News About Properties

Home Prices Rise in California Again

California’s median price for an existing single-family house rose for the third straight month, a sign that the state’s battered real-estate market may be bottoming out.

The median sales price increased to $267,570 in May for a California home, an increase of 4.2% from April, according to a report released Thursday by the California Association of Realtors. The inventory of unsold houses continued to drop, to 4.2 months’ supply in May compared with 4.6 months in April and 8.7 months in May 2008. Prices were still well below their year-ago levels, down 30.4% compared with May 2008.

One explanation for the increase in housing prices is that fewer foreclosed properties are among those being sold, said Kirk Lesh, an economist for California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting. Banks tend to sell foreclosed houses at lower prices than do people selling their own homes.

California’s real-estate market, the nation’s largest, is seen as a barometer of the U.S. economy. Housing prices soared during the boom, and their plummet during the market’s collapse resulted in massive foreclosures and fueled the recession. Economists say the state’s housing market will lag behind the nation’s in recovering, so any indication of improvement in California bodes well for the rest of the U.S.

Homeowner-association dues are not optional

Thousands of Americans who have generally kept up with their mortgages are still in danger of losing their homes because they made a fateful trade-off in this shaky economy — they let their homeowner-association dues slide.

Many homeowners are learning to their surprise that condo and neighborhood associations that oversee security patrols, mow lawns, plant flowers and clean the community swimming pool may have the right to foreclose when dues aren’t paid. That right is often written into the purchase agreement signed by the homeowner.

Among those who have been threatened with foreclosure is Lacey Pilat, who lost her job catering lavish corporate parties and nearly lost her two-story house in this Dallas suburb.

“Basically, our landscaper was foreclosing on the house,” said Steve Pilat, her husband. “That’s the way we looked at it.”

Condos squeeze deadbeat residents

Rosa Mendoza’s upstairs neighbor quit making his condo association payments almost a year ago. He bought another home and let his unit slide into foreclosure.

What irks Mendoza — no, infuriates her — is that, as the foreclosure process drags on, the neighbor continues using the Miami Beach condo as a weekend getaway, even keeping his sailboat tied to the dock.

‘’What I would love to do is untie that boat of his and let it float away,'’ Mendoza said. “I would never do it, but I fantasize about it.'’

Well into the second year of South Florida’s foreclosure crisis, deadbeat condo owners are taking a heavy toll on associations like Mendoza’s. Owners in or facing foreclosure often stop paying their condo fees that are needed to pay for essential utilities and services. That leaves other residents on the hook to pay the difference.

Homeowners should be careful about how they hold title to properties

The manner in which homeowners hold title to their properties has significant legal ramifications. Consequently, it’s not wise to leave this important decision to chance.

Escrow agents will ask how you would prefer the title to read. But often the question isn’t posed until you near the close of the sale, and by then it may be too late to give any real thought to your options.

With that in mind, here’s an overview of some of the more common forms of ownership:

* Tenancy by the entirety. In most cases, this is the correct way for married couples to hold title. In fact, it is available only to married couples.

FHA brings relief for some condos [Central Florida]

The resort-style pool, spa and health club along with luxurious 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows are no longer the key selling points for 101 Eola in Thornton Park.

Today the best thing going for the 146-unit condominium tower is that it’s the only newly constructed building in downtown Orlando that is FHA approved, a special government sanction that allows buyers to put as little as 3.5 percent down.

Such a low down payment is virtually unheard of in today’s condo market, where obtaining a loan can be nearly impossible, even when a buyer with good credit is able to put down 20 percent.

It’s evidence of just how far the condo market has fallen since the boom days earlier this decade when towers began growing like kudzu on the city’s skyline.

Second homes: Added condos sweeten the Big Apple

The Big Apple attracts second-home owners the same way it lures more than 45 million tourists annually: with the nation’s best array of restaurants, museums, shops, performing arts and culture.

But recent developments have made New York even more tempting. Once-marginal neighborhoods such as the Meatpacking District and Times Square are not just gentrified but leading hot spots. The 10-year-old Hudson River Park has transformed the entire West Side shoreline, once full of rail yards and crumbling piers, into a sports, recreation and relaxation zone. Another park, the High Line, 1½ miles of greenway through downtown, opened its first phase just last week.

But perhaps the biggest driver for pied-à-terre ownership has been recent condo construction after a long period of inactivity. The shift to condos has greatly increased the inventory of second homes, says Emma Kerins, executive vice president of the city’s Halstead Property, as would-be buyers are able to bypass the approval of a co-op board that may frown upon absentee owners.