real estate market trends: Interest Rates Are On The Rise - 04/26/11 12:30 PM

Mortgage interest rates are on the rise.  I've been preaching this for some time now (see my blog post of February 21, 2011) but the Federal Housing Finance Agency has made it official:  the average mortgage interest rate hit 5.06% for the month of March.  The last time the rate was as high as 5% was last June.  This latest announcement highlights the undeniable upward trend in mortgage interest rates since November of last year when the average rate was 4.38%.  This represents an approximate increase of 0.124% per month.
As I wrote back in February, the interest rate you … (0 comments)

real estate market trends: Useful Little Maps and Graphs from the National Association of Realtors - 03/23/11 10:50 AM
College students across the country are familiar with the ritual of checking the professors' bulletin boards for one's test scores and class standing to be posted - always discreetly by student ID. The National Association of Realtors has recently posted the scores, so to speak, of the individual states' shadow inventory. You can check out your state's standing of shadow inventory compared to the rest of the country. It's interesting, but more importantly, it's a valuable rough competition gauge if you're considering placing your house on the market. You might hold off if there is a lot of shadow inventory poised … (2 comments)

real estate market trends: Reading Between the (Property) Lines - 03/22/11 12:15 PM
A recent statement by NAR (National Association of Realtors) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun is revealing: "Housing affordability conditions have been at record levels and the economy has been improving, but home sales are being constrained by the twin problems of unnecessarily tight credit, and a measurable level of contract cancellations from some appraisals not supporting prices negotiated between buyers and sellers." The "unnecessarily tight credit" is not news, real estate professionals have been complaining about that for over two years now. It's the second remark that I find interesting - contracts being cancelled due to homes not appraising for the agreed … (3 comments)

real estate market trends: Lions and Tigers and MERS - Oh My! - 03/17/11 02:01 PM
When I was a little boy, four years old I think, I saw "The Wizard of Oz" for the first time. It frightened me so much that I hid behind the couch, peeking every so often over the back of it to try and follow along. Something about those flying monkeys gave me such a case of the heeby jeebies. I've got 'em again!
The New York Supreme Court ruled a few days ago that MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) has the right to foreclose on delinquent mortgages. MERS has already prevailed in New Hampshire, California and Kansas. Is your state … (0 comments)

real estate market trends: The Beige Book Is Out - Or What Does My Lunch Money Have To Do With My Landlord? - 03/03/11 04:40 AM
So, the Feds famous (or infamous, depending...) Beige Book is out with current trends on all things economic in the country. The overall consensus appears to be modestly positive. The caveat is that the real estate market is still moping along. Kerry Curry, writing in the Housing Wire e-zine makes the following assessment based on a read of the Beige Book:
"Reports on home prices were mixed. Atlanta and Kansas City observed persistent downward price pressure. Home prices continued to fall according to Philadelphia reports, but mainly at the high-end of the market. Cleveland and Chicago contacts described prices as little … (0 comments)

real estate market trends: Warren Calls The Bottom of the Market - 03/01/11 02:09 AM
Warren Buffet has announced that we've hit the bottom of the housing market - it's all going to get better now. (You can read the article here: http://timandjulieharris.com/2011/02/28/warren-buffett-predicts-housing-recovery-this-year-has-housing-hit-bottom/#comment-35393) Is he trying to create self-fulfilling prophesy? That might actually be effective coming from the Oracle of Omaha. BUT - NAR is showing a decline in sales, at the same time Warren announces his increase. I am truly not a pessimist and would love for him to be right, but the forces needed to improve the market just are not there yet - namely JOB GROWTH, DECLINING UNEMPLOYMENTS STATS, and AN IMPROVING JOB … (0 comments)

real estate market trends: It's MERS Stupid!!! (Referencing the now famous "It's the economy, stupid!" line - 02/28/11 05:28 AM
The MERS controversy is at the core of the foreclosure mess and it's getting nearly zero coverage. Why? Because it's very complicated and can't be explained in two or three minute news bites. There are two articles on John Mauldin's blog that everyone should not just read but STUDY. The url's are included below. I hope I'm not violating AR rules by posting the urls - I'm not posting the actual content here, just the references to the material which, in my opinion should be required reading in its entirety. The first is: http://www.johnmauldin.com/frontlinethoughts/the-subprime-debacle-act-2-mwo101510 And the second is: http://www.johnmauldin.com/frontlinethoughts/the-subprime-debacle-act-2-part-2-mwo102310 … (0 comments)

real estate market trends: Don't Wait Any Longer! - 02/25/11 02:06 AM
I'm going to do my part to help the economy. Interest rates are going to go up, they have to. Property values are in the dirt. Though they are expected to decline a bit further rising interest rates will offset that. SO, if you know anyone who would like to buy a house anywhere in the country they should do it now. I'm not pitching for your business - I'm pitching for the US economy. Lock in a low mortgage now before inflation grabs a foothold. It's going to happen, it has to. What goes up must come down, and VICE … (0 comments)

 


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