Rates Creep Up</h1> <article> <h1>Rates Creep Up</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">A recent survey and a rate increase could mean more competition for homes <br /> Recent indication is that first time home buyers are getting tired of sitting on the sidelines. According to a recent online poll taken by the National Apartment Association, 17 percent of renters plan to make the jump to home ownership in the next year; 41 percent of the 2,041 respondents planned to be home owners within two years. Only 31 percent planned to still be paying rent five years from now. Another factor that could very soon contribute to an increase in home buying could be rising mortgage costs. Fixed-rate mortgage rates rose to 6.32 percent, the highest it has been since October. After months of aggressively dropping interest rates, many lenders are worried that the Fed will be forced to raise rates back up. As interest rates rise, so do mortgage rates. According to a press release on freddiemac.com, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist said that, "Mortgage ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=14660">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>The Best time to Lock in Your Mortgage Rate - By David Reed</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">“What do you think about rates … should I lock in now or wait to see if they fall further?” Think I’ve been asked that a time or two over the past 18 years? You better believe it. It’s a good question—one that goes through every single buyer’s head at some stage. A quoted interest rate is no good unless you’ve confirmed, in writing, that your loan is indeed “locked,” or guaranteed for a designated period of time. You need to be proactive with your locked rate as well and don’t assume that your loan officer already locked you in. In fact, your loan officer shouldn’t lock in your rate without your specific instructions. If it was locked in and rates went down you’d be pretty mad, wouldn’t you? While neither real estate agents nor loan officers are in the business of predicting the future, it’s still possible to make a prudent choice in the face of uncertainty. Would you rather lock ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=14485">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Taming the Jumbo Mortgage</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;"> Everyone knows the jumbo loan market has been out of whack for nearly 18 months. “jumbo” loans, those amounting to more than $417,000, took it on the chin when mortgage investors stopped buying subprime and alternative loans. For that reason, jumbo rates can be as much as 1.50 percent higher than conforming rates. Historically, jumbo rates were only about a quarter of a percent higher than a conforming rate, but this new spread has kept many out of the housing market: especially those that I call, “just jumbo.” So what exactly is “just jumbo?” It’s a loan amount that just exceeds the conforming limit of $417,000 and typically reflects a sales price in the $500,000–$600,000 range. Many local markets offer homes in this price category, but the marked difference in rate from conforming to jumbo is slowing down sales. What is the difference in payment between a conforming loan at 6 percent and a jumbo loan at 7.50 percent? On a ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=14239">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Keller Williams Offices Shine on Industry Surveys</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">Every year, RISMedia and REAL Trends release two of the real estate’s most comprehensive surveys: the RISMedia Power Broker Report and the REAL Trends 500. Both surveys rank the largest residential real estate brokerages in the U.S. based on both transaction sides and sales-dollar volume, and these reports are frequently used as referral tools and are referenced by thousands. This year, Keller Williams stormed onto the lists with a very strong showing. KW offices dominated the Power Broker Report – with more offices listed in their top 700 list than any other franchise brand. The survey also named Keller Williams Realty as the industry leader in terms of number of agent teams. And, 102 KW offices were listed in the Companies to Watch section – making up 55% of the total list! As for the Real Trends 500, which lists the top 500 brokerages in the nation, Keller Williams Realty had the second highest amount of offices listed both transaction sides and ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=14097">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Johnny Depp Makes Movie in Crown Point!</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">It's not every day that a major celebrity like Johnny Depp comes to our little town of Crown Point. Mr. Depp was here to portray Hoosier legend John Dillinger in the upcoming Michael Mann film, Public Enemies. For three days, they were filming the infamous breakout scene where Dillinger made his escape from the Lake County jail. Our office, which was not far from the film's shooting, was in an uproar. It was commonly stated that the film was the biggest thing to happen to Crown Point since Dillinger had made his escape seventy four years ago. Traffic was heavy and many streets were blocked off while the film crew transformed the city to what it looked like back in 1934. People stood outside in the cold for hours in hopes to get a glimpse of the superstar. Since Crown Point Schools were on spring break, many children were present with their parents. Johnny Depp did make time to pose for pictures and shake hands between filming. Public Enemies, which also stars Christian Bale, is ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=9510">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Report: Expect Rent