Here's great news for both buyers and sellers, who will find good financial benefit in the Congress and President's Real Estate Stimulation part of the up-coming Stimulus package, which should increase sales of Raleigh Real Estate, Cary Real Estate, and
Executive Homes in the area of $625,000 to $950,000, including golf course communities. All the latest Raleigh Real Estate News is on www.kasparteam.com
Stimulus plan also sparks housing market
The measures would make mortgages easier to get and reduce borrowing costs -- especially in hard-hit, high-cost houseing markets.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The economic stimulus plan announced Thursday by Congress and the Bush administration includes provisions that specifically address the mortgage crisis. It aims to make getting a mortgage easier and cheaper in high-cost markets, to facilitate refinancing and to prevent foreclosures.
The package proposes lifting the dollar amount of loans that are eligible for purchase by Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) and Fannie Mae (FNM).
These government sponsored enterprises currently guarantee a secondary market for loans of less than $417,000, which makes lenders more willing to issue them. The stimulus package proposes raising that cap to $625,000 for twelve months in order to make it easier for buyers to get or refinance mortgages - especially in high-cost regions like California.
"It's about time," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist for banking giant National City Corp. "The idea has rattled around Congress for a year. Most analysts agree the market for "jumbo" loans [which exceed the cap limits] has been hurt by lender flight."
The increased cap should give a boost to some of the most sluggish markets in the nation, like Florida, where high home prices typically mean that mortgages exceed the $417,000 loan limits. When credit markets contracted last summer, jumbo loans over that amount became much harder to get and, as a result, home sales in pricey markets took a hit.
"This will have a big, immediate impact, especially in California where sales have been down most significantly," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
Homeowners with jumbo mortgages also pay higher interest rates because, with no guaranteed secondary market for the loans, lenders take on more risk, and charge borrowers more for doing so.
For instance, the interest rate difference between loans that fall within the cap limit and jumbo loans was more than 1 percent on Thursday -- 6.39 percent compared with 5.30 percent, according to Bankrate.com. On a $500,000 mortgage, the difference is about $350 a month.
Pain relief for mortgage fare-ups
"The 1 percent drop is a huge factor," said Yun. "In California, it could create a mini-boom."
Before the stimulus package was announced, analysts including Merrill Lynch had come out with dire forecasts for housing markets over the next couple of years.
But, said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research. "[the raise in loan limits] could remove some of the inventory overhang and alter the buyer psychology a bit. Right now they're still waiting for prices to fall."
Yun added, "There's a lot of pent-up demand in the market. This will boost confidence among these potential buyers, and some of the people on the fence will start buying."
The National Association of Realtors recently projected that a higher loan limit, which the organization and other industry trade groups have been lobbying for, would boost home sales by nearly 350,000 a year.
It would also reduce the average period of time a home sits on the market by a month and a half, and lift prices by two or three percentage points.
Home price increases could help keep foreclosures in check by increasing a distressed owner's home equity, making it easier for them to refinance. More important and timely Raleigh Real Estate news at: www.kasparteam.com
Deal struck to send checks to taxpayersBush tax guru backs stimulus plan
Friday, January 25, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
NC Housing Market - Countrywide Financial
Good news for American economy and the North Carolina housing market, and sepecially for home buyers in Raleigh, N.C., Durham, Cary, Research Triangle and area: Bank of America is buying Country Wide Financial. The Charlotte Based Bank of America is now the largest mortgage lender in the North Carolina and the United States: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080111/D8U3NTSO0.html
Excellent info here and at www.KasparTeam.com on NC Raleigh Real Estate, Vic Ksapar, Lead Broker, ReMax, Cary, NC
Excellent info here and at www.KasparTeam.com on NC Raleigh Real Estate, Vic Ksapar, Lead Broker, ReMax, Cary, NC
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Raleigh NC Real Estate Beginning to Get Back in Gear!
Hi, Vic Kaspar here. Well, things in Real Estate are starting to get back in gear now that the Holidays are mostly over and people are getting back in the swing of things. 317 homes have come on the market, newly listed in the Cary, N.C., Apex, Holly Springs and Morrrisville since the first of the year. And that's just the greater Cary area. Ten of those Three Hundred Seventeen newly listed homes have already gone under contract. More than one per day. So to those who are crying gloom and doom, it looks like 2008 is getting off to a good solid start. I'll check back the end of the month to see how this month looks as compared to last year's January. Check us out at www.KasparTeam.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Upbeat NC Raleigh Real Estate News for 2008
This excellent information is from Bernice Ross / Inman News!
