Foreclosure Prevention Telephone Seminar

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KARE-11 News provide two chances for worried homeowners to seek help this week.


This week, homeowners will have two opportunities to have their questions answered from the comfort and convenience of their home. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center is offering the first of its 2009 series of telephone seminars. The following evening, KARE-11 will feature a phone bank of housing counselors during its 10pm newscast.

Telephone seminar offers homeowners chance to ask questions, find out what to do if worried about mortgage
Telephone seminars provide convenient, private access point to information for homeowners who are worried about their mortgage and are just beginning to ask questions about their situation as well as those facing foreclosure. The telephone seminar allows people to participate anonymously from the privacy of their home, work or car. The seminar format is similar to a radio call-in show, including informational segments and questions from callers.

The telephone seminar will take place on:
Tuesday, February 10 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.
Call in number: (888) 886-6603

Those interested in participating can call in anytime between 7:00 and 8:00 pm.

Housing counselors available during KARE-11 news
On Wednesday, February 11, housing counselors will be taking calls during the 10 pm newscast of KARE-11. Phone lines will be open during the entire broadcast. The phone number will be announced throughout the newscast, which will also feature a segment about a homeowner who successfully averted foreclosure by working with one of the Minnesota Home Ownership Center’s counseling agencies.

For more information about the telephone seminar or KARE-11 segment, call (651) 659-9336 or visit www.hocmn.org.

Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC) Releases December Stats

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 NEWS RELEASE

Builder's Association of the Twin Cities Stats

Roseville, MN (January 12, 2009) – December permit statistics are a clear indication that regional builders were more than ready to close the books on 2008. Planned units dropped to just six more than the year’s monthly

low in February, and and down 60 percent compared to December 2007. Multi-family units made up just 36 percent of the month’s total, a drop from the 50 to 70 percent each month since July.

According to statistics compiled by the Keystone Report for the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC), there were 223 units permitted during the month of December 2008, down from the 420 units permitted in November 2008. Housing activity ended the year 40 percent below 2007. A total of 5,397 units were permitted in 2008, compared to 8,961 units permitted last year.

The housing sector has borne the brunt of this economic downturn, losing an estimated three million jobs since the peak of housing expansion in 2005.

“Housing traditionally accounts for 15 cents of every dollar spent in the United States,” says BATC President Mike Swanson. “Therefore housing must be a centerpiece of any recovery plan.”

“The housing industry, spearheaded by the National Assocition of Home Builders’ Fix Housing First Coalition, is urging Congress to take action that includes ensuring below-market mortgage rates and expanded home buyer tax credits,” explains Swanson. “These measures will help to stablize home prices, prevent future foreclosures, restore consumer confidence and start creating jobs.”

Hudson, WI led the metro in building activity for the month with 29 units permitted in December. Woodbury followed with 19 units permitted, Maple Grove was next with 18 units permitted, followed by Blaine with 15 and Hugo at 12. 

 

The Builders Association of the Twin Cities has contracted with Keystone Report, a local research firm, to maintain a database with information about new residential construction permits around the metropolitan area. After a builder has picked up the permit from a city, Keystone Report compiles and updates weekly residential housing permits by city for 70 percent of the metropolitan- area municipalities in the greater 13-county region. Planned units are the total number of housing units planned to be built under the permits issued (one permits is issued per building which may include more than one housing unit). Permit value does not include the land/lot costs.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Foreclosures and Short Sales

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The time seems to be flying as it seem like the last 3 months have gone by so quickly. For the last few weeks, Jeff Allen & I have been putting the final touches on the 3rd Quarter update to our report on Foreclosure and Short Sale activity in the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul Region. We’ve revised the methodology to account for a new field our MLS recently added that discloses SOME of the properties that are either a foreclosure and short sale. We also found some additional terms that agents have been using to describe their listings as being Lender Mediated.

A phenomenon that has also been picking up in the last few months is the usage of “not a foreclosure,” “not a short sale” and others. It seems that many agents and/or their sellers have come to feel that it is important to note that their properties that are not in a distressed sales situation. In a market where many foreclosures are in horrible condition and a short sale can take 2 weeks to 4 months to negotiate (and only maybe successfully) I would agree that in many cases it is good to distance your property from that market if there’s any chance of misperception. In this quarter’s report we’ve made sure to exclude properties that are listed with those terms.

Take a look at the report!

Minneapolis Foreclosures Falling?

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Star Tribune has an article discussing how Sheriff’s Sales in Minneapolis might be peaking. The article gives several possible reasons for the peak in activity and discusses some of the things that are being done to help address the problem.

We’re far from through this crisis, but it seems like every few weeks there is a new data point that shows we’re finding fundamental levels and once we know where are boundaries are, I believe we’ll all feel more comfortable with the future of the housing markt.