IHB News 10-17-2009

Our weekend update of IHB and housing bubble news. This isn’t over yet.

18 Southsand Irvine, CA 92614 kitchen

Irvine Home Address … 18 Southsand Irvine, CA 92614
Resale Home Price …… $474,900

{book1}

An American dream that’s never been sold.
The smile on his face is just his last disguise.
We’ve got trouble in paradise.
There’s a scream inside that shouts: Here I am !
Some people say: We’ve got to do what we can.
Me I don’t know you see I’ve been there myself once or twice.
Trouble in, paradise.


Trouble in Paradise
— Huey Lewis and the News

Irvine Real Estate News

The Irvine Company has announced The 2010 New Home Collection.

IHB News

There were so many users for our Foreclosure finding service (provided by Foreclosure Radar) that we have devoted a navigation tab to make it easier to find.

The housing bubble news recap on the weekend is supplemented by the new Housing Bubble newsfeed added to the sidebar.

We are planning an IHB Block party for mid November, but we haven’t finalized the date yet. Do you have any preferences for night of the week?

Housing Bubble News

South Korea Doesn’t Have a Housing Bubble

Wall Street Journal‎Oct 13, 2009‎

I remain much more concerned by the increase in household debts than by realestate valuations in Korea. While real estate remains affordable,

FHA may be setting up repeat of housing bubble, lawmakers worry

Chicago TribuneJim Puzzanghera‎Oct 11, 2009‎

The real estate industry believes the FHA is vital to the housing market because its insurance enables people with modest incomes to buy homes — many of

JP Morgan Blew It On Housing Bubble, Too

The Business Insider‎Oct 14, 2009‎

It was also heavily involved in mortgage securitization and derided fears of a housing bubble as “excessive.” This morning we pointed to an item by New York

Hong Kong says ready to avert possible property bubble

ForbesSusan Fenton, James Pomfret‎Oct 14, 2009‎

‘Strong liquidity, low supply, strong external demand and aggressive mortgage lending are creating ideal conditions for another housing bubble in Hong Kong

Hong Kong: price bubble? The Move Channel

Bernie Madoff, housing bubble: Costume suggestions for a recession Halloween

WalletPop‎Oct 12, 2009‎

Make a globe large enough to walk in, cover it with sections of the newspaper’s house sales section, and go trick or treating as the housing bubble! 10.

Treasury Bond Rally Fails the Asset-Bubble Test: Caroline Baum

BloombergCaroline Baum‎Oct 12, 2009‎

The recently expired housing bubble is a perfect example of the triumph of faith over reason. Soaring home prices in 2005 represented a little “froth,” not

Americans Are Still Delusional About House Prices

Huffington Post (blog)‎Oct 12, 2009‎

Around major changes in market direction (the peak of the housing bubble, for example), there is widespread agreement about what future prices will do

The Coming Korean Bubble

Wall Street JournalJasper Kim‎Oct 12, 2009‎

Such numbers rival or exceed the property price increases seen during the recent US housing bubble period. And in some neighborhoods, particularly in Seoul,

Signs of life in Southern California’s housing market

Los Angeles Times‎Oct 13, 2009‎

Christopher Thornberg, a Los Angeles economist who was an early predictor of the housing bubble, said several factors converged last month to give home

Feds bust 41 people accused in $64M home mortgages scam

New York Daily NewsRobert Gearty‎22 hours ago‎

In one scam, a property appraiser, Quentin Tucker, inflated the value of a Brooklyn house by submitting photos from other houses during the loan process,

The Housing Bubble Is Seriously Back

The Business Insider‎Oct 15, 2009‎

We mentioned this a week ago, though this story has been kind of flying under the radar: The housing bubble is back. No, home prices aren’t (yet) at

Secondary Sources: Bubble Thinking in Housing, Another Depression, Weaker Dollar

Wall Street Journal (blog)Phil Izzo‎Oct 12, 2009‎

In the absence of another housing bubble and consumer boom, an export-led recovery is the best growth strategy the US could employ.

