More positive economic signals and moves today that it's looking to be a great start to 2008 for homebuyers.

The bond and mortgage markets started quietly today as total attention is directed to tomorrow's FOMC meeting and how big a cut they do. Renewed turbulence in financial markets puts Bernanke under pressure to open the monetary spigots wider to pump up the economy. Traders in federal funds futures are betting it's a certainty the Fed will cut its benchmark interest rate from 4.5% tomorrow, and they see a better-than-ever chance the rate will be 3.75% or below by April. Futures on the Chicago Board of Trade show a 74% chance the Fed will trim its target for overnight loans between banks by a quarter percentage point to 4.25% tomorrow. The rest of the bets are for a half-point reduction. The collapse of the U.S. subprime market has led to about $76B of losses and markdowns at securities firms and banks this year, prompting the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs twice since Sept. 18.

Oct pending home sales were reported at 10:00 by NAR. Sales increased +0.6%, the second increase in succession; but sales are off 18.4% yr/yr. In 2007 sales off 12.5%; in 2008 sales are expected to be up 0.5% (frm 2007) according to their outlook.

Last week Fannie issued an announcement of new fees to be charged for various credit scores that will add a lot of cost to consumers; now this just in: Fannie Mae is implementing a new upfront charge of 0.25% that will apply to all: (1) whole loan mortgages purchased on or after March 1, 2008; or, (2) mortgage loans delivered into MBS with issue dates on or after March 1, 2008. The costs of securing a mortgage is increasing as everyone is trying to make a buck to offset previous losses.

This week's economic releases and estimates: Tuesday, Oct wholesale inventories (+0.5%). Wednesday: Oct trade deficit (-$57.0B); Nov Treasury Budget (-$90.0B). Thursday: Nov retail sales (+0.6%; ex autos +0.6%); Nov PPI (+1.5%, ex food and energy +0.2%); weekly jobless claims (-3K to 335K); Oct business inventories (+0.3%). Friday: Nov CPI (+0.6%, ex food and energy (+0.2%); Nov industrial production (+0.1%), Nov factory usage (81.7% unch frm Oct). After the FOMC statement tomorrow the focus this week will be on inflation data.

From Forbes - October 1, 2007 

Nationwide, home prices are falling, sales are sluggish and the number of foreclosures is mounting.  Ask any economist and you'll hear that things are bad, and likely to get worse.  Unless you live in Seattle, where the market is slowing but fundamentals remain strong.

The Emerald City has experienced strong price appreciation over the last six quarters, and that's expected to continue in the new year, though at a slower pace. In addition to a very low housing inventory and a strong sales rate, there are few non-conforming and high-risk loans on the books than in other cities, which means the area will likely see fewer defaults in the coming months than the rest of the country's markets.

In Pictures: America's Most Stable Real Estate Markets

Also primed for a stable year are Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, and Dallas. They follow Seattle in our ranking of the country's 10 most stable markets. All are projected to have median home sale price increases next year, thanks to a combination of factors including lower-than-average inventory levels, little price volatility and high job growth.

To arrive at our list, we teamed with Moody's Economy.com to develop three prediction models based on a range of factors that affect how prices move. These include, among other things, the state of local economies, new construction contracts, foreclosure rates, local credit markets, sales rates, affordability and inventory. Each of America's 40 biggest cities was ranked on all three models, with price appreciation counting one half and sales rates and credit models accounting for the other half. Data were drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau, National Association of Realtors, Equifax, a credit-market tracking firm, and Moody's Economy.com.

The first model looks at projected median existing home price growth from fourth-quarter 2007 to fourth-quarter 2008. Factors influencing this data include the market's inventory of unsold homes and the amount of new construction underway, both of which have obvious effects on supply. Housing affordability and local construction costs also play a role, acting as indicators of the market's ability to accommodate first-time buyers and new construction. Next is job growth, which attracts people to the area and increases their ability to buy a home.

Expensive markets like Seattle and San Francisco, which have low housing inventories and low construction costs, do well by this measure. Most of the top performers, however, are affordable, high-job growth markets like Dallas and San Antonio.

"It largely reflects that these markets never went through the boom and aren't going through the severe bust," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Price growth is not great, but [these markets] are not having house price declines. [All markets] are experiencing pricing problems, but in these markets it's less of a problem."

