-Mortgage rates remain near 5% and under for well-qualified borrowers. Inflation is beginning to pick up so Bernanke may be in the unenviable position of raising rates while unemployment is still very high. Locking up front remains a sound strategy.-FHA borrowers should consider purchasing soon as annual mortgage insurance premiums go up in April.
The Wall Street Journal had a good piece this weekend on real estate. Fewer and fewer markets are being tagged as “hazardous”. The author indicated that the relationship between the National Housing Market and -Local Markets is breaking down. Correlations were high from 1997 to 2006 as values increased, but recovery seems to be much more localized. In the end, all real estate is local!
-It takes a lending institution 507 days on average to foreclose on a non-paying loan today. A borrower who stopped making payments today could live for free until July of 2012 after which the Sheriff will remove them.
-A New York City police officer or firefighter can collect a full pension after 20 years on the job regardless of age.
-The median sales price of a new U.S. home in 2010 was $221,900. In 2004, it was $221,000.
0 comments:
Post a Comment