Mammoth Foreclosure Listings
Horizon Air Expands Mammoth Mountain Service With Flights from Northern California and Pacific Northwest
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif.--(BUSINESS 
The Mammoth Mountain resort area is just 15 minutes from the Mammoth Lakes Yosemite airport. During last year's inaugural season of service, thousands of Southern Californians took advantage of Horizon's 70-minute flight from Los Angeles instead of enduring five hours or more of driving.
"Our Southern California customers have made no secret of how much they've appreciated having such quick and easy access to this world-class recreation area," said Dan Russo, Horizon's vice president of marketing and communications. "Now, with Horizon Air's expanded service, winter sports enthusiasts from Northern California and the Pacific Northwest will be able to enjoy the same convenience."
The new service from Northern California and the Pacific Northwest is expected to introduce thousands of new visitors to Mammoth - many of whom would not have considered it for a winter vacation otherwise. Similarly, travelers from the town of Mammoth will gain an easier way to travel, with nonstop service to Los Angeles, Reno and San Jose, and direct (same-plane, one-stop) service to Seattle and Portland.
"The new and expanded routes on Horizon for next season put Mammoth within easy reach of thousands of skiers and snowboarders who love to play big in the mountains and have dreamed of visiting Mammoth for years," said Howard Pickett, CMO of Mammoth Mountain. "Our guests loved the flights from Los Angeles last year and they asked us for even more flight options. With this expansion into Northern California, Reno and the Pacific Northwest, we are doing our best to deliver on that request."
Horizon is offering special low fares for flights on select days between Mammoth and each city. Fares start at $49 each way from Reno, $69 from San Jose or Los Angeles, $144 from Portland, and $149 from Seattle.
The Mammoth winter season flight schedule shown below will run from Dec. 17, 2009, through April 11, 2010, and is available for sale now at www.horizonair.com or by calling 800-547-9308 (TTY at 800-682-2221).
Mortgage delinquencies seen rising through 2009
NEW YORK (AP) — The rate at which people are falling behind on their mortgage payments went up for the ninth straight quarter in the first three months of 2009, and is expected to keep rising through the end of the year, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion.
Borrowers who were 60 days or more behind on their mortgage payments rose to 5.22 percent for the first three months of the year, TransUnion said. That's 62 percent higher than the 3.23 percent delinquency rate for the first quarter of 2008.
The TransUnion numbers show a smaller percentage of people behind on their payments than recently released data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, which said 12 percent of mortgage holders were past due in the first quarter.
TransUnion tracks delinquencies based on two skipped payments because that's a strong predictor of foreclosure, said Keith Carson, a senior consultant in TransUnion's financial services group. "The reality is if you send in your mortgage payment and it's four days late, that's past due," he said. "The 60-day number we feel is more significant."
"Coming up with two house payments at once is pretty difficult for most families," Carson observed.
Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California continue to be the hardest-hit states, while North and South Dakota, Alaska and Wyoming remain the states with the lowest delinquency rates.
Hawaii saw the biggest increase in delinquencies from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009, with a 35.5 percent jump. Carson said that increase likely reflects the impact the recession is having on tourism in the Aloha State. Hawaii's unemployment rate jumped from 5.1 percent in December to 7.1 percent in March, according to the federal Department of Labor.
If there is any positive news coming out of TransUnion data for the first quarter, Carson said it's that the rate of increase for mortgage delinquencies is slowing a bit. Combined with a big jump in consumer confidence last month, there are some signs things are improving.
However, he said if unemployment continues to rise, another wave of mortgage problems could follow. TransUnion currently predicts that about 7 percent of mortgages will be at least two months behind payments by the end of the year.
While delinquencies rose in the first quarter, so did the average amount of mortgage debt per borrower, TransUnion data showed. The average reached $195,500, up about 2 percent from $191,917 last year. That may reflect people taking advantage of the depressed market to upgrade to larger homes, he said, along with seasonal shifts. More homes are sold in the March to August period because families tend to avoid moving during the school year.
TransUnion delinquency data is culled from its database of 27 million consumer records.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Firm: Median Californian home price up 7 percent
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The median home price in California jumped 7 percent last month from May, as life began to return to the long-sluggish market for high-end homes, a tracking firm said Thursday.
The statewide median price jumped to $246,000, up from $230,000 in May, marking the second consecutive month of increases, MDA DataQuick said.
Last month's figure, however, was down 25 percent from $328,000 in June 2008.
DataQuick also said 44,167 homes were sold statewide last month, up more than 13 percent from 39,051 in May and nearly 26 percent from 35,202 in June 2008. The figures marked the 12th consecutive month that sales have increased on a year-over-year basis, the firm said.
DataQuick president John Walsh said thawing credit markets were allowing more borrowers to close deals on homes, especially in higher-end neighborhoods where sales have been slow.
