Investing in rural, undeveloped land continues to be a popular strategy among the affluent, according to the 2013 Land Report 100, the latest annual survey and ranking of the largest private landowners in the United States. Increasingly seen as a “safe deposit box with a view,” acreages continue to be purchased by leading landowners at solid rates. In 2012, the country’s top 100 landowners cumulatively increased their private holdings by 700,000 acres to a total of 33 million acres, nearly 2 percent of U.S. land mass.

Liberty Media Chairman John Malone and his 2.2 million acres under ownership topped the Land Report 100 list, which focuses exclusively on deeded acreage owned by individuals, families, family-owned companies and family-controlled foundations – excluding leased and public lands. Malone edged out Ted Turner, who currently possesses more than 2 million land acres. Rounding out the top five in order were: the Emmerson family, Brad Kelley and the Irving family.

“It’s refreshing to continue seeing large landowners find value in aggregating their land for conservation and agriculture purposes versus parceling it out and developing it,” said land broker Greg Fay, founder of Fay Ranches. “Everyone at Fay Ranches congratulates leading landowners for their commitments to the land, to conserving our wild places and preserving our agricultural heritage.”

This year saw a shake-up in the top ten as Stan Kroenke elevated his position from No. 10 to No. 8 after his recent purchase of the historic Broken O Ranch, described nationally as “one of the largest agricultural operations in the Rocky Mountain West.” Kroenke also owns the 540,000-acre Q Creek Ranch, the largest contiguous ranch in the Rocky Mountains.

There are several landowners new to this year’s 100 list, including No. 28, Dan and Farris Wilks, billionaire brothers who recently purchased more than 400 square miles of land, mostly in the eastern half of Montana. Oil field services entrepreneurs, the Wilks brothers own the prized N Bar Ranch in Montana, which is known for its wildlife and fishery resources. Another new addition to the Land Report 100 presented by Fay Ranches is No. 96, Arthur Nicholas. The co-founder of Nicholas Investment Properties owns Wyoming’s historic Wagonhound Land and Livestock, an AQHA Ranching Heritage Breeder.

“America’s largest landowners continue to recognize land as a compelling asset, one whose numerous attributes go well beyond ROI,” said Eric O’Keefe, editor-in-chief of The Land Report. “It’s a story you’ll see again and again in the Land Report 100, one that features familiar faces and some new ones I’m sure readers will instantly identify.”

Copyright? 2013 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.

Read Original Post @ Agent-Edition.net

By Ken Fears Director, Regional Economics & Housing Finance National Association of REALTORS?

In early September, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the entity that oversees Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, gave notice that it would revise the conforming loan limits in an attempt to stimulate the private sector, specifically the private mortgage securitization (PLS) market. Though the reduction in the loan limits is expected to be modest, it could have more far reaching impacts at the local level and for affected borrowers.

Each year, the FHFA adjusts the national conforming loan limit, which defines the space within which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can finance mortgages. The national limit is $417,000, but that varies by county and can increase to $625,500 in high-cost markets. The FHA?s limits, which range from $261,050 to $725,750, are based off of the conforming limit, so the FHFA?s actions would impact FHA borrowers as well.

NAR research estimates that if the national conforming limit were lowered to $400,000, roughly 170,000 total mortgages and 60,000 purchase mortgages would have been impacted in 2012 (based on data from the FFEIC?s HMDA dataset). The total number was inflated due to the refinance boom in 2012. However, stronger price growth in 2013 has likely pushed more homebuyers toward the conforming limit. Most estimates have the impacted volume at roughly 3-5 percent nationally.

