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Category: Housing Market (Page 40 of 40)

Beefing Up Your Finances to Buy a House: The Millennial Edition!

This generation does things a little differently from our predecessors. And when it comes to buying a home, we millennials need different advice, too.

Source: Beefing Up Your Finances to Buy a House: The Millennial Edition! – Real Estate News and Advice – realtor.com

Things can be intimidating when looking to buy your first house, but knowing what’s going on in the economic world around you can help soothe some of those fears—Success Jumpor at least help you prepare to face those fears head-on.

First, understand that the days of steadily low interest rates might be coming to an end. The Federal Reserve’s target for short-term rates (which plays a heavy hand in the mortgage rate homeowners get) has been locked at zero since 2008 and have been ticking upwards recently.

The conclusion….”a good place to start is with a mortgage broker. Even if you aren’t ready to buy tomorrow, a good broker or lender will be happy to help you navigate the path to home ownership.”

And if you need help with your finances in general, look for a personal financial adviser who can offer you tailored advice to reach your goals.

“Remember: When looking for guidance, be as picky about your guides as you are about your organic mayo. Read reviews. Visit the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority website to see if the adviser had any customer complaints, and ask for a list of referrals before you sign up with an adviser.”

What’s Ahead for Jumbo-Loan Borrowers in 2016

The stock-market dip is likely to keep interest rates on jumbo loans below 4% for a while longer, which also could make borrowing larWSJ 8 Ballge sums more attractive.

Source: What’s Ahead for Jumbo-Loan Borrowers in 2016

Believe it or not, the market for jumbo loans is a good one.  Lenders have some fantastic products to offer that can help put customers into a larger home or refinance their existing mortgage.

Jumbo borrowers have loans that exceed conforming limits of government-back loans, $417,000 in most places and $625,500 in some high-cost areas. The Federal Housing Finance Agency didn’t raise baseline limits last year because home prices haven’t returned to prerecession levels nationwide.

Per the WSJ report, unless the bottom falls out of the economy, jumbo lenders predict continued demand. Regional banks and nonbank lenders were able to expand their jumbo mortgage volume largely because of continued enthusiasm on the part of big banks to buy and hold them in portfolio.

Now might be a good time to consider moving up or refinancing your jumbo loan!

Housing Affordability Index

What is the Housing Affordability Index and why is it important?

Source: Housing Affordability Index | Michael Storey | LinkedIn

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® affordability index measures whether or not a typical family could qualify for a mortgage loan on a typical home. A typical home is defined as the national median-priced, existing single-family home as calculated by the National Association of House calculatorRealtors.

It’s important because the components in measuring the index are used to determine if the median income family can qualify for a mortgage on a typical home.

Some notes:

 

  • Housing affordability declined slightly (2.6 percent), from a year ago in November in spite of a notable increase in prices. The median sales price for a single family home sold in November in the US was $221,600, up 6.6 percent from a year ago. This pushed the affordability index from 171.9 to 167.4.
  • Growing incomes and easing mortgage rates from a year ago helped to nearly offset the increase in home prices. Nationally, mortgage rates were down 15 basis points from one year ago (one percentage point equals 100 basis points) while incomes rose 2 percent. The reduction in mortgage rates from one year ago saves the median home buyer $16 per month on principal and interest payments at the current home price while income growth means the median family earns $111 more per month than November 2014.

 

The Wilcox Report

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Fletcher Wilson’s “Wilcox Report” is must reading for all real estate professionals here in the Valley of the Sun.

Here’s his latest version:

Source: The Wilcox Report

This report reviews existing single family home sale activity in Greater Phoenix and takes a look at the history of distressed sales since 2011.  What a difference 4 years makes!

 

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