Washington, DC– The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today launched a new website for consumers seeking information about the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable loan modification and refinancing program. MakingHomeAffordable.gov offers features including interactive self-assessment tools that will empower borrowers to determine if they’re eligible to participate and calculate the monthly mortgage payment reductions they could stand to realize under the Making Home Affordable program.

First announced by President Barack Obama in February, Making Home Affordable will offer assistance to as many as 7 to 9 million homeowners making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments, while attempting to prevent the destructive impact of the housing crisis on families and communities. MakingHomeAffordable.gov is a joint effort of the Department of the Treasury and HUD.

“Education and outreach is central to the success of our Making Home Affordable program,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “Putting resources and tools directly in the hands of homeowners will expedite the process of delivering relief to responsible borrowers, and stabilizing the housing market is central to our overall economic recovery.”

“The tools offered on this site will help American families access the help they need even faster,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Communicating how this program works and who is eligible to those who need it is critical to the program’s success, and this website does just that.”

Since releasing the guidelines to enable servicers to begin modifications of eligible mortgages under Making Home Affordable on March 4th, representatives from Treasury, HUD and other members of a broad interagency task force have conducted detailed briefings and training sessions for mortgage loan servicers and investors, nonprofit housing counselors and nationwide borrower advocacy groups. Through these early and aggressive efforts to arm those interacting directly with borrowers with information, interagency representatives have briefed more than 2,500 participants on the Administration’s plans in the last two weeks.

A wide array of large banks to small lenders have already agreed to participate in Making Home Affordable, and servicers have undertaken steps to proactively engage borrowers and respond to their inquiries related to the new program. For example, JP Morgan Chase has put several special tools into place and initiated proactive solicitations to eligible borrowers around the Making Home Affordable program, including an online site to provide program details and allow borrowers to download a new financial information package; increased staffing in a dedicated service center that provides simple entry point for all borrowers, including CHASE, heritage Washington Mutual and EMC; a partnership with Fannie Mae to solicit over 125,000 eligible borrowers; and solicitation to an additional 180,000 non-GSE eligible borrowers.

With those wheels in motion, the Administration is now accelerating efforts to communicate directly with borrowers about the Making Home Affordable program. Features of the MakingHomeAffordable.gov website launched today include:

Extensive information about the Administration’s Making Home Affordable plan
Self assessment tools to allow borrowers to determine if they are eligible for the program
A calculator feature that allows homeowners to estimate the reduction to their monthly mortgage payment that they might stand to realize under the plan
Resources to find free, HUD-approved counseling services for borrowers who have additional questions
A handy checklist to ensure homeowners collect all the documents they need before calling their servicers

For more information on the Sarasota Florida housing market contact:

Daniel Hilts & Christine Huxtable Team GRI, CFIC, ABR, REOS
Phone
(941) 360-7777
Fax
(941) 360-7678
Direct Line
(941) 809-8448
Direct Line
(941) 504-2236

Check other local areas for more detailed information posted by real estate professionals who live and work in the area.

National Summary (U.S.)

Existing-home sales declined on the heels of a strong gain in September as uncertainty and economic concerns increased in October, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

Existing-home sales — including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — fell 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.98 million units in October from a downwardly revised pace of 5.14 million in September, and are 1.6 percent below the 5.06 million-unit level in October 2007.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said consumer hesitation is understandable. “Many potential home buyers appear to have withdrawn from the market due to the stock market collapse and deteriorating economic conditions,” he said. “We have favorable affordability conditions, but we need more than that to give buyers with jobs the confidence they need. This is why a housing stimulus is so critical now to encourage more buyers to draw down the inventory and stabilize home prices. Without home price stabilization, there will not be an economic recovery.”

Total housing inventory at the end of October slipped 0.9 percent to 4.23 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 10.2-month supply2 at the current sales pace, up from a 10.0-month supply in September.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.20 percent in October from 6.04 percent in September; the rate was 6.38 percent in October 2007. “Mortgage interest rates have been moving up and down in a historically low range, with the fixed rate down to 6.04 percent last week,” Yun noted.

