Long Beach, Ca.  As the weather starts to warm a little, home buyers have come out in droves.

Some buyers are hesitating and watching the economic situation a little too closely in that some have decided to hold off.  My cautions to all, we have to focus on the positive of our market place and look to the happy side of living in these opportunistic times.  Don’t hesitate to purchase a home if you qualify, need a home, and have the ability to make the mortgage payments.  Remember, there is a federal tax credit of $8000.00 for first time home buyers that does not have to be paid back!!!

Freddie Mac declared a 4Q net loss of $23.9B, which forced the value of assets below its liabilities.  Freddie said that it will need an additional $30.8B in federal aid.  

We have already seen Retail Sales and Jobless Claims bounce….just a little. Retails Sales, expected to drop .5%, were “only” down .1% after being up 1.8% last month. In addition, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose 9,000 last week to 654,000, a shade higher than expected, and the four-week average of new jobless claims rose to 650,000 from 643,250 the week before. (This was the highest reading since October 1982.)

We have seen an up tick in your loan applications.   Requests  loans raised 11.3 percent in last week, driven by a 13.1 percent growth in refinancing demand, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. Applications for purchases climbed 7.1 percent. GREAT long-term mortgage rates, which dropped to 4.96 percent, stimulated the market.

Finally, today Mr. Madoff, who made off - no pun intended for the victims, with billions of people's money from the largest ponzi investment scheme to date, said he was sorry and ashamed.  Here is the story and link to CNBC article and a number of links of resources that are available for people who have been become victims of this sad situation. http://www.cnbc.com/id/29598454

Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker co-manages Prudential California Realty, “The Bixby Knolls Office” and a Net Branch of GEM Mortgage, a direct lender specializing in FHA, VA, and Conventional financing.  Contact him at:  562-989-4608 ext. 110

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