Archive for the 'Missouri' Category (Chronologically Listed)

Bright Spots in the Kansas City Housing Market

The nation’s sluggish housing market isn’t evident in Grain Valley, Missouri.

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Posted by Richard Barber on Aug 23 2007 under Missouri





Kansas City Housing Market Slowing Down

A recent report shows the housing market is looking bleak across the country. If you’ve read the news this year, that’s nothing new.

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Posted by Richard Barber on Jul 20 2007 under Missouri





St. Louis Housing Market Slump Symbolic of National Discourse

The national market for existing homes remains mired in a slump, and the St. Louis housing market hasn’t bucked the trend. Indeed, compared with sales a year ago, the local region fared worse than the nation.

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Posted by Jed Moss on Jun 27 2007 under Missouri





Missouri Mortgage Scheme Uncovered

Two men pleaded guilty Monday in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to commit Missouri mortgage fraud.

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Posted by Richard Barber on May 23 2007 under Missouri, Mortgage Fraud





Missouri Mortgage Financing Help Offered to Lower-Income Buyers

This state might follow Ohio’s lead in offering more attractive financing to homeowners struggling with monthly Missouri mortgage payments.

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Posted by Jed Moss on Apr 16 2007 under Missouri





Home Purchase Negotiations Favor Missouri Mortgage Applicants

Negotiating a home purchase is a bit like playing poker. This spring, with about 18,000 houses on the Kansas City market, the cards favor buyers.

Not that you’ll be able to bluff someone who is selling a home at the right price to fold and take whatever you offer. But Missouri housing market professionals say you have a good shot at winning some extras, such as the seller covering the closing cost or throwing in an extra appliance or two.

Even better for buyers: mortgage rates are dropping again, to their lowest levels in more than a year.

“When we say it’s a buyers market, that gives them more confidence going in,” said Kathy Copeland, president of the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors. “With the Kansas City market, we’ve never had a bust or boom, we’ve made corrections. There’s additional inventory that will give buyers lots of different selection. They have more opportunities and choices than before.”

About 30 percent of the homes on the market are new, the hangover from the recent building boom when builders were cranking out 10,000 or more houses annually. Builders have hit the brakes hard, and housing starts are off by about half from the pace set last year. Even so, it will take some time for that swollen inventory to return to balance.

According to the latest data from the Realtors association, the area’s housing inventory stood at 18,133 homes in January. Although the first of the year is historically slow for sellers, the inventory overhang is higher than the 17,289 homes in inventory the same time a year ago. Home mortgage brokers are seeing less and less business.

While some sellers are suffering, one real estate observer said a softening housing market offers a bargain-hunters bonanza for opportunistic Missouri mortgage borrowers.

“Starts are way down, as they should be,” said John Moffitt of Coldwell Banker Moffitt. “But if somebody buys a house this spring they’ll be happy they did. There’s going to be at least a 5 to 10 percent increase when more houses start being built because of increased construction costs.”

Click here to read the rest of this Kansas City Star article.




Posted by Jed Moss on Mar 18 2007 under Missouri





Missouri Development Blends Affordable Housing, Eco-Friendliness

Ruth Wallace said she loves her Jefferson City, Mo., home on a tree-filled lot, but there is just something missing.

She hopes a new development in Columbia will give her a sense of community she desires, along with “smart growth” and environmentally friendly options for her and her husband now that their children have moved out.

The 80- to 90-home “green” development of Bear Creek Prairie is planned on 17 acres of prairie and woodlands off Northland Drive.

Developers Andi Guti and Sherri DeRousse have worked more than two years to create a neighborhood they say will be energy efficient, have a low impact on the environment and promote neighborliness through pedestrian walkways and trails. In other words, a perfect candidate for green mortgages.

“The entire approach since the inception has been extremely different from the usual approach to development,” Guti said. “Environmentally responsible development methods must be the future of land development.”

Despite lessened Missouri mortgage demand than in past years, Guti said he expects the “unique features” of his development to attract buyers.

“It’s nice to find a place to live… that has exceptional views and a social connection,” said Wallace, who works for the state Department of Natural Resources. “It would feel good to know I’m contributing to a community that is growing smart.”

