Duxbury, MA

On November 28 you can explore the many free events that will take place throughout the town of Duxbury at this year's Holly Days! There will be trolleys, caroling, and even some elves! Bring out the whole family for fun festive activities for all ages. There will be photos with Santa and a puppet show as well as many other fun events. Noon until dusk. www. duxburybusinessassociation.com

Mortgage Rate Forecast for August 17, 2010 - Improving, or...?

Here are some of the events affecting mortgage rates today:

What Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) Are Doing Today:

• The price of the FNMA 30-Year 4.0% MBS coupon opened at 102.81 this morning - the same as yesterday's close.
  
  
• At 9:30 AM, the 4.0% MBS coupon was trading at 102.63 - down 6/32 from its opening.

Remember, on mortgage backed securities (MBSs), as the price goes down, the yield goes up - and so do mortgage rates. I expect that mortgage rates will be up to 0.25 points worse in price this morning as compared to yesterday.

Price Trend in Mortgage Backed Securities:

The chart below shows the price trend of the FNMA 30-Year 4.0% coupon over the past 30 days from 7-18-2010 to 8-17-2010:

Economic Reports, News, and Events Affecting Mortgage Rates Today:

• Housing Starts - rose 1.7% in July to an annualized rate of 546,000 units, an improvement, but is still worse than expected. Housing starts fell 8.7% in June and fell 14.9% in May. Permits for new constructions fell 3.1% in July and follows a 1.6% increase in June. Usually, this report has little to no impact on the mortgage market. However, this report led to lower mortgage rates this morning.
  
  
• Producer Price Index (PPI) - rose 0.2% in July, and follows a 0.5% decline in June. The increase in the PPI was attributed mostly to higher food prices. At the core level, the PPI rose 0.3%, and is higher than expected. The core level excludes the more volatile food and energy prices. Rising prices increases the fear of inflation and tends to have a negative impact on the mortgage market. This report led to an increase in the costs of mortgage rates this morning.
  
  
• Industrial Production Report - production increased 1.0% in July, and is better than expected. This follows a 0.1% decrease in June. The increase is due primarily to an increase in manufacturing, which is up 1.1%. Manufacturing continues to help the economic recovery along at a rather slow pace. This report had no impact on the mortgage market this morning.

Trend in Mortgage Rates:

The chart below shows the trend in mortgage rates over the past 5 years:

Mortgage Rate Forecast:

Mortgage rates are at their historic lows. They haven't been this low since the early 1950s - and continue to go lower as the economic recovery slows. These low mortgage rates may be with us for some time - or they may not. Usually, mortgage rates go up during the summer months during the peak home buying season, then go down as the fall and winter seasons approach. But these are not "normal times." It's possible that mortgage rates will continue to slowly fall. However, they could turn at any time - and will if future economic news shows that we're finally coming out of the recession.

If you're thinking about refinancing your mortgage and if these low mortgage rates make sense to you, then take advantage of them while you can. If you're happy with the mortgage rate being offered to you today and if you don't want to risk mortgage rates moving higher, then you should apply and lock in now. It's better to have locked when you should have floated than it is to float when you should have locked.

Are you in need of a mortgage to purchase a home? Or want to refinance an existing mortgage into a lower permanent fixed rate? Or want to take cash out of the equity of your home? Or consolidate debt and reduce the monthly bills? Then be sure to request a mortgage rate quote today!

The Trend in Home Sales in Duxbury MA - Improving, or...?

Home prices in Duxbury on average are rising! Home prices have risen 31.3% since July of 2009.

The current average listing price of homes for sale in Duxbury MA is $905,899, up 1.7% from a month ago. Compare this to the current median sales price of $572,000 - where half of sales are above this amount and half below it.

Prices of 4 bedroom homes are up from year ago levels while prices of 2 and 3 bedroom homes are down. Prices of 4 bedroom homes are up 16.2% while prices of 2 bedroom homes are down 37.8% and 3 bedroom homes are down 4.8% from year ago levels. Below is a chart of the trend of median prices of homes for sale in Duxbury MA over the past year through July 2010:

Duxbury Recently Sold Homes

The number of sales for all homes have been fairly flat over the past 5 years:

Duxbury Recently Sold Homes

So what does all this mean? Well, if you're looking for a home in Duxbury, you better not mess around too much. While sales are flat, prices of 4 bedroom homes are climbing. But, you can probably find a bargain with 2 and 3 bedroom homes.

You can still buy a home with no money down with a VA Loan. With the FHA Mortgage program, you can purchase a home with as little as 3.5% down. With a MassHousing loan, you can purchase a home with as little as 3.0% down. When you're ready to buy a home, find out how much house you can afford to buy in Duxbury or in the surrounding area.

Be sure to contact me, Lew Corcoran, toll free at 1-800-984-3341, when you're looking to get pre-approved for a purchase of your next home in Duxbury or in the surrounding area. Otherwise you may end up frustrated, disappointed and, unfortunately, perhaps misled.

