Grand Opening Event at Double Golden Chinese

Open House and Grand Opening Celebration

Friday, August 26, 2011

5:00-7:00 p.m.

5868 Silver Creek Valley Road

San Jose CA 95138

In the Silver Creek Landing Center

Raffle for gifts to:

OMG Coffee and Tea

SuperSlowzone

Salon 88

Quiznos

BalanceYogaCenter

Century 21 Alpha

Double Golden Chinese Restaurant

Plus.... Entertainment from 10th Avenue Band Swing Dance

Report: 'Fixing Housing Crisis Will Create 1 Million Jobs'

A new report argues that if banks wrote down the mortgage principal of underwater borrowers it could pump $71 billion per year into the economy and create more than 1 million jobs annually. The report, “The Win/Win Solution: How Fixing the Housing Crisis Will Create One Million Jobs," comes from The New Bottom Line, a campaign that represents about 1,000 nationwide faith-based and community organizations.
The campaign argues in the report that by lowering home owners’ mortgage payments by an average of more than $500 per month--or $6,500 per year--that it would free up about $6 billion dollars per month that home owners could then spend on such items as buying groceries, household necessities, school supplies, etc.

“Home owners across the nation are struggling to pay their boom-era mortgages with their recession-era salaries and the economy is suffering for it,” according to the report. “Writing down the principals and interest rates on all underwater mortgages to market value would serve as the second stimulus that America so desperately needs, only without added costs to taxpayers.”

The group is pressing State Attorneys General, who are currently in settlement talks with the nation’s largest banks over allegations of foreclosure abuses, to stand firm on its request for principal reductions for underwater borrowers.
Source: “Fixing the Housing Crisis Would Create One Million Jobs Annually,” RISMedia (Aug. 21, 2011)

Mortgage Rates Reach All-Time Lows Again

Ongoing economic concerns continued to push mortgage rates to new lows, as 30-year and 15-year mortgage rates took another dip, pushing home affordability even higher, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.15 percent this week, dropping from last week’s 4.32 percent average. The previous record low for 30-year rates was set on Nov. 11, 2010, when rates reached 4.17 percent. For comparison sake, in 2000, 30-year mortgage rates averaged more than 8 percent and just five years ago they averaged 6.5 percent. 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.36 percent, dropping from last week’s 3.50 percent. Last year at this time, the 15-year fixed rate averaged 3.90 percent. 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.08 percent, dropping from last week’s 3.13 percent. Last year at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.56 percent. 1-year ARM: averaged 2.86 percent this week, dropping from last week’s 2.89 percent. A year ago, the 1-year ARM averaged 3.53 percent. "Not surprising, many home owners took advantage of this low mortgage rate environment and have already refinanced their loans,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist of Freddie Mac. “The refinance share of applications averaged nearly 70 percent of all mortgage activity in the first half of this year, according to our survey. In addition, an increasing share of refinancing borrowers chose to shorten their loan terms during the second quarter.” Source: “Mortgage Rates Lowest in Over 50 Years,” Freddie Mac (Aug. 18, 2011)

Housing Affordability at Highest in 20 Years

Housing affordability continued to be near record highs in the second quarter, hovering near its highest level in the 20-plus years it has been recorded, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. About 72 percent of all new and existing-homes sold in the second quarter of the year were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,200, according to the index. The record high remains 74.6 percent, which was reached last quarter. "At a time when home ownership is within reach of more households than it has been for more than two decades and interest rates are at historically low levels, the sluggish economy and the extremely tight credit conditions confronting home buyers and builders remain significant obstacles to many potential home sales," says Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. "That said, however, some housing markets across the country have stabilized and are beginning to show signs of a budding recovery."

June Pending Home Sales Rise

For the second consecutive month, pending home sales figures have increased. According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) all regions are showing "strong double-digit" gains over last June and the index itself was up 2.4 percent for the month.

Pending sales are a healthy 19.8 percent above June 2010's numbers. The Midwest has seen the largest rebound from 2010, increase 26.4 percent from last June. The Northeast followed at a 19.4 percent increase and the South gained 19.1 percent. The West was up 16.4 percent.
According to the NAR, "Existing-home sales this year are expected to total 5.0 million, slightly higher than 2010. Similarly, little change is forecast for aggregate home prices with several indicators, including NAR's median prices, showing recent signs of stabilization."
The largest regional increase month-to-month was seen in the West, which rose 6.4 percent, while the Northeast and Midwest both posted monthly declines.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there may be some increase in closed existing-home sales. “For the majority of transactions, the lag time between pending contacts to actual closings is one to two months. Therefore, the two consecutive months of rising activity should lead to overall improvement in closed sales in upcoming months,” he said. “Though a higher than normal cancellation rate can hold back final closing figures, it could well be that some past cancellations are nothing more than delayed buying decisions rather than outright cancellations.”
The NAR also reports that credit could be a deciding factor in whether or not housing experiencing a solid recovery sooner than later. Yun noted, "The best way to ensure a more solid recovery in housing is to simply return to normal, sound credit standards so more creditworthy home buyers can get a mortgage."
June's rise in pending home sales was unexpected, as economist polled by Reuters were looking for a 2 percent decline. Sales went in the opposite direction, however. The number of cancelled contracts will give a more complete picture of whether or not housing is on the mend.
Published: August 2, 2011