Ventura County Star, Published April 13, 2010

A quaint Camarillo three-bedroom house priced at $310,000 sold recently after fetching 11 offers. The winning bid came from an investor who offered $10,000 below asking price. The bank selling the home rejected several solid offers, including one that was $45,000 more than the asking price, with 20 percent down. The catch? The investor had cash, and the bank wanted a quick close.

Traditional homebuyers are finding it hard to compete as banks try to minimize challenges by going for cash offers, said Kay Wilson-Bolton, a broker for Century 21 Buena Vista. “If you have the cash today, this is a great market to get in,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo.

Ventura County’s housing market continued to show signs of an upward crawl in March, as the median sales price increased by double digits but sales volume dipped from a year ago. There were 739 sales of existing and new homes and condominiums, a 4.8 percent decline from 776 sales in March 2009, according to figures released Tuesday by San Diego-based MDA DataQuick. But sales rose 27.4 percent from the 580 reported in February.

The fluctuation of home sales this spring was based on the expected expiration of the first-time homebuyer credit, which was extended until the end of April, Sohn said. The median price — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — was $375,000 last month, up 15 percent from $326,000 in March 2009, MDA DataQuick reported. That’s also up 7 percent from $350,000 in February. But don’t get too excited.

“It’s not a sign that we’re in for double-digit growth in home prices,” said Bill Watkins, executive director of the Center for Economic Research and Forecasting at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Although there’s some creeping upward, the median’s uptick reflects a boost in activity in the $500,000-plus market. “A year ago, the only thing selling was at the bottom of the market,” Watkins said. “This year we’re seeing sales across the markets.”

Ventura County homes resold in March that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months accounted for 28.4 percent of the sales, compared with 46.2 percent a year ago. The market won’t rebalance until mortgage lending patterns normalize, and that’s not happening yet, said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.

“Some of the best deals out there right now are happening when the buyer comes in with cash,” Walsh said. In Ventura County, 22.9 percent of the buyers in March had no evidence of a purchase loan in public records. But these buyers could be using non-traditional loans, or be putting mortgages on their properties after the purchases, said Andrew LePage, MDA DataQuick analyst.

“Many want to be able to offer cash to be in first position with a seller, or because they couldn’t obtain a traditional purchase mortgage in today’s relatively tight lending environment,” LePage said. A traditional homebuyer is going to have difficulty competing with a well-financed investor, Watkins said. “If you really want to get the good deals, you need to have the cash,” he said.

Prices seem to have stabilized, but it’s still difficult for buyers to get financing, Wilson-Bolton said. Banks don’t want to deal with Federal Housing Administration financing because it takes 45 days, she said. Cash offers can take as little as 10 days. “We’re busy,” Wilson-Bolton said. “There’s a lot of activity, but it’s a different kind of activity. Investors are taking their money out of the stock market and putting it into the real estate market.”

Cash sales represented 27.1 percent of homes sold in Southern California last month, MDA DataQuick reported. In February, the figure reached 30 percent — an all-time high since DataQuick began tracking in 1988. The 22-year monthly average is 13.8 percent.

There are some promising signs — down-payment sizes are stable, foreclosure activity has fallen and investors are scooping up deals. Multiple offers have been prevalent in areas throughout the county, Sohn said.

“I’m pretty sure housing has really hit the bottom,” Sohn said. “This is especially true around coastal areas, including Ventura County.” But there’s still a long way to go before stability is reached, Watkins said. “We still have a lot of foreclosures in the pipeline,” Watkins said. “There are still a lot of people out of jobs for very long periods of time. And until we see jobs, you can’t have a normal real estate market.”

www.RealEstateResult.com, By Michael Sueoka

On March 31, 2010 the City of Thousand Oaks met to discuss their continued efforts for the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Redevelopment. The Thousand Oaks Boulevard Association is a group of property owners dedicated to the enhancement of the quality of life in the City of Thousand Oaks through revitalization of the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Corridor. The meeting discussed the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and asked members of the community if there are other items the city should consider. The boulevard redevelopment is not intended to be a quick buildout of new projects and properties, but rather an opportunity providing property owners incentives to revitalize their underutilized properties. The EIR is slated to be completed by the summer of 2010.

Want to purchase Commercial Properties along the Thousand Oaks Boulevard or Invest in Real Estate?

By Tony Biasotti
Posted March 2, 2010 at 5:59 p.m.

