Foreclosures and Short Sales are driving the local markets but may not be driving sales down. Distressed properties are one the segments that is actually moving as buyers scour to find the deals in the market. Does it have impact on local pricing? Absolutely, but it may not really be driving prices down lower. Read More…click here!

Facebook has 200 million users, most of whom are over age 35. 42% of Americans read blogs on a regular basis according to a recent Pew Research study. Newspapers are struggling for survival.

 Our customer has moved. We must move with them.

 I am therefore proud to announce a major social media and electronic marketing initiative that will place Intero – and you — even further ahead of the competition.

 Here’s what this means:

 We have launched two new blogs:

 The Intero Real Estate Blog (http://interoreblog.com)

This is our blog for buyers and sellers. It features advice and market insights from Gino and a team of Intero agent bloggers. It also showcases an Internet video series – called “Ask Bob” – featuring our chairman, Bob Moles, answering consumer questions.

 Intero Mojo blog (http://interomojo.com)

This blog is for you – and for agents who’d like to become part of the Intero family. It will feature tech tips and practical advice for growing your business.

 We have launched three new e-newsletter campaigns. As an Intero agent or manager, you are already subscribed and will begin receiving these newsletters this week.

 Intero Cool Apps

This newsletter introduces a new tech tool for your business every week. That’s right, every week, we’ll send you a new technology tool or service you can put to work in your business – and tips for making the most of them. You’ll always be on top of the latest and greatest technology.

 The Intero Insider

Each week Gino will share his take on the market in this e-newsletter aimed at giving consumers insight into current conditions. It will also give you talking points you can use when working with buyers and sellers.

 Monday Morning Mojo

You all know what this is. It is now an upgraded version with interactive links to other resource within our new online campaign.

 I encourage you to share these e-newsletters with agents who may be interested in joining us at Intero. They are a reflection of our values and commitment to innovation. Sign-up is easy: Just go to one of our blogs and click the “Subscribe” button.

 Our Facebook and Twitter presence has expanded

 Everything we post to the blog and everything we send in our e-newsletters will also be shared on Facebook and Twitter, placing Intero front and center with the millions of consumers looking for a real estate company that gets it. You can access our new Facebook page and Twitter account through our blogs.

The real estate world is changing, and we are moving fast.

 Enjoy the ride!

Ephraim Schwartz- Partner, Mortgage Consultant CMPS
O’Dette Mortgage Group
530-582-3345 (Tahoe Office) * 11209 Brockway Rd. #304, Truckee, CA 96161
415-931-2129 (San Francisco Office) * 1842 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123

Following up with guidelines about conforming loan limits in writing.

I know this is more convoluted than ever, so hopefully this helps.  I am scripting 2 below for both Nevada & Placer County

NEVADA COUNTY

There are essentially 3 buckets of loan types now: conforming, jumbo….and what I like to call “confumbo”.

CONFORMING: The true conforming is still $417,000, nationwide.

CONFUMBO: This is where it gets convoluted, so I’ll give you the short & sweet bottom line, and then a more detailed explanation.  For 2^nd home buyers, unless they are putting >40% down payment, the limit is $477,250 in Nevada County.  This is geographic specific.

Explanation:

• Confumbo limits were introduced in 2008, at that time the limit for Nevada county was $562,500, but because it was intended for primary residences, the down payment requirement for 2^nd home/investment properties was 40%.
• Jan 1^st 2009 the confumbo limit in Nevada county dropped to $477,250…the good news was that the steep down payment requirements for 2^nd home/investment properties went away.  These we are now referring to as the “2009 PERMANENT LIMITS”.
• When the stimulus package passed, it reinstated the 2008 limits ($562,500 for Nevada).  This did NOT eliminate the 2009 limits/guidelines, but temporarily brought back the 2008 limits, which we are referring to as the “2008  REINSTATED LIMITS”.
• Both programs/guidelines are currently available:  the “2009 permanent limits” & the “2008 reinstated limits”.  For 2^nd home purchases, the 2009 permanent limits can be done with as little as 10% down.

Bottom line:  The confumbo limit is 2 different numbers, and for 2^nd home owners, it depends on down payment.

JUMBO: No change.

I know this is borderline ridiculous and a lot to keep up with.  I hope this is helpful.  That’s why Teresa and I are here part of your team to help!  I’ve attached 2 documents with both limits for all counties for your reference.

*************************************************************

PLACER COUNTY

There are essentially 3 buckets of loan types now: conforming, jumbo….and what I like to call “confumbo”.

CONFORMING: The true conforming is still $417,000, nationwide.

