Upscale home sales lag as jumbo loans are hard to get

More than four months after the Obama administration launched its housing rescue plan, scores of lenders are focused on rewriting mortgage loans to make them more affordable.

But one demographic is being largely ignored: homeowners with higher-price loans.

They don't qualify for mortgage modifications under the Obama plan. They can't get today's low interest rates if they try to refinance. And with newly cautious lenders warier about who they lend to, just try to sell a home that costs $730,000 or more these days. In many cases, finding a buyer who can get financing takes far longer than for lower-price homes, because banks want as much as 30% down and six months of mortgage payments in reserve.


The result is a housing market in which sales and purchases of higher-price homes have come almost to a standstill, and it's a predicament that could undermine the housing recovery. Move-up buyers (homeowners who want to buy larger, pricier homes) are getting locked out by lack of financing. Too many unsold homes in the top tier of the market also can push down prices for homes in the midprice range.
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"We need to have a market recovery in all segments," says Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors (NAR). "If the high-end market weakens, those in the middle have to reduce prices."

While the number of homeowners with higher loans is small relative to the entire market, Yun says, "All of Middle America is undoubtedly impacted."

Jumbos and super-jumbos

Bigger loans, known as jumbo loans, come in three types.

Loans up to $417,000 are considered "conforming," and can be sold to mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which also guarantee them when they resell those mortgages to investors. But after that, the situation is more complex.

Loans between $417,000 and $729,750 are "conforming jumbo," and loans above $729,750 are "super-jumbo." Fannie and Freddie back only conforming jumbos, and what qualifies as conforming can vary depending on location. In San Francisco, Fannie and Freddie will back loans up to $729,750. In Atlantic City, the maximum is $453,750.

Lenders are leery of making loans above the amount that Freddie and Fannie will guarantee, because if a jumbo loan borrower defaults, it's harder for a bank to quickly sell a higher-end foreclosed property. And because Freddie and Fannie don't buy non-conforming jumbo loans, there's less of a secondary market for super-size loans.

States with the highest percentages of jumbo mortgages include Hawaii, California and New York, as well as the District of Columbia. In New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, Connecticut, Washington, Nevada and Florida, jumbos account for 10% or more of all loans.

Jumbo loans aren't just for the very rich: In some pricey areas, $500,000 may buy only a modest single-family house or condo.

Sales of higher-price homes have slowed to a glacial pace, driving the supply of homes for sale above $750,000 from 18.7 months in 2007 to 41.1 months in 2009, according to NAR.

With home values still falling in many areas, borrowers who took out jumbos a few years ago are finding they can't refinance, and their mortgages are sliding into default. The number of jumbos 90 or more days delinquent reached 4.83% in March 2009, up from 1.68% in March 2008, says First American CoreLogic.

That trend is helping spread the foreclosure crisis from real-estate-bubble markets, such as California and Florida, where the housing crisis started, to other areas. Data from First American CoreLogic show that delinquency rates on jumbo mortgages under $1 million have more than doubled in areas such as Atlanta, St. Louis and Portland, Ore.

Some cities with high percentages of jumbo loans that are 90 or more days delinquent include Merced, Calif., Muncie, Ind., and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.

It's been a costly situation for Victor Montalvo-Lugo, a clinical program manager at MedImmune in Gaithersburg, Md. He and his wife, Janette, bought a $1.6 million home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in late 2005. He moved to Maryland for the MedImmune post in December, contracting for an $800,000 home to be built by late August. But with the California house on the market for weeks, he's had no luck selling, even asking $1.05 million.

If he can't sell that home before a company buy-out option expires, Montalvo-Lugo worries about the financing on the new one. A similar but smaller home down the block from his in California is listed in the $900,000s, forcing him to lower his initial asking price. "I'm very concerned. We are already listing for less than what we owe," Montalvo-Lugo says. "We lost all of the initial equity, and we owe the bank more than we will get."

Pressure on prices

Those with jumbo loans who lose a job or have an adjustable-rate mortgage that resets to a higher amount are struggling. But help is scarce: Under the Obama housing rescue plan, homeowners with loans above $729,750 aren't eligible for mortgage modifications. Lenders may make such modifications on an individual basis, however.

Many homeowners in higher-end markets are finding they must drastically lower prices to try to get buyers. From July 1, 2008, to July 1, 2009, nearly 26% of homes on the market for more than $1 million have seen price reductions, and the average reduction is 13% off the asking price, according to real estate information provider Trulia. Homes on the market for less than $1 million have seen an average reduction of 9% off the asking price.

"What you're seeing are those properties sitting on the market for a lot longer because people can't get loans," says David Kerr, a ZipRealty agent in the San Francisco area. "I got a call about a property in Berkeley for more than $1 million and almost fell out of my chair. All of what we're showing is in the $200,000 to $300,000 price range."

Jumbos are still being offered at Investors Savings Bank in Short Hills, N.J. But demand has slacked off because those taking out or refinancing jumbo loans must pay higher interest rates than other borrowers, says Richard Spengler, chief lending officer. Rates on jumbos are hovering around 6%, vs. 5.20% on a 30-year, fixed conventional loan.