Plans for the development outline three neighborhoods, including two areas of clustered town homes and flats surrounding a common green space with native plants and an area of freestanding single-family homes.

The “carriage duplex” designs - increasingly popular in today’s Missouri housing market - offer between 1,000-1,200 square feet of living space, a one-car garage, a deck and options for one or two bedrooms.

Prices range from “the lower $100,000s up to about $300,000,” offering mortgage loan payments that middle-income Americans can actually afford.

The real estate developers will be taking deposits for units in the first of a three-phase development and reservations for lots in upcoming phases.

Guti said that the layout, based largely on European villages, encourages socializing, offers affordable housing and promotes safety.

“This place is designed in such a way that a lot of eyes will be on the street,” said Chip Cooper, who has been involved in the project and is looking at buying a home in the development.

“It will be a closely knit group because of the pedestrian aspects… and opportunities to see, meet, greet and talk to neighbors.”

Guti said interaction will be helped in part by a neighborhood coffee shop. But energy-saving features of the homes will be one of the biggest benefits of the development, in this era of soaring energy bills.

“When you build in this way, you might incur costs upfront for high-efficiency building systems and techniques,” Cooper said. “The life-cycle costs of these new places will be far superior.”

SOURCE: Columbia Tribune




Posted by Richard Barber on Mar 13 2007 under Green Mortgages, Missouri





Missouri Mortgage Fraud Target of New Task Force

According to the Kansas City Star, Missouri officials on Tuesday announced the formation of a task force to better coordinate efforts to root out and punish mortgage fraud in the state.

A key intent of this Missouri mortgage task force is to improve sharing of information between regulators - the Insurance Consumer Affairs Division, the Real Estate Commission and the Real Estate Appraisers Commission.

“Mortgage fraud affects lenders, mortgage brokers, Realtors, appraisers and, most importantly, consumers,” stated Doug Ommen, director of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions & Professional Registration.

Ommen said the task force was one outcome of a major reorganization last fall that allowed for improved sharing of information.

“[Regulators] were working on the issue, but they were working on it from their own particular perspective. There was little communication. It became clear we need a group to meet frequently to look at complaints coming in,” he said.

The task force will be led by Richard Weaver, deputy director for the Division of Finance.

The effort takes place against a backdrop of growing concern nationally. Many bad credit mortgage loan providers, who were all-too willing to make risky loans at high interest rates in boom times, are now facing rising defaults threatening their very existence.

Recent estimates place the annual losses caused by Missouri mortgage fraud at more than $4 billion, more than triple the estimates of a year ago.

Investigators have rated Missouri sixth nationally in the number of cases involving fraudulent home mortgage lending.

Indictments have been returned in the Kansas City housing market, as well as in St. Louis and Springfield. Search warrants were recently served in Columbia related to a mortgage fraud investigation.

Ommen said he has asked the task force to develop “common-sense solutions” to stop the fraud that is contributing to rising foreclosures.

He said the effort might look at tighter regulation, stricter underwriting, broader licensing requirements and improved education programs.

Sen. Charles Shields, a St. Joseph Republican, has introduced a bill that would criminalize the act of participating in mortgage scams.

The Mortgage Bankers Association Tuesday said it had jointly approved with the FBI a mortgage fraud warning notice to be used by its members.

Ommen said a big challenge to stopping fraud is that it usually involves a clandestine web of conspirators that include an unethical mortgage broker, appraiser, investor, real estate agent and lender.

“What this group is looking for are ways to identity the problems at an earlier stage,” he said.

SOURCE: Kansas City Star




Posted by Richard Barber on Mar 07 2007 under Missouri, Mortgage Fraud





Lack of Mortgage Activity Brings Down Kansas City Housing Market

Here’s how bad the Kansas City housing market is getting:

Doug and Cathy Cade are offering a new car or a trip to Hawaii for anyone who buys their five-bedroom Shawnee house for the asking price. And they haven’t had a taker.

“We have a lot of interest, as you can imagine,” Cathy Cade said last week of her home and the incentive to buyers offered. “But it’s kind of a down market.”

