The Schaller Family's Blog

The Schaller Family

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Housing Report Optimistic 5/25/2009

 
Production of single-family homes edged upward in April as builders responded to improving conditions for new-homebuyers, according to newly released figures by the U.S. Commerce Department. While overall starts fell 12.8 percent to a record-low seasonally adjusted annual pace of 458,000 units, the decline was entirely confined to the multi-family sector, where production fell 46 percent to a 90,000-unit pace for the month, while single-family starts posted a 2.8 percent gain to 368,000 units.
 
Single-family housing starts rose for a second consecutive month in April, posting a 2.8 percent gain to a 368,000-unit pace for the month. At the same time, issuance of single-family permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, rose 3.6 percent to 373,000 units.  On the multifamily side, starts fell 46 percent to an all-time low 90,000-unit pace, while permits declined nearly 20 percent to 121,000 units.  Regionally, combined single-and multi-family housing starts declined across every part of the country except the West in April, where a 42.5 percent gain offset a nearly equivalent decline in the previous month. Starts fell 30.6 percent in the Northeast, 21.4 percent in the Midwest and 21.1 percent in the South.

VIEW TRUCKEE REAL ESTATE 5/23/2009

 

 

            Tinkers Knob, is a mountain overlooking Truckee.  It’s a great place to see the whole picture. Truckee is not a large town, just about 16,000 people and sitting in a narrow valley surrounded by towering mountains which support a thriving ski industry and summer and winter resorts and sports. 

 

            While our town has had its’ share of foreclosures, short sales and other distressed sales, it has not been as unfortunate as other small communities. 

 

            We wonder, in light of our current financial climate, when the end to our housing dilemma will have been reached.  Unfortunately, no buzzer will sound to signal the bottom.  Cautious optimism is beginning to surface, however.  We are finding interest rates lower than they have been in 20 years.  This includes even jumbo loans.  The key ingredient, Buyers, have begun to reenter the housing market and have swelled our sales for the past several months.  The government is pumping billions of dollars into the housing market to bolster and encourage citizens to purchase homes.

 

            There has always been a time when people look back on a period of time when it was said, “I wish I had bought a home then, look at how expensive they are now”.    We feel that now is that time.  Once the stimulus has run its’ course and the artificial supports no longer apply, we see several things happening.   The first is that as foreclosed and short sale home inventory is reduced, prices will again begin to rise, along with interest rates.  This, mainly because the present low interest climate is not sufficient to maintain lender profitability without government support while lenders are being far more selective than the good old days.  The cost of money will have to rise because of the government pouring billions of dollars into the economy.  We reason that there are no free rides.  Sooner or later, the cost of this bail out will have to be reckoned with and I’m not sure that this price tag has been defined, even by its’ architects.  Nor, has the impact of future inflation been determined.  On a brighter note, however, home ownership has always been a hedge against inflation.

 

            We are seeing homes that sold for well over a million dollars selling today for $900,000.  Contractors are selling their new homes at 10% to 20% below their cost to build just to dodge bankruptcy.  Homes that sold 2 years ago for $700,000, are now selling for $550,000.  There are cute little homes that can be bought in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.

 

            Just as the best time to have bought stocks was probably December or January of 08 and 09, so too, today, and the next few months will have been the time to fulfill dreams of owning premier mountain property, at a fire sale, price.

TODAYS LOAN RATES 5/23/2009

Larger Loan Amounts in Eligible Areas. In federally designated metropolitan areas, qualified customers may be able to borrow up to $625,500 on conforming1 or FHA loans without paying the typical higher interest rates on jumbo loan amounts. Contact a local home mortgage specialist to determine your eligibility for a larger loan amount.
as of 05/23/2009 10:45 AM Eastern

ProductInterest RateAPR
Conforming1 Loans
40-Year Fixed 6.500% 6.700%
30-Year Fixed 4.875% 5.086%
20-Year Fixed 5.000% 5.289%
15-Year Fixed 4.500% 4.862%
5-Year ARM 3.875% 3.993%
Jumbo2 Loans – Amounts that exceed conforming loan limits1
30-Year Fixed 6.375% 6.525%
5-Year ARM 5.125% 4.387%
FHAloan limits vary by county.
30-Year Fixed 5.000% 5.

HOUSING REPORT OPTIMISTIC 4/23/2009

 
Production of single-family homes edged upward in April as builders responded to improving conditions for new-homebuyers, according to newly released figures by the U.S. Commerce Department. While overall starts fell 12.8 percent to a record-low seasonally adjusted annual pace of 458,000 units, the decline was entirely confined to the multi-family sector, where production fell 46 percent to a 90,000-unit pace for the month, while single-family starts posted a 2.8 percent gain to 368,000 units.

 
Single-family housing starts rose for a second consecutive month in April, posting a 2.8 percent gain to a 368,000-unit pace for the month. At the same time, issuance of single-family permits, which can be an indicator of future building activity, rose 3.6 percent to 373,000 units.  On the multifamily side, starts fell 46 percent to an all-time low 90,000-unit pace, while permits declined nearly 20 percent to 121,000 units.  Regionally, combined single-and multi-family housing starts declined across every part of the country except the West in April, where a 42.5 percent gain offset a nearly equivalent decline in the previous month. Starts fell 30.6 percent in the Northeast, 21.4 percent in the Midwest and 21.1 percent in the South

TAX CREDIT WORKING 5/19/2009

 
According to very preliminary figures from the IRS, some 567,685 taxpayers claimed more than $3.9 billion worth of first-time homebuyer credits on their 2008 tax returns, according to Steve Cook of realestateeconomywatch.com. Even though 38,158 may be disqualified because the IRS has found they had ownership in a personal residence within the past three years, the total will certainly exceed the $4.6 billion estimated by Congress last year.  The preliminary figures were from returns received by March 6-five weeks before 2008 returns were due.
 
