Market; Mortgage rates and home sales

WThis past Wednesday Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke sent shockwaves through the markets, both Stock & Bonds, when he spoke before Capitol Hill. He indicated that if the economic environment improved the Feds purchase of Mortgage Backed Securities could be tapered off as early as June or July.

The Bernanke effect was felt around the world as global Stock markets plunged.

Initially it was thought that the markets over reacted to his comments. The Feds have a dual mandate of maximum employment and market price stability. The mixed message did not meet these goals at all!

We are looking for rates to stabilize and are keeping your clients well informed.

RATES ARE STILL EXCELLENT!!!, just not at historic lows.

Are RATES going up 1 / 4 - 1 /2% a good thing? I think it could very well be just want we need to get buyers off the fence and the market really moving.

*Existing Home Sales gained 0.6% for the month, hitting an annual rate of 4.97 million units. This put them up 9.7% over a year ago, reaching their highest sales pace since November 2009

*The median price of an existing home is up 11.0% from a year ago, the supply at 5.2 months.

*New home sales were up 2.3%, to a 454,000 annual rate, and are now up a solid 29.0% versus a year ago.

The median new home selling price is up 14.9% over a year ago.

With both Interest Rates and Home Prices up, waiting will drive the cost of homeownership up.

Why wait to buy?