EDITORIAL: Risky terms at the Federal Housing Administration

Waco Tribune Herald‎Oct 12, 2009‎

Not surprisingly, real estate agents in some areas say most clients are using FHA loans rather than those from banks. We see possible lessons in all this

18 Southsand Irvine, CA 92614 kitchen

Irvine Home Address … 18 Southsand Irvine, CA 92614

Resale Home Price … $474,900

Income Requirement ……. $87,407
Downpayment Needed … $94,980

Home Purchase Price … $241,000
Home Purchase Date …. 4/25/1991

Net Gain (Loss) ………. $205,406
Percent Change ………. 97.1%
Annual Appreciation … 3.8%

Monthly Mortgage Payment … $2,039
Monthly Cash Outlays ………… $2,690
Monthly Cost of Ownership … $2,020

Redfin Property Details for 18 Southsand Irvine, CA 92614

Beds 2
Baths 2 baths
Size 1,241 sq ft
($383 / sq ft)
Lot Size n/a
Year Built 1981
Days on Market 2
Listing Updated 10/8/2009
MLS Number T09108509
Property Type Single Family, Residential
Community Out Of Area
Tract Ti

NOT A SHORT SALE OR A REO!!! HIGHLY DESIREABLE 1 STORY, GROUND LEVEL, END UNIT HOME IN WOODBRIDGE SOUTHLAKE COMMUNITY. IT HAS 2 BEDROOMS, 2 FULL BATHS, AND IS 1241 SQ FT. THIS SINGLE FAMILY ATTACHED HOME FEATURES VERY LARGE BEDROOMS, 2 CAR GARAGE, AND ELECTRIC STOVE AND OVEN. THE HOME HAS BEEN VERY WELL MAINTAINED, AND IS IN A QUIET AREA WITH A NICE BACKYARD FOR SITTING AND/OR GARDENING.

ALL CAPS

Three exclamation points!!!

{book2}

This property really is not a short sale or REO. In fact, there is a single loan on the property for a total of $74,500. Hurray! After a week of HELOC abuse, it is nice to see there are still sane people in the world.

13 thoughts on “IHB News 10-17-2009

  1. Brian

    Yikes! $475K for 1241 square feet. That seems quite steep. Also of interesting note, this buyer bought at the end of the last housing bubble.

    1. tonye

      Not really. By ’91 prices had dropped quite a bit from the previous years.

      What this buyer did not see for quite a few years was significant appreciation (91 to 97 or so)

  2. newbie2008

    Buy before your priced out of the maarket.
    It’s only $383 / sq ft.

    The house is nice. One story, not a new McStacker with 400 sf on each floor. I would much rather have a single story than a modern McStacker in QH or TRidge. This land and single store house have much more potential.

    As for the appraiser using another house’s photo, banks could easy check using maps.google.com street view. I saw one picture: someone was breaking in to a house. :]

  3. newbie2008

    Zillow has this property as a condo, so I must take back my comment on the land potential, i.e., reconstruction. I like the location. Yale inner-loop.

    1. Sue in Irvine

      These places are near me. There are 2 condos attached by one wall only. This one story has 2 different models. They are basically the same except the back of the condo on the yard/patio side. They have little side yards too. One model has a really nice bay window in the kitchen. All these condos have decent size yards/patios. The 2 story homes are fairly large. Actually, considering this is inside the loop near the schools the price is decent. I know, I know. I’m sorry, I guess I’ve lived in Irvine way too long.

  4. cara

    Hi IR,

    I have a request, a week or so ago you brought up an idea that I’ve really latched onto. Which is to buy something with a 30-year mortgage (and affordable payment) and then each year you get a raise, to keep your DTI constant, thus paying off the mortgage in less time. I think you gave a ballpark of 22 years.

