Rolando Trentini

Very often our local real estate market does not follow the national trend, and we all benefit from that. In this case, I'm glad to see that our local market does follow the national trend, and that is in renters turning to home buyers. We hear from many mortgage lenders that the rate of refinancing mortgages has been declining and that there has been a steady increase in rate of purchase of new homes. Evansville in this case is following the national trend.



Rent-mortgage gap attracts new buyers


(CNN) - The gap between the cost of renting an apartment and the average monthly mortgage in the country's 50 largest housing markets is shrinking - good news for those looking to buy a home.

"I think it is positive that affordability is being restored to the housing market," said Celia Chen of moodyseconomy.com. "One of the reasons we had this housing crisis is because prices became so elevated that home buyers, the market could not support the values of homes."

And the subsequent housing bust has home values edging back down to levels closer to the historical average - and narrowing the gap between the cost of a mortgage and monthly rent. That's according to a study by real estate consultants Green Street Advisors that was reported in the Wall Street Journal.

"Even though it's painful for people who own homes purchased in the last couple of years, it does help to restore some balance to the housing market," Chen said.

Lower prices and interest rates are encouraging renters to jump in. But that doesn't necessarily mean the apartment business will soon be struggling.

"There are also of course right now many homeowners being foreclosed upon and the alternative for them is to rent an apartment," said Chen. "So this is all positive for the apartment market."

Source: http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=9907941&nav=3w6o

We congratulate the Reverend Adrian Brooks, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church, for receiving the Evansville Rotary Club Award for 2009. Reverend Brooks has worked for many years to help families in need. He truly is a well deserved recipient of this award.

Evansville Rotary Club hands out annual award



EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - It's been a tradition since 1927, the Evansville Rotary Club gives out its award for outstanding community service.

This year's winner, the Reverend Adrian Brooks, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church.

Reverend Brooks has helped create a wide variety of programs for members since becoming pastor in 1993 and through the church's development corporation has helped provide safe housing for those in need.

"It was important for us in the Genesis to be more than just a church that gathered on Sunday," Brooks said. "We wanted to help solve some of the problems we saw Monday through Saturday and then gather on Sunday for a great celebration of what God can do through his people."

Brooks' leadership has led to the creation of more than 50 ministries including a childcare center, youth programs and substance abuse counseling.

Source: http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=9899240&nav=menu54_2

Southern Indiana's favorite family park has gotten thumbs up from Oprah Winfrey. Although her title to the story is "Oprah's short list of 'wacky' vacations", the management at Holiday World is happy to be included in this list. We have been to the park numerous times and we can certainly recommend a visit if you have not done so already. Enjoy your trip to Holiday World.

Oprah's short list of 'wacky' vacations includes Holiday World

The folks at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari aren't going to quibble with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey who has included the Southern Indiana theme park on her just-released list of eight "Wacky Family Attractions" cash-strapped families should try this year. "If Oprah wants to call us ‘wacky,' we don't mind a bit," says the theme park's president, Will Koch. "Come to think of it, it is a little wacky for a theme park to play ‘Jingle Bells' in the middle of July." The popular website Oprah.com, which is one of the 2,000 most-visited websites on the Internet, included Holiday World in a story suggesting families vacation closer to home this year "when time and money are in short supply." The article includes a photograph of Santa Claus in his Holiday World summer garb along with a brief history of the park (established by the Koch family in 1946) and a description of the rides and holiday areas. Other parks mentioned in the piece include Mammoth Cave National Park near Bowling Green, Ky., and Legoland in California. Holiday World begins its 63rd season May 2 with the premiere of Pilgrim's Plunge, the world's tallest water ride. Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/feb/24/oprahs-short-list-wacky-vacations-includes-holiday/

The interest rate continues to decline, which is good news for all home owners. With buy downs, the interest rate can be locked in below 5.0%. Call me at 812-499-9234 for up to date rate information. If your current interest rate is above 6.0% it may be to your advantage to re-finance your mortgage.



30-Year Rates Drop to Near 5%

Mortgage rates across the board fell this week, a welcoming sign to potential buyers and home owners looking to refinance.The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.04 percent this week, a drop from last week's 5.16 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 6.04 percent, Freddie Mac reports.
Freddie Mac reported the following for other rates for the week:
15-year mortgage rates: averaged 4.68 percent, down from last week's 4.81 percent. Last year at this time: 5.64 percent.
5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 5.04 percent this week, a drop from last week's 5.23 percent. Last year at this time: 5.37 percent
1-year ARMs: averaged 4.8 percent, down from last week's 4.94 percent. Last year at this time: 4.98 percent

The article below shows a quick overview of the stimulus package. It is a condensed version of the thousands of pages which make up the stimulus package.

Stimulus Package Stats

The economic stimulus law contains

billions of dollars for making existing

homes more energy efficient, including:

$5 billion to weatherize houses

of low-income families.

$2.25 billion to retrofit Section 8 housing

with energy-efficient products, including

$250 million for a program to make

HUD-sponsored, low-income housing more efficient.

$2.25 billion to help build and rehabilitate

low-income housing, including the use of

green technologies, under the HOME Investment

Partnerships Program.

$510 million to improve energy efficiency

through Native American housing block grants.

$300 million to the Energy Star program

and to states for matching grants and rebates

to consumers who replace their old appliances

with Energy Star-rated products.

The law also expands the following homeowner programs:

The Existing Homes Tax Credit

increases from 10% to 30% for the

cost of energy-efficient windows, HVAC

equipment, and insulation, up to $1,500 per

qualifying household through 2010.

The Investment Tax Credit, a 30% credit for

solar thermal and geothermal installations,

had a cap of $2,000, which has been removed.

Likewise, the law removes the $4,000 cap

on small wind turbines.

Source: Alliance to Save Energy