By: Shelley K. Schwartz, Special to CNBC.com
Mar 23 2009
Interest rates are at rock bottom. Housing affordability is at a record high and the glut of available properties on the market has left buyers holding all the cards.

If your long-term financial plan includes the purchase of a second home, or vacation property, now may be the time to make your move.

“There are an abundance of properties available right now with sellers making concessions that they generally aren’t going to make in a rising market,” says James Boykin, author of “Investing in a Vacation Home for Pleasure and Profit” and a retired professor of real estate analysis at Virginia Commonwealth University. (more…)

Tags: Real Estate News

The average interest on a 30-year mortgage fell to a 38-year low of 4.85 percent during the week ending March 27 from 4.98 percent the prior week, Freddie Mac reported.

The decrease came on the heels of the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it plans to purchase another $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities and up to $300 million in Treasuries. President Obama says refinancing is now possible for 40 percent of mortgages and encourages home owners to reap the benefits of the record-low rates.

Source: Boston Globe (03/27/09)

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Nearly 25 percent of adults say they plan to purchase a home in the next five years and half of those (53.5 percent) will be first-time home buyers, according to a survey commissioned by Move Inc., operator of Realtor.com. (more…)

Tags: Real Estate News

From our friends at Realtor.com The Federal Trade Commission is using its new powers, as authorized by Congress this month, to ban deceptive advertising and servicing procedures by mortgage brokers, FTC Chair Jon Leibowitz said.

New regulations on mortgage brokers are needed because “a lot of the advertising is clearly, facially deceptive” and “a lot of mortgage holders have been deceived” Leibowitz the Bloomberg news service in an interview. (more…)

Tags: Real Estate News

From our friends at Real Trends
Initial construction of U.S. homes unexpectedly surged in February, according to a government report released Tuesday. Housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 last month, up 22% from a revised 477,000 in January, according to the Commerce Department. Economists were expecting housing starts to decline to 450,000, according to consensus estimates compiled by Briefing.com.

Applications for building permits, considered a reliable sign of future construction activity, rose 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000 last month. Economists were expecting permits to fall to 500,000.

Source: CNNMoney.com

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From our friends at Realtor.com
Newly discovered FHA loans, which require low down payments but charge higher interest to borrowers with lower credit ratings, have quickly become a wildly popular choice for home buyers.

The loans require a down payment of only 3.5 percent, while conventional loans require down payments of 10 percent or higher. (more…)

Tags: Real Estate News

From our friends at Realtor.com
President Barack Obama signed a bill into law Wednesday that permanently prohibits banks from entering the real estate brokerage and management business.

The bill–H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill–ends the National Association of REALTORS’ nearly eight-year battle to preserve the separation between banking and commerce.

"If banks had been allowed to engage in real estate brokerage, it would have created anti-competitive and anti-consumer concentrations of power within the financial services sector, which would have ultimately increased costs for homebuyers," according to NAR resource page it has devoted to the issue.

Read a Q&A and get more information online about this bill and what this bill means for real estate.

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Lincoln, NH. Tom Tremblay, Owner of Coldwell Banker Linwood Real Estate is pleased to announce that Leslie Inman, has met the New Hampshire Real Estate licensure requirements and has joined the team of active Sales Agents for the company. (more…)

Tags: Real Estate News

From our friends at Realtor.com
Average mortgage rates dipped below 5 percent last week, driving mortgage application volume up 11.3 percent to 723.4 from 649.7 the previous week on an adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey. (more…)

Tags: Real Estate News

From our friends at Real Trends, Inc.
Two new initiatives from Fannie Mae Home Affordable Refinance and Home Affordable Modification-are now available to its servicers and borrowers as part of the Obama Administration’s “Making Home Affordable” program.

The two initiatives hope to significantly expand the numbers of borrowers who can refinance or modify their mortgages to a payment that is affordable now and into the future. (more…)

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