Posted by Jeff on September 2, 2009 under Real Estate | 
The pace of home sales increased again last month. This is the sixth straight monthly increase this year and provides more fuel to the argument that the housing market has bottomed out.
Low interest rates, increased affordability and the $8,000 tax credit for first time buyers have provided the spark to ignite this stagnant market. Realtors report increased activity at open houses and bidding wars for some well priced properties.
While the inventory of unsold homes is still larger than normal, it is down from the lofty levels of 2008. The market is not red hot but momentum is clearly turning positive
Posted by Jeff on June 3, 2009 under Real Estate |
For the third month in a row, pending sales of existing homes rose. The rally in home sales were most likely due to record low mortgage rates and special incentives for first-time buyers. The pending home sales index rose 6.7% in April after a 3.2% increase in March, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said. The index is up 3.2% above April 2008. The index is based on sales contracts on existing homes. The NAR reports on sales of existing homes once the sales close, usually six to eight weeks later.
The Northeast saw the biggest increase in April where pending sales jumped 32.6 percent from the previous month. Active home buyers have reported more competition for well priced homes than existed only 6 months ago.
Posted by Jeff on December 24, 2008 under Mortgage Info |
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to buy a home or refinance a loan rose 48% last week to the highest level since 2003. Is this good news? Well, yes and no.
No one ran out to buy a house last week just because rates dropped. Those smart home buyers were in the market already and were able to take advatage of the drop in rates when they were ready to apply for their mortgage. But the trend in rates is down and housing is more affordable so more people will start to enter the market which is good for the economy.
As far as the rest of those applications, Read more of this article »
Posted by Jeff on December 23, 2008 under Mortgage Info |
The Federal Reserve cut the Discount Rate but mortgage rates have barely improved. The truth is the Fed has no control over mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are a function of the bond market and fluctuate just like stock prices. As investors buy and sell bonds, mortgage rates will change accordingly. Sometimes they will change 2 or 3 times in a single day if the market is particularly active.
Investors are still worried about the safety of mortgage bonds so more investor money is going into government backed treasury bills and treasury bonds. There is currently about a Read more of this article »
