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Monday, February 28, 2011

First-Time Buyers prefer “move-in” Ready Homes

A new survey by Coldwell Banker finds that 87 percent of first-time homebuyers who purchased their home within the past year preferred a move-in ready home to one that would require some work.

A home’s location to area amenities was also important to first-time buyers. Nearly four out of five buyers (78 percent) say it was important to find a home close to retail shops and services while three-fourths wanted to be close to their jobs and nearly two-thirds wanted to be near highly-rated schools.

Many buyers were surprised by the immediate benefits they received once they purchased their first home. For example, 67 percent said the market conditions provided them the opportunity to buy a home sooner than they expected, half said they found a home in a more desirable location than they expected, and 61 percent got a home for a better price than expected.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Housing Starts Jump 14.6% in January

Housing starts in January reached their highest rate in four months, increasing more than analysts expected, the Commerce Department reports. Housing starts jumped 14.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 596,000 units.

Housing starts in January were helped by a 77.7 percent jump in multi-family homes. Single-family home construction, on the other hand, fell 1 percent.

Meanwhile, new home completions dropped to a record low of 512,000 units in January, falling 9.5 percent from the previous month.

And after housing permits surged in December by 15.3 percent, housing permits for future housing projects sank in January. New building permits dropped 10.4 percent to a 562,000-unit pace in January--mostly pulled down by a drop in multi-family and single-family unit permits.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Tarrant County foreclosure postings down 7 percent

Residential foreclosure postings dropped 7 percent in Tarrant County for the March 1 auction, while the Dallas-Fort Worth area saw a 9 percent decline, the Foreclosure Listing Service said Thursday.

In Tarrant County, 1,697 foreclosures were posted, compared with 1,834 a year earlier. March postings were also down 10 percent from February.

For the region, which includes Tarrant, Dallas, Denton and Collin counties, 5,071 foreclosures were posted, down from 5,548 a year earlier. The Addison-based real estate research firm said postings in the four counties have topped 4,000 for 30 consecutive months.

"Residential posting activity has been on the high end of the scale for some time now," said George Roddy Sr., the firm's president. "Posting activity tends to fluctuate at least some each month.

"The fact that postings filed for the upcoming auctions in March were about 9 percent lower than both this time last year and compared to last month does not elicit much excitement."

In the year's first quarter, Tarrant County postings increased 4 percent, to 5,439 from 5,234 a year earlier. It was the second-highest quarter, trailing only the fourth quarter of 2009, when 5,535 postings were filed, Roddy said.

Quarterly postings for the region were flat. From January to March, 16,194 postings were filed, a slight increase from 16,137 postings a year earlier. Collin County saw a 4 percent decline in the quarter, and Dallas County a 1 percent drop.

The auctions are held on the steps of the Tarrant County Courthouse. Postings must be filed with the county at least 21 days before the auction.

Generally, 25 percent to 40 percent of postings result in an actual foreclosure. In many of the other cases, homeowners are able to make up the arrears.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Mortgage Rates Hold Mostly Steady This Week

Mortgage rates mostly remained steady for the week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly report on average mortgage rates.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased just slightly this week to 4.81 percent from 4.80 percent the week prior. Mortgage rates have been steadily inching upward since reaching a 40-year low in November of 4.17 percent. Meanwhile, 15-year rates dropped to 4.08 percent this week from 4.09 percent last week.

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages also fell slightly to 3.69 percent from 3.7 percent last week.

"Mortgage rates held relatively stable this week on news that the economy improved and inflation remained in check at the end of 2010,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

Source: “Mortgage Rates Show Mixed Results This Week,” Freddie Mac (Feb. 3, 2011)

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Mortgage Applications Bounce Back

U.S. mortgages were back on the rise last week after a holiday-related slowdown in mid-January, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Mortgage applications gained 11.3 percent in the week ended Jan. 28, according to MBA’s seasonally adjusted index. In the week prior, applications had fallen nearly 13 percent.

Meanwhile, refinancing applications rose 11.7 percent. Loan requests for home purchases also increased 9.5 percent.

Source: “U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose Last Week,” Reuters News (Feb. 2, 2011)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

http://ping.fm/WBoVO

Mortgage Rates Continue to Climb

Mortgage rates are continuing their gradual climb upwards after reaching record lows. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 4.8 percent from 4.74 percent the previous week, Freddie Mac reports. The average on 15-year mortgage rates also rose slightly from 4.05 percent to 4.09 percent for the week.

In November, 30-year loans had reached a 40-year low at 4.17 percent and the 15-year mortgage rate was at 3.57 percent.

The average on the five-year adjustable-rate mortgages this week increased to 3.7 percent from 3.69 percent the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association says it expects mortgage lending to drop considerably in 2011, due to high unemployment, borrowers’ diminished credit coming out of the recession, and more lenders not willing to take on a high risk.

MBA says it expects new loans this year to decrease by 36 percent to its lowest level in more than a decade, falling to $966 billion in 2011 from $1.5 trillion this year.

Earlier in the week, MBA reported a drop in mortgage applications to the slowest refinancing activity in more than a year. Mortgage applications dropped 12.9 percent in the week ended Jan. 21, according to MBA’s seasonally adjusted index.

The index dropped 15.3 percent, which is the lowest level since January 2010. Refinancing activity has continued to decline since October from rising interest rates and tighter underwriting standards.