Monthly Archives: March 2009

With mortgage rates are hovering near all-time lows, lots of Americans are taking advantage of refinance and home buying opportunities. The downside of today’s unexpectedly-low rates, though, is that mortgage lenders are ill-equipped for the rush of new business. As … Continue reading →

Hello again, I was just looking at the listing inventory of available houses for some potential buyer clients of mine, and was struck by the thought in my headline - Whatever happened to the old adage of 'Sell high, and … Continue reading →

If you’re in want of a cash out refinance, the most liberal cash-out program in town is about to make qualification more difficult. Effective April 1, 2009, the FHA is reducing the maximum loan-to-value on cash-out refinances by 10 percent, … Continue reading →

The national housing market got its third piece of good news in 3 days: Monday: Existing Home Sales up Tuesday: Home values appear higher nationally Wednesday: New Home Sales up And although national real estate statistics are irrelevant to the … Continue reading →

Don’t look now but oil prices are climbing. This should worry today’s home buyers and would-be refinancers because some of the same forces that helped to push crude past $50 for the first time in 4 months also cause mortgage … Continue reading →

I've just read the latest Orange County Market Report, by my friend Steven Thomas, the President of Altera Real Estate Services. Steven has a degree in quantum economics and for the past couple of years his bi-weekly report has been … Continue reading →

Each month, the National Association of REALTORS® releases the Existing Home Sales report. It’s a detailed look at “used” home sale data from all four regions of the country. Among the key findings of each Existing Home Sales report is … Continue reading →

With the official start of Spring last week comes the official start of Spring Cleaning Season nationwide. In some homes, Spring Cleaning is an annual ritual, tackled within one sweat-filled, rubber-gloved weekend. In other homes, it’s a less serious endeavor. … Continue reading →

For the fifth time in a year, rate shoppers learned an important lesson this week: When mortgage rates plummet unexpectedly, they often recover just as fast. Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s newest $750 billion mortgage market pledge helped to push conforming … Continue reading →

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today, within the target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. This doesn’t mean the Fed stood pat, however. On plan to resurrect the economy using “all available tools”, today, … Continue reading →