"We're just now seeing the beginnings of more normal mortgage lending patterns," he said. "There's still a long way to go, but it looks like the worst of the grind is over."
In a nine-county area of Northern California, the median home price increased more than 3 percent, reaching $352,000 in June from $341,500 in May. It was the third month in a row that prices increased.
DataQuick said 8,644 homes were sold in that region in June, the highest monthly number in almost three years. The figure was up more than 16 percent from 7,447 in May and more than 20 percent from 7,178 in June 2008.
In Southern California, the median price surged more than 6 percent to $265,000 in June from May. Home sales in the six-county area climbed to their highest level in 30 months.
Foreclosures statewide accounted for about 46
percent of home sales, making June the first month since August that
foreclosures accounted for less than half of all the transactions.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
New home sales soar 11 percent in June
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Cities and citizens try to reclaim vacant blocks
LOUISVILLE,
Ky. (AP) — David Brown Kinloch could have lived elsewhere, but he chose
to move into an abandoned home in a distressed Louisville neighborhood
that others were leaving in droves.
In
the 25 years since, Brown Kinloch has seen the Phoenix Hill
neighborhood transformed from unsightly rows of vacant homes where
crime flourished into a model of urban renewal. Under the stewardship
of an active neighborhood association, new homes sprung up on
weed-infested lots and boarded up houses were renovated. A small park
and a communal vegetable garden offer green space.
"We
were told that you couldn't build new housing inside the old city of
Louisville," said Brown Kinloch, a renewable energy developer. "We
proved that not only could you do it, if you made them affordable ...
they'd sell right away. And they did."
Grassroots
strategies to reclaim distressed neighborhoods are taking hold in
cities across the country, including Cleveland, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh and Detroit. Fighting to reclaim neighborhoods blighted by
blocks of decaying and neglected vacant homes, community groups and
governments are working together to buy up lots, tear down buildings,
create parks and court business to make neighborhoods safer and more
welcoming.
But it's an uphill battle.
More
than 1.2 million residential properties went into foreclosure in 2008,
according to an estimate by Alan Mallach, a nonresident senior fellow
with the Brookings Institution. The surge has spun off a vast inventory
of bank-owned properties. The combination has caused housing prices to
nosedive and can be a contributor to more crime and lower tax revenues.
The
National Vacant Properties Campaign, funded by private and government
grants, has been part of the fight. The group offers guidance to help
cities, counties and states reclaim vacant properties.
It
estimates the number of chronically vacant properties is in the
millions. And the short-term outlook for a drop in vacant lands is
bleak with millions more homes expected to go into foreclosure in
coming years. Even in Louisville, several thousand abandoned structures
or vacant lots dot some neighborhoods.
"There
are just too many forces working in the system for anybody to expect a
turnaround in the rate of foreclosures ... anytime soon," Mallach said
at a recent conference in Louisville.
Still, there are many local success stories.
In
Pittsburgh, the demolition budget has more than doubled for the purpose
of razing condemned blights. It's a big task in a city with about 6,000
vacant buildings along with some 24,000 vacant lots. About 1,400
structures have been condemned, with more added daily.
One
initiative gaining a foothold is called Green Up Pittsburgh that
converts vacant properties into green space. The city offers
horticultural consultants for soil testing and provides funding for
initial pl antings. A team of city public works employees helps
maintain the property along with a corps of volunteers.
So
far, more than 100 abandoned weed-filled lots have been turned into
urban farms, community gardens and the like, with hundreds more
projects planned. More than a patchwork approach, the initiative is
seen as a larger strategy to improve neighborhoods being dragged down
by a rash of abandoned lots with no prospects for development.
"It's
one thing to change one corner, but if you can actually create a green
corridor and a green pathway throughout the entire neighborhood, the
impact is much greater," said Kim Graziani, the city's director of
neighborhood initiatives.
In
Cleveland, another Rust Belt city reeling from the number of
foreclosures, local officials are striving to revitalize vacant land in
an initiative called Re-imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland. The
Ohio city had more than 18,000 vacant parcels at the start of 2009. For
some empty parcels, the goal is to return it to residential or
commercial use.
The
improvements are more than an economic issue, said Freddy Collier,
chief planner with the Cleveland Planning Commission. "It's a public
health and social question as well."
Some
communities also are turning to land banks to help manage the flood of
idled property. Land banks are public authorities created to manage and
develop tax-foreclosed property. And land banks can enable communities
to pursue more strategic approaches to development.
"If
you can pull together larger blocks of land, then you have a real asset
to offer to developers," said Conan Smith, executive director of the
Michigan Suburbs Alliance, an organizing group for inner-ring suburbs
of Detroit.