While the national figure may appear relatively small, the change could have a significant impact at the local level. The impact goes beyond the high priced markets on the coasts and would affect some smaller communities in the Midwest and South. Furthermore, several of the markets in the top 25 most impacted are in formerly distressed areas (e.g. Atlanta, Sacramento, Riverside-San Bernardino, Oakland and Phoenix). These are areas where FICO scores declined in recent years as a result of the economic and housing downturn and where investors have played an important role in their recovery. As prices rise, investors will pull back and it?s not clear that the PLS industry is currently ready to provide financing for the nascent homebuyers needed to fill the void. Some private mortgage insurers recently announced willingness to underwrite mortgages with FICOs between 620 and 680. It will be particularly interesting and instructive to see how lenders respond to this change. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?as well as the FHA?have new programs to help in these distressed areas, but they are less potent if reduced limits disqualify borrowers.

Beyond the distressed areas, borrowers pushed into the non-conforming, or from FHA to conventional-conforming market, may not have the same access to credit due to higher FICO and down payment requirements. Since rates are already at parity or better in the jumbo space and part of the conforming-conventional, if a borrower had sufficient credit quality or the down payment, they likely would have already migrated to the private sector. Similarly, the FHA has been underpriced by the private MIs at the middle and upper price echelons since the fall of 2012. Lowering the limits could create a binding equity or credit constraint for the remaining borrowers in this space.

Finally, it isn?t clear that lowering the limits will stimulate the PLS market. There are still a number of issues hindering the PLS market, including representation and warrants risk, the unfinished QRM rule, concerns about the QM rule, secondary market reform and lingering negative investor sentiment. Nor is it clear that bank portfolios will expand to sustain these borrowers.

Though well intended, a reduction in loan limits could crowd out many otherwise qualified borrowers. There may be a time when the PLS sector is ready, but it isn?t clear that PLS issuers are ready to take up those borrowers impacted by lowering the limits.

Ken Fears is the Director of Regional Economics & Housing Finance for the National Association of REALTORS?.

RIS Media Broker Report Article

Home Prices Climb in 88% of U.S. Cities
By Prashant Gopal – Nov 6, 2013 10:14 AM CT

Prices for single-family homes climbed in 88 percent of U.S. cities in the third quarter as buyers competed for limited inventories that included fewer discounted foreclosures.

The median transaction price rose from a year earlier in 144 of 163 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. A third of areas had double-digit increases.

Enlarge image Home Prices Climb in 88% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Spreads
A townhouse for sale in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Photographer: Craig Warga/Bloomberg

Enlarge image Potential Home Buyers
Potential buyers view a home under construction in South Barrington, Illinois. Home prices are extending a recovery across the country, fueled by a tight supply of listings and a smaller share of distressed sales, which drag down values. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Home prices are extending a recovery across the country, fueled by a tight supply of listings and a smaller share of distressed sales, which drag down values. The U.S. housing market had five months of inventory in the third quarter, down from 5.9 months a year earlier, data from the Realtors group show. Completed foreclosures in September plunged 39 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic Inc.

?Most regions of the country are experiencing strong home-price appreciation off a low base,? Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research LLC in New York, said yesterday in a telephone interview. ?Cities with the biggest price appreciation are in places that had bigger busts.?

Price gains are at unsustainable levels, with cities such as San Francisco and San Jose, California, approaching records, Fitch Ratings said today in a report. Much of coastal California is more than 20 percent overvalued, the firm said.

Biggest Increases
The nationwide median price for an existing single-family home rose 12.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier to $207,300 the Realtors group said.

The best-performing areas were Sacramento, California, and Atlanta, where prices jumped 41.8 percent. They were followed by Las Vegas and Punta Gorda, Florida, which had a 31.9 percent gain. Other cities with large increases were Los Angeles, with 26.2 percent, and Phoenix, with 25 percent.

The areas with the biggest declines were all in Illinois, led by Peoria, where prices fell 13.9 percent from a year earlier. Following were Kankakee, with a 9.9 percent drop, and Rockford, with an 8.4 percent decrease.

Rising home prices and borrowing costs are causing some buyers to hold back. The average rate for 30-year fixed loans was 4.1 percent last week, up from a near-record low of 3.35 percent in early May, according to McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac.