There won’t be any new churches, private colleges or other “assembly uses” allowed in county open space zones under an ordinance approved Tuesday by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

The board voted 4-1 to approve new regulations on 190,000 acres zoned open space in unincorporated parts of the county.

The ordinance defines a type of development called an assembly use as churches, clubhouses, community centers, colleges and many types of government buildings. With few exceptions, they would be banned in open space zones.

“This is a landmark for the future protection of open space in our county,” Supervisor Linda Parks said. “In open space, you’re not supposed to be putting buildings and major developments. This is something where in the future we’re going to look back and say, we did something very significant in protecting open space today.”

The vote went against a recommendation made in January by the county Planning Commission. Supervisor Peter Foy cast the only no vote Tuesday.

“The foundation of this country is property rights, and we have to very, very careful in taking that away,” Foy said. “Every time something happens we don’t like, we make more rules. We have the most restrictive land use policies in the state, maybe the country, and we don’t need more restrictions.”

About 100 people attended the board’s three-hour hearing Tuesday, with 43 addressing the board. The speakers were split on the issue.

Exceptions to the new ban will be made for public schools and colleges, because the county has no jurisdiction over them, and for fire stations, jails and other public safety buildings. Equestrian centers, golf courses and other facilities for sports or recreation also are exempt.

Churches and a few other types of developments already were banned on open space properties. However, the county’s attorneys believe the old rules left the county vulnerable to a lawsuit because they contradict a federal law that requires local authorities to treat religious land uses the same as other land uses.

There are four “assembly uses” already operating in the open space, including Thomas Aquinas College near Santa Paula and the Tom Barber Golf Center driving range near Moorpark.

The driving range would not be affected by the new ordinance. The proposal that went to the board Tuesday would have banned night lighting at the range, but the board pulled that provision before its final vote at Parks’ request.

The other properties now become “legal non-conforming uses,” a planning term that means they will be allowed to operate even though the zoning rules now state that projects like them aren’t permitted. To stay open after their current permits expire — for Aquinas College, in 2027 — they will have to obtain “continuation permits” from the county.

The other two assembly uses in that group are the nonprofit group HELP of Ojai and an office of the Ventura Regional Sanitation District outside of Oxnard.

NAR SEES GLOOMY 2010, BETTER NEWS IN 2011
Ben Johnson, February 23, 2010 | 9:27 AM | OKCREiew

By Mana Tulberg, VenturaCountyRealEstateTalk.com

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has introduced new rules for the FHA home loan program which will ultimately have a huge impact on Ventura County’s home buyers and consequently, Ventura County’s real estate market.  Due to a significant rise in the number of defaulted FHA loans, the FHA’s cash reserve has fallen below the Federally mandated level.  This has prompted new FHA home loan guidelines to ensure that the new FHA home buyers are in a better financial position and have greater equity at the time of purchase.

The new FHA guidelines will introduce new restrictions for FHA borrowers.  Below is a list of a few of these conditions and restrictions:

• Downpayment for borrowers with a credit score above 580 will remain at 3.5%.  However, home buyers with a credit score less than 580 will have to provide 10% downpayment towards the purchase of their new home.  This rule will go into effect in early summer 2010.

• All new FHA borrowers’ upfront mortgage insurance premiums will increase from 1.75% to 2.25%.  The FHA mortgage insurance is a cost borrowers pay because they are able to purchase a home with less than 20% downpayment.  This rule will go into effect in Spring 2010.

• Home sellers’ concessions, which is the amount home sellers contribute to the FHA home buyers’ closing cost, will be reduced from 6% to 3%.  This means home buyers will have to come up with the additional money for their closing costs.  This rule will go into effect in early summer 2010.

Some Ventura County home buyers may see these new FHA guidelines as an additional hurdle in their road to homeownership.  Many FHA home buyers who were relying on FHA’s low closing cost and low downpayment will have to come up with some additional cash.  In today’s economy where cash and revenue is scarce, coming up with additional cash may be more difficult for some FHA home buyers.   Therefore, Ventura County may experience a thinning in FHA home buyers during the summer season where traditionally the real estate market is at its busiest.

If you are looking to buy commercial properties in Thousand Oaks look along Thousand Oaks Boulevard. With the Thousand Oaks Redevelopment Agency buying parcels of land near the Civic Center and plans to make the boulevard more pedestrian friendly, a rise in property value in the area is not a reach.