CONFUMBO: This is where it gets convoluted, so I’ll give you the short & sweet bottom line, and then a more detailed explanation.  For 2^nd home buyers, unless they are putting >40% down payment, the limit is $474,950 in Placer County.  This is geographic specific.

Explanation:

• Confumbo limits were introduced in 2008, at that time the limit for Placer county was $580,000, but because it was intended for primary residences, the down payment requirement for 2^nd home/investment properties was 40%.
• Jan 1^st 2009 the confumbo limit in Placer county dropped to $474,950…the good news was that the steep down payment requirements for 2^nd home/investment properties went away.  These we are now referring to as the “2009 PERMANENT LIMITS”.
• When the stimulus package passed, it reinstated the 2008 limits ($580,000 for Placer).  This did NOT eliminate the 2009 limits/guidelines, but temporarily brought back the 2008 limits, which we are referring to as the “2008  REINSTATED LIMITS”.
• Both programs/guidelines are currently available:  the “2009 permanent limits” & the “2008 reinstated limits”.  For 2^nd home purchases, the 2009 permanent limits can be done with as little as 10% down.

Bottom line:  The confumbo limit is 2 different numbers, and for 2^nd home owners, it depends on down payment.

I know this is borderline ridiculous and a lot to keep up with.  I hope this is helpful.  That’s why Teresa and I are here part of your team to help!  I’ve attached 2 documents with both limits for all counties for your reference.

Steven C. Peterson, Branch Manager
Sierra Pacific Mortgage Office: 888-232-7687  Cell:     775-219-7151

    Interest rates were volatile this week. After two interim date rate changes today, the 30 year conforming fixed rate ended the day at 5.0% with one point and 5.25% with no points. (Assumes primary or secondary residence, 740 plus ficos, impounds of insurance and taxes and a maximum loan to value of 80% for detached properties and 75% for attached properties (condos and PUDs).
    All is generally quiet as we face a week with no big Treasury note auctions (just a bunch of short-term bills) and few economic indicators that could shock the markets into un upward or downward move. Essentially, all we have are dissections of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s words at the regularly scheduled Humphrey-Hawkins hearings on the condition of the economy. And that is likely to be a lightweight series of mildly evasive statements, if the past has anything to teach us.�
    So we anticipate that the current gains in confidence about the overall economy–underscored by slightly higher interest rates and slightly improved economic indicators–will continue for a couple of weeks, at the least. The consensus opinion currently assumes that we’re riding into recovery. I would not trust that assumption, but I would arrange my business and marketing plans as if it were likely true.�
Business does seem to be improving, and it’s important to be one of the people whose income is improving as a direct result of the warmer stirrings in the marketplace.
 Weekly Commentary 

Thumbnail Sketch: Mixed signals, but hints of improvement dominate the news—and define investor psychology. 

It is worth remembering that the news that is good for the overall economy is quite often bad for mortgage rates and other interest rates. Good news generally makes stock prices rise, and bond prices also rise as the yields on those bonds decline. (The lower the yield, the less value the bond has.) 

What we are seeing right now is a series of largely favorable indicators. Thus, interest rates are edging higher. 

There is a Catch-22 at work here, though. If interest rates rise, then sales activity in real estate and elsewhere is likely to decline. And if sales activity declines, interest rates are then likely to fall. If the current marketplace is driving you batty, this Catch-22 may be one of the main reasons why it is. 

The other reason, of course, is that we are assured one day that the economy is moving into recovery by the market experts, and the next day we are told that a new economic indicator has thrown the prior confidence into doubt.

Thus, if interest rates are to rise in a sustainable fashion, we need the stream of positive economic indicators to continue, dominating the news and muting the force of any negative indicators. That isn’t happening, so the markets are currently very uncertain of their near-term direction. 

Still, the upward move for June housing starts is very significant. Many analysts are suggesting that the new-home wobbles are about to end, with sales firming in the next six months. 

Meanwhile, the data on new unemployment insurance claims (left) suggest a gradual strengthening of the jobs market, which is extremely important (but, alas, quite unreliable, since improvements to employment figures tend to follow the rest of the economy out of a recession). 

Industrial production fell by a slight 0.4% in June, which experts saw as very likely the last decline for the foreseeable future. 

Interest rates may rise slightly over the coming week, though they seem to want to decline as this is written. But the bigger picture suggests that the market continues to lumber toward recovery.