Sales Slip
Contracts (USPHTMOM) to buy existing homes dropped the most in more than three years in September, the Realtors association reported last week.

?Rising prices and higher interest rates have taken a bite out of housing affordability,? Lawrence Yun, the group?s chief economist, said in today?s statement. ?However, we have the ongoing situation of more buyers than sellers in the market, so lower sales will help to take the pressure off home-price growth and allow them to rise slowly at a single-digit growth rate in 2014.?

San Jose was the most expensive market in the third quarter, with a median home price of $805,000, the Realtors said. Following were San Francisco, at $705,000, and Honolulu, at $679,800.

The most affordable areas were Toledo, Ohio, with a median price of $87,500; Rockford, at $88,900; and Decatur, Illinois, at $91,000.

To contact the reporter on this story: Prashant Gopal in Boston at pgopal2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net

See Original Article

Oct 24, 2013

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to their lowest level since the end of June, amid speculation that the Fed would delay winding down its stimulus program.

?Mortgage rates slid this week as the partial government shutdown led to market speculation that the Federal Reserve will not alter its bond purchases this year,? said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. ?The weak employment report for September added to this expectation.?

?The economy added just 148,000 jobs, which was below the market consensus forecast and less than the 193,000 jobs increase in August,? he added.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.13 percent with an average point of 0.8 for the week ending Oct. 24, down from 4.28 percent last week but up from 3.41 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac?s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans and one-year Treasury-indexed ARMs also all fell.

Original Article

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/mortgage-rates-drop-to-lowest-level-since-june/#!
Source: Freddie Mac

Media Contact: Walter Molony / 202-383-1177

After hitting the highest level in nearly four years, existing-home sales declined in September, but limited inventory conditions continued to pressure home prices in much of the country, according to the National Association of Realtors?.

Total existing-home sales1, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 1.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.29 million in September from a downwardly revised 5.39 million in August, but are 10.7 percent above the 4.78 million-unit pace in September 2012. Sales have remained above year-ago levels for the past 27 months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a decline was expected. ?Affordability has fallen to a five-year low as home price increases easily outpaced income growth,? he said. ?Expected rising mortgage interest rates will further lower affordability in upcoming months. Next month we may see some delays associated with the government shutdown.?

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.49 percent in September from 4.46 percent in August, and is the highest since July 2011 when it was 4.55 percent; the rate was 3.47 percent in September 2012.

The national median existing-home price2 for all housing types was $199,200 in September, up 11.7 percent from September 2012. This is the 10th consecutive month of double-digit year-over-year increases.

Distressed homes3 ? foreclosures and short sales ? accounted for 14 percent of September sales, up from 12 percent in August, which was the lowest share since monthly tracking began in October 2008; they were 24 percent in September 2012. Lower levels in the share of distressed sales account for some of the growth in median price.

Nine percent of September sales were foreclosures, and 5 percent were short sales. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 16 percent below market value in September, while short sales were discounted 12 percent.

Data from realtor.com,4 NAR?s listing site, show some of the strongest increases in listing price from a year ago are in the Detroit area, up 44.6 percent; Las Vegas, up 30.7 percent; and Sacramento, up 28.9 percent.

Total housing inventory at the end of September was unchanged at 2.21 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.0-month supply5 at the current sales pace, compared with a 4.9-month supply in August. Unsold inventory is 1.8 percent above a year ago, when there was a 5.4-month supply.

NAR President Gary Thomas, broker-owner of Evergreen Realty in Villa Park, Calif., said there are far-ranging consequences from the repeating stalemates in Washington. ?Just one impact of the recent government shutdown ? delays in tax transcripts needed for approval of mortgage loans ? put a monkey wrench in the transaction process and could negatively impact sales closings in next month?s report,? he said.

Thomas said flood insurance also is a concern. ?Realtors? report that approximately 10 percent of transactions in September were located in flood zones, and that nearly one out of 10 of those transactions were delayed or canceled due to concerns over rising insurance rates.? Notably higher flood insurance rates went into effect on October 1, and could impact future sales in flood zones.

