If there was ever an example of what it means to “swim upstream in a river” in life or in business…the below article describes it in detail. Despite what is possibly history’s most ambitious and concerted recent effort to protect and expand affordable housing in NYC (led by Mayor Bloomberg)….the City’s total stock of such housing declined over the past 7 years.
I had the privilege of participating on an exciting panel on the future of short sales at the REOMAC semi-annual conference in Palm Springs this week. REOMAC is the non-profit trade organization for REO industry participants – realtors, servicers, lenders, asset managers and other service providers –who focus on the (tough) job of helping Banks manage and sell properties they have acquired through the foreclosure process.
The article included below from this weekend’s National Mortgage News talks about how the number of single family home sales in CA doubled between January 2009 and January 2008….while the median home price dropped over 40% (during the same period). The article also mentions that the CAR unsold inventory index dropped to 6.7 months in January 2009, from 16.6 months for the same period a year ago….indicating supply is decreasing.
Please find below a brief proposal I have put together on the issue of foreclosure prevention and housing market stabilization based on what I and the team at HausAngeles as well as our colleagues, clients and strategic partners are actually seeing (and not seeing) on the ground in Los Angeles/Southern California. I and we do not claim to have all the answers on this “massive issue”. Nor do we claim all of the ideas below are mine or ours (please see footnote 1: acknowledgements). However, refining and executing on some or all of these ideas will be a key focus for me and the team at HausAngeles for the foreseeable future and until the housing market stabilizes. Our primary geographic focus is Los Angeles, but we plan to share learnings and information widely and freely to maximize impact at the ground level.
What is the #1 worry that most Americans have when they get laid off? I believe it is that they might lose the roof over their and their families’ heads in a worst case scenario (i.e., if they are unable to find adequate alternate sources of income).
There is widespread agreement among key national political, economic and housing stakeholders (the government and regulators, consumers and Banks among others) on the need to help prevent foreclosures, keep as many people as possible in their homes, and “clear the housing market” of troubled assets quickly and fairly. This would help the housing market find a bottom more quickly - which housing market bottom will mark a turning point in our nations’ economic recovery.