Jump in 2007</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">Courtesy: USA Today Renters be warned: Landlords are expected to raise apartment rents for a third-straight year in 2007, forcing tenants to turn over a growing chunk of their pay and making it harder to save for a home, a report to be issued by Marcus & Millichap finds. With the projected rise of 5% this year, rents would be 14% higher than at the end of 2004, the report says. Over the same period, paychecks are expected to rise 4%, adjusted for inflation. The widening gap is likely to worsen the crisis for workforce housing, especially in coastal cities, says Hessam Nadji, a managing director at Marcus & Millichap, a real estate investment brokerage. "This is a national trend. We're seeing rents rise in the majority of markets, and we see this continuing for at least three years." From 2000 to 2004, most landlords couldn't raise rents because so many tenants were leaving to buy houses or condos. To feed that buying frenzy, about 300,000 apartments were ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=1079">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Mortgage Rates Stay Low to Start 2007</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">From www.nwitimes.com Rates on 30-year mortgages were unchanged in the first week of the new year after posting three consecutive increases to close out 2006.<br /> <br /> Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.18 percent this week, the same as last week. Analysts said the markets in recent days have gotten some confusing messages about how serious the current economic slowdown will be.<br /> <br /> "Currently, the market is waiting for a clearer signal on the direction in which the economy is headed," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.<br /> <br /> For 2006, 30-year mortgages peaked at 6.80 percent in late July with rates trending lower for most of the rest of the year. That decline was welcomed by the embattled housing industry, which is in the grips of a severe downturn after five boom years.<br /> <br /> The Freddie Mac survey showed that other types of mortgage rates were mixed this week.<br ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=801">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Report: NWI Home Values to Increase in 2007</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">From www.post-trib.com What housing bubble? While much of the nation suffers from continued falling housing prices, Lake County will see 3.2 percent growth over past year in residential real estate value in 2007, according to a report by Fortune magazine. This places Lake fifth in the Midwest and 30th in the nation in a ranking of 100 real estate markets conducted by the magazine. Porter County was not included in the survey, but realtors said housing values there mirror its sister county: rising slowly and steadily. And realtors here say the 3.2 percent is an average. Houses in some areas, such as St. John and Crown Point, could see even bigger increases in value. In contrast, residential housing values have declined 3 percent nationally, with larger drops in fast-growing coastal and vacation areas that experienced huge housing value gains in recent years. Northwest Indiana real estate agents are basking in the glow of the report, which was prepared by Fortune magazine, ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=800">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Mortgage Rates Drop Again...</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">Courtesy: CNNMoney.com Mortgage rates fell for the sixth week in a row, to nearly the lowest level of the year, as a slowing housing market helped keep rates down, a survey said Thursday. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.11 percent in the week ended Dec. 7 from 6.14 percent in the prior week, according to Freddie Mac's (Charts) Primary Mortgage Market Survey. It was the lowest the 30-year has been since the week of Jan. 19, when it averaged 6.10 percent. A year ago, the 30-year averaged 6.32 percent. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.84 percent, down from 5.87 percent last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.87 percent. This is the lowest the 15-year FRM has been since the week ending Feb. 9, when it averaged 5.83 percent Rates for five-year adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) came in at 5.92 percent this week, down from 5.95 percent last week. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 5.78 percent. It was the lowest since February, when it averaged 5.89 percent. ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=669">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Experts: Housing Marking in Good Shape</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">Courtesy: CNNMoney.com A top economist and market strategist at Citigroup both say they did not think the housing slowdown is going to cause the economy to plunge into a recession or the stock market to fall into a tailspin in 2007. Speaking at a breakfast for financial reporters at the company's headquarters in New York in November, Citigroup senior economist Steven Wieting said that concerns about a recession due to softness in the housing market are overdone. In fact, Wieting said that if the housing market had not cooled this year, that would have presented a greater risk to the economy since it most likely would have led to increased inflation and probably more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. "Without the housing downturn, the economy would be overheating and there would be more inflation and tightening pressures," he said. Wieting indicated that perhaps too much attention is being paid to the housing market and that there would need to be more than ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=622">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Mortgage Rates Drop... Lowest in 10 Months</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">Courtesy: The Times of Northwest Indiana Mortgage rates around the country fell this week, with rates on 30-year mortgages sinking to their lowest level in 10 months.