T.O. to buy properties next to Civic Arts Plaza
By Teresa Rochester, Ventura County Star

The city of Thousand Oaks will move forward with the purchase of four parcels next to the Civic Arts Plaza following a vote Tuesday night by the City Council.

The council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, voted 4-1 to buy the properties at 1900-1948 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. and 265-1935 Oakwood Drive for $3.25 million. The money will come from the city’s Redevelopment Agency budget, which is funded through property tax increments.

Council members said the purchase was a prime opportunity to help guide what is developed in that portion of the downtown area, which is part of the Thousand Oaks Redevelopment Agency Project Area. It has long been targeted for revitalization to make it more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly and self-sustaining.

Councilwoman Jacqui Irwin said the land becoming available during a depressed real estate market was a great opportunity for the city.

“If we didn’t jump on this … we would really be looking back on this as a missed opportunity,” she said.

Councilwoman Claudia Bill-de la Peña voted against the purchase. She said she would rather the money go to affordable housing than to buying property she didn’t considered blighted.

“I would rather provide roofs over people’s heads,” she said.

City Manager Scott Mitnick described the purchase as bread and butter redevelopment work and that part of the Redevelopment Agency’s role was to ensure blight does not happen. The agency has spent significant amounts of money on affordable housing, he said.

“This is a great opportunity for the community, one that will pay dividends in the years to come,” he said.

The properties sits to the west of the Civic Arts Plaza. Four businesses are on the parcels: The Wine Yard, Enhanced Landscape Management, Thousand Oaks Smog Test Only and Above All Glass.

The businesses operate on month-to-month leases, which would generate about $100,000 a year in rental income for the city’s redevelopment agency.

The city has no plans for the property at this time. Community Development Director John Prescott described the purchase as land banking.

The properties were put up for sale in May 2009. The City Council had staff members look into the property and get an appraisal. In the fall, the property owners approached the city about buying the land and negotiations began.

By Muhammed El-Hasan Business Writer
Posted: 01/13/2010 05:40:42 PM PST

Even as the economy and real estate market show signs of stabilizing, foreclosure filings continued to grow in California and nationwide last year.

In the Golden State, 632,573 properties – 4.75 percent of the state’s housing units – received a foreclosure filing in 2009, according to a report released Wednesday.

That represented an increase of nearly 21 percent from 2008, and was the most for any state last year, said RealtyTrac, an Irvine-based compiler of foreclosure data.

By percent of foreclosure notices compared to all homes, California was No. 4 nationwide, behind Nevada, Arizona and Florida.

In addition, after four straight month-over-month declines in foreclosure notices, California saw an increase in December by nearly 9 percent over November.

Yet, California’s foreclosure activity – default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions – was down by 17 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter.

Nationwide, foreclosure filings hit 2,824,674 U.S. residential properties last year, a 21 percent rise from 2008 and a 120 percent increase from 2007, RealtyTrac said.

“As bad as the 2009 numbers are, they probably would have been worse if not for legislative and industry-related delays in processing delinquent loans,” RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in a statement.

Nationwide foreclosure activity peaked in July, with 361,000 properties receiving a notice.

The following four months saw monthly decreases mainly because of trial loan modifications, state legislation stretching out the foreclosure process and “an overwhelming volume of inventory clogging the foreclosure pipeline,” Saccacio said.

After that four-month positive trend, nationwide foreclosure notices increased again in December. Filings were reported for 349,519 U.S. properties last month, a 14 percent rise over November and a 15 percent increase from December of 2008.

“In the long term, a massive supply of delinquent loans continues to loom over the housing market, and many of those delinquencies will end up in the foreclosure process in 2010 and beyond as lenders gradually work their way through the backlog.”

While foreclosure notices may have increased, the total number of California properties taken by banks has decreased, said Steve Goddard, president of the California Association of Realtors, an industry trade group.

Actual foreclosures in the state numbered from 200,000 to 210,000 last year, down from 236,000 in 2008, Goddard said.

He commended banks as “balanced” for their pace of foreclosures that didn’t flood the market.

“It’s hard to tell how many foreclosures are in the pipeline, but we wouldn’t expect to have a lot of them come out all at once,” Goddard said.

He noted that home prices in California have risen from February at least through November, the latest month with available price data.

“We like the direction of the market right now and feel very positive about it and expect the value of properties to continue to rise another 3 to 5 percent this year, which is very good,” Goddard said.

