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CATHERINE REAGOR REAL ESTATE
Flat market needs buyers for a boost
M
The
LAY of the LAND
DEAN FOSDICK/AP
A tree-trimming crew removes a “leaner� threatening to block a driveway near Langley, Wash. Landscape inspections are key before buying.
A yard inspection can prevent costly fixes after purchase of a home DEAN FOSDICK ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prudent house hunters usually await the results of a professional inspection before buying their dream home. All too often, though, one of the biggest contributors to a home’s value is neglected: the landscape. And that can prove costly.
“I feel bad telling people who’ve already put their life’s savings into a new house that their sprinkler system is outdated or was installed wrong,� said Jeff Wolfe of Sun Wolfe Irrigation Inc. in Phoenix. The company’s services include irrigation and outdoorlighting inspection. See INSPECT, Page R3
etro Phoenix’s lackluster housing market needs a boost. Home sales are down from a year ago. Prices are flat or down in most Valley neighborhoods. And more homeowners are trying to sell. Put simply — supply is up and demand down. The latest report from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School shows during October home sales were down 5 percent from October 2013’s already slowing pace. The Valley’s median home price fell to $208,000 in October after hitting a five-year high of $211,500 in July. “To get our housing market back to what we would consider normal will require a major increase in demand from local first-time home buyers,� said Mike Orr, director of ASU’s Real Estate Theory and Practice at W. P. Carey. Stricter lending guidelines, including bigger down payments and more income documentation, are blamed for part of the market’s slowing. About 45 percent of renters didn’t buy a house this year because they didn’t have enough money for a down payment, according to a Federal Reserve survey. So what will it take to draw more buyers, particularly first-timers? Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced plans earlier this month to help more first-time buyers. Both of the federally owned groups soon plan to begin backing mortgages with 3-percent down payments, something borrowers haven’t seen since the housing boom. During 2014, most lenders have required at least a 5- to 10-percent down payment. Freddie Mac launched Home Possible Advantages, a program that helps low-and moderate-income borrowers take out conventional mortgages with the lower down payment. The borrowers are required to go through a homeowners education program. Fannie Mae’s 3-percent down payment program is geared toward firsttime buyers, but borrowers must still meet all the more rigorous lending requirements in place now. Not everyone is a fan of lower mortgage down payments. Some housing advocates believe first-time buyers “need more skin in the game,� meaning a bigger payment that translates into more equity in their home. Many borrowers who lost houses to foreclosure or walked away from them during the crash had put little to nothing down to get a mortgage.
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