by Calculated Risk on 9/30/2011 09:06:00 PM

Mortgage broker Soylent Green is People sent me this ... Redfin is now putting real estate agent production data on line for consumers to see. Here is the link: Scouting Report - Search for Any Agent.

Update: This isn't everywhere.

Redfin provides the price range of homes sold, the median price, average days on market, price changes, and current listings.

If you don't know an agent, just put in blog friend Jim the Realtor: "Jim Klinge". He is pretty active in San Diego. According to Redfin, Jim has represented 31 Sellers and 23 Buyers in last 12 months. That is 54 total - one per week! And he still takes my phone calls :-)

If you sign up with Redfin (no spam), they provide some more information.

According to Soylent Green is People: "There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth about this. Perhaps those with weak constitutions should find another employment path than sales." CR says: Information is power! This is great.

Earlier:
• Personal Income decreased 0.1% in August, Spending increased 0.2%
• September Consumer Sentiment increases to 59.4, Chicago PMI fairly strong
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Serious Delinquency Rates decline in August
• Hotels: Occupancy Rate increased 4.1 percent compared to same week in 2010
• Restaurant Performance Index declined in August

by Calculated Risk on 9/30/2011 07:05:00 PM

First Friday Failure
First International now
America First
by Soylent Green is People
From the FDIC: American First National Bank, Houston, Texas, Assumes All of the Deposits of First International Bank, Plano, Texas

As of June 30, 2011, First International Bank had approximately $239.9 million in total assets and $208.8 million in total deposits. ... The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $53.8 million. ... First International Bank is the 74th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Texas.

Friday is here!

by Calculated Risk on 9/30/2011 06:31:00 PM

From the LA Times: California breaks from 50-state probe into mortgage lenders

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris will no longer take part in a national foreclosure probe of some of the nation's biggest banks, which are accused of pervasive misconduct in dealing with troubled homeowners.

Harris removed herself from talks by a coalition of state attorneys general and federal agencies investigating abusive foreclosure practices because the nation's five largest mortgage servicers were not offering California homeowners relief commensurate to what people in the state had suffered, Harris told the Times on Friday.

The big banks were also demanding to be granted overly broad immunity from legal claims that could potentially derail further investigations into Wall Street's role in the mortgage meltdown, Harris said.

“It has been a process of negotiating and sitting at a table in good faith but ultimately I have decided that we have to go our own course and take an independent path and that decision is because we need to bring relief to Californians that is equal to the pain California experienced and what is being negotiated now is insufficient," Harris [said]

This is a major blow to the settlement talks.

by Calculated Risk on 9/30/2011 04:21:00 PM

Fannie Mae reported that the Single-Family Serious Delinquency rate declined to 4.03% in August. This is down from 4.08% in July, and down from 4.75% in August of 2010. The Fannie Mae serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 5.59%.

Freddie Mac reported that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate declined to 3.49% in August from 3.51% in July. This is down from 3.83% in August 2010. Freddie's serious delinquency rate peaked in February 2010 at 4.20%.

These are loans that are "three monthly payments or more past due or in foreclosure".

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

Some of the rapid increase in 2009 was probably because of foreclosure moratoriums, and also because loans in trial mods were considered delinquent until the modifications were made permanent.

The serious delinquency rate has been falling as Fannie and Freddie work through the backlog of delinquent loans. The normal serious delinquency rate is under 1%, and at this pace of decline, the delinquency rate will be back to "normal" in four or five years!

by Calculated Risk on 9/30/2011 01:49:00 PM

Note: This is one of the industry specific measures that I follow. I only post this every few weeks or so.

From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US hotel results week ending 24 September

In year-over-year comparisons for the week, occupancy rose 4.1 percent to 66.8 percent, average daily rate increased 4.0 percent to US$107.24, and revenue per available room finished the week up 8.3 percent to US$71.65.

Note: ADR: Average Daily Rate, RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room.

The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using a four week average for the occupancy rate.

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

We are now headed into the fall business travel season. The 4-week average of the occupancy rate will increase again seasonally. For the month of September, the 4 week average of the hotel occupancy rate has been back to the pre-recession median level.

Even though the occupancy rate has recovered, ADR and RevPAR are still about 3% lower than before the recession for the comparable week.

The second graph shows the 4-week average of the occupancy rate as a percent of the median since 2000. Note: Since this is a percent of the median, the number can be above 100%.

This shows the decline in the occupancy rate during and following the 2001 recession. The sharp decline in 2001 was related to 9/11, and the sharp increase towards the end of 2005 was due to Hurricane Katrina.

The occupancy rate really fell off a cliff in 2008, and has slowly recovered back to the median.

Data Source: Smith Travel Research, Courtesy of HotelNewsNow.com