July 22, 2009 

KEY INDICATORS 

Gold $948.00/ounce [up]

Crude Oil (Brent) $66.74/brl [up]

U.S. Dollar to…

    Euro .7059 [down]

    Japanese Yen 93.50 [up]

6-mo Treasury Bill Yield 0.26%

10-yr Treasury Note Yield 3.48%

[6-mo down 1 bp, 10-yr up 5 bps]

11^th Dist Cost of Funds:1.832%[+]

30-yr Fixed-rate Mortgage 5.74%

15-yr Fixed-rate Mortgage 5.20%

1-yr ARM 4.71%

[HSH averages rates: 30-yr

up 21 bps,15-yr up 17 bps; 1-yr ARM up 11 bps]

Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Applications Index

week ending 7/10

  Overall

    514.4 (up 4.3%; up 10.9%

the week prior)

  Purchase Money Loans

    258.8 (down 9.4%; up 6.7%

            the week prior)

  Refinancing Loans

    2009.4 (up 17.7%; up 15.2%

 the week prior)

Jobless Claims 7/11

    522,000 – prior week 565,000 (as predicted) – continuing claims fell to 6.27 million

NAHB Housing Market Index July

    Rose from 15 to (still very weak) 17 month-to-month

Housing Starts June

    Up 3.6% – strongest since Nov

In our 37th Season of The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, we’re pleased to offer you an easy summer escape full of laughter, love, scheming, scandal, and dancing in the aisles. View details online!

2009 Productions Include Measure for Measure & Much Ado About Nothing

For the first time ever on the white sandy shores of Lake Tahoe at Sand Harbor, the Festival will produce Shakespeare’s dramatic comedy, Measure for Measure, a provocative play of political intrigue and moral responsibility. Our second Shakespearean production this summer is the perennial favorite, Much Ado About Nothing, the sparkling romantic comedy of wit and banter, fools and tricksters. The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival also welcomes Henry Woronicz as our Executive Producer.

Prices for Incline Village home sales have stabilized for the first half of 2009 compared to 2008, and the number of high-end home sales (over $1 Million) have nearly doubled. Buyers on the sidelines looking for good deals have started to come back into the Tahoe real estate market. With both rates and prices bottoming in the first half of the year, buyers have been picking up excellent buys both in the high and low ends. We have seen several distressed property sales this spring ranging in price from $4.5M short sale for a 9,500 sq ft luxury golf course home to a nicely redone bank owend cabin sold in the low $400k’s.

The median price for an Incline Village home sank to $987,500, down 5% from the median price in the first half of 2008 at $1,042,500. However, the average price increased 13% year over year from $1,419,464 to $1,636,802. Note that the average is weighted towards several high-end home sales above $3 Million. There were 11 home sales priced over $2 million so far in 2009 compared to only 6 in the first half of 2008, almost a 100 percent increase in high end home sales for the period (Based on data compiled from the Incline Village MLS, EXCLUDING PUD’s- note other competitor reports may skew data by lumping these together).

The median price for a condo in Incline Village dropped to $385,000 from $489,000 from this period last year, a decrease of 11%.

The lowest priced home to sell in 1st half 2008 was $379,900 compared to $560,000 home sold in 2008. The highest priced home to date in 2009 is $7,350,000 for a lakefront, up from $6,700,000 home sold 1st half 2008.

Average list to sale price has remained steady at 89% in 2009 compared to 90% in 2008 for the same period. The average days on market increased to 210 this year compared to 154 in 2008, it was a long winter!

Through June 30, 36 homes sold compared to 44 homes sold in 2008- this is a much smaller decline than the 40% drop in # of units sold from 2007 to 2008, another strong sign of market stabilization.

View all of the homes sales for both the first half of 2009 and 2008 below- Data from IVBOR MLS is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed:

2009 1st Half Home Sales

2008 1st Half Home Sales

2007 1st Half Home Sales

Former Super Bowl XXXV champion quarterback Trent Dilfer has been named recipient of the 2009 “Brodie Award,” recognizing an individual’s accomplishments in both a chosen profession and in the sport of golf. It’s given each year by organizers of the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.The award is named for former National Football League Most Valuable Player (1970) John Brodie, the one-time San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Senior PGA Tour player. Previous winners include Mario Lemieux, Rick Rhoden and John Elway.

The “Brodie Award” is selected by a panel of tournament officials and is presented at the event, scheduled this year for July 14-19.

Dilfer has a longtime relationship with the former Stanford All-American, who took a special interest in the young quarterback from Northern California early in his career. When Dilfer joined the 49ers in 2006, he was granted a special request to wear No. 12 (Brodie’s retired number) as a tribute to his mentor and friend.

Dilfer, now an analyst for ESPN, has used his golf prowess (he finished second at the ACC in 2005) and affinity to raise money for charity, including the TD4HIM Foundation, which he established in 2003 in memory of his late son, Trevin, who passed away from a heart ailment at the age of five.

Dilfer is a part-time resident of Lake Tahoe.