market: Thoughts for a Tuesday Afternoon - 01/17/17 01:54 PM

Good Afternoon,
We are now 17 days into the New Year...Here is a beginning of the year market update: Pre-Qualification vs Pre-Approval and closing your purchase loan in less than 2 weeks in this current market... 
Call me for more details NOW @ (650) 409-5918! See the video on my Business Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/2jWj3tB
Find me on YELP: http://bit.ly/2k1QLC1
All the best,
Michael Haigh | Branch Manager NMLS#200819
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market: Mid-Year Review : Were The Experts Right About The Market? - 07/08/11 11:57 AM
The year is half-over. It's an opportune time to take stock of analyst predictions made at the start of the year, and to recognize that the "experts" can be wrong as often as they are right.
For as much experience and authority an expert brings to the conversation, though, nobody can accurately predict the future.
As such, there's often disagreement.
Looking back to December, some housing analysts called for a market rebound this year; while others called for a fall. With respect to mortgages, some said rates had nowhere to go but up; while others expected more dips.
As a layperson, how do you know who will be right?
In … (1 comments)

market: Building Permits Surge In December; Signals A Strong Spring Housing Market - 01/21/11 03:15 PM

Each month, in conjunction with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Census Bureau releases its New Residential Construction report. The report is comprised of several sections, one of which counts the number of homes that have "broken ground" nationwide.
They're called "Housing Starts" and, by most measures, they faded quickly as 2010 came to a close.
According to the Census Bureau's report, Housing Starts of single-family homes fell to 417,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted, annual basis. The figure marks a 9 percent drop-off from November, and is the lowest reading since May 2009.
Not surprisingly, the press went bearish … (0 comments)

market: In a market like this one, what advice do you have for your clients who are looking to purchase a new home? - 12/27/10 02:06 PM
In today’s environment we are coupled with historically low interest rates and in some areas depressed home values. This means that there are really good opportunities out there to find, but a new homeowner or investor needs to be sure that their financing and leveraging themselves correctly. On the side of locating good properties and getting a good deal, I cannot stress enough how important it is to work with a good and qualified real estate agent. Do your homework, check references, ask for referrals, and find out if they are the right fit for your home hunt. I have many … (1 comments)

market: Existing Home Sales Jump; Housing Market Shows Spark - 10/26/10 09:51 AM
Existing home sales jumped 10 percent in September, the biggest monthly jump on record and a signal that the housing market may be returning to a normal sales pattern post-$8,000 federal tax credit.
Existing Home Sales counts home resales (i.e. not new construction) and 80 percent of home resales close within 45-60 days. It's no surprise, therefore, September's data is strong.
Throughout the July and August, mortgage rates were in free-fall, pushing home affordability to near-record levels. Concurrently, the number of homes available for sale climbed to multi-year highs.
"Deals" were in ample supply this summer and eager home buyers snatched … (0 comments)

market: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : October 25, 2010 - 10/25/10 12:20 PM
Mortgage markets improved last week overall, but barely. After making a sizable move lower through Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, mortgage pricing jumped Thursday and Friday. Nearly all of the early-week gains were erased.
Conforming mortgage rates ended the week slightly improved.
There wasn't much economic news on which for markets to trade last week. In its absence, bond traders took cues from the currency markets, among other things.
Mortgage rates are closely tied to the value of the U.S. dollar. This is because mortgage bond investors are repaid in U.S. dollars and, as the dollar gains value, demand for dollar-denominated bonds … (0 comments)