In
Philadelphia, two surveys done 10 years apart showed signs of marked
progress in dealing with vacant houses in the Southwest Center City
neighborhood. The follow-up survey in 2008 indicated that 90 percent of
the once-vacant houses counted in the 1998 survey had been improved in
some manner. Some structures were fully renovated with new residents
while others were razed to create development-ready open space.
"This
has become a hot neighborhood," said John Kromer, a senior consultant
with the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kromer,
a former Philadelphia housing director, credited a 10-year property tax
abatement program and the formation of a downtown management
organization as factors behind the rowhouse neighborhood's rebound.
The
abatement offered tax relief on the increased market value of an
improvement. For example, if a new house was built on a vacant lot, the
property taxes owed for 10 years were based solely on the land.
The
management group imposed an assessment on each property in the area,
and the money aided in efforts to clean up the neighborhood and improve
public safety, Kromer said.
In
Louisville, the local neighborhood association played a key role in the
turnaround of the Phoenix Hill neighborhood. The group has matched up
developers with available properties, and in the past was even more
involved by buying up vacant or abandoned property and arranging for
the development and sales.
"We
have what we call a missing tooth policy," said Brown Kinloch, a member
of the neighborhood association's board. "We go around and see which
are the missing teeth on a block — the ones that bring down the value
of the whole block — and try to work with those houses and find a
creative solution."
Brown
Kinloch, 53, bought his house for $7,120 a quarter century ago. He
renovated the abandoned camelback-style home — featuring one story in
the front and two in the back — and it's now valued at about $110,000.
That's
not to say problems have vanished in the neighborhood. Poverty
persists, and the neighborhood group would like to see more home
ownership, though it doesn't discourage renters.
Crime is down, however, and perceptions of the neighborhood have changed for the better, he said.
Other
signs of renewal have taken root — houses on the market usually sell
quickly, he said, and the neighborhood has become a popular path for
joggers.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Your Money: Real estate from financing to schools
It looks like the real estate market is beginning to repair its foundation. New home sales in June posted the fastest increase in more than eight years as buyers took advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a federal tax credit for first-time homeowners.
With all this activity, there are plenty of real estate estate concerns you may be wrestling with. For instance, if you're still on the fence, where can you find out more about the terms of the homebuyer tax credit? If you're considering a move and you have children, you're likely researching school districts, too. There are some good resources to turn to compare districts, taxes and student-teacher ratios.
And then there's the common question about when it makes sense to pay off a mortgage rather than continuing to make payments. AP personal finance writers tackle those questions in this installment of "Your Money." If you have a question you want answered, e-mail it to yourmoney(at)ap.org.
__________
Q: What's the best way to find out about first-time homebuyer programs that offer financial assistance?
A: A good place to start is the Web site of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It has a variety of useful information for homeowners as well as a link by states of its housing counseling agencies that can provide advice on purchasing a home and brief you on homebuyer programs: www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm.
A reminder to move fairly quickly if you want to take advantage of the federal break for first-time homebuyers. Under that program, included in the economic stimulus plan, those who haven't owned a home for at least three years are eligible for a tax credit of 10 percent of the value of the home, up to $8,000, if they purchase a home by Dec. 1.
Besides the federal tax credit, a number of state housing finance agencies offer related or additional programs. Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington were the first states to offer bridge loans of the $8,000 tax credit for a down payment. The list has been growing — check the Web site of the National Council of State Housing Agencies' Web site at www.ncsha.org/section.cfm/3/34/2920 for details.
Numerous local government and nonprofit programs also may be available, depending on location. The National Association of Realtors advises checking with a realtor to learn about available resources in a given area.
— Dave Carpenter
__________
Q: If I'm looking for a home in a good school district, what's the best resource for current information?
A: There are many resources available to research school districts you may be considering. It depends largely on whether you're focusing on the level of taxes you'll pay on you new home — and that can vary widely from one district to another — or whether you're looking at the quality of the school and its programs.
One resource to consider is www.greatschools.net a Web site that allows you to do your own research. It offers a tool that will help you compare districts. The site will rate school districts based on standardized test results and give you a brief profile of the district, listing median household incomes, home prices, cost of living, unemployment rates and violent crime rates.
There also are tips for how to research schools and compare them with helpful advice like a checklist of things to look for when visiting a prospective school.
You may also want to check out some of the tools and searchable data at the National Center for Education Statistics at nces.ed.gov where you can find data on states or even a school district mapping tool, which allows you to drill down to find population and housing details including median housing values, for example. It also gives you teacher numbers, school district revenue and other financial data for comparison purposes.
— David Pitt
__________
Q: When does it make sense to pay off a mortgage, rather than continuing to make monthly payments?
A: The first consideration is whether you truly have enough to pay off your mortgage. Try to anticipate scenarios where you might want that cash, such as for college, a new car or other big ticket purchases.
Beyond that, you would evaluate it like any other investment decision. How would you put the money to work if you didn't pay off your mortgage? Would that alternative reap a greater return?
