Week in Review, 9/21/2009 - 9/25/2009

With the passing of Summer and the arrival of Fall; the Holiday season begins to quickly approach. There were a couple items of note this week within the mortgage market and within the real estate market. So let's get right to it.

• Government to continue buying Mortgage Backed Securities - The government stated earlier this week that they plan on tapering back the buying but will continue to buy Mortgage Backed Securities until March of 2010. This may not seem like much on the surface but if the government stops buying these Mortgage Backed Securities, we are most definitely in for an increase in mortgage rates. As such, the announcement they would continue to buy them and extend it out past the original October deadline had rates dropping at the end of the week. Again, another positive sign as people search for those affordable homes and secure low mortgage rates that will keep their home affordable for years to come.

• Housing re-sales were down 2.7% - In news that brought everyone back to reality a bit, the number of re-sale homes sold in August was down 2.7% though the projected number was for the re-sales to be up 2.1%. The reasoning behind the decrease in sales is partly due to the amount of foreclosures coming back on the market. If you will recall, I mentioned that this may happen back in May or June when discussing the market. Mostly this decline is due to increase in foreclosures back on the market and the slow-down as families move back to their normal routine of school, etc.

Of Note: the numbers may go back up as the end of the tax credit for FTHB's looms large.

• For Real or Just Pretending - That's right are the Cardinals for real or are they just pretending to be a good team. I guess in hindsight we can feel a bit better about the loss to the 49ers based on their performance against the Seahawks last week, but still, we should have at least won the game. I think this week against Peyton Manning and the Colts, though the season is only 3 weeks old, will be a nice test. We are definitely the beneficiary (or at least could be) of a tired Colts defense that played for 45 minutes on Monday night and had 80+ plays against them. Hopefully we can let it fly and end up with a nice win.

Lastly, as part of my work in the Ice Hockey community, I am the co-Chairman for our upcoming Golf Tournament to raise money for players within our organization who need scholarships. It is a great event and I have attached the flier for you to see. I would love to have some of you join me as we raise money for these kids and help them reach their dreams of playing competitive youth hockey and one day, for some, college hockey.