bernanke: The FED Develops a BACKBONE! Why Rate Cuts are NOT the answer
- 05/02/08 01:36 PM
Hello again to all my Real Estate Partners I wanted to wait until the market reacted to the government job reports before I wrote this update. Wednesday marked a very different strategy for Ben Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee. After lowering the Federal Funds Rate (the rate banks lend to each other and the index that the Prime Rate adjusts to) by 3% since August of last year, the committee decided to ease by just ¼ % and furthermore, inferred that they saw no urgency in easing again. They feel that the previous rate cuts will start showing their effect … (3 comments)
bernanke: THE FED FINALLY GETS IT! THEY ARE ON OUR SIDE!
- 03/23/08 06:17 PM
Hello to all of my colleagues in Real Estate WOW! Hold on for dear life! The actions of the last two weeks brings to mind the phrase that we are all familiar with..."Survive to Thrive!". We have to live through the tough times to get to the good ones. It could be that the good times are closer than you think. We have been through two of the most challenging years in recent history. Many Real Estate and Mortgage professionals have exited the business...many that have been veterans of many years. There was a time that there literally seemed to be no buyers … (3 comments)
bernanke: WHY TODAYS BAD PPI NUMBERS MAY NOT BE SO BAD FOR HOUSING
- 02/26/08 07:26 AM
Hello to all my colleagues I know that I am beginning to sound like a broken record when I use the word volatility. Unfortunately, there just is no better way to describe it. Let's get all the bad news out of the way. Last month I told you that my sources indicated there would be a nationwide increase in the conforming loan limit from $417,000 to at least $625,000. This certainly would have had a huge impact on Real Estate that required a "Jumbo" loan to purchase their new home. After battling between the House and Senate, they compromised (doesn't sound like … (2 comments)
bernanke: Bernanke Cuts 1.25% in 8 days with more to come. Now what?
- 02/06/08 12:17 AM
Hello to all my valued colleagues So much has happened in the last two weeks and yet in some ways not much has changed. Late on Monday evening two weeks ago, I sent this note to 400 Real Estate agents in my area. "It looks like the perfect storm! Dow futures are down almost 500 points after Asian and European stocks plunged over night. Over night treasury yields have plunged in a flight to safety as the 10 year yield reaches 3.53%! What does this mean? If Ben Bernanke and company do not announce an emergency rate cut before the opening bell on … (1 comments)
bernanke: Bernanke and Company Are Far from Finished! Federal Funds and Discount Rates fall another 1/2 point!
- 01/30/08 11:47 AM
Hello to my colleagues and clients WOW! After the Feds jumped in and lowered the Federal Funds Rate and Discount rate 3/4 point last Tuesday, I told you that this was the most volatile market I have seen in a very long time. That day we saw the DOW drop 500 points right after the announcement (it seems to take investors time to digest events they don't expect), moving mortgage bond prices way up, which moved mortgage rates down to close to historical lows. That was short lived as money flowed back into stocks and by the end of the day, mortgage rates were 3/8% higher than morning. … (5 comments)
bernanke: Conforming Loan Limits To Temporarly go to $625,000? The Feds get Aggressive!
- 01/24/08 01:57 AM
Hi, Real Estate Partners Well...the name of the game is volatility! Very early Tuesday morning (well before the Wall Street bell), I told you that unless Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve would cut the discount and federal funds rates BEFORE the opening bell, there would be a flight to safety as funds moved out of stocks into bonds. This would have caused mortgage rates to plunge to levels NEVER seen before. While this would have been a good thing for prospective buyers, the resulting carnage on stock exchanges would most likely have been the last straw in our battle to avoid … (5 comments)
bernanke: MORTGAGE RATES IN A FREE FALL! 2008 WILL BE A YEAR OF RECOVERY
- 01/06/08 03:01 AM
Happy New Year to all of my Real Estate Partners! 2008 will be the best year in Real Estate in many years. I know...you wonder what I'm drinking! I am stone cold sober when I say that. Here is why. Since Spring of last year, I have been saying to you all that for the economy to be healthy, we need to have a healthy Real Estate market. It was my very strong belief that Ben Bernanke and company would be jumping in before the fourth quarter to stimulate by lowering the Discount and Federal Funds Rates. Furthermore, I said that mortgage rates … (0 comments)
bernanke: Mortgage Rates Head Back Up As lending Standards Tighten
- 12/26/07 07:05 AM
Hello and Happy Holidays to all of my friends in Real Estate One week ago I wrote to alert you to a rally in the mortgage backed bond market that had mortgage rates headed down once again. This market is extremely volatile and very complicated. In the week since my last post, mortgage bonds lost all of those gains and even more. Interest rates have been as low as 5.625% and are now 6.25% (these rates are with NO points). I have advised my refinance clients to plan for the time to pull the trigger. Those of you that follow my blog know that I have … (1 comments)
bernanke: INTEREST RATE ALERT! RATES HEADED DOWN AS BONDS RALLY!
- 12/19/07 12:17 AM
Hi, again Well...here we may be going again! We are in the middle of a three day Mortgage Bond rally with interest rates starting to head down. On Wall Street, the futures look negative with Morgan Stanley reporting their first quarterly loss ever in their 84 year history. Once again, elements of a financial "perfect storm" appear to be there as volatility is as high as I remember for many years. What is ahead? This rally could end and reverse itself just as it did when I first blogged you that rates had dropped. (We saw the 30 year fixed rise ½% in … (0 comments)
bernanke: One More Fed Meeting in 2007 What's ahead for the 2008 Real Estate market?
- 11/24/07 11:22 AM
Hello, Friends! I hope all is well with you and your family and that this holiday season brings you health, happiness, and success. The Feds made their move on October 31st by dropping the discount rate ¼ point. Watching the market since then, very interesting things have happened. On the day of the Fed decision, the Dow Jones Average gained 138 points as investors were relieved that Bernanke and company were still responding to their needs and being proactive in regard to stimulating this economy that has begun to stall. Ironically, that same day, the government released quarter three advanced gross domestic product … (0 comments)
Hello again to all my Real Estate Partners;)
;)
