#Real Estate News#Montgomery County#Maryland

Interest rates falling for four straight weeks early this year, prospective home buyers had an easier time purchasing new homes. Low rates also prompted a spike in refinance applications from many Americans pursuing lower monthly payments, which will help free up extra cash to spend or save. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), purchase applications are 3 percent higher than a year ago, with most of the gains coming from Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing. Government-insured FHA loans provide low down payment and rate options and are typically sought after by first-time buyers. A strong January Jobs Report also showed Non-farm Payrolls growing, and that many Americans have returned to the job search pool. Builders Optimistic for Spring Construction on new homes continues to grow; even though January's numbers slipped slightly from December, they were up nineteen percent from a year ago. Builders began construction on 1.01 million new houses and apartments in 2014, the most in nine years and 8.8 percent more than in 2013, according to a January CoreLogic report. At the end of December, builders had 218,000 homes listed for sale that were either under construction or completed, 17.2 percent up from a year earlier, according to Commerce Department data released in early January. The data indicated that builders are optimistic about the upcoming spring housing season, which can be seen from their commitment to building speculative, or "spec" homes. Spec homes are newly constructed homes built in the anticipation of buyers to sign purchase contracts. According to a realtor.com report, last year's total at 435,000 for new-home sales was an increase of only 1.4 percent from the 2013 total, and stands at roughly 58 percent of the annual average since 2000. The spring selling season typically starts after the Super Bowl and hits its stride around March and April. The Bottom Line Low rates, new homes and demand for first-time home loans make this an exciting time for the Spring market.

#Interest rates stay the same - time to buy or sell

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/28/federal-reserve-leaves-interest-rates-unchanged/

Buying Real Estate after a distressed sale - #You can buy Real Estate sooner than you think.

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/3746819-returning-buyers-foreclosure?sf7152069=1

Maryland Real Estate by Pamela DuBois: #First time home buyer - Obama making it easier

Maryland Real Estate by Pamela DuBois: #First time home buyer - Obama making it easier: http://rismedia.com/2015-01-08/obama-plan-makes-it-easier-for-younger-first-time-homebuyers/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&...

#First time home buyer - Obama making it easier

http://rismedia.com/2015-01-08/obama-plan-makes-it-easier-for-younger-first-time-homebuyers/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=eNews

Maryland Real Estate by Pamela DuBois: Buying versus renting - Mortgage rates are still ...

Maryland Real Estate by Pamela DuBois: Buying versus renting - Mortgage rates are still ...: Mortgage rates are (still) low During the recession, the rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 4.32 percent. Now, rates are close t...

Buying versus renting - Mortgage rates are still very low!!!

Mortgage rates are (still) low During the recession, the rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 4.32 percent. Now, rates are close to that, and there’s no recession! Granted, rates are not expected to skyrocket overnight, but don’t think that a small uptick would not affect your budget. In fact, if rates were to go up by just 1 percentage point, your purchasing power would be reduced by a whopping 11 percent. To put this in further perspective: If you could afford a $400,000 loan at 4 percent mortgage rates, you could afford a loan of just $356,000 at 5 percent. An even smaller rise in rates — say from 4.5 percent to 5 percent — would add $75 to the monthly payment on a $300,000 house with $50,000 down. Home prices are (still) affordable While home prices, nationally, continue to rise, up nearly 7 percent from July 2013, they are still 11 percent below their 2007 peak. And get this: Home buying is more affordable now than ever before. According to a recent analysis, U.S. home buyers at the end of the second quarter spent 15.3 percent of their incomes on a mortgage, far less than the 22.1 percent share homeowners devoted to mortgages in the pre-bubble days. This situation won’t last forever, especially as mortgage rates continue to rise. Buying is (still) cheaper than renting No doubt, buying a house is a significant purchase, but in a majority of the country, it’s (still) cheaper than renting. In fact, in half of metros in the U.S., buying beats renting after only two years. This can be attributed to historically high rental prices that have helped skew the rent vs. buy decision toward buying for those who can afford it. So if you can afford to buy, now is the time as rents are not getting any cheaper!