Moody's second predictive model examined market activity by calculating sales rate, which measures how quickly unsold inventory is expected to sell, and turnover, which measures how much of the overall housing stock those sales represent.

For example, the projected volume of home sales in San Francisco for the coming year represents a low 1.1% of the market's overall housing stock. In a market like Los Angeles, hamstrung by foreclosures and inventory glut, a 1% to 2% sales rate is potentially devastating--but given San Francisco's supply-side fundamentals and low foreclosure rates, prices are expected to modestly climb.

The last measure took into account delinquency and foreclosure predictions. By this model, adjusted-rate mortgage- and subprime mortgage-rich Detroit, Riverside, Calif., and Las Vegas got hammered, while Pittsburgh and Seattle performed well.

Regarding this measure, "it's important to differentiate between delinquencies: how many people are late relative to their most recent due date and how many people are in the process of losing their home," says Douglas Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. "Ninety percent of all 30-day late pays get fixed. Serious delinquencies are 90 days past current due dates."

When lending problems like this occur, the markets hit hardest are those with a high proportion of non-conforming loans. The most troublesome types are subprime mortgages and jumbo mortgages--those that are above the range of Fannie Mae  and Freddie Mac's $417,000 securitization limit.  Because few banks eagerly take on mortgages that aren't backed by Freddie and Fannie, the spread on jumbo loan interest rates compared to those of regular loans is at an all time high, according to data from HSH Associates, a credit-market tracking firm.

With fewer lenders wanting to take on jumbos and no banks willing to securitize jumbos, that adds another barrier to sales, especially in an expensive market.  In Atlanta, for example, where the median home-sale price is $175,500, it's not an enormous setback, but when securitization stops in Los Angeles--where the median price is $593,000--a greater chunk of market activity halts.

As a result, cheaper markets are more likely to be healthier, as loan activity is less constrained.

Still, no market finds itself in a boom.  As Zandi points out, discussing which markets are the healthiest "is a relative term."

"It's not like any of these markets are going gangbusters," he says.  "Even Seattle:  It's been very strong, but conditions are weakening and this year, at best, will be an OK year."

If we could show you how to pay off your mortgage in as little as one half to one third of the time with little or no change to your current lifestyle, would you want to know more?

Through an innovative program called the Money Merge Account, homeowners across the nation are paying off their mortgages in a fraction of the time without refinancing their existing mortgage and with little lifestyle change.

The interest-reducing program combines innovative software with banking systems which have been around for decades to provide homeowners with the tools necessary to achieve the greatest time and interest savings imaginable.

The Money Merge Account program consists of three main components:

• Your primary mortgage
• An advanced line of credit
• On-line software

The Money Merge Account works virtually like your standard checking or savings account, except that it has the ability to offset large portions of interest on your mortgage each time you deposit income into your account.

With the Money Merge Account, your money doesn't just sit in your checking or savings account waiting for you to pay expenses.  Instead, it is actually being put to work every day it is in your account to significantly reduce interest on your mortgage.  Homeowners in different parts of Australia and Europe have been using this type of interest-saving concept for years through the use of an interest cancellation account.

The Money Merge Account is a totally secure,128-bit encrypted web-based system which allows you to monitor your account and interest savings 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Once your program is activated, only you have access to your money through checks, debit cards, and ATM's.  Again, the only person that ever has access to your money is you!  You will continue to deposit your income and pay expenses, except now you will be saving time and interest on your mortgage.

Highlights of the Monday Merge Account:

• All activity and transactions controlled by client
• No contractual obligation
• Free lifetime technical support
• 24-hour secure on-line access
• No monthly service charges
• The Money Merge Account system can be transferred to other mortgages that you have (i.e. rentals, investment properties, etc.)

With the Money Merge Account, the only thing you have to lose is your mortgage.....

Sound too good to be true? - Put us to the test.

To receive a DVD which explains more about the Money Merge Account and lets you hear from homeowners across the nation currently benefiting from the program, just contact Independent Agent, Jeff Noe, via e-mail at jeffreynoe@remax.net and start learning how you can own your home free and clear in a fraction of the time.

Watch a 5 minute video to see how the program works - CLICK HERE

"One of the most amazing things to us about this whole process is how we have been able to take our money that was just being wasted away or sitting in an account that made no interest and use it in an organized way and see how much difference it made in our progress towards paying off our mortgage.  We're not losing anything in the process...we seem to buy the same things that we always have, but the money is just more efficiently used.  I think that if we can do it, anyone could and, it's just an incredibly positive feeling.  Some things seem like they're too good to be true, but this one is the real deal."
-  Lee and Carol G.