<br /> <br /> Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Wednesday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.18 percent for the week ending Nov. 22. That's down from 6.24 percent last week and was the lowest rate since the week ending Jan. 26, when 30-year mortgage rates averaged 6.12 percent. It marked the second week in a row that mortgage rates dropped, a development that economists attributed to easing inflation pressures. Inflation is calming down amid stabilizing energy prices, slower overall economic activity and the housing slump.<br /> <br /> "Slower growth usually means less inflation and less inflation means lower interest rates. Hence, the drop in mortgage rates this week," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist.<br /> <br /> After five years of booming activity, the housing ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=621">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Federal Assistance for Northwest Indiana Flood Victims</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">Many homeowners in Northwest Indiana have had some major flooding problems over the last month. Today, President Bush declared Lake County a major disaster area. He ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding from September 12-14.<br /> <br /> Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help people and business owners recover from the flooding.<br /> <br /> Homeowners and business owners who sustained losses can apply for assistance starting tomorrow (October 11th) on-line at www.fema.gov or by<br /> calling 1-800-621-FEMA. The toll-free telephone number will operate from 8AM-6PM CT. I posted some info on how to protect your home from a flood. Just visit www.janacaudillteam.com and click "Just for Sellers."</div> </article> <article> <h1>Is the Real Estate Market in Bubble Trouble?</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">From Yahoo! Real Estate By Kendra Todd - September 26, 2006 You can't go anywhere without hearing people talk about "the real estate bubble." Such talk drives me to distraction, and I'll tell you why. It's because there is no real estate bubble. Bubbles are for bathtubs. Despite a thousand articles in Sunday newspaper real estate sections, the bubble is a myth. The real estate markets in many areas are going through a normal correction cycle. I'm going to tell you how to recognize the signs of a correction in your market, how you can avoid getting sucked into "bubble trouble" and how you can even benefit from the current environment. Pop Goes the Market? A bubble is a market in which the value of the key asset is inflated based on speculation and psychology. Because of this, true bubble markets can burst overnight when something happens to shatter the perception of value. That's why the Internet boom of the late 1990s was a true bubble; people suddenly ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=335">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Is the Northwest Indiana Real Estate Market Slipping? You Decide...</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">As I'm sure you've seen in newspapers and on TV, the national real estate market is falling in 2006. The national average of home sales is down, so people always ask me, "How is the Northwest Indiana real estate market doing?" It's an easy answer... great! It's important to remember that real estate is a local market driven by local conditions. You also need to remember that if the national AVERAGE is down, that means that some areas must still be doing well... that includes Northwest Indiana. More homes will be sold in Northwest Indiana this year than ever before. And in most communities, sellers are getting more for their home than in 2004 and 2005. Here is a look at how some major Northwest Indiana communites are doing. KEY: HS: Homes Sold; DOM: Days on the Market; ASP: Average Sales Price Community 2004 HS 2004 DOM 2004 ASP 2005 HS 2005 DOM 2005 ASP ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=307">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> <article> <h1>Indiana city leads the nation in housing affordability</h1> <div style="font-family:arial, geneva, lucida, sans-serif;">Most affordable housing markets Midwest cities lead the nation in housing affordability, according to an index by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.<br /><br />Story from www.cnnmoney.com - August 22, 2006<br /><br />When it comes to affordable housing, no region can top the Midwest: Nine of the top ten of the nation's most affordable housing markets are there, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. The report said that affordability suffered just a little during the second quarter of 2006, as housing prices stayed about the same but mortgage rates ticked up.<br /><br />Indianapolis has retained its status as the most affordable large city in the United States for home buyers and Springfield, Ohio was No. 1 when smaller cities were included in the rankings. About 40 percent of homes in the United States were deemed affordable to families earning the national median income of $59,600. That was ..<span style="font-size:90%;margin-left:5px;color:#0000FF;vertical-align:baseline;"><font size="-3" color="gray">(</font><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="http://janacaudillteam.com/blog_post.asp?post=257">read more</a><font size="-3" color="gray">)</font></span></div> </article> </main></body></html>