    It doesn’t look to me like we’re going to be able to get what I want in a long term house at a payment that would be currently affordable at a 15 or 20 year rate on one of our two semi-equal salaries (would get a 30 year mortgage anyway as a built-in unemployment insurance…). So, with this change in attitude, I’d still like to think it will be possible to pay off the mortgage before our (as yet unconcieved) kids go to college.

    Could you provide a sample amoritization table for what say 3% raises each year would do? (assuming also standard increases in property tax and insurance). A calculator would be even better.

  5. Graham

    Thanks for the great list of news items.

    Your inclusion of “still delusional” in your news list is appropriate considering how powerful the delusional group, underwater homeowners, is as an aggregate.
    The number one barrier to any resolve of the economy local, because all real estate is local, is the misguided belief that my house is worth more than my neighbors. Now it seems denial has returned and is in play about future values.
    It has been an uphill fight for this group to come to grips with the present value of their abode and now that this is almost accomplished they want to return the misguided state by by adopting beliefs that the future holds better values for their house. The future is a big place and maybe everyone will be right at sometime but how long will it take? The size of the vested interest determines the length of delusion.

    From Graham, residing in the largest ongoing real estate bubble in North America, Vancouver,Canada.

    1. newbie2008

      Buy the below average house needing cosmetic repairs in the neighorhood and know that your house value is less than the averge in your neighborhood–No delusions. It also likey to appreciate percentage wies because the other house will drag your house along.

      Most of the SoCA houses are built with 2×4 stucco construction that is low to medium quality. The 2×4 construction is very forgiving to earth quakes. For the most part, the current constuction is much better than post WWII to 1970’s.

  6. LC

    Wow, Irvine has been building screwed up housing since way back in 1981. Cramped, poor design and styling, cheap materials, crowded together and only good for the bottom line of the Irvine Company. This is what your brand new house in Irvine will look like in 30 years. Get your head examined now.

  7. scott

    Here is link to Angry Bear on a Irvine foreclosure –

    Dr. Black had a link to foreclosures in Irvine, California. This one especially caught my eye:

    5031 Alcorn Lane, Turtle Rock
    Amount owed: $298,876.14
    Last sale: July 2001, $485,000
    Auction date & time: Nov. 5 at 10 a.m.
    Location: In front of the flagpoles at Placentia Civic Center, 401-411 E. Chapman Ave.
    Trustee sale #: JPM-580
    Information: 714-573-1965 [emphasis mine]

    I assume the JPM means JPMorganChase, though that’s not the important thing.

    If you look at the other houses, the “last sale” and “amount owed” values are fairly close, or the Amount Owed is higher. Which is what you would expect.

    But not only is this one not higher, it’s not even close. It’s almost a 40% decline from the last sale dateā€”and more than a $185,000 difference. And 2001 wasn’t exactly top of the bubble anywhere, especially not in Irvine.

    Why does a house get foreclosed? Because it can’t be sold to cover costs adequately. But in this case, we’re not even talking about needing a short sale.

    No one was willing and able to bid enough on the property to keep it from being foreclosed.

    Nearly 40% below 2001 levels would be severe. The Shiller Real Home Price Index indicates that prices are just about even with (maybe 2% below) their 2001 level.

    Either this is a real outlier, or the housing crisis is much worse than even the most pessimistic predictions.

    http://angrybear.blogspot.com/2009/10/scariest-irvine-foreclosure.html

    1. tonye

      Hmm.. I think I know this house, and I think I know the owners. A$$holes. She’s in our HOA Board and he’s in our Park and Rec Board. Both of them are what i’d call “white trash”… they think they’re great but bottom they are jerks.

      If this is the right house, it’s a rental that was being used as one of them old folks assisted living house. It has cause quite a ruckus in the community and I doubt they were able to show it. Nevermind what it must look like inside.

      It’s a 1800 sq sq foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bath house and the owners are (were) cheap. There’s a small, illegal “second story” built into the attic.. you can see the window over the front door.

      I would consider this place an outlier as this would be the 1988 price.

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