So what is currently going on in the mortgage market? Are interest rates up, down, all over the place or what? Where are rates going? How are housing prices doing? Is this a good time to sell your home? If you are considering selling should you sell now or should you try and hold out for awhile longer? These questions and many more are very common questions right now with a very topsy-turvy market that leaves a lot of question marks right now.
The mortgage market has seen an overall decline in mortgage applications over the past 6 months or so as the application level has dropped since Dec. 06. However this past week mortgage application levels have increased for the 4th week out of the past 5 weeks as of late, while mortgage rates have remained relatively stable. The national 30 year mortgage fixed rate average is right around 6.14 as of the end of the week, which is actually almost 1/2 percent lower than where the rate was 1 year ago. Therefore, we still have excellent, low mortgage rates and if the timing is right refinancing and/or home-buying are still very good ideas.
Market experts are still expecting rates to increase by the end of the year, however we have been hearing this for quite some time with little to no change. As mentioned above rates are actually 1/2 percent lower that were they were one year ago. However, they have to increase sometime. If I was considering doing anything mortgage related, in my opinion I would definitely try to get it done before the end of summer to be safe and take advantage of the great fixed rates that are being offered.
Housing prices in many parts of the nation are still struggling a bit. Many parts of the US seemed to experience housing value increases that are just not consistent with the economy and they just increased too much, too fast. While there are still numerous areas in every state that are experiencing very modest housing value increases, there are still areas throughout the nation that housing values are declining because of rapid appreciation rates that skyrocketed way too fast. Ohio is one such state with many areas that are realizing dropping or stagnant housing values all throughout the state. Other factors as to the problems with housing values are the steady increase in foreclosures nationwide, too many houses for sale in certain communities, and the somewhat tougher lending guidelines many subprime lenders are placing on their mortgage products now.
As to whether now is a good time to sell or not, it is really going to depend on what area you live in. As previously mentioned some housing values have actually shown decreases, while other are remaining stable and increasing at a much more realistic level. With that said selling right now if you are in a good community can still be very profitable. The key to selling though right now is to make sure you find a good Realtor. You may even want to find a Realtor who thinks outside the box. Again depending on where you live, many homeowner's right now are offering items such as car leases, furniture, etc... to homebuyers to help to sell their homes quicker. Therefore, selling right now can still be a good thing but it is suggested that you do a little research online in your area to find out how the market in your area is, how many houses are listed and check on the current real estate trends in your city. You can also ask a Realtor for some of this information although they may provide information that is somewhat biased because many Realtors are very slow and they need home listings. If the information that you research appears to not favor selling now, you may want to consider holding off until sometime around the middle to end of summer and looking into it again.
Ps: If you are unable to find sales and prices online your county courthouse should also be able to provide you with housing sales and prices if you take a trip up there or your local newspaper usually will provide this information as well.
I will try updating my blog once per week from now on so please come back to check out next weeks post(s).
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