One advantage of paying off your mortgage is that you know exactly how much you'll be saving — the interest rate on the loan after taxes. Investing in the stock market could very well be more lucrative, but it doesn't come with any guarantees. Your earnings would depend in large part on how long you invest the money and the market conditions in that period.
"That's why it's not a slam dunk. It depends on the economic situation," said Steven Weinstein, president and chief investment officer for Altair Advisers, an investment consultant in Chicago.
If you have a 30-year mortgage at a fixed interest rate of 5 percent, for instance, you'd be saving 5 percent on the money by paying it off. Based on historical trends, you would likely earn more than that by investing in the stock market over 30 years. But the prospects get dicier over shorter time spans.
— Candice Choi
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Mortgage rates fall for 2nd-straight week
McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Average rates for 30-year mortgages fell for the second-straight week, but still remained above record lows reached earlier this year, Freddie Mac said Thursday.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan was 5.2 percent this week, down from 5.32 percent last week, Freddie Mac said. At this time last year, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.37 percent.
Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low of 4.78 percent earlier this year, spurring refinance activity.
But rates then rose as high as 5.6 percent in June after yields on long-term government debt, which are closely tied to mortgages rates, climbed as investors worried that the huge surplus of government debt hitting the market could trigger inflation.
Since then, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has fallen back from an eight-month high of 4.01 percent reached in June to 3.38 percent on Thursday.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell for the second week in a row to the lowest level in six weeks "amid market concerns over a weakening labor market."
"The weak employment situation coupled with declining home values in many markets has added to greater defaults on home equity loans and lines of credit," Nothaft said.
The American Bankers Association reported that the number of home equity loans that were 30 days or more delinquent rose to a record high of 3.52 percent in the first quarter, Nothaft noted.
Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.
This week, the average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.69 percent, down from 4.77 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.
Average rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages were 4.82 percent, down from 4.88 percent a week earlier. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.82 percent from 4.94 percent.
The rates do not include add-on fees known as
points. The nationwide fee for 30-year and 15-year fixed rate mortgages
averaged 0.7 point, while the fee for five-year and one-year adjustable
rate mortgages was 0.6 point.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
June new home sales rise 11 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) — New home sales in June posted the fastest increase in more than eight years as buyers took advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a federal tax credit for first-time homeowners.
While home prices are still falling, the figures released Monday were another sign the housing market is finally bouncing back. Earlier this month, the government reported that new home construction rose to the highest level since last fall. And data out last week showed home resales rose almost 4 percent in June, the third straight monthly increase.
"The worst of the housing recession ... is now behind us," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. "We're turning the corner toward increased activity in housing."
New home sales rose 11 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, from an upwardly revised May rate of 346,000, the Commerce Department reported Monday.
Shares of big homebuilders soared on the news, with Beazer Homes USA up by more than 13 percent and Hovnanian Enterprises rising 8 percent in afternoon trading. But with home prices still falling, these companies won't be making much money anytime soon.
The median sales price of $206,200 was down 12 percent from $234,300 a year earlier and off nearly 6 percent from $219,000 in May.
In addition to lower prices, buyers are rushing to tax advantage of a federal tax credit that covers 10 percent of the home price or up to $8,000 for first-time buyers. Home sales need to be completed by the end of November for buyers to take advantage.
"The window of opportunity is closing," said Bernard Markstein, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders.
June's results were the strongest sales pace since November 2008 and exceeded the forecasts of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who expected a pace of 360,000 units. The last time sales rose so dramatically was in December 2000.
There were 281,000 new homes for sale at the end of June, down more than 4 percent from May. At the current sales pace, that represents 8.8 months of supply — the lowest level since October 2007. If that number falls to just over 6 months, analysts say, builders will feel more comfortable ramping up construction.
Fallout from the housing crisis has played a central role in the U.S. recession, now the longest since World War II. Foreclosures have spiked, homebuilders have slashed construction, and financial companies have lost billions.
But it will still be a while before homebuilders
turn into an engine for the economic recovery. Construction levels are
still weak because builders still have too many unsold homes sitting
vacant.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
SoCal median home price jumps 6.4 percent
SANDIEGO (AP) — A real estate tracking firm says the median price of ahome in Southern California surged 6.4 percent in June from May to thehighest level in 30 months.
MDA DataQuick of San Diego says the median pricein the six-county area hit $265,000 last month, an increase over theMay figure of $249,000.
The figure was down 26.4 percent from $360,000 a year ago.
DataQuick attributes the jump to an increasingnumber of deals above $500,000, as buyers responded to price cuts andfound it easier to secure financing.
DataQuick says more than 23,000 homes closed escrow in June, an increase of 12 percent from May and 29 percent from a year ago.
Foreclosures comprised 45.3 percent of resales last month, down from 49.7 percent in May.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.