TheStreet.com’s Jim Cramer has some shocking news: If you are applying for a mortgage in one of these areas of the country and don’t have good credit, you may be out of luck. And even if you do have good credit, you may find it harder than ever to get a mortgage in these places due to stricter underwriting guidelines that were just released.
AZ –
Area of Restriction – Entire state. Market Notes: Arizona’s median sales price has dropped 37.5%. The Phoenix metro area is 70% of Arizona, and house price increases here have been among the highest in the nation, but so has subprime mortgage exposure. With 10.9% of the loans being subprime, many homeowners are hoping for relief with refinance options.
CA –
Area of Restriction: Entire state. Market Notes: Despite declining home prices, only 33% of California residents could afford to buy a home here last quarter compared to 25% a year earlier. At 54%, the High Desert region was the most affordable in the state, followed by the Sacramento region at 53%. Monterey was the least affordable region in the state at 20%.
FLA –
Area of restriction – entire state. Market Notes: The number of existing single-family homes for sale in Florida was down 31% last quarter to 26,130 from 37,879 homes a year earlier, reports the Florida Association of Realtors. The median sales price dipped 8% to $189,600 from $205,800, with the biggest drop of 26% being in Fort Myers-Cape Coral. Florida has the third highest foreclosure rate in the country.
NEV –
Area of restriction – entire state. Market notes: Las Vegas posted the third-highest metro foreclosure rate (4.2%) among the largest metropolitan areas in 2007. A total of 59,983 foreclosure filings on 30,375 properties were reported in the metro area during 2007, up 169% from 2006.
CO –
Area of restriction – entire state. Market notes: Denver: The average property in Denver, as of Feb. 17 2008, has been on the market for about 63 days, and the median price per square foot for homes in the Mile High City is about $132 or $218,330 for a typical median home. The commercial vacancy rate is 12.9%.
Want to read more? Click here.