Active listings: 417 properties

In escrow: 352 properties *

*Bank owned: 21; short sale/in foreclosure: 169

Sold: Oct. ‘09: 137 properties **

**Bank-owned: 12; short sale/in foreclosure: 24

Source: Info from SoCalMLS for week ending 11/01/09

.

Latest on homes on the market:

Latest on foreclosures:

Latest on sales:

Post from: Huntington Homes

Jeff Davi, the state real estate commissioner, stopped off at the Meadowlark Golf Course to update members of the O.C. Coastal Women’s Council of Realtors on how the housing slump and the state budget crisis is affecting his department.

He said that there are more than 1,340 open investigations into loan modification scams alone, compared to just 10 a little more than a year ago. His department issued more than 300 desist-and-refrain orders just to suspected loan mod outfits, he added. Normally, the department issues no more than 100 desist-and-refrain orders of all types.

To read more, CLICK HERE!

.

Latest on homes on the market:

Latest on foreclosures:

Latest on mortgages:

Post from: Huntington Homes

You can see his report and slide show, below.

The house is on its way to becoming the first officially rated green home in Huntington Beach and one of the first in Orange County.

If you’d like to go and see it for yourself, tours are being offered on weekends through the end of the year, beginning this Sunday, noon-4 p.m. and most Saturdays and Sundays except for holiday weekends.

The 3-bedroom, 3,213-square foot home is at 319 21st St. The house was built by Living Green Homes Construction & Development based in Huntington Beach according to guidelines from Build it Green, a statewide non-profit organization in Berkeley.

The house is not on the market yet and a price hasn’t been set.

“This is an energy education center,” Jason Scheurer, vice president and COO of Living Green Homes, told those gathered for the grand opening on Wednesday. “Take advantage of it. Learn all you can.”

For more information about the house and the tour schedule, CLICK HERE.

For more on Build it Green, CLICK HERE.

Some other green homes around Orange County:

• Prefab “green” house hoisted into place in Newport
• Watch building of prefab, ultra-green house live on the Web
• Building ‘green’ in Laguna Beach to the tune of $15 million
• Golf course home could win race to become O.C.’s first super green house

.

Latest on homes on the market:

Post from: Huntington Homes

CLICK on maps to enlarge.

Address: 1419 California St.

Amount: $1,041,340.95

Sales date: Nov. 25

Time: 10 a.m.

Auction location: Flagpoles at main entrance to Placentia Civic Center, 401-411 E. Chapman Ave., Placentia

Information: 714-573-1965

TS#: 736414CA

————————————————-

Address: 19831 Estate Circle

Amount: $985,669.00

Sales date: Nov. 30

Time: 12 p.m.

Auction location: North front entrance to the Orange County Courthouse, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana

Information: 714-730-2727

TS#: WC-209175-C

————————————————-

Address: 6422 Alenandria Drive                  [No map available for this address] 

Amount: $598,982.29

Sales date: Nov. 25

Time: 10 a.m.

Auction location: Flagpoles at main entrance to Placentia Civic Center, 401-411 E. Chapman Ave., Placentia

Information: 714-573-1965

TS#: 09-32238

————————————————-

Address: 19722 Westwinds Lane

Amount: $683,855.42

Sales date: Nov. 30

Time: 10 a.m.

Auction location: Flagpoles at main entrance to Placentia Civic Center, 401-411 E. Chapman Ave., Placentia

Information: 714-573-1965

TS#: 09-10955-11

————————————————-

Address: 16453 Poco Circle  155

Amount: $329,019.51

Sales date: Nov. 30

Time: 12 p.m.

Auction location: North front entrance to the Orange County Courthouse, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana

Information: 800-281-8219

TS#: 09-0112645

————————————————-

Source: Legal notices, Nov. 5

Latest on foreclosures:

Post from: Huntington Homes

The developer states in a news release:

“ The company has requested an oral hearing to appeal the proposed delisting, and its common stock will remain listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market pending the outcome of the hearing.”

——————————————————————————————————-

The developer of  the 356-home Brightwater housing project overlooking the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach says it is deciding whether to fight a recommendation by the Nasdaq staff to delist it from the stock exchange on Friday following its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

California Coastal Communities Inc., based in Irvine, announced last week that it filed for Chapter 11 to gain more time to repay $182 million in debt due by next spring.

The company said in papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday:

“The delisting determination letter … advised the company that trading of its common stock will be suspended at the opening of business on November 6, 2009 unless it requests a hearing before a Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Hearing Panel to appeal the proposed delisting. The company is evaluating whether to request a hearing with the panel to appeal the proposed delisting, or to not appeal the Staff’s decision and allow its common stock to be delisted.

“If  the common stock is delisted, the company expects that it will not be immediately eligible to trade over the [Over the Counter] Bulletin Board or in the “Pink Sheets,” however, the common stock may become eligible for such trading if a market maker makes application to quote the common stock in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 15c2-11, and such application is cleared.”

It’s typical for a stock exchange to threaten delisting when there is a bankruptcy.

The Chapter 11 doesn’t appear to have hurt the company’s stock. California Coastal Communities closed trading Tuesday at 93 cents, up 3 cents. Its high in the past 52 weeks was $2.07; low for the same period was 39 cents.

But a stock’s price typically goes down following a delisting because it becomes harder to trade.

California Coastal has said it expects no interruption in its daily operations and will continue to build and sell homes.