market: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : October 12, 2010 - 10/12/10 11:11 AM
Mortgage markets improved last week on mixed messages about the economy, and a growing belief that the government will move to stimulate the economy.
Conforming mortgage rates eased lower.
According to Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage market survey, average mortgage rates nationwide fell to new all-time lows last week. On the other side of that point, however, is that the accompanying "points" for today's low rates have climbed to their highest levels of 2010.
In other words, mortgage rates are down, but closing costs are up.
There were two main stories driving mortgage rates last week. The first was the Federal Reserve. 
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market: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : September 20, 2010 - 09/20/10 09:25 AM
Mortgage markets were highly volatile, yet relatively unchanged last week in back-and-forth trading on Wall Street. Global investors are grappling with the state of U.S. economy and unable to discern whether it's growing, or slowing.
As an real-world illustration, the government's August Retail Sales report showed strong growth nationwide. However, in looking at a subset of that same data that accounted for rising gas prices, and excluded automotive-related sales, the results were far more tame.
In other words, despite the winning headlines, there was no clear conclusion in August's Retail Sales.
As another example, consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level … (0 comments)

market: Home Sales Are Back On The Rise After A 2-Month Pullback - 09/08/10 02:33 PM
Just one week after reports of Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales plunging, the housing market is signaling that auturm may fare better than did summer.
The number of homes under contract to sell rose 5 percent in July.
The data comes from the July Pending Home Sales Index, as published by the National Association of Realtors®. By definition, a "pending home sales" is a home that is sold, but not yet closed.
Historically, 80% of such homes close within 60 days which makes the Pending Home Sales Index an excellent, forward-looking indicator for the real estate market.
Indeed, the … (1 comments)

market: Mortgage Rates Make New Lows For The 9th Week In A Row - 08/20/10 05:28 PM

Another week, another new low for conforming mortgage rates.  In fact, this week marks the 9th time in a row it's happened.
Mortgage rates are (again) at their lowest levels in history.
The data comes from the Freddie Mac, a government group and major loan securitizer for the U.S. mortgage market. Freddie Mac's weekly survey is among the most widely-cited reports on mortgage rates and is the data used in home affordability models, among other statistics.
The 30-year fixed rate is averaging 4.42% nationally with an accompanying cost of 0.7 points. 1 point is equal to 1 percent of the … (3 comments)

market: Single-Family Housing Starts Fade In July - 08/18/10 12:09 PM
Sometimes, you need to look deeper than the headlines to get the news that matters. This basic truth's latest example comes from the July Housing Starts data, as published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to the newspapers, Housing Starts improved last month:
US Housing Starts Make Modest Rebound (FT) Housing Starts Rise Slightly (MoneyWatch) Housing Starts Tick Higher In July (MarketWatch) However, these stories are speaking in terms of all housing starts -- not just the single-family ones. This is a major point of difference for home buyers because the most people don't buy the multi-unit homes and apartment buildings … (0 comments)

market: Home Builder Confidence Falls Again; Home Buyers Gain Leverage? - 08/17/10 10:28 AM
Home builder confidence in the newly-built, single-family housing market is down for the third straight month this month.
After reaching a 3-year high just 90 days ago, the National Association of Homebuilders' Housing Market Index is now at a multi-year low. It's since dropped by almost half.
As an economic indicator, the HMI's goal is to "take the pulse of the single-family housing market". It surveys home builders across the country and asks them to report on 3 facets of their business:
How are market conditions today? How do market conditions look 6 months from now? How is the prospective traffic … (1 comments)

market: How Big Is The Foreclosure Market? It Depends On Where You Live, Of Course. - 08/12/10 11:21 AM
Foreclosure filings rose 4 percent nationwide last month versus June, according to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac.com. For the 17th straight month, total filings topped 300,000.
A foreclosure filing is defined as default notice, scheduled auction, or bank repossession.
As with most months, just a handful of states dominated foreclosure activity nationwide.
California : 14.9 percent of all activity Florida : 11.6 percent of all activity Arizona : 6.4 percent of all activity Michigan : 6.2 percent of all activity Georgia : 6.1 percent of all activity Texas : 4.9 percent of all activity Together, these 6 states represent just 30 percent of … (1 comments)

