Homebuyers today can potentially save several times more money in interest costs than buyers who took out a mortgage in early April and claimed an $8,000 homebuyer tax credit. Someone taking out a $240,000 mortgage today at a 4.42% (and right now they're at 4.25%) interest rate could save $33,287 in interest costs over the life of a 30-year loan. That's four times the $8,000 credit used by a first-time homebuyer who financed at 5.21% in early April.
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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
July 2010 vs July 2009 MLS Housing Market Stats
July 2010 combined MLS Residential Statistics had the following interesting changes compared to July of 2009:
- Decrease in the Number of Closed Sales to 2,632 (down 24.5%)
- Average Days on Market reduced 14.3% to 84 days
- Number of Active Listings increased 13.6% to 17,983
- Absorption Rate increased to 6.6 months (up 45.3%)
- Average Sold Price remains strong (up 7.4% from $276,654 to $297,218) compared to July, 2009.
Probably the most interesting thing to note about July 2010 was the number of listings that increased, thus also driving up the months of inventory('supply') drastically. Anything above 6 months of inventory is considered a buyer's market. So with the extra supply on the market, and the extremely low mortgage rates, now would be objectively speaking a great time to buy, and a bit more difficult time to sell. Although sellers who are on the market now want to sell before the winter hits.
Friday, August 13, 2010
30-year mortgage rates hit another low: 4.44%
USA Today reported that mortgage rates sank to the lowest level in decades this week, pushed down by the Federal Reserve's move to buy up government debt to help lift the economic recovery.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for 30-year fixed loans this week was 4.44%, down from 4.49% last week. That's the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.
AID: Feds rethink policies that encourage home ownership
The average rate on the 15-year fixed loan dropped to 3.92% from 3.95%, also the lowest on record.
Rates have fallen since spring as investors sought the safety of Treasury bonds, lowering their yield. Mortgage rates tend to track those yields.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Zillow: "Denver is the Best Market between the Coasts"
Denver’s ranking no surprise
Denver’s relative performance to most markets, ”does not surprise me,” said Lane Hornung, president of 8Z Real Estate and an owner of Cohomefinder.com. “Especially when you take out San Francisco, San Diego and Boston – where home prices have been fallen so much more, so now that they have started to recover, their increases are amplified so much more, Denver really is one of the better performing cities relative to other places in the country. Denver is starting to show nice, steady appreciation, without the huge amount of ups and downs as some other places.”
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