The median time on market for all homes was 50 days in September, up from 43 days in August, but much faster than the 70 days on market in September 2012. Short sales were on the market for a median of 93 days, while foreclosures typically sold in 43 days, and non-distressed homes took 49 days. Thirty-nine percent of homes sold in September were on the market for less than a month.

First-time buyers accounted for 28 percent of purchases in September, unchanged from August, but down from 32 percent in September 2012.

All-cash sales comprised 33 percent of transactions in September, up from 32 percent in August, and 28 percent in September 2012. Individual investors, who account for many cash sales, purchased 19 percent of homes in September, up from 17 percent in August, and 18 percent in September 2012. Last month, 74 percent of investors paid cash.

Single-family home sales slipped 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million in September from 4.75 million in August, but are 10.9 percent above the 4.22 million-unit pace in September 2012. The median existing single-family home price was $199,300 in September, which is 11.4 percent higher than a year ago.
Existing condominium and co-op sales fell 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 610,000 units in September from 640,000 in August, but are 8.9 percent above the 560,000-unit level a year ago. The median existing condo price was $198,600 in September, up 14.2 percent from September 2012.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast declined 2.8 percent to an annual rate of 690,000 in September, but are 15.0 percent above September 2012. The median price in the Northeast was $240,900, up 2.3 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest fell 5.3 percent in September to a pace of 1.25 million, but are 12.6 percent higher than a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $158,400, which is 9.0 percent above September 2012.

In the South, existing-home sales declined 1.4 percent to an annual level of 2.10 million in September, but are 9.9 percent above September 2012. The median price in the South was $171,600, up 13.9 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West rose 1.6 percent to a pace of 1.25 million in September, and are 7.8 percent higher than a year ago. With ongoing inventory restrictions, the median price in the West rose to $286,300, which is 16.8 percent above September 2012.

The National Association of Realtors?, ?The Voice for Real Estate,? is America?s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. For additional commentary and consumer information, visit www.houselogic.com and http://retradio.com.

NOTE: For local information, please contact the local association of Realtors? for data from local multiple listing services. Local MLS data is the most accurate source of sales and price information in specific areas, although there may be differences in reporting methodology.

Existing-home sales, which include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, are based on transaction closings from Multiple Listing Services. Changes in sales trends outside of MLSs are not captured in the monthly series. NAR rebenchmarks home sales periodically using other sources to assess overall home sales trends, including sales not reported by MLSs.

Existing-home sales, based on closings, differ from the U.S. Census Bureau?s series on new single-family home sales, which are based on contracts or the acceptance of a deposit. Because of these differences, it is not uncommon for each series to move in different directions in the same month. In addition, existing-home sales, which account for more than 90 percent of total home sales, are based on a much larger data sample ? about 40 percent of multiple listing service data each month ? and typically are not subject to large prior-month revisions.

The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are used in reporting monthly data to factor out seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, home sales volume is normally higher in the summer than in the winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and family buying patterns. However, seasonal factors cannot compensate for abnormal weather patterns.

Single-family data collection began monthly in 1968, while condo data collection began quarterly in 1981; the series were combined in 1999 when monthly collection of condo data began. Prior to this period, single-family homes accounted for more than nine out of 10 purchases. Historic comparisons for total home sales prior to 1999 are based on monthly single-family sales, combined with the corresponding quarterly sales rate for condos.

The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less; medians are more typical of market conditions than average prices, which are skewed higher by a relatively small share of upper-end transactions. The only valid comparisons for median prices are with the same period a year earlier due to a seasonality in buying patterns. Month-to-month comparisons do not compensate for seasonal changes, especially for the timing of family buying patterns. Changes in the composition of sales can distort median price data. Year-ago median and mean prices sometimes are revised in an automated process if additional data is received.

The national median condo/co-op price often is higher than the median single-family home price because condos are concentrated in higher-cost housing markets. However, in a given area, single-family homes typically sell for more than condos as seen in NAR?s quarterly metro area price reports.

Distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales), days on market, first-time buyers, all-cash transactions and investors are from a monthly survey for the NAR?s Realtors? Confidence Index, posted at Realtor.org.

Realtor.com, NAR?s listing site, posts metro area median listing price and inventory data at: http://www.realtor.com/data-portal/Real-Estate-Statistics.aspx.

Total inventory and month?s supply data are available back through 1999, while single-family inventory and month?s supply are available back to 1982 (prior to 1999, single-family sales accounted for more than 90 percent of transactions and condos were measured only on a quarterly basis).

The Pending Home Sales Index for September will be released October 28 and existing-home sales for October is scheduled for November 20. The 2013 National Association of Realtors? Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, a large survey that evaluates the demographics, preferences, motivations, plans and experiences of recent home buyers and sellers, will be published November 4; all release times are 10:00 a.m. ET.

View Video
View Original Post

USA Today Video Link

Courtesy of Matthew Green/Courtesy of Matthew Green – The shutdown at USDA?s rural development loan program has cost Matthew and Natali Green the starter house they?ve been waiting to buy since last April.

By Lisa Rein, Published: October 4 E-mail the writer
Beginning next week, thousands of home buyers will be unable to get approvals for their mortgages because of the government shutdown, potentially undercutting the nation?s resurgent housing market.

Without paperwork from the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration and in many cases the Federal Housing Administration, banks and other mortgage lenders will be less willing to make loans, if they can make them at all. For instance, lenders rely on the IRS to confirm borrowers? income and on Social Security to confirm their identity.

Government shutdown

Find out how federal agencies and workers might be affected. Click for agency-level details.
Read more:
Carney says death benefit solution may come Wednesday

SEP 27
Get the latest news on the budget fight and a possible government shutdown in this daily newsletter.

Every day that government offices remain shuttered will delay an ever-larger fraction of mortgage closings, industry leaders say, jeopardizing mortgage and interest-rate approvals and spooking sellers. About 15,000 new home mortgages and 18,000 refinancings on average are completed across the country each day.

On Friday, House Republicans continued to insist on changes to President Obama?s health-care program as a condition for funding the government. But with attention on Capitol Hill shifting to an Oct. 17 debt-ceiling deadline, there was no end in sight to the government shutdown, nor relief for prospective home buyers.

?Most people don?t really think about, ?Well my loan is going to be underwritten by a federal agency,??? said Marj Rosner, vice president and sales manager at Long & Foster, a real estate firm. ?But the government has a huge imprint here.?

Major lenders are scrambling to figure out whether they can risk making some loans without the federal paperwork and assessing whether they should require additional documentation from borrowers because the IRS has no one working who can verify income.

Many mortgages were able to close as scheduled this week because the paperwork was completed before federal employees were furloughed, but some home loans have already been frozen.

?The problem is going to grow in magnitude every day this shutdown goes on, because lenders? liability is at risk,? David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association and former head of the FHA, said after a conference call Friday with heads of a dozen banks.

Nor will the problem disappear as soon as the government reopens.

?Even if this were to get resolved in a week, you?ve got an enormous backlog,? said Eric D. Gates, president of Apex Home Loans in Rockville. ?It?s going to double or triple the effects in terms of delays.?

The approval of mortgage applications requires several interactions with the federal government that many home buyers may not know about. Lenders have become much more meticulous about following federal rules after the housing crisis that began in 2007, and are now more thorough in verifying the information on loan applications. These concerns were far less common when the government last shut down in 1995.

?The need for document checks and quality control just didn?t exist,? Stevens said. ?Today, we?re in a world of huge risk and regulatory requirements.?

Among the obstacles, it is furloughs at the IRS that could have the widest impact. Lenders routinely file a form with the IRS asking for a copy of a borrower?s tax returns. The purpose is to make sure that the buyer provided accurate income information.

Click to view complete article