Redding Real Estate

Mortgage Rates Drop, Qualifying Bar Rises

March 27th, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

Local lenders are quoting 30-year fixed rates below 5%. In fact, a rate close to 4.5% is possible if you make the grade. That means a down payment of 20% or more, a credit score of 720 or better, a reliable income that can be documented and have low debt. The other factor that is [...]

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Bank Unveils “Homeownership Centers”

March 25th, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

Finally, one bank is taking the bull by the horns to slow the rate of home foreclosures. JP Morgan Chase developed a new concept to aid its customers at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. The centers are staffed with counselors that meet one-on-one with customers of Washington Mutual and EMC, the former lending [...]

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Pulse Detected in Local Real Estate Market

March 23rd, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

Word of mouth indicates sales activity is picking up in urban areas across the state. What about Redding? Are homes selling? Are buyers buying? Well, it depends!
I have several buyers actively looking to buy. Like most buyers these days, they are either first-time buyers or investors looking to take advantage of today’s low housing prices. [...]

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Experts Warn Homeowners To Refinance Sooner Than Later

March 14th, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

The New York Times reported that mortgage professionals are losing hope the government will subsidize low interest rate loans to aid homeowners anxious to refinance  unaffordable loans.
Many homeowners have been on the fence waiting for the government to implement a program that would buy interest rates down to 4%. Realtors and builder groups have suggested the [...]

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Housing Affordability Spikes Upward

March 5th, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

The California Association of Realtors recently released a report detailing housing affordability for first-time buyers. The index measures the percentage of households that can afford to purchase an entry-level home in various geographic areas.
The overall index for California is 59%. During the recent real estate bubble, the index bottomed out closer to 20%. C.A.R claims [...]

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Distresss Sales Increase in Redding/Shasta County

March 3rd, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

In 2008, about 1/3 of all sales could be classified as “distressed sales“. A check of today’s activity indicates this segment of real estate activity has increased to nearly half of all sales.
Today there are 1519 active home listings on the Shasta MLS. of those, 126 are classified as REO’s or bank owned and another [...]

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Home Sales Activity Doubles In California

March 2nd, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

Portions of California hit hard by foreclosures are seeing a dramatic increase in sales activity. Historically, the Redding area lags behind the state trend and local home sales have not seen a surge yet. January home sales were comparable to a year earlier in Redding/Shasta County.
The flood of foreclosures in some areas of the state [...]

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Major Banks Halt Foreclosures

February 25th, 2009

By Brad Garbutt

In response to the Obama administration developing a plan to aid the ailing housing industry, several lenders announced a temporary suspension in foreclosure actions. Specifically:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac  is suspending all foreclosure sales and evictions for occupied properties
Citigroup Inc. is expanding its halt to foreclosures it started in November 2008
JP Morgan Chase and Bank [...]

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