market: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : August 9, 2010 - 08/09/10 07:45 AM
Mortgage markets improved again last week on softer-than-expected economic data, punctuated by Friday morning's weak jobs report. Conforming mortgage rates dropped on the news, making new, all-time lows.
Mortgage rates have been on an extended rally dating back to mid-April.
This week, there's a lot of data and news due for release, the most influential to markets of which is the Federal Open Market Committee's scheduled policy meeting.
8 times annually, the FOMC meets to discuss the nation's monetary policy with respect to the current and projected U.S. economic conditions. Sometimes the FOMC takes action on the economy. Other times, it … (2 comments)

market: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : August 2, 2010 - 08/02/10 06:53 AM
Mortgage markets improved last week, pushing mortgage rates lower for the 6th time in seven weeks. 
Since April, rates have been on a downward path, spurring refinances in most markets and sparking the start of a Refi Boom.
Last week, 3 key stories played a role in falling rates:
Demand was strong for U.S. government debt Emerging concerns of a Japan-style deflation in the U.S. Personal Spending since late-2007 was shown to be less than previously thought Of the three, it's the measured drop in Personal Spending for which rate shoppers and home buyers should watch. Drops in spending slow down … (0 comments)

market: Case-Shiller Shows Home Price Improvement In 95% Of Cities - 07/28/10 06:45 AM

Standard & Poors released its Case-Shiller Index Tuesday. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, between April and May 2010, home prices rose in 19 of Case-Shiller's 20 tracked markets.  It's the second straight month of strong Case-Shiller findings.
Also, May's numbers are a mirror-image of February's. In February, 19 of 20 markets lost value.
In its press release, the Case-Shiller staff resisted calling May's data proof of a housing recovery, noting that home values remain flat as compared to October of last year. However, there are some noteworthy numbers in the Case-Shiller report.
13 of the 20 tracked cities are showing home … (0 comments)

market: New Homes Sales Gain in June, But Gains Are Relative - 07/27/10 08:42 AM

After a down month in May, the sales of newly-built homes appears back on track.
As published by the Census Bureau, June's New Home Sales report showed:
A 24 percent sales volume increase from the month prior A 2-month drop in the supply of newly-built home There are now just 210,000 new homes for sale nationwide.
June's data is a major improvement over May, but it's possible that the true "new home market" may be softer than the statistics suggest.  This is for several reasons.
First, we're comparing June's sales data to the worst month in New Home Sales history.
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market: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : July 26, 2010 - 07/26/10 06:41 AM
Mortgage markets worsened last week for the first time in 6 weeks last week. Investors were pleased with corporate earnings reports and the European bank stress tests results.  Stocks gained on the news, and bonds lost.
Mortgage rates rose last week, but only slightly. Rate are still hovering near their lowest levels of all-time.
Of the bigger stories last week was Existing Home Sales. As reported by the National Association of Realtors®, sales volume was down in June and home supplies were up. But figures were a bit better than expected, giving some hope for housing.
Notably, the number of move-up … (0 comments)

market: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : July 19, 2010 - 07/19/10 07:17 AM
Mortgage markets improved for the 5th straight week last week as consumer confidence waned and inflation data tamed. Investors ignored the news that 19 of 23 reporting S&P 500 companies beat their respective earnings estimates and sold off on stocks.
There's concern about a potential economic slowdown for the months ahead and it may be well-founded.
Despite an improving jobs situation and booming retail sales, households are less optimistic about the future and so is the Federal Reserve. In its post-meeting minutes released last week, the Fed revised its U.S. growth estimates downward for 2010 and 2011.
For rate shoppers , … (0 comments)

market: Foreclosure Activity Slows Again In June 2010 - 07/15/10 05:54 AM

313,841 foreclosure filings were made in June, according to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac. The figure represents a 3 percent drop from May and 7 percent drop from June of last year. However, foreclosure filings remain relatively high nationwide.
June marks the 16th straight month the filings topped 300,000. 1 in every 411 U.S. homes received some form of notice last month with foreclosure density varying wildly from state-to-state.
Like everything else in real estate, it seems, foreclosures are a local phenomenon.
The states with the highest foreclosures per capita were:
Nevada : 1 foreclosure filing per 88 homes Florida : 1 … (0 comments)