The Mercury News
Paying off a mortgage might sound like an ambitious plan, especially for those who have recently refinanced into a 30-year term. But it’s still smart for homeowners to give some serious thought as to how they’ll pay off their loan; if not in 2012, then sometime.
Read the full story
http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19731356
A 4 percent mortgage sounds too good to be true – and for more than 90 percent of borrowers, it is.
Read the full story
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/19/real_estate/mortgage_rates/index.htm?iid=Lead
In 2009, multifamily lenders provided a total of $52.5 billion in new financing for apartment buildings with five or more units, representing a 40 percent decline from 2008, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Annual Report on Multifamily Lending for 2009.
The 122 most-active lenders represented just four percent of active lenders, but 77 percent of the dollar volume lent. Three-quarters of the active lenders made five or fewer loans over the course of the year.
With newspaper headlines declaring that foreclosures are on the
rise, short sales are difficult to navigate, and the rate of
homeownership is on the decline, some home buyers may no longer
see the value of purchasing a home. However, there are several
reasons why homeownership makes economic, financial, and
personal sense.
MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS
Home prices have declined approximately 30 percent from their
peak, according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Index, which
is good news for home buyers hoping to purchase a house at an
affordable price. As a result, statewide affordability reached
64 percent in the second quarter of this year, meaning 64
percent of California households could afford to purchase an
entry-level
home in the state.
Although home buyers should not view a home strictly as an
investment, generally speaking, homeownership does offer risk
capital. The median home price in California has risen
year-over-year for nine consecutive months, which implies home
equity will increase over the next few years.
Owning a home also can be beneficial because it acts as “forced
savings.” While the monthly mortgage payment may be slightly
higher than renting an apartment, most renters do not put the
difference into a savings account. The portion of a monthly
mortgage payment that’s allocated toward the principal of a
mortgage shouldn’t be viewed as a cost, but rather as a forced
monthly saving, because in the long run it’s building equity in
the home.
To read the full story, please click here:
http://takeaction.realtoractioncenter.com/ct/X7AK8Md1HUvJ/
NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, rose 5.2 percent to 79.4 from a downwardly revised 75.5 in June, but remains 19.1 percent lower than July 2009, when it was 98.1. The data reflect contracts and not closings, which usually lag one or two months. In the West, which includes California, the index increased 11.6 percent to 95, 17.6 percent lower compared with a year ago.
“Home sales will remain soft in the months ahead, but improved affordability conditions should help with a recovery,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Affordability could reach a generational high in the second half of this year because of rock-bottom mortgage interest rates, helped partly by the Fed’s very accommodative monetary policy. The loan underwriting standards are tighter, but home buyers can improve their chances of getting a loan by staying well within their budget.”
