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Weekly NATIONAL Housing Market Update

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty | Northern Virginia | 703.635.0388 0225 189802

Foreclosure Rates Fall:
The most recent sign of growth in the housing industry comes from a new report released by RealtyTrac.  They reported that foreclosures in the U.S. fell by more than 2% in April from a year earlier.  The great news is that this is the very first year-over-year decline since the housing crisis began.

RealtyTrac's index fell 9% from March 2010 to April 2010 and 2.4% from April 2009 to April 2010.  This data shows that the foreclosure situation is slowing and may have already hit a plateau.  Currently, 1 out of 387 homes are in foreclosure.  That means that 386 out of 387 homes are not in foreclosure!

Consumer Sentiment Strong:



The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index rose to its best levels since our Recession began.  This is very important because housing demand is very clearly tied with how consumers feel about economic conditions and their own financial outlook.

Consumer Sentiment rose to 73.3 in May, up from the April reading of 72.2.  Buried within this report were two other nuggets:  The survey showed that the consumer inflation expectation index rose to 3.1% which is the highest reading since June of 2009.  Inflation naturally causes mortgage rates to increase, so we need to keep an eye on this.

The survey's gauge of current economic conditions edged upward to a very high 81.1 and the barometer of consumer expectations also rose in May to 68.3.

What Happened to Rates Last Week:


Mortgage backed securities (MBS) gained +7 basis points last week which caused 30 year fixed rates to decrease for both government and conventional loans to their best levels of 2010.  MBS pricing increased (which causes mortgage rates to go down) due primarily to Greece. Although there is over $1 trillion that has been made available through loans by the IMF, the European Union, and individual countries in the EU, most economists are skeptical that it is enough to stem the tide.  The global uncertainty causes investors to park their money into U.S. treasuries and MBS.  This artificial (and temporary) demand helped to push mortgage rates down after a very volatile week.

Brought to you by:

Hal Johnson
Senior Loan Officer
Office: 703-279-8810
Cell: 703-507-1572
hjohnson@embracehomeloans.com

9990 Fairfax Boulevard, Suite 340
Fairfax, VA 22030

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