The percentage of American home owners fell to 67.3 percent at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, the lowest percentage since the second quarter of 2000. The homeownership rate reached a high of 69 percent in 2004, fueled by low interest rates and easy credit options.

But the rate began to fall in 2006 as many owners failed to make their payments and begin facing foreclosure. Since 2006 nearly 4 million homes have been lost across the US to foreclosures.

“The homeownership data I think really just underscores how this country as a whole became obsessed with getting people into homes,” says Mike Larson, real estate and interest rate analyst at Weiss Research Inc., an investment-research firm. “You can do all kinds of things to get people into a house, which we did; the real problem is making it so they can stay there.”

Today many home buyers have more information available to them then ever before. With the internet and the gobs of data available online we are here to help you with your home purchase. Give us a call to set up an educational meeting one-on-one.

This year the answer is not really a simple one.

San Jose REO properties are not going anywhere anytime soon as even more are expected in 2010 than in 2009. San Jose Real Estate is in a different real estate climate so don’t expect any drop bottom pricing and auction properties in the Silicon Valley. I have seen some condos last year get to the really low range of $120k or $140k but my clients were never able to win the bidding wars over these supposed low price San Jose condos. I also don’t feel that properties of any kind will drop below the $100k mark in the Silicon Valley as some had been predicting.

Foreclosures will increase in the near term, as many homeowners do not receive permanent mortgage modifications. With more foreclosures expeced to hit the marketplace we could see recent price increases drop back to early 2009 prices through 2010. I have a neighbor that has tried for the last 6 months to get a loan modification on his home and the banks seem to continue giving him the run around. First thing that he was told was that they could not help him till his loan was in default, why?

Prices have declined about 30% from their peak a few years ago and are expected to decline an additional 7% but the the worst declines should be over. Within 2009 Silicon Valley Single Family Homes saw a decline of 20.9% from the year before. Most of this decline was seen early on in the year with Oct. through Dec. of 2009 seeing an increase of 9.8% from 2008 average sale prices.

San Jose condos saw an even larger decline from 2008 prices at 22.8%. With a moderate increase of 2.6% in the last quarter of 2009 from the same quarter in 2008. Condos an average sold for 101.1% more than the listing price during this quarter meaning there was still a high enough demand to offer over asking to secure a condo transaction.

Stabalization in the San Jose housing market should be visable by the mid to end of the year with no significant gains expected till 2011.

Many news organizations are talking and the consensus is that the time to buy is today. A year from now, will you be saying, “I should have bought when mortgage rates and pricing were at their lowest?” Don’t be! Schedule time to look through homes today.

Here’s what the news media and real estate experts are saying about today’s market…

Now’s Really the Time to Buy a Home, Many Say
- San Jose Mercury News, 12/4/09

Home Prices Rise in SF Bay Area for Sixth Month
- San Jose Mercury News, 11/24/09

Bay Area Home Prices Zip Up Nearly 7%
- San Francisco Chronicle, 11/20/09

If you have been looking at homes online but have yet to take any tours, now would be the time to do so. Give us a call today and schedual you own personal showing of your favorate Silicon Valley properties.

Senators have agreed to extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit originally set to expire on November 30. Once the Senate officially votes on the bill it will move to the House of Representatives, which strongly supports the extension. The Obama administration has also signaled its strong support for an extension of the tax credit.

Aside from the first-time homebuyer credit, the new plan would offer a $6,500 credit for repeat or move-up homebuyers who have lived in their primary residence for five years or more. The tax credits would be available to buyers who sign purchase agreements on a new or existing primary residence between December 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010. Buyers would have until June 30 to close on their new homes.

There is an $800,000 price limit on all homes eligible for the credit. The income limits for all buyers would rise to $125,000 per year for individuals and $225,000 for married couples. Under the current program, the limits are $75,000 and $150,000 respectively. The first-time homebuyer credit is also available to those who have not owned a home in the previous three years. The credit does not have to be repaid unless the home is sold or ceases to be the primary residence within three years.

According to the Treasury Department, more than 1.2 million borrowers have claimed $8.5 billion of the $13.6 billion set aside for the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

Please be advised that this legislation has not yet passed, but I will be sure to keep you informed as it moves through Congress toward approval. Call me if you have any questions, or if you would like to get started on for a home today!