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Rates Remain Very Affordable
In Freddie Mac's results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.07% for the week ending February 26, 2009, up from the previous week when it averaged 5.04 percent.
Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.24 percent.
"Mortgage rates were little changed this week amid mixed data reports of a slowing economy," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice
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president and chief economist. Both the core Producer Price and Consumer Price Indexes ticked up in January, higher than the market consensus.
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Garages: Not Just For
Cars Anymore
With larger, more luxurious kitchens now the heart of many houses, and first-floor mud rooms the new activity centers, it was only a matter of time before the garage also underwent a transformation.
Despite the fact that 82% of homes have garages, the space is often "the largest, most underutilized, most abused, and most often ignored room in the house," wrote Bill West in his book, Your Garagenous Zone.
Many people still struggle to find enough space amid the junk in their garage to park a car. But there's a growing desire to create cleaner, more organized spaces that can contribute to a home's "wow" factor, says West. It may not raise the price in most markets, but it helps win a beauty contest if the buyer is deciding among a few homes.
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Do You Marry The
Credit Score?
Some think that lenders average everyone's credit scores together.
If Jane has an 800 credit score and John has a 400 credit score, their combined score would be 800 + 400 = 1200 divided by two, giving a not-so-terrible-after-all score of 600. Of course, that's not so.
Good credit doesn't erase bad credit. In fact, bad credit will kill the deal altogether.
And scores aren't averaged, they're examined independently and the 400 score would render the 800 score impotent.
If a spouse or joint borrower has bad credit, and the person with good credit can qualify on her own, then leave the person with bad credit off the mortgage and simply include him on the title.
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Signs of Turnaround?
Are we somewhere near the "tipping point" for real estate, where an accumulation of positive economic and government policy developments starts moving housing toward higher sales and stabilized prices? There are some recent strong signs that we just might be there.
Tops on the list: The massive stimulus bill signed into law is certain to pull buyers into the market who otherwise would have stayed on the sidelines.
The new tax credit in the legislation goes up to $8,000 and is non-repayable -- unlike last year's ineffective credit program. It' s intended for "first time" purchasers, but under the program definition, you're a first timer as long as you haven't owned or co-owned a house during the previous three years.
The $8,000 credit will not only push large numbers of consumers to buy homes, but will also buffer the rate of decline in home prices by creating more demand.
Still another positive sign: Home buyers and owners are beating a wide path to their mortgage lenders not only to refinance but to take out new loans to buy houses. Total applications for new mortgages last week exploded -- up by an extraordinary 48 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications for conventional loans to buy houses were up by 11 percent.
The opportunities here are pretty tempting ... and it looks like buyers are getting the message.
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