From Cincinnati Enquirer - November 27, 2007

If you need a one-night vacation for less than $200, go to Granville, Ohio. It will rejuvenate the weariest travelers and their appreciation for Ohio's culture and history.

Any season is a good time to travel to the town of 5,500 in Licking County, 30 miles northeast of Columbus. At dusk, you can walk along tree-lined streets, absorbing the soft illumination of living rooms with their wooden staircases and built-in bookcases. A blend of architectural styles from the late 1800s and early 1900s, the houses collectively represent the quintessential American home.

Granville looks unusual to Ohioans because New Englanders settled it and designed the kind of town that they knew: white steeples, churches on the town square, two wide thoroughfares, and long front porches. The whole town is a piece of New England transplanted to the middle of Buckeye country.

At Christmas, Broadway looks like something from a greeting card.

This year's Christmas Candlelight Walking Tour, touted as "a gift for families," will be held from 2-9 p.m. Saturday.

"It is a popular event that brings in a lot of people from around Ohio," said Susan Fryer, executive director of the Greater Licking County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Events will include musical programs at most churches.

Celebrations will be held all across town. From 2-3 p.m., Centenary United Methodist Church on Broadway will feature a recital of holiday music by flutists and pianists from Denison University. The school sprawls across one side of the town.

Nights are usually quiet in Granville. Bars and student housing don't intrude into neighborhoods.

Only a short walk from Broadway, visitors can see historic houses lived in by families. One yellow house, at 241 E. Maple St., doubles as the Porch House Bed and Breakfast, a turn-of-the-last-century wooden home with round white columns and a wrap-around porch that looks inviting on autumn nights.

With the availability of at least one other B&B and two larger inns, lodging is easy to find in Granville unless you come at graduation time.

The Buxton Inn, 313 E. Broadway, was founded in 1812 as a stagecoach stop and is a strikingly colorful building painted coral and trimmed in white. It features a stone basement tavern, four guest rooms, several dining and meeting rooms, a gift shop, and a garden dining spot.

The Buxton bills itself as "Ohio's oldest continuously operated inn," and it consists of multiple buildings. Owners Orville Orr and wife Audrey bought the place in 1972. They dreamed of restoring the inn, which they accomplished in September 1974.

"We knew we had to save this wonderful old building," Orville said. "It is such a big part of Granville's past."

The Orrs went on to buy the block for use as the Buxton Inn Complex. Inn annexes include the Ty Fy Main House, a Sears & Roebuck catalog house built in 1900 at 118 S. Pearl St. (Its owner named it "My Mother's House" in Welsh.) In 1992, the Orrs opened it with two rooms and two suites.

The couple also opened the 1815 brick Warner House at 303 E. Broadway; a Victorian house at 108 S. Pearl Street; and an adjoining Federal-looking house at 307 E. Broadway, named Founders Hall in honor of six Granville founders. Appropriately, it has six guest rooms.

The Orrs linked the inn and houses with one huge backyard in which guests can sit and walk. There you'll find statues, unusual greenery, and fountains.

If your tastes run on the English manor side, you might prefer to walk across the street to the Granville Inn, which offers 30 guest rooms and a wine list of more than 120 selections. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the stately Granville Inn features hand-cut oak paneling and native sandstone.

Just a short walk from the inns is downtown Granville and its specialty shops and restaurants. You can order a sundae at the ice-cream parlor, browse in a card shop and at the cozy Reader's Garden bookshop, or visit a community museum that occupies the former Bank of the Alexandrian Society on Broadway. In the 19th century, the bank was one of many local American banks that printed its own currency.

When the town pauses to celebrate its Candlelight Walking Tour, members of the Spring Hills Baptist Church Brass Quintet will walk downtown as they play sacred Christmas songs from 7-8:30 p.m. Antique ornaments will be displayed at the Robbins Hunter Museum on Broadway from 6-9 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus will appear at the village offices on Broadway, starting at 4:30 p.m.

The event will be a good warm-up to Christmas, one that's well worth a drive into the past of Ohio's own piece of New England.  For more information on the Village of Granvile and Granville Real Estate, contact Jeff Noe via e-mail at jeffreynoe@remax.net or visit his website at www.GreatGranvilleHomes.com.