Even with the overall decline, Yun identified a number of areas with solid sales gains from a year ago, including many California and Florida markets, as seen previously, as well as Boston, Minneapolis, and Denver.

NAR President Charles McMillan, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, said the need for professional assistance is growing. “Navigating the transaction process is easier said than done without professional assistance in today’s market,” McMillan said. “Proper valuation when many homes are being sold below replacement construction costs is very challenging — buyers remain in the driver’s seat.”

The national median existing-home price3 for all housing types was $183,300 in October, down 11.3 percent from a year ago when the median was $206,700. There remains a significant downward distortion in the current price from a large number of distress sales at discounted prices; the median is where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Single-family home sales declined 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in October from a level of 4.58 million in September, but are unchanged from a 4.43 million-unit pace in October 2007. The median existing single-family home price was $181,800 in October, down 11.2 percent from a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales eased by 1.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 550,000 units in October from 560,000 in September, and are 12.0 percent below the 625,000-unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price4 was $193,000 in October, which is 13.0 percent below October 2007.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast slipped 1.2 percent to an annual pace of 830,000 in October, and are 9.8 percent lower than a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $241,700, down 9.8 percent from October 2007.

Existing-home sales in the West eased by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.21 million in October but are 37.5 percent higher than October 2007. The median price in the West was $231,400, down 27.0 percent from a year ago.

In the South, existing-home sales declined 3.2 percent to an annual pace of 1.84 million in October, and are 10.2 percent below a year ago. The median price in the South was $161,100, which is 5.8 percent lower than October 2007.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest fell 6.0 percent in October to a pace of 1.10 million and remain 9.1 percent below October 2007. The median price in the Midwest was $149,400, down 6.7 percent from a year ago.

# # #

NOTE: References to performance in states or metro areas are from unpublished raw data used to analyze regional trends; please contact your local association of REALTORS® for more information.

1The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are used in reporting monthly data to factor out seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, home sales volume is normally higher in the summer than in the winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and family buying patterns. However, seasonal factors cannot compensate for abnormal weather patterns.

Existing-home sales, which include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, are based on transaction closings. This differs from the U.S. Census Bureau’s series on new single-family home sales, which are based on contracts or the acceptance of a deposit. Because of these differences, it is not uncommon for each series to move in different directions in the same month. In addition, existing-home sales, which generally account for 85 percent of total home sales, are based on a much larger sample — more than 40 percent of multiple listing service data each month — and typically are not subject to large prior-month revisions.

2Total inventory and month’s supply data are available back through 1999, while single-family inventory and month’s supply are available back to 1982. Condos were tracked quarterly prior to 1999 when single-family homes accounted for more than nine out of 10 purchases.

3The only valid comparisons for median prices are with the same period a year earlier due to the seasonality in buying patterns. Month-to-month comparisons do not compensate for seasonal changes, especially for the timing of family buying patterns. Changes in the composition of sales can distort median price data. Year-ago median and mean prices sometimes are revised in an automated process if more data is received than was originally reported.

4Because there is a concentration of condos in high-cost metro areas, the national median condo price can be higher than the median single-family price. In a given market area, condos typically cost less than single-family homes.

Existing-home sales for November will be released December 23, and the next Pending Home Sales Index & Forecast is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. EST December 9.

The National Association of REALTORS®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

For more information, visit http://www.appraisers.org/.

Daniel Hilts & Christine Huxtable Team

Exceeding The Expectations of Our Buyers & Sellers!

RE/MAX Alliance Group
Sarasota – Bradenton, FL & Surrounding Areas
Office: 941-360-7777 * Direct: 941-360- 1806 * Cell: 941-809-8448

Search over 25,000 home at: www.YourFloridaHome.net

Just signed and sealed…a $787 Billion Stimulus Plan made up of tax cuts and spending programs aims at reviving the US economy. Although the package was scaled down from nearly $1 Trillion, it still stands as the largest anti-recession effort since World War II.

