Latest Indianapolis Real Estate Market Conditions

Stats were just released late this past week.  In the Indianapolis area, annual sales of homes have increased from this time last year from 26,000 to 27,000.  Also, overall prices have remained unchanged from this time last year.  On the surface that may not seem great, but considering the mortgage market and foreclosure issues, those numbers are phenomenal.  We are seeing houses selling very quickly now.  Some of that has to do with the time of year, but the mortgage market is starting to settle down and buyers are gaining some confidence.  Buyers are still looking for deals, but those “great” deals are going to start drying up sooner rather than later.  My appraisal business has jumped slightly and we have seen more activity on the realty side of the business.  Those pent up buyers I have been talking about are coming out to smell the roses.  The market still has some rebounding left to do, but Indy is already picking up some steam and is poised for a nice rebound.  Are you ready?

-B
- www.investorschoiceindy.com 

Posted by Clayton Posted in: Investors Choice, Indianapolis Real Estate Market, Investment Property Rehab, Mortgages & Lending, Indiana Real Estate, Real Estate No Comments » March 2008

What is that Investors Choice Indy company, anyway…???

I wanted to send out a quick thank you to everyone that visits this site.  Word is spreading quickly about what we do.  Bringing awareness to the community about our projects and idea is wonderful.  I continue to hear stories about title companies, mortgage companies, real estate agents, and other industry professionals talking about what we do.  Even though they may not contribute (although they really should to get more involved), their presence is helping get our name out to the public.  Thank you again to everyone for helping.  Your help will come back to help you in the way of having like minded people share experiences and knowledge.  I hope more of you “lurkers” start to write in to ask questions and give opinions about our topics.  Everyone would love to hear from you. 

-B
IC Indy Guru

Posted by Clayton Posted in: Investors Choice, Investment Property Rehab, Mortgages & Lending, Indiana Real Estate, Real Estate No Comments » March 2008

Mortgage Market - What’s going on…???

As many of you know, lenders are changing their rules and lending criteria.  The foreclosures and mortgage defaults have definitely set them on edge.  They are now understanding where they went wrong and how to avoid those issues in the future.  Many of the loan programs that were once available are near history including stated income, stated asset and no money down loans.  For the most part that is a good thing, but it will hurt some of those borrower’s that relied on those programs such as self-employed individuals like myself.  Right now no one knows where the dust will settle exactly; however, I submit the following: Lenders are hurting because they had no stops as to the type of lending they would do.  It was a long running joke that if a borrower had a pulse and could sign their name (not spell it correctly ), anyone could get a loan.  Surprisingly, a limited number of those borrowers have defaulted.  Current numbers are showing that less than 10% of all mortgages have defaulted.  That is still a large number, but far less than what the media would have you believe.  My thoughts are this, lenders are in the business to loan money.  They have made some bad decisions in the recent past.  Many of them have sunk as a result, but the fact remains that our country, the State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis is filled with buyers that are ready, willing and able to buy homes.  Lenders know this and will continue to make loans.  Sure the lending criteria will be tighter and all borrowers will be scrutinized moreso than in the past, but lenders are in the business to loan money.  As long as there are buyers that want to buy a house, there will be lenders that will make a loan if those borrowers meet the higher lending requirements.  Considering that the high risk type loans make up around 8% of the entire mortgage market, I don’t see a need to worry.  In fact, it was recently announced that the mortgage mainstream is back.  Lenders have been forced to go back to sound underwriting and pricing practices.  They have increased their lending criteria by making high risk loans (100% LTV, Stated Income) to only the most creditworthy borrowers.  Not to fear for the rest of you though.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (our government dollars at work) are exercising expanded authority they received in the fall to buy non-conventional loans for their own portfolios and Congress is breathing new life into FHA reforms.  The current credit crunch could all but be decimated if the proposed higher loan limits and more flexible downpayment requirements for FHA are enacted.  Overall, the housing market is the back bone of our economy.  All government officials, lenders and banks know that fact.  They want to get the stream flowing again more than anyone and I suspect it will be sooner than later. 

Stay tuned. 

Posted by Clayton Posted in: Mortgages & Lending No Comments » January 2008