NAR Economist Underlines Real Estate's Silver Lining
In all the years I've been writing this column, I have never received such an outpouring of response as I did from the two November articles on how media coverage of negative housing news is hurting our industry.
In spite of gloom and doom of recent news reports on the state of the nation's housing, there is plenty of good news, the most recent of which comes from the National Association of Realtors.
Laurence Yun, the chief economist for NAR, had plenty of positive news for Realtors at last month's conference. Yun attributed much of today's subprime mortgage problem to greed. Wall Street wanted the 10-12 percent return that subprime mortgages yielded as opposed to the smaller returns from more traditional mortgage products. His take on the Wall Street types: "They gambled. They lost."
Yun's outlook for 2008 sees a shift from greedy speculators to serious homeowners. 2008 will be a year of opportunity where there will be serious, healthy business. Furthermore, Yun predicted that the market returns to normal by 2009.
According to Yun, one of the biggest mistakes that reporters make is talking about national trends. Nationally, 2007 was the fifth best year ever on record. Home prices declined about 1.5 percent after a 50 percent run up in prices.
The challenge is that national numbers are pretty much irrelevant. Yun argues that talking about national averages is about as effective as having a national weather forecast. Like the weather, all real estate markets are local. In fact, you may have a buyer's market and a seller's market operating within a single market area based exclusively upon price point. Here are the other key pieces of positive news from Yun's economic report:
1. New housing starts: Even though these are dropping, there was too much building in recent years. The market is simply adjusting to normal supply-and-demand pressures. The inventory is "being controlled which makes stabilization occur more quickly."
2. Foreclosures: According to Yun, the 41 percent increase in foreclosures has resulted primarily from investor-heavy real estate purchases in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. The majority of these individuals are flippers whose investments did not payoff. More importantly, the number of foreclosures in Utah, New Mexico, North Carolina and South Carolina is actually declining.
3. Under-priced markets and superstar cities: Although the coastal markets are still overpriced, Middle America is under priced. Nevertheless, Yun cites a new trend termed, "superstar" cities. These cities will command premium prices, regardless of what the market does. There is so much wealth concentrated in these areas, that measurements are simply not predictive. In addition to London, Paris, Tokyo and New York, Yun also identified San Francisco, Miami and Seattle as potential new superstar cities.
4. The recovery has started: Other than the three states hit heavily by job losses in the automotive industry (Indiana, Michigan and Ohio), the states that first experienced a downturn in the Northeast, are now in recovery. Specifically, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island were the first to feel the slump and are now well into a recovery. Furthermore, there appears to be a pent-up demand for first-time buyer properties due to a large number of Gen Ys (born 1977 to 1994) that are now buying their first homes. Falling interest rates will motivate many of these buyers to step into the market now.
5. New jobs and corporate profits are still strong: Corporate profits are still strong with companies as diverse as Microsoft and Jack Daniels reporting close to record profits. Furthermore, the economy has generated 4 million net new jobs and wages are rising.
6. A weak dollar may harbinger more foreign investment in U.S. real estateAlthough the decline of the U.S. dollar will end up costing us more when we go overseas or purchase imports, it has resulted in more manufacturing jobs returning to the U.S. It also may mean more foreign investment in U.S. properties as well. Just a few years ago, the Canadian dollar was only worth 70 cents in U.S. currency. Today, the Canadian dollar has been hovering at about $1.05 to $1.10 U.S. What this means is that we can expect more Canadians and Europeans to be purchasing U.S. property, because our prices are approximately 50 percent cheaper than they were just three years ago.
7. Real estate: Still the best shelter: For those agents who represent reluctant first-time buyers, Yun points to some interesting research from the Federal Reserve. Between 1995 and 2004, the average renter accumulated $4,000 in wealth. In contrast, the average homeowner accumulated $184,400. Furthermore, the typical homeowner holds their property for six years. Within this period of time, NAR's research shows that approximately 97 percent of the homeowners will have a positive equity position after that period of time.