Home owners and potential homebuyers stand to gain from key provisions in this stimulus plan. Here is what we know as of today…

The following discussions are intended for you to use directly with your client either in writing or verbally.

Tax Credit for Homebuyers

Additional Housing-Related Provisions

Tax Incentives to Spur Energy Savings and Green Jobs — This provision is designed to help promote energy-efficient investments in homes by extending and expanding tax credits through 2010 for purchases such as new furnaces, energy-efficient windows and doors, or insulation.

Landmark Energy Savings — This provision provides $5 Billion for energy efficient improvements for more than one million modest-income homes through weatherization. According to some estimates, this can help modest-income families save an average of $350 a year on heating and air conditioning bills.

Repairing Public Housing and Making Key Energy Efficiency Retrofits To HUD-Assisted Housing—This provision provides a total of $6.3 Billion for increasing energy efficiency in federally supported housing programs.Specifically, it establishes a new program to upgrade HUD-sponsored low-income housing (for elderly, disabled, and Section to increase energy efficiency, including new insulation, windows, and frames.

Expanding Housing Assistance—This provision increases support for several critical housing programs. It includes $2 Billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to help communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties.

More Help for Homeowners in the Future

Another thing to keep an eye on in the coming weeks is President Obama’s plan to help struggling borrowers before they are faced with a default on their mortgage.

According to reports, the Obama administration is discussing plans to help borrowers who are struggling to stay afloat, but who have not yet fallen behind on their payments. At this point, details are scarce; however, reports indicate that President Obama is looking to spend approximately $50 Billion to directly help homeowners before they face foreclosure and financial disaster.

While this is good news for individual homeowners, it will likely be good for the housing industry as a whole. That’s because, assisting struggling borrowers before they default should help stop the wave of foreclosures, which are estimated to top two million this year. That, in turn, will help stabilize home prices.

For more information on the stimulus package and how it effects buying or selling a home in the
Sarasota and Manatee County area contact:

Microsoft’s Virtual Earth Makes the
Sarasota Home Buying Process Easier

The real estate industry has seen a huge change over the last 10 years. The birth of the internet age has changed many industries including travel, car buying and especially real estate.

Since 1999 the real estate market has seen home buyers using the internet from 1% to over 80%  of home total home purchases. It only makes sense that looking to buy a home is much easier looking online than it was driving through neighborhoods 10 years ago. As the internet continues to mold the real estate industry new tools and resources are being made availble for home buyers to find the information they are looking for.

One of the biggest advancements over the last year has been the ability to plot real estate listings on a map interface
where home buyers can see the specific listings based on the area they are looking to make a purchase.

It allows them to see the proximity to schools, highways, parks, shopping and also see things such as commuting times, making it a very useful tool when looking for homes online.

The Daniel Hilts & Christine Huxtable Team at RE/MAX Alliance Group – Sarasota is one of the companies now using this cutting edge technology and finding that home buyers like this new resource. “We are committed to providing the most cutting edge resources to our clients to make the home buying and selling process as easy as possible”, said Remax Alliance Group Realtor Daniel Hilts. “As the real estate continues to grow and develop online we are always looking for new technology which will improve the home buying and selling process”.

Many real estate agents in Florida and around the United States are also seeing the effect of using cutting edge technology. New companies like RealBird.com and USA Real Estate Maps and seeing huge growth by offering
the new real estate listings by map available to agents websites.

As the Internet continues to develop there will be new tools and resources for buyers and sellers making it more interactive and streamlined. The new real estate listings plotted on Microsoft’s Virtual Earth Maps is one of the latest
tools in the development of the real estate industry online.

Search for Sarasota and Bradenton Area Real Estate on Microsoft’s Virtual Earth maps below and see real estate listings sale in Manatee Counties most desirable neighborhoods below.

For help with buying or selling a home in the Sarasota Florida area contact Daniel Hilts and Christine Huxtable at (941) 360-7777
or visit their website for updated listings, reo’s and foreclosure listings at: www.yourfloridahome.net