Good morning…
It’s a beautiful “winter” day today and even though it’s a holiday I’m working! I know
you don’t take much time off, so neither do I J
On today’s call: Markets, Housing – important numbers, Interest Rates
- It looks like the debacle in Greece might be finally resolved. Finance ministers
in the Eurozone are set to approve a bailout of the country today. Investors
are seeing this as positive news, as the Dow closed about 50 points under
13,000, a threshold not reached since May of 2008. Some of the big gainers
on Wall Street have been home builders and the housing starts index is giving
analysts signs of encouragement.
- Investors know the housing industry is a big piece of the economic recovery
puzzle. The index showed that it’s quite possible we have already reached the
bottom and bond market activity has weakened due to the fact that the HSI index
has grown 22% over the last four months, the last two of which have shown
single-family starts surpassing the 500,000 mark, which hasn’t happened in two
years. Last week, the National Association of Home Builders released their
Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), which indicated that close to 76% of all new
and existing homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2011 were within the financial
reach of the national median income ($64,200). This is the highest figure for the
index in its 20 year history. Bottom line: you should hopefully see more clients
this year!
- It’s not a surprise, then, that mortgage rates spiked at the end of last week. Again,
as the economy continues to show improvement, investors are less likely to park
themselves in the “safe” haven of bonds, effecting yields, and therefore rates.
They’re still in the “historic low” range so there’s no cause for panic just yet!
Thanks to Jake for the two referrals…both contracts are in and appraisals already ordered!
I hope you enjoy the holiday today and happy selling for the week ahead.
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