Duxbury Massachusetts Homes and Condos Sold in 2009

Single Family Home Sales

The Duxbury, MA real estate market report indicates that there were 123 homes sold in 2009 as compared to 121 in 2008. This represents a 2% increase in the number of homes sold. The average sales price changed from $700085 in 2008 to $581864 in 2009, a 17% decrease in value. The days on market changed 8 % from 169  to 183.

Visit Duxbury MA real estate for information about the community, relocation, demographics, MLS search, home buying and selling guides.

Go to Duxbury MA homes for sale to view current listings of homes, condos, multi-family and land listings.

Condominium Sales

The Duxbury, MA condominium market data indicates that there were 16 condos sold in 2009 as compared to 26 in 2008. This represents a 38% decrease in the number of condos sold. The average sales price changed from $329275 in 2008 to $290547 in 2009, a 12% decrease in value. The days on market changed 26 % from 147  to 185.

The Duxbury MA real estate report was compiled by Virtual Homes Real Estate.  The data was extracted from the MA MLS (MLSPin) and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Mortgage Rate Forecast for June 3, 2010

Here are some of the events affecting mortgage rates today:

What Mortgage Backed Securities Are Doing Today:

• The price of the FNMA 30-Year 4.5% MBS coupon opened at 102.09 this morning - the same as yesterday's close.
  
  
• At 9:30 AM, the 4.5% MBS coupon was trading at 101.91 - down 6/32 from its opening

Remember, on mortgage backed securities (MBSs), as the price goes down, the yield goes up - and so do mortgage rates. I expect that mortgage rates will be up to 0.250 points worse in price this morning as compared to yesterday.

Price Trend in Mortgage Backed Securities:

The chart below shows the price trend of the FNMA 30-Year 4.5% coupon over the past 30 days from 5-4-2010 to 6-3-2010:

Economic Reports, News, and Events Affecting Mortgage Interest Rates Today:

• ADP Employment Report - 55,000 private non-farm jobs were created in May, less than the upwardly revised 65,000 jobs that were created in April. However, this report had no impact on mortgage rates this morning.
  
  
• Jobless Claims - 453,000 new claims for unemployment were filed last week, and 3,000 more than expected, but 7,000 less than the previous week. The four-week average for unemployment is up by 2,500 to 459,000. Continuing claims for the week of May 22 is also up 31,000 to 4.666 million. All signs indicate the economy has been recovering of late but without much of an increase in jobs. This data is usually not considered to be very important to the mortgage market and had no effect on mortgage rates this morning.
  
  
• Non-farm Productivity and Cost Index - is up 2.8% for the 1st quarter of 2010, which is lower than the previous estimate of 3.6%, and follows a 6.9% increase in the 4th quarter of 2009. Labor costs fell 1.3%, which follows a 5.9% drop the previous quarter. This shows that companies are slowly bringing people back to work. However, the report had no impact on the mortgage market or mortgage rates this morning.
  
  
• Factory Orders - rose 1.2% in April, less than the 1.8% rise that was expected, and follows a revised 1.7% increase the previous month. This shows that overall, the manufacturing sector is improving. This report is similar to the Durable Goods Orders report that was released late last week, except this report includes orders for both durable and non-durable goods. Durable goods are items that are expected to last three or more years such as electronics and autos. Examples of non-durable goods are food and clothing. This report had no impact on the mortgage market or mortgage rates this morning.
  
  
• Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index - growth in the non-manufacturing sector is remains unchanged in April with a reading of 55.4 in the overall index. A reading above 50 indicates manufacturing sector expansion rather than contraction. The new orders component fell to 57.1, but remains strong. This report indicates that the economic outlook looks good as there appears to be steady growth for most of the nation's economy. However, this report had no impact on mortgage rates this morning.

In other news, the Treasury Dept will announce later this morning the terms of the Notes and Bond auctions scheduled for next week. The Notes and Bonds are used to finance the massive government debt, and the results of these auctions could affect mortgage rates next week.

Trend in Mortgage Rates:

The chart below shows the trend in mortgage rates over the past year:

Mortgage Rate Lock Advice:

Mortgage rates are no longer at their lows of 2010. On yesterday, the price of the FNMA 30-Year 4.5% Coupon closed within 60 basis points of its all-time high of 102.69 which was on November 30, 2009. This morning, the MBS coupon was within 78 basis points of that all-time high. As a comparison, what that means is this: if a 30 year fixed mortgage rate was 4.875% with no points yesterday, and if price of the MBS 4.5% coupon were to go as high as 102.69, then the best the 30 year fixed mortgage rate would be is 4.75% with 0.250 point today.

Mortgage rates were already at their lows for 2010. While it's still possible that mortgage rates could go lower again with the ongoing economic crisis in Europe as well as the housing market crisis in China, it won't be by much, and I would not risk the chance waiting for it.

If I was closing within the next 5 - 7 days, I would lock in the rate.

If you are closing in more than 7 days, send me an email to get my rate lock advice.

Be sure to check out today's mortgage rates.