Despite what we hear about the massive inventory of housing it still seems difficult to find that perfect home. Why is that? Below is an article discussing the reasons why the housing inventory seems low. For buyers this may hamper their opportunity to find that pie in the sky, but maybe this provides a little opportunity for sellers trying to save what they have left.

Explaining The Low Housing Inventory In Ventura County
Written by Mana Tulberg www.VcReTalk.com

“Could someone please give me a good explanation for the low housing inventory?”

Recently I posted the above question on both Facebook and Twitter. The responses I received were varied and insightful. I was informed that the low housing inventory is not exclusive to just Ventura County, rather the whole country is experiencing this frustrating situation. The scarce selection of homes has left many Realtors and their clients disappointed. This has generated an aggressive housing market.

Some of the home buyers in Ventura County have lost the excitement of home shopping. The low inventory of homes in every city of our county has caused a bidding war on many properties. Homes that are priced well receive multiple offers within the first couple of days of being on the market. In my recent experience, many of these homes sell 3-5% over the asking price. Cash buyers, and home buyers with 10-20% downpayment, have a strong advantage of being much more likely to have have their offers accepted. This leaves FHA home buyers probing and watching the housing market more vigorously, but that is another post by itself.

Back to the question at hand: What is the reason for the low housing inventory in Ventura County?

The majority of the responses that I received agreed that, no matter the market condition, the inventory of homes normally declines during the holiday seasons. Starting in October, both home sellers and home buyers tend to pause their home selling or home buying activities. However, I believe there are more explanations for the decrease in Ventura County’s housing inventory than just the normal seasonal slow down. The rapidly increasing rate of unemployment and the compelling rise in shadow inventory of foreclosed homes may provide a better explanation for the low housing inventory in Ventura County and the rest of the country.

Teresa Boardman, an amazing photographer and Realtor from Saint Paul Minnesota, brought up a great point during our Facebook discussion. Teresa and I both know some homeowners who refuse to place their home on the market in order to purchase a newer or larger home due to job insecurity. The current economy and the rise in unemployment has left many homeowners cautious and uncertain about their future. A newer or larger home usually means a larger mortgage and an increase in property taxes.

Another great colleague of mine, Irina Netchaev of Pasadena CA, pointed out the so called, “shadow inventory” of properties. These properties are homes that have been taken back by the lender or homes where the home owner is 90 days behind on the mortgage. According to a report published in September 2009 by First American CoreLogic 1.7 million homes are currently in shadow inventory across the US. The overwhelming number of foreclosures have delayed the lenders in processing these homes for sale therefore delaying the entry of these foreclosed homes into the local markets. It is unclear when and how the lenders will unleash their inventory of foreclosed homes. However, there are some that argue lenders are holding on to their foreclosure inventory until the housing market stabilizes.

By Curbed LA

Following state budget cuts for education, nearly 500 Los Angeles children who attend public schools in Beverly Hills may get the boot from those schools, reports the New York Times.  Next month, the Beverly Hills school board will vote on a proposal that would essentially phase out the kids, likely returning them to schools in Los Angeles. Naturally, some families are upset about the decision, pointing out that Beverly Hills was happy to take the kids when it benefited the city (Beverly Hills got $6,239 per child from the state). More: “Suddenly, with no state financing in the mix, there is no incentive to fill empty classrooms with children from other cities. From the point of view of most of the five school board members, the out-of-town students would essentially be on scholarship, and draining money — roughly $2 million a year, according to the superintendent for the district — that could go to other programs. The district’s annual budget is about $62.5 million.” The saga also makes the front page of the Beverly Hills Weekly, which reports that meetings have gotten so contentious that security officers have had to escort board members to their cars after the meetings.

By Mana Tulberg, Ventura County Real Estate Talk

According to a report by the California Association of Realtors (CAR) both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will delay foreclosure evictions in Ventura County and the rest of the country between December 19, 2009-January 3, 2010 .  The purpose behind the temporary eviction halt by the two lending institutes is to assist struggling families during the holiday season.

Ventura County homes occupied by their owners and tenant occupied homes in foreclosure by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not be disturbed during the time frame stated above.

While some may cynically view this as a Public Relations campaign or Political posturing by these two mortgage giants, for the families that it will benefit, it is a small Christmas miracle. Everybody can appreciate some relief at the end of this very tough year.