The bank requires down payments of 20% to 30%, depending on the size of the jumbo. Spengler says many banks have gotten out of jumbo lending because of the lack of a secondary market. Investor Savings Bank keeps jumbos it issues in its own portfolio.

The overall stagnation in the market has a spillover effect on the economy. NAR estimates the slump in the jumbo home loan market has led to a $42 billion decline in economic activity.

That's because borrowers who take out jumbos have much higher incomes than a typical borrower (an average $207,600 in 2007, says NAR's most recent data) and when they buy a home, they spend a lot to furnish it. When sales of costly homes slow, sellers of furniture, carpeting, flooring and appliances get hurt.

Z Gallerie, a home merchandise retailer, is the latest in a string of higher-end stores to feel pinched. The store filed for bankruptcy-court protection from creditors in April, citing a severe sales drop. January sales were down 19% from a year earlier.

"The high-end retailers are being impacted," says Gary Drenik at BIGresearch, a consumer intelligence firm. "When people buy a home, home-improvement and related sales go up."

Those who can buy higher-end homes are seeing their discretionary income further whacked by strict lending conditions. Lenders are requiring some borrowers seeking to finance 80% of their home purchase keep 40% of the total loan value in a reserve account, says Michael Tooker, a mortgage planning specialist for Valley Private Mortgage Group in Scottsdale, Ariz. On a $1 million loan, "that's $400,000 in reserve," he says. "Some want six months total debt service in reserve. It's so arbitrary."

Camille Swanson, a Realtor at Realty Executives in Phoenix, can relate to the struggle. After selling her home, she fell in love with a foreclosed stacked-stone home in the desert that had been abandoned. But she discovered that no lender wanted to give her a jumbo loan on a property that needed so much renovation.

Swanson is almost finished obtaining a loan for the new place with an approval up to $640,000, but details are still being negotiated. With her 20% down payment, the total investment will be $800,000. She approached five lenders as far as Washington before finding one in her area to give her a loan. She didn't need money in reserve because of her retirement assets. "For them, it's an issue of risk," Swanson says.

Raising the roof

Real estate groups such as the NAR are pressuring Congress and the Obama administration to increase the jumbo loan limits that Fannie and Freddie will guarantee and make them permanent. Current amounts were raised in 2008 and are set to expire Dec. 31. They also want the Federal Reserve to buy jumbo-backed securities because Freddie and Fannie can't. The hope is that Fed purchases would create enough of a secondary market for these loans so banks would be more open to lending higher amounts.

Meanwhile, in jumbo-heavy markets, homeowners are increasingly frustrated by their inability to sell. They can't relocate for jobs or retirement. They can't unload vacation homes that they may now struggle to afford.

One such homeowner is Robert Westover, who works for the federal government in Washington, D.C. He's been trying for months to sell a home in Hawaii with an ocean view. He bought it for $585,000 six years ago; it was valued at $1.1 million during the real estate peak in 2006. But there are no offers. He planned to list it for $940,000, but his Realtor suggested $890,000. Then he lowered it to $850,000. At one point, a potential buyer came forward but had no financing.

"It's just been tough. It was getting crazy," says Westover, 45, who now is taking the home off the market and renting it instead. "I hope I've learned a lesson, which is don't put anything on the market in this economy. Most people who have homes in the jumbo (price range) are reliable, pay bills. Why are we suffering while the government gives help to everyone else?"

MJ's 'injection marks' revealed

NEVER seen before snaps have revealed the scars of Michael Jackson's alleged drug taking in their full horror.

The shocking set of pics obtained by ABC News in America show discoloured needle marks and a hideous blotch on the pop legend's legs seven years ago.

Dr Debra Jaliman, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Dermatology, told the TV network: "It looks like there are multiple punctures from intravenous placement."

The specialist added that it is "unusual" for injections to be placed in the leg, a measure she believed must have been necessary if no veins in the upper body were accessible.

Jaliman said the blotch might have been the result of Necrosis, a condition that could have surfaced due to intravenous fluids dripping into the Thriller star's lower leg.

She said the damage also might be attributable to a caustic, damaging fluid the late Beat It singer's skin made contact with.

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It is believed the ailing star tanked himself up with "mountains of medication" as he battled numerous disorders in the year leading up to his death.

Many prescriptions were bought under the fictitious name Omar Adams. And he is thought to have spent £30,000 a month on drugs.

As well as the narcotic pain reliever Vicodin, 50-year-old Jacko gorged on other drugs like muscle relaxant Soma and sedative Xanax.

He also took antidepressant Zoloft, anti-anxiety drug Paxil and heartburn pill Priolosec.

Some of the King of Pop's prescriptions were allegedly written by his Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr Arnold Klein. He is now under investigation over the singer's death.

Most of the prescriptions were taken to Jacko's local drug store Mickey Fine Pharmacy.

But many paid for by the singer were made out not to him, but to his aides and nurses. And the majority were filled in for Omar Adams - claimed to be a name Jackson devised for a fictitious alter ego.

The cost of the superstar's spiralling prescription drugs usage led to a number of lawsuits.

