As the housing market heals, foreclosure inventory is depleting quickly, CoreLogic reported.

In July, about 949,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure, down 32 percent from 1.4 million a year ago. Foreclosure inventory also showed a 4.4 percent decline from June. Year-to-date, foreclosure inventory is down by 20 percent.

Currently, about 2.4 percent of homes with a mortgage are in foreclosure inventory, the lowest level since March 2009.

In addition to shrinking foreclosure inventory, CoreLogic also reported steep declines in completed foreclosures and serious delinquencies.

According to the data provider’s estimate, about 49,000 properties were lost to foreclosure in July, down 25 percent from 65,000 in July 2012.

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I will be featured this week on Thursday, Aug. 29th for my work with NAWRB. Check out the flyer for details on how to tune in and what I will be discussing. Very excited!

After spending the previous four weeks at relatively steady levels, existing home sales moved higher, according to the National Home Sales Snapshot released by DataQuick along with another increase in home values.

There were 261,461 properties sold over the previous 30-day rolling period ending August 15, up 1.6 percent from the previous week’s total of 257,259 sold properties and 1.3 percent higher than the 258,064 properties sold four weeks ago.

Sales volume was 17.9 percent above last year’s cycle peak of 221,695 sales which occurred during the 30-day rolling period prior to September 13th of last year.

Most recent home sales volume were 18.8 percent higher than the 220,461 homes sold during the same period a year ago and was 30.5 percent higher than during the same period three years ago when 200,394 homes were sold.

The median price of a home sold over the current 30-day rolling period increased by $1,000 to $230,000. Four weeks ago the median home price was $222,500.

Home prices were 15.0 percent higher than during the same period a year ago when the median price of a home was $200,000 and were higher by the same amount during the same period three years ago. It was the 69th consecutive week that year-over-year home prices surpassed the previous year’s levels.

To read more, click here.

Found this great article by HousingWire.com!

A growing supply of properties in California caused a surge in new and resale homes and condos sold, with sales rising to a seven-year high in July, California-based research firm DataQuick posted.

An estimated 48,118 new and resale homes and condos sold in July, up 17.3% from 41,027 in June and an increase of 21.8% from 39,507 sales a year earlier, the firm noted.

Last month’s sales count was the highest for July since 66,929 homes sold back in the housing heyday of 2005. Additionally, last month was the first time California sales were above average for any month since September 2006.

On a similar note, DataQuick revealed this week that July sales in Southern California came close to historic norms, falling just 0.5% below the average number of sales historically expected for the month of July.

To read more, click here.

I am very excited to be attending the upcoming WCR Fraud Panel and 2014 Elections at the Riverside Public Library on Wednesday, August 21st from 11:30-1:30 p.m. 


Panelists for this event include:  Martin Abad, Freddie Mac; Patrick Aliano, Bank of America; Leslie DeMarco, Federal Housing Finance Agency; Phillip Ihde, Bureau of Real Estate; David Allen, Deputy District Attorney; and John Giardinelli, Attorney.

This is a topic that I am very interested in learning more about. Who else will be attending? I am looking forward to a day of learning and networking. For more information on this event, click here.

In today's world, most Baby Boomers aren't retiring by the age of 55 as once expected. There is one way to avoid outliving your money: Work longer, on your own terms.

You may not want to or be able to retire at 65 or 67, but so what. If you're doing work you enjoy in your own business, setting your own schedule, fulfilling goals you've set yourself -- it may not even feel like work. Pursuing their professional dreams while working for themselves has enabled many older self-employed workers to secure their financial future.

A recent survey by AARP found 10 percent of workers ages 45 to 74 plan to start a business and 15 percent workers in this age range are already self-employed. Some start a business due to a job loss, others had already retired but weren't ready to fully stop working. On average, self-employed workers in their 40s or 50s may spend nearly two decades working for themselves, the AARP study found.

Nearly 75 percent of older self-employed workers surveyed by AARP indicated that their business made a profit in 2011. That may explain why nine out of 10 believe it is not likely they will have to stop working in the next year.

To read more, click here.

Orange County and Los Angeles were two housing markets leading the nation in recovery in the second quarter, Realtor.com reported as part of its Turnaround Towns Report.

At number two, Orange County is one of the turnaround towns for the quarter because its median home prices rose 29.4 percent over a year ago, the report said. It also had the fastest declining inventory in the nation, down 36.6 percent. That compared to the national average of 10.3 percent. Oakland, the No. 1 market, had falling inventory of 34.4 percent.

The median age of Orange County homes on Realtor.com was 51 days during the second quarter, far below the national median of 83 days and 43.3 percent lower than a year ago, according to the report.

 To read more, click here.

American consumers grew increasingly positive in July, according to results in Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey.

Undeterred by rising mortgage rates, the majority of consumers polled expressed belief that the market will continue to improve, with 53 percent saying they expect home prices will go up in the next year—though that figure does represent a decline of 4 percentage points from June’s high. The percentage of those expecting prices to drop fell to a survey low of 6 percent.

The average home price change expectation over the next 12 months increased slightly to 3.9 percent, matching the survey high first achieved in May.

To read more, click here.