Economic Week In Review
January 31, 2012 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
In last Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting, Fed officials stated that they now expect economic conditions will allow the fed funds rate to remain at exceptionally low levels until at least “late 2014″. Wow! The Fed has never been quite this clear for so long into the future. Prior statements extended the expected time frame only [...]
Economic Update: Improving Economy Bad for Mortgage Rates
January 24, 2012 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
An improving US economic outlook was negative for mortgage rates over the last week. Reduced concerns about Europealso caused a partial reversal in the “flight to safety” trade. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week higher. Early in the month, the December Employment report showed a larger than expected increase of 200K jobs, and [...]
FHA Contemplating Reduced Seller Paid Concessions
January 24, 2012 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
On Friday, FHA released a letter proposing that the maximum allowable seller concessions be reduced from the current 6% limit to something less. FHA is contemplating this change to “better manage risk” as they feel the current level exposes the FHA and borrowers to excess risk by creating an incentive that inflates the appraised value. [...]
Economic Update
January 17, 2012 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
The news from Europe has been mostly negative over the last week. Economic growth in Germany has been slower than expected. Negotiations on restructuring Greek debt also have not progressed as planned. S&P is downgrading the debt of several European countries, including France. Lastly, the European Central Bank (ECB) has given no indication that it [...]
FHA Extends Anti-Flipping Waiver Through End of 2012
January 17, 2012 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
To cut down on fraud, FHA has had an anti-flipping regulation in place for years preventing a seller from selling a home owned less than 90 days. In an effort to accelerate the resale of foreclosed properties, FHA waived this rule in Feb of 2010 and then extended the waiver through the end of 2011. [...]
Mortgage Insurance Tax Break Gone
January 17, 2012 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
On Dec 31st, Congress let 58 tax code benefits expire, including credits for home energy improvements, credits for builders of energy-efficient new houses, and home buyer tax deductions for mortgage insurance. The mortgage insurance deduction has been a key mortgage financing benefit in place since 2007 which benefitted home buyers with income of [...]
Economic Overview
December 22, 2011 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
Increased concerns about European debt issues and the pace of global economic growth has caused investors to shift to relatively safer assets over the last week. As a result, mortgage rates have nestled down to right at the low point of the year. Investors hoping for the European Central Bank (ECB) to expand its role [...]
Real Estate Listing Tips
December 22, 2011 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
In today’s challenging market, where inventory is high and good buyers are in demand, it is more critical than ever that your listings stand out. To do so, they must be creative and exciting yet at the same time efficient, making the most of little space. Even if you’ve been selling homes for decades, this [...]
Economic Update
November 22, 2011 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
The economic data released last week was positive for the economy, with stronger than expected economic growth and lower than expected inflation. Retail Sales, Industrial Production, and Housing Starts all exceeded their consensus forecasts. Weekly Jobless Claims fell to the lowest level since April and the NAHB Home Builder Confidence Index rose to the [...]
FHA Loan Limits
November 22, 2011 by James Williamson · Leave a Comment
Congress reinstated higher loan limits for FHA loans last week, however, this news is not the good news it seems to be for the Atlanta market. Several months ago, FHA loan limits were reduced by about $25,000 in metro-Atlanta. Congress has not returned these loan limits to the previous level, rather they approved legislation that allows for [...]
