I've had that "a watched pot never boils" feeling lately with this looming market adjustment that I've been calling for. Well, wouldn't you know that today, the first day I've taken a little bit of a break from my O.C.D.-esque monitoring is the day that we're seeing my prediction sprout some legs!

Here's a brief summary of what we're looking at for right now. Economy....still not good. Jobs report from last week.....hasn't changed and still not good. The problem is that it hasn't impacted the bond market and therefore mortgage rates the way that it "was supposed to impact them." Today, Stocks took a serious beating from the word go and oil fell below $58/barrel. So poor performance in equities helps out, lower oil prices eases some inflationary fear, both of those are good news for bonds and today money started to move into bonds. As the day progressed, a $20 billion 10 yr T Note auction took place at 1pm showing decent demand for bonds. That helped extend the rally and the FNMA 6% mortgage bond, our current benchmark, picked up 44bp on the day to close at $101.44. This also triggered an afternoon reprice by most lenders, we re-priced for the better around 2:15pm and the difference was significant for sure. Hopefully, by closing above the 200 day moving average, this is signaling a boost in momentum and we will see MBS fall in line with the rest of the market and that will mean substantially lower interest rates. This means that if you haven't already, you need to get out our phone lists and start calling those buyers that have been on the fence, I know there are a ton out there! This is also the exact type of shift that can help you move some of those listings. Remember, if interest rates fall as much as 1/2 a percent, that is equivalent to what your "price reduction" WOULD'VEbeen assuming everything else stays static and you were trying to move the property. Using market knowledge to sell your listings and move your buyers off the fence is unfortunately grossly underused among Real Estate Agents. Get in the habit of doing it and you will certainly separate yourself from your competition. Call me if you want to get more in detail or just better educate yourself on what's going on. Don't forget, I'm also more than happy to help market your listings and calm the fears of your buyer, an email or a phone call is free so why turn down the resources that you have at no cost to you or your client? Just keep your fingers crossed that this is a trend and not one time deal. I feel strong about it, so much so that the closings I have this month have all been floating so I can now show my borrowers a substantial and exact dollar figure that I have saved them just by staying on top of the market in these crazy and uncertain times. You can bet my Realtors are doing the same.

As Benjamin Franklin once said:   "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."