Related news:

• Bolsa Chica developer files for bankruptcy
• Brightwater builder skips more loan payments
• Cash-strapped builder: Green homes project still a go
• Brightwater developer misses $1.7 million payment
• O.C. builder can’t make $57 million in debt payments
• Homes on the Bolsa Chica horizon
• Housing project breaks ground at Bolsa Chica

For more on the growing wave of defaults among homebuilders and commercial real estate investors, CLICK HERE!

Post from: Huntington Homes

The home is 3 blocks from the ocean at 319 21st St. It’s 3,213 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 5 baths. The house was built by Living Green Homes Construction & Development based in Huntington Beach according to guidelines from Build it Green, a statewide non-profit organization in Berkeley.

Build it Green uses a rating system that scores homes in such categories as indoor air quality and health, resource and water conservation and energy efficiency.

“A lot of people just (put in) the finished materials that the consumer actually sees,”  Jason Scheurer, vice president and COO of Living Green, told me in May. “I  tackle things inside the walls that makes the house more energy efficient.”

The house isn’t listed on the MLS yet.

“It’s very difficult to price these homes,” says Evan Little with Surterre Properties, the Realtor who will list it. “It’s mainly because the MLS doesn’t have a lot of the features these green homes have. It’s almost impossible for an appraiser to find a like property to use as a comparable.”

The price probably will be worked out in a month or so, he says.

Before it’s sold, the home will be used as a showcase for green products and systems, with tours offered to the general public and trade groups.

The grand opening event, open to the public, is Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.

More on the project and the company HERE.

Some other green homes around Orange County:

Building ‘green’ in Laguna Beach to the tune of $15 million

Golf course home could win race to become O.C.’s first super green house

.

Latest on homes on the market:

Post from: Huntington Homes

It’s a sign of the times.

“Investors are back in the real estate game,” says Steve Thomas, who does a bi-weekly analysis of the Orange County real estate market.

Investors bought 278, or 39%, of the 718 houses and condos sold at repo auctions in the county in September, according to ForeclosureRadar.com.

Over at the Mortgage Insider, reporter Mathew Padilla says: “The ratio of properties not going back to the bank has been steadily increasing as lenders and loan servicers offer bigger discounts on auctioned properties. I have seen discounts as high as 60% off debt owed on a first mortgage (the discount to current market value is usually much less) and the norm seems to be around 30% off of debt owed.”

This home at 6662 Beachview Dr. is now competing with, among others, the house owned by  former City Manager Penelope Culbreth-Graft at 6571 Beachview Dr.  Hers is a short sale, being offered for $1,199,000.

Latest on homes on the market:

Latest on foreclosures:

Post from: Huntington Homes

The home is a short sale. The listing price is $630,9000 – half of what it sold for in 2006 — $1,258,000.

The place also comes with 2 rental units  in the back — a 1-bedroom, 1-bath in a converted garage and a 2-bedroom, 1-bath above it. The listing says there’s a “large patio” between the main house and the rentals.

And a quick check of the public notices shows that the property has been scheduled for a foreclosure auction. 

So, think the owner is eager to deal?

More details:

• Address: 1114 England St.
• 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (front home)
• 1,500 square feet (front home)
• Lot size: 6,858 square feet 
• Year built: 1925

Redfin shows nearby ’similar’ listings at $669,900-$1,295,000.

What do you make of this one? An investor’s bargain or not?  Share in the comments!

Latest on homes on the market:

Latest on short sales:

Latest on foreclosures:

Post from: Huntington Homes

Huntington Beach mortgage broker Dennis C. Smith of Stratis Financial is among the dissenters. He writes this week in his blog:

“While the tax credit has been great for those receiving it, including many of my clients and clients of Stratis Financial, it has been my finding that most of our eligible clients were not buying a home this year because of the tax credit, but rather because they could afford to purchase a home they liked at a price and payment they could afford.  As is coming to light the program has significant amounts of fraud, including IRS workers who have made false claims for the credit.

“We will not know the true health of the housing markets and mortgage markets until the Fed stops purchasing mortgage backed securities and the Federal government stops giving money, beyond the standard tax deductions, to those purchasing homes.  Politicians, members of the media and others spent two years pointing out the pricing bubble in housing created by cheap and easy financing that led to the housing market and credit crisis; is the tax credit not doing a similar thing-creating a false price/market for homes in certain price ranges?
 
“For those who have received the credit good timing and I hope you spend the credit wisely.  Moving forward however I feel it would be in everyone’s best interest to stop the program.  This is not a popular opinion in the mortgage or real estate industries, but then again I was against option ARMs and no-down subprime financing as well.  For true recovery to enter our industries we need the market forces to separate from government influence and intrusion and let buyers and sellers find prices that satisfy both.”

Do you agree? Disagree? Take our poll and see what others have to say HERE. 

.

Latest on homes on the market:

Latest on mortgages:

Latest on sales:

Post from: Huntington Homes

• City sales totaled 157 — that’s +8% vs. a year ago. Countywide, sales were +2% vs. a year ago in same period.

• Of the city’s 4 ZIP codes, 3 had sales gains vs. a year ago while 1 had a gain in median selling price vs. a year ago.

• 1 of Huntington Beach’s 4 ZIP codes beat the 2.4% overall performance of the countywide median for the past year.

Here’s how the latest DataQuick report breaks down Surf City ZIPs; change is vs. a year ago:

• For more on overall Orange County homebuying trends, CLICK HERE!

Latest on sales:

Post from: Huntington Homes