KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Friday April 8 Housing and Economic stories

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Friday April 8 Housing and Economic stories

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TOP STORIES:

Appraisal Madness in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri and Nevada - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) Inquiring minds are investigating sheer lunacy regarding the appraisal process in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri and Nevada. Please consider Four States Consider Legislation Barring Distressed Sales as Comparables: Four states – Illinois, Maryland, Missouri and Nevada – are considering legislation that would prohibit or restrict the use of “distressed sales,” such as foreclosures and short sales, as comparable sales as a part of a residential real estate appraisal. The Missouri legislation, known as House Bill 292, would prohibit appraisers from using a property that has been sold at a foreclosure sale as a comparable. Similar to the Missouri proposal, the Illinois legislation would prohibit appraisers for the next five years from using as a comparable sale “a residential property that was sold at a judicial sale at any time within 12 months.”

Bank to sell Chicago units in bulk at stalled condo projects - (www.chicagorealestatedaily.com) North Community Bank has taken over two stalled condo conversion projects in Lakeview and plans to sell the unsold units in bulk. An investor likely will pay $15 million to $18 million for the remaining 130 units in the 1960s-era high-rises at 2930 and 3033 N. Sheridan Road, according to people familiar with the developments. At $18 million, the cost per unit would be just over $138,000, about 21% less than the $175,000 per unit that North Side developer Robert Kroupa paid for the buildings in the early stages of the condo bust. Mr. Kroupa paid just over $70 million in November 2006 for the two Sheridan Road buildings, with about 400 units combined, according to property records.

3 foreclosures on Bevelery Hills MLS, Realtors hiding 104 more - (www.doctorhousingbubble.com) The home is currently listed for sale for $2,150,000 which sure is a far cry from the $3,195,000 of 2008. The current list price will still kick some money to the second mortgage holder but not much. It’ll be interesting to see what action results from this Beverly Hills short sale. The auction is scheduled for April 25, 2011 so it is likely the lenders are trying to sell and get a bit higher price than taking on a giant foreclosure onto their balance sheet. Beverly Hills currently has 107 homes in the foreclosure process yet only 3 show up on the MLS. This home is listed as a short sale on the MLS and not a foreclosure. Whatever the case may be, banks are now fully admitting the nonsense of the housing bubble otherwise they would be asking for the entire note balance back especially in prime locations with prime homes. That is obviously not the case. Even at this price, a person will need to be able to carry an $11,000 to $13,000 housing payment per month so the pool of potential buyers is limited. Beverly Hills is showing that even the 90210 is not immune to the housing correction.

One in eight houses empty in Nevada - (www.irvinehousingblog.com) The promise of palm tree groves and low-priced real estate lured Alan and Katherine Ackerly across the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Nevada in 2004, where thousands of new houses beckoned brightly as any neon sign. They came to buy their retirement home. But the real estate bust took its toll, with a flood of short sales and foreclosures in the market, and last month the Ackerly's dream home was foreclosed on, too. "I pretty much gave it back to them," said Alan Ackerly, a 57-year-old electrician who stopped paying his mortgage because he owed more than the house was worth. The Ackerly's home is now among a swelling number of abandoned houses in Nevada. There were 167,564 empty houses in the state last year, according to newly released U.S. Census data, more than double the number in 2000. The number of vacant homes represents about one out of every seven houses across Nevada. I haven't looked into the Census Bureau's methodology, but that number sounds a bit too big, doesn't it? There are unquestionably a large number of vacant homes, but that many? The figures are another striking example of how the housing crisis has pummeled Nevada, casting a new light on the severely weakened market after years of boom. One result is an increase in code violations. In Clark County, home to Las Vegas, such complaints nearly doubled from 2008 to 2009 and the median price of resale homes dropped to $115,000 in January.

Man Arrested for Hiding Cameras Inside Deutsche Bank? - (www.cnbc.com) A man was arrested for covertly installing cameras inside of Deutsche Bank, according to a report from DealBreaker. DealBreaker's source describes him as "the guy that delivers water bottles to the trading floor." So was he spying on the trading floor trying to pick up insider tips? Not quite. He was apparently installing the cameras in the men's restroom. DealBreaker wasn't sure which bank the arrest took place in at first. Sources have now come forth to claim it was at Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank is declining to comment.