In 2001 he was sued by Mickey Fine Pharmacy for arrears of about £7,000 on his account.

Jacko also owed Dr Klein around £18,000 at the same time. And in 2002 lupus specialist Dr Allen Metzger claimed he was owed £16,000.

S'pore's recession eases

SINGAPORE'S economy grew for the first time in a year in the second quarter, led by the biomedical and electronics sectors, suggesting the city state was emerging from its worst ever recession.

The economy soared 20.4 per cent in the three months to June compared with the first three months of the year on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said, while raising its forecast for 2009.

Gross domestic product (GDP) was now expected to contract 4-6 per cent for the year from an earlier projection of 6-9 percent, the ministry said, while warning that any recovery would be weak due to the fragile global economy.

It was the first quarter-on-quarter growth in five quarters. Singapore slipped into a recession in the second half of last year after two successive quarters of contraction.

Compared with the previous year, however, output in the June quarter was down 3.7 per cent, indicating that the export-driven economy remained weak.

'I guess technically the recession would have ended, the economy is growing again,' said David Cohen, an economist with research house Action Economics.

'Growth won't be very strong but it should remain in an upward trajectory,' he told AFP.

'The Singapore economy registered a stunning turnaround in the second quarter, much is in line with our expectation,' DBS Group said in a research note.

Despite the quarter-on-quarter growth, the trade ministry cautioned that 'the outlook for the rest of the year remains largely unchanged - of a weak recovery susceptible to downside risks.'

It noted that rising unemployment and reduced consumer spending in its major export markets like the United States and Europe reflected the continued weakness in the global economy. Mr Cohen said however he was cheered by the second quarter numbers.

'I think this will be the first in a series of upbeat GDP reports for the second quarter from Asian economies,' he said, noting that China and South Korea would also be announcing their growth data in the next two weeks.

'Maybe this will provide some reassurance to the markets which have been jittery in the last few weeks about the sustainability of the recovery. It shows that Asian economies have turned the corner in the second quarter.' -- AFP

Ratan Tata to hand over first Nano key

Five years after his promise to build a people's car, Ratan Tata will hand over the key of his dream project--the Nano- to its first customer on Friday.

From the birth of the dream in 2003, to its launch in 2008 and finally its delivery in 2009, the Nano's journey has been anything but smooth.

The car, first showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo last year, was at the centre of much controversy as its proposed plant site in West Bengal became a rallying point for Mamata Banerjee and her party to gain political mileage.

The controversy surrounding the site led Ratan Tata to abandon Singur and shift the Nano's production to Gujarat.

But the overwhelming support for Tata's dream car was evident when the booking opened early this year. Despite the slowdown in the auto sector, the car attracted over 2.05 lakh bookings.

In the first lot over 1.55 lakh cars would be delivered and the first one lakh will be sold at the announcement price of Rs 1 lakh, making it the cheapest four-wheels in the world.

Tata had earlier said that 'a promise is a promise' and keeping his promise he would hand over the first car tomorrow at the price-protected rate.

The company intends to deliver the first one lakh cars by March 2010. The selection process for the next lot of 55,021 cars has also been done.

The Nano, with a 623-cc rear-engine car and a fuel economy of over 23 km per litre, has cost over Rs 2,000 crore to build.

The car carries a price range of Rs 1.23 lakh to Rs 1.72 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the three different variants.

At present, the car is rolled out from its Pantnagar facility, which has an annual capacity of 50,000 units.

Theophanous accuser smiled about being seduced, court told

THE woman who claims she was raped by a state MP smiled as she told a friend she'd been seduced at Parliament House, a court has heard.
Theo Theophanous is facing a committal hearing, accused of raping a woman in his parliamentary chambers after a late night tour of Parliament House in September 1998.

The former cabinet minister denies the allegation.

The accuser's friend told the Melbourne Magistrates' Court they were at a Greek community function near Parliament House in early 1999 when the woman made the comment.

"She was talking to me and she mentioned that a married man had attempted to seduce her," the male friend said in a statement tendered to the court.

"I asked who and she said: 'I can't tell you'. She mentioned Parliament House and he made a move on her in his office."

The friend said the alleged victim didn't give details of what exactly happened, only to say she went into the man's office, he made a move and she declined.

"I remember that she was smiling and she appeared quite happy talking about it," he said.

"The impression I got was that if something did happen, it didn't involve sex."

He told the court his friend didn't appear upset or angry.

"She was quite pleased about it. It was total fun," he said.

The man said he doesn't remember ever discussing the matter again with his friend.

He denied they were a couple but said they spent a lot of time together in the late 1990s.

The man described his friend as "fascinating" and "peculiar".

He said their friendship deteriorated in May 1999 after she began calling him several times a day.

"I would use the word 'disturbing' number of calls," he said.

"I just wanted to get her out of my life."

During cross examination, Theophanous's lawyer Robert Richter QC told the man his former friend had told police she caught him masturbating while viewing child pornography involving an eight-year-old.

The man appeared completely shocked by the allegation.

"I am in disbelief," he told the court.

"It terrifies me, to be honest ... especially in this context."