New Home Construction Gathers Momentum

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — New home construction slowed slightly in December after a strong November showing, but was still much more active than a year earlier.

The Census Bureau reported that housing starts fell to 657,000 on an annual basis, down just 4.1% compared with a strong November. Building permits, which are less affected by weather than starts, came in at a 679,000 annual rate, about the same as a month earlier.
The results lagged industry expectations. A consensus of industry experts from Briefing.com had forecast starts of 673,000 and permits of 680,000.

There is life after a Short Sale

So about two months ago my wife and I sold our bitchen Dodge Charger to a really nice guy in Vegas and since we work out of our home we didn’t really see the urgency of replacing that car with something else but we certainly talked about it.  Since we had the Charger for 5 years we really didn’t know what sorta of rides were out there.  When we saw the Kia SOUL we both liked it and thats rare that we agree on cars beings that I turned wrenches for many years and I think I know everything there is about cars…(my wife is saying that in my ear).

TEMECULA: City named second safest in America

Temecula and Murrieta are the second and fourth safest cities in America, respectively, according to a business news website.

Business Insider used FBI statistics to rank the southwest Riverside County cities among the 13 safest in the nation; they were the only Inland cities ranked. Irvine was No. 1.

The New York-based website reported that Temecula had 72 violent crimes — murders, forcible rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults — per 100,000 people in 2010.

Foreclosure Starts Rise to Highest Level of Year

Daily Real Estate News |      Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Foreclosure starts moved up 20 percent in August over July, posting their highest monthly levels of the year. But there are signs of improvement: Foreclosure starts were down more than 12 percent compared to August of last year, according to Lender Processing Services in its latest report.

Real Estate Prices Up, But Not For Long

Home prices rose for the fourth straight month in July, but the seasonal uptick will likely subside toward the end of the summer, according to the latest report from loan data aggregator and analytics firm CoreLogic.

CoreLogic’s Home Price Index showed the increase in July was a slight one, up 0.8 percent from June, and national home prices fell 5.2 percent compared to July 2010. Revised figures for June showed home prices fell 6 percent on a year-over-year basis that month. Much of the yearly decline in July can be attributed to distressed sales. When short sales and real-estate owned (REO) transactions are excluded, home prices dipped 0.6 percent year-over-year last month.

Law Against Short Sale Defenciences Expanded

Brought to you by California Association of Realtors®

In a major victory for REALTORS®, Governor Brown signed into law today a C.A.R.-sponsored bill, Senate Bill 458, prohibiting a deficiency after a short sale for one-to-four residential units, regardless of whether the lender is a senior or junior lienholder.  Effective immediately for transactions closing escrow from this day forward, both senior and junior lienholders cannot require a borrower to owe or pay for a deficiency in a short sale.  This law also prohibits any deficiency judgment to be requested or rendered for senior or junior liens after a short sale of one-to-four residential units.  Any purported waiver of this rule shall be void and against public policy.

Short Sales Closing Continue To Be The Norm For Cravens Realty Group

With the recent closing of three more Short Sales, two being HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) Short Sales, Cravens Realty Group headed up by Lee and Nanci Cravens continues to help home owners that are in trouble find alternatives to just walking away and avoiding foreclosure.

We closed  HAFA Short Sale in Temecula, CA where the home owner had and IRS lien against the property for $5,900.00 and an unemployment lien of $500.00.  In addition to receiving the $3,000.00 in relocation assistance and with the help of Dennell Winston of Sunset One Escrow we were able to negotiate with the homeowners lender and persuade them to pay off both liens netting the homeowner approx. $9,500.00.