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VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM Arnold added, "The Inland Empire and the Central Valley have experienced doubledigit sales declines compared with last year. Meanwhile, sales were higher in San Diego and most Bay Area counties, where the economies appear to be growing faster than the rest of the state." Housing inventory in September increased, but still stayed below the norm of a six- to seven-month supply. The Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family homes stood at 3.7 months in September, up from a revised 3.2 months in August and 5.3 months September a year ago, according to C.A.R. "For the state, at 3.7 months of supply, unsold inventory is still less than half what it would be in a normal market," said C.A.R. VP and chief economist Leslie AppletonYoung. Appleton-Young continued, explaining that a constrained supply at the moderate and lower end of the market has led to a nearly 28 percent drop in sales of homes priced under $200,000 and a more than 15 percent drop in sales for homes priced between $200,000 and $300,000. However, Appleton-Young said homes in the upper price range, where inventory isn't as much of an issue, saw increases. "[S]ales of homes priced $400,000$500,000 rose more than 14 percent, and those priced above $500,000 increased more than 15 percent," Appleton-Young noted. While the introduction of HARP 2.0 made refinancing more available to homeowners with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages, barriers still exist for those seeking to refinance. According to a release from Costa's office, there are still nearly 13.5 million Americans with mortgages backed by the GSEs that could benefit from refinancing. The bill plans to help responsible homeowners who are prevented from refinancing due to having too much or too little equity to qualify for HARP, a second lien, or mortgage insurance. The bill also plans to help those who can't afford to refinance because of upfront fees and costs from appraisals. "Homeowners who have played by the rules deserve the opportunity to access current low interest rates," said Costa. "We cannot continue to allow our economy and housing market to limp along the road to recovery. Now is the time for common sense solutions that put our families and communities first; my Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act does just that." Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) reintroduced the Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act in September. The bill includes provisions that would eliminate upfront fees and appraisal costs, streamline the refinancing application process, and remove barriers to competition so lenders can compete for the borrower's business. California Rep Introduces Homeowner Refi Bill West Coast Foreclosure Starts Plunge in September: ForeclosureRadar Rep. Jim Costa (D-California) introduced a House companion for the Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act, which seeks to cut through red tape in homeowner refinancing to make the option more broadly available. Costa introduced the legislation, October, and received support from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) on the issue. "C.A.R. thanks Congressman Costa for introducing this important legislation that will help millions of struggling homeowners refinance into affordable mortgages," said C.A.R. President LeFrancis Arnold. "Allowing responsible homeowners to refinance will ensure that HARP can be used to its fullest potential and reach every homeowner it was intended to reach. We hope the House will find time to address this important piece of legislation prior to the end of the session." Foreclosure starts fell dramatically in all five West Coast states tracked by ForeclosureRadar, confirming suspicions that a foreclosure wave may not arrive. "It was recently reported that the nation's five largest mortgage servicers have implemented all of the 320 servicing standards required under the national mortgage settlement," stated Sean O'Toole, founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar. "The continued decline in foreclosure starts clearly shows that even though servicers are now apparently in compliance and clear to move forward with foreclosures, they are still in no rush to foreclose on the majority of delinquent borrowers." While California saw the smallest decrease, the state had the highest number of foreclosure starts, which totaled 14,090 in September compared to 1,450 in Nevada, and only 51 in Oregon. In September, foreclosure starts in Nevada fell 40.1 percent from the prior month, and in Oregon, foreclosure starts fell 40 percent during the same period, according to a ForeclosureRadar report released, October 10. Arizona (-37.1 percent), Washington (-31.2 percent), and California (-20.7 percent) also saw dramatic declines over a one-month period. Year-over-year, the decline in foreclosure starts was even greater. Oregon led with a 96 percent drop, followed by Nevada (-73.8 percent), Washington (-70.8 percent), Arizona (-50.8 percent), and California (-48.1 percent). "There has been speculation that the banks would rush to clear inventory before the CA Homeowner Bill of Rights takes effect in January, causing an increase in the number of foreclosures. Clearly this is not the case as we continue to see the number of foreclosure starts decline," the foreclosure data provider noted in its report. Month-over-month, September foreclosure sales were also down across all five states: Arizona (-24.3 percent), California (-17.9 percent), Nevada (-19.5 percent), Oregon (-0.3 percent), and Washington (-33.5 percent). Wells Fargo Turns a Profit in Q3, Issues Refunds to Mortgage Customers Who Overpaid Wells Fargo reported record net income of $4.9 billion for the third quarter, up approximately $800 million from Q 3 2011. The San Francisco based bank posted $139 billion in mortgage originations, up from $131 billion in the previous quarter. At the same time, however, mortgage applications fell to $188 billion from $208 billion in Q2. The application pipeline also dropped a bit, posting $97 billion as of the end of the third quarter. While Wells Fargo saw record profits in the third quarter, it also reported a drop in net interest income, owing largely to the low-rate environment. The bank's net interest margin deflated from 3.91 percent in the second quarter to 3.66 percent in the third. In late October, it was also reported that Wells Fargo issued thousands of refund checks to home loan customers who paid unnecessary mortgage fees. The Los Angeles Times said Wells Fargo sent out refunds to as many as 10,000 97

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