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The Midwest Flooding And Its Impact On Your Home Mortgage

dgreen — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:21:54 +0000

Flooding in the Midwest has displaced thousands of families and caused billions of dollars in damages.

It may also cause mortgage rates to rise.
As the extent of the damage becomes more clear, prices for grain and livestock are soaring. For example, a host of dietary staples are suddenly more expensive at the supermarket, including:

Meat
Pork
Chicken
Dairy
Eggs

Rising food prices are considered inflationary and inflation tends to make mortgage rates rise.

But of all the foods that are increasing in price, it’s corn whose price is rising the most — up 70 percent so far since January. This is mostly because flood waters damaged up to 3 million acres of harvest in Iowa, our top-producing state.

Corn, of course, is a primary feed for livestock, so rising prices make it more expensive for farmers to raise hogs, cows and chickens. These higher costs get passed along to consumers and contribute to a higher Cost of Living around the country.

After facing (and adjusting) to rising gasoline prices, Americans are facing higher costs again — this time at the supermarket. And if food prices don’t recede with the flood waters, Americans may find that they’re getting hit in a third place — right in their mortgage rates.

Source
Hog Farmers Face a Perfect Storm
Ilan Brandt, Joe Barrett
The Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2008

(Image courtesy: The Wall Street Journal Online)

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Still Sitting on the fence?? Just don’t fall off!

lowusu — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:09:36 +0000

In the U.S., home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter of 2008, and prices nationwide are at levels not seen since the third quarter of 2004, according to Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller.

That means it is time to get off the fence and put a plan in action. Before all the kings horses and all the kings men put the sellers market back together again!

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Petrol or gasoline? Either way, it’s pricey

lowusu — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:57:23 +0000

While American drivers groan over the price of gasoline soaring to $4 per gallon, the French are paying $8.67 per gallon of super, compared to $7.10 in January, 2007. A gallon of diesel in French gas stations averages $8.54, up from $5.35 just a year ago. In the U.K. diesel costs $11.50 per gallon, compared to around $3.90 in the U.S. Across the European Union, the average cost of a gallon of gas runs about $8.70 - more than twice what Americans are shelling out to fill up. (Time.com 5/28/08)

After reading this article on time.com about the price of gas overseas it lets me know 2 things - it can always be worse, and God Bless America!

The same can be said about the Real Estate market, for some people the bubble has burst. While for others, it is time to take advantage of low rates and the abundance of homes for sale. This is especially true if you’re a first-time home buyer, it is time to get in the game!

Lloyd

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Word of the Day

lowusu — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:24:05 +0000

The media has a way of shaping our thoughts, and our imagination. If you listen to the news long enough you will think we are headed for living in a cave. Subprime, Credit crunch, housing bubble, exotic-ARM, Jumbo, write down, blah, blah, blah.

Buzzwords are all the rage in the media and our mortgage industry is the new red-headed step child.

You need a dictionary just to keep up with the news cast and you can’t go anywhere in public without an overnight expert telling you how we are headed for financial Armageddon. Every industry is cyclical and we often forget that but the masses need something to complain about so until the all-knowing media personalities feel that we need to improve our vocabulary keep your pencils sharp and your dictionaries handy.

PS (If you never hear from me again it’s because my girlfriend, who is a TV reporter, has disposed of my body.)

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