These preliminary returns means the credit helped to make possible at least ten percent of the roughly 5 million new and existing home sales last year.  No doubt it was a deal maker in many of those transactions.
 
Source: Steve Cook, Real Estate Economy Watch

FORECLOSURES ETC. WEIGH DOWN MARKET 5/15/2009

 

 
The median home price for U.S. metro areas posted a year-over-year decline in the first quarter of 2009, reflecting a high volume of foreclosures and short sales, which typically sell for 20 percent less than traditional homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. The national median existing single-family price was $169,000, which is 13.8 percent below the first quarter of 2008 when conditions were closer to normal. Foreclosures and short sales accounted for nearly half of transactions in the first quarter.

 
NAR data shows that 134 out of 152 metropolitan statistical areas reported lower median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the first quarter of 2008, while 18 metros had price gains.  Meanwhile, the sales pace remained slow overall. Total state existing-home sales, including single-family homes and condos, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million units in the first quarter, down 3.2 percent from 4.74 million units in the fourth quarter, and 6.8 percent below the 4.93 million-unit pace in the first quarter of 2008.
 
Seventeen states saw a sales increase from the fourth quarter, and six states were higher than a year ago; complete data for one state was not available. Sales in the first quarter do not reflect an impact from the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

TODAYS MORTGAGE RATES 5/5/2009

Wells Fargo Economist Summary:  With the economy showing encouraging signs of improvement, a growing chorus of economists are starting to push the Fed to raise interest rates ASAP.   Others, Fed staff included, are counseling the FOMC to expand its quantitative easing programs.  The interesting thing is both camps are relying on a central bank tool called the Taylor's Rule to justify their position. So who's right? Who knows!  In this week's FMS, we look at the Taylor's Rule controversy and conclude the rule gives central bankers a false sense of security and precision they do not possess. 
Wells Fargo Mortgage Rate:
as of 05/15/2009 10:45 AM

Product Interest Rate APR
Conforming1 Loans
     
30-Year Fixed 4.750% 4.960%
20-Year Fixed 4.875% 5.163%
15-Year Fixed 4.500% 4.862%
5-Year ARM 3.750% 4.029%
Jumbo2 Loans Amounts that exceed conforming loan limits1
30-Year Fixed 6.125% 6.273%
5-Year ARM 5.125% 4.468%
FHA loan limits vary by county.
30-Year Fixed 5.000% 5.645%


All rate quotes shown come with one point as an origination fee.

Assumptions and APR Information
 

TODAYS MORTGAGE RATES 5/15/2009

Wells Fargo Economist Summary:  With the economy showing encouraging signs of improvement, a growing chorus of economists is starting to push the Fed to raise interest rates ASAP.   Others, Fed staff included, are counseling the FOMC to expand its quantitative easing programs.  The interesting thing is both camps are relying on a central bank tool called the Taylor's Rule to justify their position. So who's right? Who knows!  In this week's FMS, we look at the Taylor's Rule controversy and conclude the rule gives central bankers a false sense of security and precision they do not possess. 
 
 
Wells Fargo Mortgage Rate:
as of 05/15/2009 10:45 AM
Product Interest Rate APR
Conforming1 Loans
     
30-Year Fixed 4.750% 4.960%
20-Year Fixed 4.875% 5.163%
15-Year Fixed 4.500% 4.862%
5-Year ARM 3.750% 4.029%
Jumbo2 Loans Amounts that exceed conforming loan limits1
30-Year Fixed 6.125% 6.273%
5-Year ARM 5.125% 4.468%
FHA loan limits vary by county.
30-Year Fixed 5.000% 5.645%

All rate quotes shown come with one point as an origination fee.

Assumptions and APR Information
 

USE $8,000 FOR DOWN PAYMENT

Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has announced the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow homeowners to use the $8,000 tax credit as a downpayment.

What does this mean, first time home buyers will not have to wait to file their tax return to get the $8,000 and will be able to use these funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a downpayment. FHA approved lenders will be permitted to "monetize" the tax credit through short-term bridge loans, allowing eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table.

This is GREAT news for first-time home buyers who often are tight on cash when purchasing a home. Give us a call today to learn how to take advantage of your $8,000 credit

MORTGAGE RATES FOR 5/12/09

Larger Loan Amounts in Eligible Areas. In federally designated metropolitan areas, qualified customers may be able to borrow up to $625,500 on conforming1 or FHA loans without paying the typical higher interest rates on jumbo loan amounts. Contact a local home mortgage specialist to determine your eligibility for a larger loan amount.
as of 05/12/2009 04:45 PM Eastern

ProductInterest RateAPR
Conforming1 Loans
40-Year Fixed 6.500% 6.700%
30-Year Fixed 4.875% 5.086%
20-Year Fixed 4.875% 5.163%
15-Year Fixed 4.500% 4.862%
5-Year ARM 3.875% 4.155%
Jumbo2 Loans – Amounts that exceed conforming loan limits1
30-Year Fixed 6.125% 6.273%
5-Year ARM 5.125% 4.549%
FHAloan limits vary by county.
30-Year Fixed 5.000% 5.645%

Displaying blog entries 401-410 of 561

Contact Information

The Schaller Family
Dickson Realty
11500 Donner Pass Rd.
Truckee CA 96161
800-660-0903
Fax: 530-587-8064