Plymouth
Real Estate Listings
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Plymouth
Real Estate News and Questions
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Another month, another piece of evidence that the housing market is in recovery.
Existing Home Sales surged in October as the nation's homebuyers took advantage of low mortgage rates, low list prices,and, for some, a generoustax credit.
Home resales are 23 percent higher versus a year ago and home supply
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Mortgage markets worsened last week on a mixed bag of economic data. Inflation data came in soft, but so did the start of the holiday shopping season.
For the first time ina month, mortgage rates worsened last week, adding roughly 0.125 percent on conforming fixed-rate products, and a little bit more
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For today's home buyers and homeowners that can manage the higher monthly payments, 15-year fixed rate mortgage rates look attractive as compared to comparable 30-year products.
The 15-year/30-year interest rate spread is near its 5-year high.
Despite lower rates, however, homeowners opting for a 15-year fixed mortgage should be prepared for its
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A "Housing Start" is a home on which construction has started and, for the 4th straight month, national single-family housing starts held steady last month.
When the demand for homes grows faster than the number of homes for sale, prices increase.
As recent home sales data confirms, buyers currently outpace sellers
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A conforming mortgage is one that, quite literally, conforms to the mortgage guidelines set forth by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Each year, the government sets the maximum allowable loan sizefor a conforming mortgage, based on "typical" housing costs nationwide.
Loans in excess of this amount are typically called "jumbo".
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APR is an acronym for Annual Percentage Rate.It's a government-mandated calculation meant to simplify the comparison of mortgage options.
A loan's APR can always befound in the top-left corner of the Federal Truth-In-Lending Disclosure.
Because APR is expressed as a percentage, many people confuse it for the loan's interest rate. It's
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Mortgage markets improved last week as foreign buyers of mortgage debt helped to push mortgage rates to a 4-week low.
It marked the 3rd consecutive week that rates improved, breathing extra life into this year's ongoing Refi Boom.
Fixed-rate, conforming mortgage rates fell about 0.125 percent on the week. ARMs
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For the eighth straight consecutive month, national foreclosure activity in the U.S. was dominated by a small set of states.
As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of October's foreclosure-related activity came from just 4 states:
California
Florida
Illinois
Michigan
TheremainingTop 10 states in terms of total foreclosure activity included Arizona,
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Despite the economy's improvement and prodding from Congress, banks don't seem ready to open their purse strings just yet.
Nationally, mortgage approval standards are tightening.
The data comes from a quarterly survey the Federal Reserve sends to its member banks. The Fed asks senior bank loan officers around the country
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Consider this a last call for FHA Streamline Refinances.Starting next Tuesday, the popular rate-lowering program gets strict on borrowers.
There's 5 days left.
Under the current streamline refi guidelines, FHA homeowners have minimal program eligibility requirements.
FICO scores must be 620 or higher
The refinance must provide a "tangible benefit"
No
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Mortgage markets were extremely volatile last week, carving out a wide range between Monday and Friday.
Thankfully for rate shoppers, the overall momentum was positive.
Mortgage rates fell for the second time in as many weeks.Rates still sit higher versus their early-October lows.
For pure "news", last week was a
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Congress both extended and expanded the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program Thursday.
The White House says the President will sign it into law today.
The up-to-$8000 tax credit's expiration date has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract by April 30, 2010, and to be closed by June
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The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent.
In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy "has continued to pick up" since the September FOMC meeting and that housing market activity has increased.
It's the third consecutive
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The Federal Open Market Committee caps off a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in the nation's capital, its 8th meeting of the year.
The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET and, as is customary, will issue a press release reviewing its monetary policy and the health of the U.S. economy.
The FOMC's post-meeting statements are brief but
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The housing market continues to steam forward.
As reported by the National Association of Realtors®, the Pending Home Sales Index posted its 8th consecutive monthly gain in September.
It's the longest winning streak in the history of the index and Pending Home Sales are now at their highest levels since December
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Mortgage markets improved last week after a series of hugely volatile trading sessions.
Rates carved out a wide range on the week, culminating in a late-Friday plunge that dropped rates by about 1/8 percent.
It was the first time in 5 weeks that mortgage rates fell.
Volatility like that of last
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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
At some point in their lives, every home buyer in America has wondered "Is now the best time to buy a home?" In this 3-minute video, NBC's The Today Show does a good job of answering the question.
The
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Some days, newspaper headlinesare aterribleplace toget your real estate news.
Today is one of those days.
After the September New Home Sales report showed sales volume down from August, the mainstream media jumped on the story:
New Home Sales fall a surprising 3.6%.
Surprise Drop In New Home Sales.
Stocks
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For August, the Case-Shiller Index showed annual home values improving across 19 of 20 U.S. markets. It's the first time in 3-plus years that the benchmark housing index has shown such strength.
According to a Case-Shiller Index spokesperson, "The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to improve."
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Initial unemployment claims hit their lowest level since January. Retailers post better-than-expected same-store sales. Cisco CEO sees recovery building.
Posted by Elizabeth Strott on Thursday, November 5, 2009 9:59 AM
Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET
Stocks were surging today as bulls took this morning's economic data as another sign of a recovery.
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Autumn Festival, An Arts & Crafts Affair!
Over 500 of the nation's finest artists and crafters display and sell their handcrafted works. Voted one of the top 100 shows in the country according to Sunshine Artist Magazine. Hourly gift certificate drawings, stage entertainment, food & drink, lots of family fun!
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Explore the sites of nightclubs, kidnappings, and gun battles associated with 1930s gangsters like John Dillinger, Ma Barker and Babyface Nelson.
Tags: caves, st. paul, historical tours
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Additional Information Time: Saturday, Nov 7 12:00p Location: St Paul, MN, 215 Wabasha
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The national housing supply fell to a 2-year low last month, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
At the current sales pace, existing home inventories would sell out in 7.8 months -- 30 percent faster versus November 2008.
For a 10-month window, that's a major housing supply reduction and it
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Mortgage markets were volatile last week, making it very difficult to shop for mortgage rates.
On most days, lenders issued multiple rate sheets with the trend putting rates higher in the morning, and lower in the afternoon.
Overall, mortgage rates were unchanged on the week. It broke a three-week streak through
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According to the government, home values edged lower last month.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's Home Price Index report shows values down by 0.3 percent from the month prior -- the index's first down month since April.
The Home Price Index is
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Question: 10/11/09 Sun 11;49 AM
What's the average residential property tax rate?
Thank you.
Bennett Dy
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