State of the Housing Market in Houston mid-09 (Dallas, Blanket: for sale, foreclosures)

[bamba_boy]

CNN-Money's online site had a nice summary of the various major metropolitan markets. They were very upbeat about Houston although much of our good fortune now was that we didn't have the big run-ups of the other cities due to ease of new home construction:

Houston

Foreclosure rate: One for every 153 housing units [compared to numbers like 1 in 20 for some Arizona and Florida metros]
Change from 2008: Down 31.3%

Despite the city's rapid growth, constant building to feed the demand kept home prices affordable all through the boom. The median price for a home sold during the first three months of 2009 in Houston was still only $138,500, according to the National Association of Realtors. Homebuyers did not need to rely on toxic mortgage products, which carry high default risks.

Future foreclosure risk: Low. Even though delinquency rates crept up recently, they're still a lot lower than the national average. Plus, the number of repossessed homes for sale has actually dropped since a year ago, according to First American CoreLogic. Buyers are snapping up foreclosed homes, keeping the housing market strong. A growing population also helps. "Strong demand moderates risk," said Fleming.

[bamba_boy]

Do people out there buying and/or selling homes out there agree with CNN-Money that demand is still high and home prices are hanging in there?

[RVer]

Originally Posted by bamba_boy

Do people out there buying and/or selling homes out there agree with CNN-Money that demand is still high and home prices are hanging in there?

I dont believe it at all, nor do any Realtors I talk to on a regular basis.

And we dont believe it because it simply ain't true. I wonder if the NAR released that story rather then CNN.

[EasilyAmused]

Depends on the area. Some are even still appreciating.

[modster]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Depends on the area. Some are even still appreciating.

Absolutely. Blanket statements just don't work in this market in this city.

Some areas are stagnant/soft while in some areas if a really nicely done house pops on the market it is a feeding frenzy.

[AlfredB1979]

Originally Posted by bamba_boy

Do people out there buying and/or selling homes out there agree with CNN-Money that demand is still high and home prices are hanging in there?

If the bit in the Comical biz section last week that I looked over in regards to sales/prices by area was any indicator, that CNN piece could not be further from the truth.

[City Love]

From what I see day to day. Demand is on the uptick and relatively high. I say relatively high because it's all relative to the prices in the area. Some newer areas have seen high foreclosures rates which has brought down the prices in those subdivision. The demand now in those areas has gone up because prices have come down.

Houston is a great market. I work with people trying to downsize into a 300-400k home and I see others trying to get a bigger homes because they are doing well. In general prices have dropped. But like EA said, some areas are still appreciating. Even some suburbs are seeing a small jump in prices. Foreclosures are obviously the hurting factor and now people losing their jobs is hurting. But once the abundance of foreclosures is removed from certain good neighborhoods, the prices stabilize and even rise. I've tracked several neighborhoods where this has been the trend. Just common sense stuff.

My opinion, demand is strong but because prices have dropped a bit.

[bamba_boy]

There was a reason that I wrote the original post. I had a closing date 3 days away on a nice 1.5% interest reduction refinancing - meeting place and time all set up. We had a professional appraisal by an appraisal picked randomly from the approved list of the lender. The appraisal came well above an amount giving us more than 20% equity, needed to secure the low rate.

Then on that day 3 days before the closing I get a call that a second "in-house" appraisal made by the Dallas-based mortgage company (for a house in Houston!), made strictly by "paper" (generating comparables off of HAR etc) was done and showed the house worth 10-15% less than our actual detailed on-site appraisal. They couldn't fund the loan after all because we had less than 20% equity. We challenged them to come do an onsite inspection which we felt would definitely assure them that the house was at or near the original appraised (and HCAD Tax) value. They refused and I'm as mad as a hornet, especially since interest rates have risen .5 points while we were screwing around with these numskulls.

[modster]

Do not pull my cord on appraisals. It is a nightmare right now.

Was it by chance Bank of America?