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Need for Speed

Need for Speed

Turn times for Maltese Group-"I have the need, the need for speed"

With March in the books, we ended the month with an average of 21 days from application to final approval and 24 days for approval to fund.  We have shaved down the application to fund turn time from 27 days in January down to 24.  This has a lot to do with when the seller is ready to close as well.  Year-to-date, over 40 transactions, we have averaged 20.6 days to get final approval and 24.9 days to fund.  Keep in mind this is the average, with everyone working towards a common goal I would say we are capable of closing a loan in 10 days from soup to nuts. 

Trending…CondoPart II…”Is this condo approved”?  “How long does it take to get a condo approved”?

FHA- Below is the link to FHA approved condos for Clark County.  To get a condo development approved, it typically takes around 45-60 days.  We can help get it approved, message me if you have listings and would like to get it approved for FHA. 

https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condo1.cfm

VA- Similar to FHA, there is a list of approved condos.  Below is the link.  This also takes roughly 2 months to get approved.

https://vip.vba.va.gov/portal/VBAH/VBAHome/condopudsearch

Conventional- Each lender has its own list because each company interprets if it would be “warrantable” by Fannie Mae.  To get a particular condo development approved, it could take as little as 2 days.  We would need condo questionnaire , copy of the insurance and copy of the budget.  If there is litigation, a copy of the attorney opinion letter.  Attached again is the list of condos approved through Supreme.  This list is much more fluid than FHA and VA, we have just as many that were approved but expired and can easily be brought back on to the “approved” column with updated documents. 

***With Limited Review (10%+ down owner occupied and 25%+ down for 2nd home) we can eliminate occupancy concentration ratios from the approval process.

Alternative Agency Programs-  Supreme recently added a broker outlet that opens the door for condotels.  The units must be 1 bedroom or more (can not be studio), 500 square feet or more. 

Financial Markets

The Dow Jones held relatively flat since the last market review despite what could have been an awful day on Friday, one day after the US retaliated from Syria’s chemical weapon attack on its own citizens.  The Dow closed at 20,656.  The jobs report indicated that only 98,000 jobs were added for March, nearly half what forecasters had expected.  This typically would have triggered an investor flight to safety, where stocks sell off and mortgage rates improve, but that didn’t happen. 

Mortgage backed securities, and in particular the Fannie Mae 3.5 instrument has been relatively quiet over the past 2 weeks, flat similar to the stock market.  Below is a graph of the instrument going back to before the election.  You can see the huge drop in November, the choppy “rolling hills” pattern from Mid-December through this past Friday.  So what is my advice today?  LOCK!  The instrument has gained back about half its losses from the election.  We are well below 5% on most 30 year fixed products.  We can certainly be on the peak of another “rolling hill”… As a reminder, when you see the instrument’s price go up, the mortgage rate to the consumer is going opposite direction.  So up is good for mortgage rates.  Also a reminder, 1 pt = roughly .25% in rate.  So when the Fannie Mae 3.5 goes from 101 to 102…that should indicate that the 30 year fixed dropped by .25%. 

Market Graph 4-10Southern Nevada Real Estate Related Data

The GLVAR released its March sales report, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.  Number of sales is up big time from February (as it always is), with 3,195 single family homes sold for the month.  This is up nearly 15% from March 2016.  That’s not all.  To no surprise to all of us experiencing the shortage of inventory and the squeeze from sellers, the median sales price is up .8% from February and 10% from March 2016, up to $242,000.   The number of homes on the MLS without offers was just under 5,500…That is a little less than 2 months of supply. 

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/housing/las-vegas-home-sales-prices-both-rose-in-march/