C21AGVoices

Don’t let the plunging median sales price fool you — December’s Existing Home Sales data has home sellers smiling. Just one month after falling below the 5-million unit trend line, sales volume roared back by 300,000 homes in December, surprising housing analysts and making a case that this spring’s Buying Season could be a competitive […]

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Another week, another headline screams how mortgage rates have falled to an all-time low. Freddie Mac published its weekly mortgage rate survey Thursday and found that the “average” mortgage rate is now 4.96 percent, the lowest since the survey started in 1971. But, if we look beyond the headline, we find that there’s another part of […]

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The New Year is not yet one week old but that’s not stopping market “experts” from predicting what’s in store for 2009. The calls on housing and mortgage rates run the gamut: Home prices have farther to fall Home prices have touched bottom Mortgage rates will dip Mortgage rates will rise Put it all together and […]

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In late-November, the Federal Reserve pledged $600 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities.  The announcement drove down mortgage rates and started the Refi Boom. Then, the Federal Reserve made a second series of statements after its scheduled meeting last Tuesday, causing mortgage rates to plunge again.  This started the Refi Boom’s second wave. Because of the surge […]

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The Federal Open Market Committee voted to cut the Fed Funds Rate by at least three-quarters percent on Decmber 16, 2008.  The benchmark rate now rests in a range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release, the FOMC identified three key economic sectors in which activity has weakened since October. The FOMC noted that: The U.S. job market […]

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For the 78 consecutive days, gas prices fell nationwide through December 3rd.  At $1.81 per gallon, the average price at the pump is less than half what it was at its peak in July. And although gas prices vary by locale, the cost of a fill-up is worthy of national news. The main reason why […]

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According to the government, American businesses are cutting staff at an accelerated pace, most recently paring 533,000 jobs this past November. It’s the largest one-month decline since December 1974 and raises the year-to-date job losses to 1.9 million workers. However, there is a silver lining in the data for all Americans — both employed and […]

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The Sky is Falling! Yesterday, I received a call from a Seller who has been trying to sell his home with another real estate firm for the past 250 days. His listing contract with the other firm had expired and he received a post card from my office announcing that we sold a home on […]

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Business television and newspapers have made deflation a hot topic this week and, since Monday, Google has tracked 13,000 mentions of it. Deflation is a recurring cycle in which the prices of goods and services fall. Isolated to one industry or sector, falling prices is the natural result of competition. For example, when DVD players were […]

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For the 4th consecutive year, the government has set the conforming mortgage loan size limit at $417,000. A conforming mortgage is one that, quite literally, conforms to the mortgage guidelines set forth by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The 2009 conforming loan limits, as released by the government, are: 1-unit properties : $417,000 2-unit properties […]

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