Reporting on a two-month lag, the government said home values rose 0.7 percent in November.  National home prices are at their highest point since February 2009. But before we look too much into the FHFA's Home Price Index, it's important that we're cognizant of its shortcomings; the most important of which is its lack of real-time reporting. According to the National Association of Realtors™, 80% of purchases close within 60 days. As a result, because of its two-month delay, the Home Price Index report actually trails today's market data by an entire sales cycle. This is ...

The Federal Open Market Committee ends a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in Washington. It's the first of 8 scheduled meetings for the policy-setting group in 2010. The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET. As is customary, upon adjournment, the Fed will issue a press release to the markets recapping its views of the country's current economic condition, and the outlook for the near-term future. The post-meeting statements from the Fed are brief but comprehensive. And Wall Street eats them up.  Every word, sentence and phrase is carefully disected in the hope of gaining an investment edge ...

Just one month after from blowing away Wall Street, December's Existing Home Sales hit the skids, shedding nearly 17 percent and falling to a 4-month low. Don't be alarmed, though. The plunge was expected. And not just because Pending Home Sales cratered last month. When November's Existing Home Sales surged, it was clear to observers that an expiring $8,000 federal tax credit was the catalyst. At the time, the tax program was slated to expire November 30 and the looming deadline pushed a lot of would-be buyers from a December time frame into November. The expiration date has a ...

I by no means think that folks should be looking at real estate solely as an investment. First and foremost you need to think of real estate as a roof over your head and a home for your family.  However, that does not change the fact that the purchase of a home will likely be your single largest investment of your life! It makes sense to do all you can to make it a good investment!  Forbes Magazine just published an article on the Top 10 Cities to go from Renting to buying. A few points that the article made: The article identified cities where the purchase of a home is a better investment ...

When you are shopping for a mortgage, no matter how you find a loan officer to work with, it is about to get easier to do your homework on their credentials thanks to the SAFE Act and the new Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System Consumer Access system. The SAFE Act We are soon approaching on the two-year anniversary of the signing into law of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act) and many states are still scrambling to establish the framework needed to license and supervise their loan officers under the new program.  All states are required to enact a ...

Everyone has heard the advertisements for home mortgages with no closing costs. Likewise the Federal Trade Commission has heard those ads and, like you, they know when something sounds too good to be true it usually is. While Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) often come with no closing costs it is virtually impossible for originating lenders to offer first mortgages without any closing costs. Eliminating closing costs all together on a first mortgage is difficult even in the best of situations because of the number of moving parts there are in the closing process. Minimally there are six ...

Conforming and FHA mortgage rates improved last week on the combination of weaker-than-expected economic data and new anti-banking rhetoric from the White House. The S&P 500 shed nearly 4 percent in its worst weekly showing since October 2009 as all 10 sectors fell. As the money left stock markets, it made its way to bonds -- including the mortgage-backed variety. As a result, mortgage rates fell for the third straight week. Since shedding 300 basis points in December, mortgage bond pricing has recovered a bit more than half of those losses.  It's helping with home affordability ...

It’s easy to get caught up in the “how much house can I afford” game when you begin your quest to become a homeowner. But don’t forget to factor in the cost of things like property taxes and homeowner’s insurance when purchasing a new home. On a home valued at $230,000, you can expect to shell out nearly $1,500 per year in certain states for insurance in addition to your mortgage payment and taxes. The same $230,000 home could cost over $5,000 annually to insure if it’s on the coast and subjected to hurricanes. Homeowner’s insurance costs vary greatly from state to ...