APPRECIATION:  The “Branson Boom” of the early 1990s brought a tidal wave of new tourists to the area.  In general, there was a significant increase in land value in the Branson/Tri-Lakes area beginning in 1992, and this higher than normal escalation continued through 1993.  Excessive profits bring ruinous competition, however, and, beginning in 1994, we witnessed a leveling off in certain areas as the market stabilized and some areas actually contracted.  We attribute the increases up through 1993 to the national exposure the area had received.  This essentially began in December of 1991, when CBS “60 Minutes” aired a segment on Branson as the new “Country Music Capital.”  The national publicity and media attention continued along with the announcement of numerous nationally known entertainers opening shows in the area.  As a result, there were nearly six million visitors in 1994 and the American Automobile Association declared the Branson area as
…read more

Roughly 10.4 million mortgages, or one in five outstanding home loans in the U.S., will likely default if Congress refuses to implement new policy changes to prevent and sell more foreclosures, according to analyst Laurie Goodman from Amherst Securities Group. At the end of the second quarter, more than 2.7 million long-delinquent loans, others in foreclosure and REO properties sat in the shadow inventory, more than double what it was in the first quarter of 2010 (Click to expand the chart below). With the market averaging roughly 90,000 loan liquidations per month, it would take 32 months, nearly three years, to move through the overhang. And that number is contingent on no other loans going into default. “Many analysts looking at the housing problem mistakenly assume it is limited to loans that are currently non-performing (or 60-plus days past due). Such borrowers have a high probability of eventually losing their
…read more

The sale of properties repossessed through foreclosure may not peak until 2013, keeping home prices from a meaningful recovery for some time, analysts estimated Monday. Nearly half of the more than 552,000 REO properties liquidated in the first half of 2011 were held by private banks. In the years ahead, the government — including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — will begin taking a majority of the activity. In 2013, REO sales could reach 1.48 million properties, according to estimates from Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts, a 10% increase from projected amount in 2012. “We do not expect to see anywhere near the downward pressure on home prices that we had back in 2008, since the expected percent changes in liquidation volumes are so much smaller,” BofAML analysts said. “But home prices are starting from a negative point, so the implication is
…read more

A recent report by Barclays Capital indicates that a “triple dip” in home prices will likely occur by early 2012. The term “triple dip” also emerged in a Clear Capital report sometime ago. Barclays estimates that home prices will slip another 6-7 percent over this winter. This would put home prices a full 3 percent below the “double dip” low of last spring. Barclays goes on to estimate that home prices will rise slowly after this triple dip occurs. “Long run home price measures suggest that prices are close to equilibrium” and they are estimating the bottom of the market after this triple dip occurs. Delays associated with foreclosures have, for the moment, prevented an overcorrection in home prices by limiting the amount of REO inventory on the market. REO inventory levels are still elevated with close to 4 million homes seriously delinquent or in foreclosure. The glut of foreclosed
…read more

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Housing market is likely to remain weak and may take a generation or more to rebound, Yale economics professorRobert Shiller told Reuters Insider on Tuesday. Shiller, the co-creator of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, said a weak labor market, high gas prices and a general sense of unease among consumers was outweighing low mortgage rates and would likely keep a lid on prices for the foreseeable future. “I worry that we might not see a really major turnaround in our lifetimes,” Shiller said. The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.2 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, the first uptick inprices in 10 months. But Shiller called it “a very mixed bag.” Nine of the 20 cities recorded falling or flat prices on the month. He said suburban areas in particular might endure further price declines as high gas
…read more

IRVINE, Calif. – Dec. 15, 2011 – RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for November 2011, which shows foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – were reported on 224,394 U.S. properties in November, a 3 percent decrease from the previous month and a 14 percent decrease from November 2010. The report also shows one in every 579 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month. “Despite a seasonal slowdown similar to what we’ve seen in each of the past four years, November’s numbers suggest a new set of incoming foreclosure waves, many of which may roll into the market as REOs or short sales sometime early next year,” said James Saccacio, co-founder of RealtyTrac. “Overall foreclosure activity is down 14 percent from a year ago, the smallest annual decrease over the past 12 months,
…read more