Long Beach, Ca. President Obama has his first real challenge fencing with the Republicans in the Senate over the new stimulus package. It seems that the other side of the aisle wants to cut a minimum of 100 billion out of the budget for programs that, "do not stimulate." Barack Obama is hoping to get a completed economic stimulus bill within the next two weeks. Congress is still considering other proposals designed to recharge the housing industry, including a government-backed interest rate buy-down program that supporters say could push mortgage rates as low as 4 percent for some home buyers.
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal by Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson that would give a $15,000 tax break to anybody who buys a house by the end of the year. The proposal, the latest addition to the still-growing economic stimulus bill that has reached nearly $900 billion, is seen by supporters as a much-needed shot in the arm for the ailing housing industry. Housing industry leaders immediately cheered its passage. "A $15,000 tax credit ... is a pretty huge savings," said Steven Fischer, president of the Georgia Association of Realtors, one of many housing industry groups that has been pushing for the program. "We feel like that will really help get people off the fence and help them make a move." President
Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing first- time claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly jumped last week to a 26-year high, signaling a deepening deterioration in the labor market. Initial jobless claims increased by 35,000 to 626,000 in the week ended Jan. 31, the highest level since October 1982, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The total number of people collecting benefits jumped to a record 4.788 million a week earlier, today's report showed.
No one is arguing that the economy is weak, so what is holding rates up? Increased borrowing by the federal government to fund stimulus packages has helped drive underlying Treasury yields, and to some extent mortgage rates, higher. And no one knows what will happen when the music stops, i.e., when the Fed stops buying mortgage backed securities after June, will investors be interested? With this on its collective mind, the market has the 10-yr currently at 2.90% and mortgage prices are a shade better from yesterday afternoon.
Great news. Housing Market Bottom is Sight. So says the Economy.com website. "Despite the darkening national economic outlook and the weak conditions in the housing market, some positive signs give hope that a bottom in the housing market is coming into view," the report said." More than three years since the market began correcting, inventories are flattening, prices are coming back down to earth, and sales are approaching stability," the report said. The outlook, however, assumes stronger action by U.S. policymakers and says that even with further government intervention, the recession will keep the housing market from fully recovering until the end of this year.
CNBC is carrying an article entitled "What to Know Before You Refinance". Now I know most of you that have been in the business a number of years probably can write the article better than them, but here is the link that you can visit and see what they are telling the consumer. http://www.cnbc.com/id/29033838 The other article you will see is "4 Things to Know Before You Refinance Your Mortgage" Which may be helpful as well. http://www.bankrate.com/cnbc/news/mtg/mortgage-news-e1.asp
Kirk Mulhearn, a real estate broker and professional mortgage planner, can be reached at: 562-989-4091 ext. 110
Subscribe to this blog at: www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com
Southern California Pre-Sale Inspections are required by certain Cities
Long Beach,CA. Please see the attached list wherein certain cities require inspections of listings before they are sold, it is imperative that real estate agents are aware of this trend because if it is not done properly upfront and disclosed to all parties, there could a nasty problem later on when the new buyer discovers that this inspection was not done. Sellers must comply with City Law or Buyers could be held responsible after the property has closed for necessary repairs. Normally, cities give Sellers 90 days to comply with the inspection report. Also, it is possible that a City will lien a property so that it cannot be transferred with clear title until the repairs are completed.
To get the list of Cities go to: Pre-Sale Inspection Reports
Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker and Professional Mortgage Planner, can be reached at:
562-989-4608 ext. 110 You may subscribe to this blog at: www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com
Long Beach, Ca. While there were over 200,000 free meals given away yesterday as a promotion for Dennys, it was an ugly day for rates, which is unfortunate because it seems that the slightest positive news about the economy makes rates go higher, whereas currently they don't seem to be heading down on any news. According to the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Pending Home Re-sales were up 6.3%, the first increase since August. However, rates worsened with all of the supply worries that exist - 10-yr and 30-yr Treasury securities headed down (rates went higher) after the U.S. Treasury said yesterday that it will borrow $493 billion this quarter, 34% more than it initially projected. The U.S. will announce plans today to sell and estimated $69 billion in notes and bonds at three auctions next week. With all of this in mind, the 10-yr is up to 2.88% and 30 year fixed mortgage prices are worse by .125-.250.
As soon as the California State Legislation comes to some budget agreement perhaps the Cal HFA program can come back on line as well. The 4% home loan solution offered by Republicans seems to be gathering speed and appears likely to happen. Lastly if you are a car dealer, Christmas will arrive early with an incentive to buy a new car where the buyer will get to deduct the sales tax and interest on a loan if they buy before year end. I like it. Buy a new home with a 4% rate and a new car, to help the economy. Let's hope the consumer buys the house first. Continue reading this article at: Kirk's Blog Kirk Mulhearn, a Long Beach Real Estate Broker and Professional Mortgage Planner, can be reached at 562-989-4608 ext. 110
Long Beach, Ca. There isn't much news today, which is good because Denny's announced, during the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl, that it will give away a free Grand Slam breakfast to any customer visiting its restaurants today between 6AM and 2PM. The only problem with this is that when I drove by the local Dennys this morning, the line outside was only a half mile long...
No wonder the S&P 500 had its worst January ever. The S&P declined 9% for the month, exceeding the 8% record drop in January 1970. From its peak on January 6th, the S&P is down 12%. It feels like Groundhog Day - the version that Bill Murray made popular.
The Countrywide name will bow out officially on April 1st. By April 27th, Bank of America hopes to have the merger in full swing. At that time, all new loan applications will They will go through, Bank of America Home Loan Center.
Deflation has the potential to get some very real traction going forward. Why? Because all over the world, we built too much of almost everything. Too many houses, too many manufacturing plants, too many retail stores - just too much stuff.
This article is continued at: http://www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com/the-long-beach-mortgage-report-countrywide-name-change-complete-by-april-1st-april-fools-day
Long Beach, Ca. Congratulations to both the Steelers and the Cards for a great Super Bowl, I feel that it could have gone anyway and the Cards can hold their heads up high because they proved that they are Champions, last night.
So far, the FED and Treasury and White House have implemented over 58 programs to get the economy moving again. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be affecting our real estate business fast enough for us to really feel it on the Streets.
Currently, the almost 900 billion dollar economic stimulus bill sitting in the Senate is the 59th and counting. We hope they eventually get it right. A friend of mine just returned from Washington DC last week, he is a CEO for a local commercial bank and said that after several conversations with Mr. Cox, the chief regulator, that Cox had confided to him, "the majority of banks are currently insolvent." Oops, that was inside information. But just run down to the bank and withdraw all of your money, just yet.
What is in the current package that may help the residential lending industry is the following:
If you like to see how your tax dollars will be spent, this link can give you a breakdown.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/major-provisions-stimulus-package/story.aspx?guid=%7BCD0FF22B-F34A-4850-9265-1C07F5DC5A04%7D&dist=SecMostMailed
You may continue reading this article at: http://www.longbeachrealestateandloans.com/whata-039-s-in-the-new-stimulus-package-that-might-help-real-estate
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