* Please note, the sender's email address has not been verified Barron's on home prices. Up 12% nationwide in 2013!. WSJ Video - Barron's Buzz: Home Prices Set to Climb in 2014 Subscriber-only content will be available to non-subscribers for up to seven days after it is emailed. This article can also be accessed if you copy and paste the entire address below into your web browser. http://on.wsj.com/1il0BXH?mod=wsj_video_email

Fw: WSJ MARKETS ALERT: U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 3%

‎Rates headed up!

David J. White
South Bay Brokers, Inc.
310-916-1533

From: WSJ.com Editors Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 8:15 AM To: david.white@southbaybrokers.com Reply To: access@interactive.wsj.com Subject: WSJ MARKETS ALERT: U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 3%

The Wall Street Journal Markets Alert U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 3% U.S. Treasury bonds fell Thursday, pushing the yield on 10-year notes to 3%, a threshold that may signal a new baseline for higher interest rates that could send ripples through the U.S. economy and global financial markets. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note's yield was at the highest level since September, marking the second time this year that the yield reached the 3% mark. See More Coverage » Follow Us Unsubscribe Email Settings Contact Us Privacy Policy You are currently subscribed as david.white@southbaybrokers.com. For further assistance, please contact Customer Service at support@wsj.com Copyright 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Problem Appraisals (and other challenges)

Perhaps this article is a little over the top, but appraisals can be quite an issue in this rising market.  Best approach is to have a good Realtor used to dealing with challenges such as these!  - David

The Food Coma: Will Turkey Dinner Make Me Sleepy?

The real scoop on that mental haze that develops right after Thanksgiving dinner.



Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and may God bless your home. - David

Appraisal Coming Up? Here's How to Optimize It

Ten Tips to Up Your Home’s Value During the Appraisal is a good review of what matters to an appraiser, and therefore to you if your home is being appraised for a sale or refinance. - David

Spelling Mansion Sells - WSJ.com

Nope, it wasn't my sale, and I'm about lasting client relationships (not one-off transactions) anyway. But this is undeniably a notable transaction anyway. - David

What Wall Street Wants for Housing

From today's Heard on the Street (WSJ): Wall Street Hearts Socialized Housing. It's all about Freddie and Fannie guarantees.  "The rest is  details." - David

Cash Buyers on the Move

We are definitely seeing this effect in the South Bay.

Cash Buyers Boost Battered Housing Markets - WSJ.com

Those who stored cash are purchasing real estate in the highest price ranges, but also at more moderate levels - - sometimes as investments.  Many of the Strand and Hill Section (Manhattan Beach) sales have been all cash in recent months, and those aren't on sale! - David

WSJ.com - Landlords Upgrade Rent Monitoring

Larger property owners are embracing new technologies for meeting market levels of rent in order to keep their properties occupied. While you might not own lots of rental units, the point shouldn't be lost: One month of vacancy is as costly as an 8.3% reduction in monthly rent. As in marketing a home, it makes sense to find the market than to pretend it will come to you! - David Click the following to access the link: WSJ.com - Landlords Upgrade Rent Monitoring* This article will be available to non-subscribers of the Online Journal for up to seven days after it is e-mailed.

New Home Sales Plunge - - Wait, I Thought They Were Up!

A recent post on this blog told of how home sales were considerably up in May.  In this one, I'm relaying a report by the Wall Street Journal that home sales were considerably down in May.  Head spinning yet?

Both posts are true, revealing the difficulty in understanding the housing market by merely glancing at headlines.

The posts refer to different measures:

• Sales of existing ("used, gently or otherwise") homes were indeed up 19.2%
• Sales of new (previously unoccupied) homes (often mistakenly interpreted as new sales of existing homes) were down by 32.7%.

Why would this be the case, and which if either should you care about?

Well, new home sales are certainly good for the economy, but they are a small percentage of the total inventory of houses.  But besides pure levels of buyer demand, new home sales are greatly dependent upon the number of new homes that builders are building!  So if homebuilders are not building as many homes as before (they aren't), or if special financing isn't being offered in this market, then that measure will tend to decline.  You should care about this if you are a homebuilder, or invest in homebuilders, or are an economist, or live next door to an enormous new tract offering big discounts and 0% financing..Personally, I care much more about the number of new housing permits issued than the number of new homes sold.

Existing home sales have to do with the natural turnover of the nation's inventory of homes, whether built in 2009 or 1909, so long as they've been previously occupied.  This is a much more telling economic indicator with respect to the housing market.  You should care about it if you're a current or prospective homebuyer or seller!  But like any measure, I wouldn't worry too much about it on a month to month basis.  Because it may or may not be "seasonally adjusted," and it may or may not be affected by factors as simple as a different number of days in the month!

More info: New Home Sales Plunge - WSJ.com

For the real story, you need local data.  Ask your Realtor! -David

The 60 Minutes Walkaway: Conscience and Consequences

Debt forgiveness has long been a taxable event.  But the taxability of purchase money mortgage debt forgiven by a lender was relaxed by the Bush Administration and has been further lessened under Obama.

Yet there are limits, and these should not be a surprise to anyone, including those who appeared over the weekend on 60 Minutes bragging about how they plan to walk away from their homes without remorse - - or even to continue living in their homes without paying their mortgages until lenders physically ousted them, just because they can.

A key exception to tax relief

The New Rules of Remodeling - WSJ.com

Thinking about remodeling?  Few might think that Harvard or USC would be interested!

The New Rules of Remodeling - WSJ.com

But the parameters have changed greatly with reductions in  home values and equity. - David

Apartment Rents Rise as Sector Stabilizes - WSJ.com

Good sign for residential real estate and income property investors as well: Apartment Rents Rise as Sector Stabilizes - WSJ.com. The article mentions that rents have continued downward in the Inland Empire, attributing this to a rise in purchases! If even that market is stabilizing, then the stability we've been seeing in the South Bay since February seems to have reached pretty far inland. - David

Extreme Home Foreclosure Trouble - WSJ.com

This is a little sad, but it's a fair reflection of one of the biggest elements of the mortgage crisis.

Extreme Home Foreclosure Trouble - WSJ.com

While the intentions are no doubt positive when Extreme Makeover Home Edition does it's thing, the result has been quite similar to when mortgage lenders did their thing a few years ago: putting families in homes they couldn't afford. OUCH! - David