That’s for sure. The Kansas City Star, with the help of the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors, broke down Missouri housing prices by ZIP codes (see attached picture for an example) and found just how far “down” the area market has been. Consider:

• Last year, the average resale price of existing homes declined in almost half — 44 percent — of almost 100 ZIP codes tracked by The Star in the six-county area.



• Housing appreciation didn’t even keep up with inflation in more than two-thirds of all ZIP codes last year. By contrast, prices rose faster than inflation in more than three-quarters of ZIP codes in 2005.• Only 10 percent of all ZIP codes experienced a double-digit jump in average resale price last year after 40 percent of ZIP codes achieved that in 2005.

The housing price misery rippled across the city and suburbs last year. As a result, Missouri mortgage demand was not exactly at its peak.

Sales in Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza-Loose Park area plunged 17 percent. Platte County’s Tiffany Springs area was down 9 percent. The Southland’s Hickman Mills section was off 7 percent. Even Johnson County’s 66208, encompassing Mission Hills and part of Prairie Village, declined 2 percent.

“The market has been going up and up and up, and what goes up must come down,” said Sue Walton, a Re/Max real estate agent. “But I think we had a more moderate correction compared to other cities.”

Indeed, metropolitan Kansas City’s downturn was hardly unique. Much of the country suffered declines, as well. The National Association of Realtors just reported that housing prices fell in more than half of the nation’s 40 largest metropolitan areas during the last quarter of last year.

The median price of existing homes decreased 4.2 percent in the Midwest between the end of 2005 and the end of 2006. That was the largest drop of any region. The Kansas City area was down 2.2 percent. Columbus, Ohio, was off 6.2 percent. Indianapolis fell 4 percent. The St. Louis housing market, though, was up 0.5 percent.

Real estate experts blamed the Midwest’s slump on job losses or sluggish growth, too much supply of new homes, and high foreclosure rates.

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Posted by Jed Moss on Feb 20 2007 under Missouri





Missouri Mortgage Improprieties Under Investigation

The FBI is investigating alleged mortgage fraud schemes in the Springfield, Mo., area, some of which may be driving a spike in foreclosures on homes sold to unsuspecting buyers at inflated prices.

FBI Special Agent Josh Nixon couldn’t comment on specific investigations or the alleged perpetrators, but did say Missouri mortgage fraud activity is on the rise in Springfield as it is across the nation.

Missouri now ranks sixth among states with the most serious mortgage fraud problems, according to a new index compiled by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute.

“Mortgage fraud is one of the fastest-growing frauds in the United States, along with identity theft,” said Nixon, who is based in Springfield. “The FBI has received numerous allegations regarding mortgage fraud in this area, and we evaluate every allegation.”

The real estate community is buzzing about the disproportionately high list prices in some areas and an upsurge in Missouri mortgage foreclosures - two signs often associated with mortgage fraud.

Carol Jones Realtor LeeAnn Quinn said a handful of conspicuously priced properties caught her attention several months ago.

“They stuck out like a sore thumb,” Quinn said.

“I did show a house that I thought might be in that (alleged scheme). It was sold at a certain price, and it was bought a few months later at a higher listing price … quite a bit higher.”

Quinn, who hasn’t noticed the trend lately, said less scrupulous real estate agents or home builders may have turned to a number of illicit tactics when the housing market began showing signs of a slowdown last year.

Foreclosures in the Missouri real estate market increased 96.5 percent in 2006, and Quinn said that area real estate agents have filed complaints with the Missouri Real Estate Commission.

Complex mortgage loan fraud schemes uncovered by authorities in the Kansas City and St. Louis housing market have prompted a steady stream of federal indictments in recent years.

Last month, a Kansas City councilwoman and a former Jackson County official were among a group of alleged conspirators behind a scheme to defraud a mortgage lender.

The largest mortgage fraud case prosecuted by a U.S. attorney in Missouri was a series of schemes orchestrated by a man who was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole in October. His schemes involved home loans totaling more than $19 million for more than 300 properties.

SOURCE: Springfield Business Journal




Posted by Richard Barber on Feb 20 2007 under Missouri, Mortgage Fraud