does include one HUD bank-owned home – have sold for $97.80 per square foot. By comparison Lexington Glen ($88.41) and Lantern Chase ($87.30) are selling for $10 less per square foot. Locust Curve’s values are on par with Stratford Woods ($95.37) and Cheshire Crossing ($98.88).
• New Building – Among others Ryan Homes has become much more aggressive for moving its product. I believe we are losing buyers to new-built Dominion Homes in Carson Farms; not to mention that M/I Homes is opening Westfield II and opening up Seatrain Drive.
• Stable Development – Locust Curve has gone through its challenges with foreclosures and distressed sales. However, recently the development has stabilized. With 20 active listings and one bank-owned and two short sales, the development has 15% distressed sales. By comparison, 42% of the homes currently on the market in Carson Farms are bank-owned or short sales.

All of these factors combine to limit the number of homes that are selling per month in Delaware, Ohio – and more specifically in Locust Curve.

What is Locust Curve?

Locust Curve is a housing development located on the west-side of Delaware, Ohio. It includes 343 homes and is divided into two sections – The Woods at Locust Curve and Locust Curve Highlands.

Homes in the development include ranch, two stories, and range generally from 1,400 to 2,200 square feet.

The development is completely built-out and has been since about 2002.Similar Posts:

• Mid-Year Delaware Market Report
• Delaware Market Opening Up?
• Are You Looking for a Short Sale?

Would your home sell in Delaware, Ohio? (Derek Jensen/wikipedia)

Delaware, Ohio’s market remains balanced as a whole.

According to the Columbus-Central Ohio Multiple Listing Service numbers, Delaware averaged 35.7 single-family detached home sales per month during the second quarter of 2010. Based on those numbers, Delaware currently has 7.8 months of inventory available for purchase.

However, the subdivisions within Delaware, Ohio range from two weeks inventory to more than four years! Which goes to show how even within an area as small as the city of Delaware will flex and vary.

Keep in mind that these numbers are constantly moving up a down and the key is to be price correctly for your location, condition, and size. So, this report is “lumping” every house in a subdivision into a single house.

A break-down of several Delaware, Ohio subdivisions is located below. If you have a home and would be interested in selling it, of course Toby would love to talk with you via e-mail or phone (740-990-9748).

Delaware Ohio Subdivision Comparison

Sorted by Months of Inventory

* Sold from April 1 – July 1, 2010; + Delaware City includes only single-family homes

These numbers give a “snap-shot” of the inventory as of today and how long it would take to move the inventory based upon the number of homes that have sold in the past three months.

This can give us an idea of which developments are moving the best in Delaware, Ohio. But, we have to look at other factors as well. What if there had only been four houses on the market and three of them closed? Home owners jump to get to market and add 15 houses to the market. Suddenly an inventory of 4.0 months screams up to 15 months.

Also, when we take the numbers down to the subdivision level — it becomes extremely volotile. For example, Glenross has nearly 3 years worth of inventory — but had only one more house sold that number would shrink to less than 1-1/2 years.

Also, homes in the Dornoch region were not considered because this was limited to homes located within the Delaware city limits are outside the corporation limits.

Similar Posts:

• Locust Curve: The Market
• 20+ Open Houses in Delaware Sunday!
• Q&A: Does My Zestimate Matter?

Well it has gotten harder to complete a loan process these days, and a lot of mortgage lenders are now instituting credit rate pricing. And about time.

If Jim has a 750 credit score and Susan has a 580 credit score … why should they pay the same rate on their home? Jim has worked hard to manage his credit and is after all a more financially secure risk than Susan is. Now it should never be entirely driven by the credit rating — however it has proven to be a great predictor for loans that will go bad.

Take a look at this information that I “stole” from Chris Rowe’s Facebook page and put into a new graph.

Now when you combine these numbers to the amount that is put down on the loan and you have a pretty accurate gauge of how many loans in that bracket will enter into foreclosure. Of course, it doesn’t mean that just because someone has a 599 credit score they’ll go into default — but it does suggest that if you put enough 599 credit scores in a room half of them will be in default.

Is This a New Concept?

Now, this isn’t anything new, with Third Federal Savings & Loan offering some of the best rates in town. The reason is simple — they don’t mess around with anyone that isn’t an “A” buyer. What have they done? They’ve reduced their default rates by working with the best and can pass that savings on to the buyer.

Is Just Makes Sense

Now lets go back to our original explanation regarding Jim and Susan. If Susan has a 51% chance that she’ll be defaulting on the loan how is the bank going to protect itself? By charging Jim more than he might have paid otherwise so they can get the money back they’ll lose if Susan goes into default.

So Susan gets a “deal” for having worse credit than Jim.

The Downside: Credit is Debt Related

Now the downside to this equation is that the entire FICO Credit Score system is based upon having active debt and paying it on time. Those that are working hard to avoid living their lives in debt can – and often will – be penalized for being fiscally responsible.

Is there a good answer to that argument? No. It is a problem with the FICO Credit Score system from the beginning. It would take an extreme shift by the American consumer for this to change and it might come … just not sure how soon.

Until then, I think it is only fair that I pay at a price that is reflective of my risk to the bank rather than a pooled number where I’m paying for other people’s risk the bank has taken on.

Working with the customer and seeing us as person — what a unique concept.Similar Posts:

• FHA Begins to Charge Based on Risk
• Where Will Rates Go in 2010?
• Helping Families Save Their Home Act Introduced