Bottom line: 2008 represents the best window that buyers will have to find excellent deals with excellent financing. Get the word out there. If they wait, prices and interest rates will be higher and the reluctant buyer may be forced out of the market.
Bernice Ross, national speaker and CEO of Realestatecoach.com, is the author of "Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters" and "Who's the Best Person to Sell My House?" Both are available online. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com or visit her blog at www.LuxuryClues.com.
NAR Economist Underlines Real Estate's Silver Lining
In all the years I've been writing this column, I have never received such an outpouring of response as I did from the two November articles on how media coverage of negative housing news is hurting our industry.
In spite of gloom and doom of recent news reports on the state of the nation's housing, there is plenty of good news, the most recent of which comes from the National Association of Realtors.
Laurence Yun, the chief economist for NAR, had plenty of positive news for Realtors at last month's conference. Yun attributed much of today's subprime mortgage problem to greed. Wall Street wanted the 10-12 percent return that subprime mortgages yielded as opposed to the smaller returns from more traditional mortgage products. His take on the Wall Street types: "They gambled. They lost."
Yun's outlook for 2008 sees a shift from greedy speculators to serious homeowners. 2008 will be a year of opportunity where there will be serious, healthy business. Furthermore, Yun predicted that the market returns to normal by 2009.
According to Yun, one of the biggest mistakes that reporters make is talking about national trends. Nationally, 2007 was the fifth best year ever on record. Home prices declined about 1.5 percent after a 50 percent run up in prices.
The challenge is that national numbers are pretty much irrelevant. Yun argues that talking about national averages is about as effective as having a national weather forecast. Like the weather, all real estate markets are local. In fact, you may have a buyer's market and a seller's market operating within a single market area based exclusively upon price point. Here are the other key pieces of positive news from Yun's economic report:
1. New housing starts: Even though these are dropping, there was too much building in recent years. The market is simply adjusting to normal supply-and-demand pressures. The inventory is "being controlled which makes stabilization occur more quickly."
2. Foreclosures: According to Yun, the 41 percent increase in foreclosures has resulted primarily from investor-heavy real estate purchases in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. The majority of these individuals are flippers whose investments did not payoff. More importantly, the number of foreclosures in Utah, New Mexico, North Carolina and South Carolina is actually declining.
3. Under-priced markets and superstar cities: Although the coastal markets are still overpriced, Middle America is under priced. Nevertheless, Yun cites a new trend termed, "superstar" cities. These cities will command premium prices, regardless of what the market does. There is so much wealth concentrated in these areas, that measurements are simply not predictive. In addition to London, Paris, Tokyo and New York, Yun also identified San Francisco, Miami and Seattle as potential new superstar cities.
4. The recovery has started: Other than the three states hit heavily by job losses in the automotive industry (Indiana, Michigan and Ohio), the states that first experienced a downturn in the Northeast, are now in recovery. Specifically, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island were the first to feel the slump and are now well into a recovery. Furthermore, there appears to be a pent-up demand for first-time buyer properties due to a large number of Gen Ys (born 1977 to 1994) that are now buying their first homes. Falling interest rates will motivate many of these buyers to step into the market now.
5. New jobs and corporate profits are still strong: Corporate profits are still strong with companies as diverse as Microsoft and Jack Daniels reporting close to record profits. Furthermore, the economy has generated 4 million net new jobs and wages are rising.
6. A weak dollar may harbinger more foreign investment in U.S. real estateAlthough the decline of the U.S. dollar will end up costing us more when we go overseas or purchase imports, it has resulted in more manufacturing jobs returning to the U.S. It also may mean more foreign investment in U.S. properties as well. Just a few years ago, the Canadian dollar was only worth 70 cents in U.S. currency. Today, the Canadian dollar has been hovering at about $1.05 to $1.10 U.S. What this means is that we can expect more Canadians and Europeans to be purchasing U.S. property, because our prices are approximately 50 percent cheaper than they were just three years ago.
7. Real estate: Still the best shelter: For those agents who represent reluctant first-time buyers, Yun points to some interesting research from the Federal Reserve. Between 1995 and 2004, the average renter accumulated $4,000 in wealth. In contrast, the average homeowner accumulated $184,400. Furthermore, the typical homeowner holds their property for six years. Within this period of time, NAR's research shows that approximately 97 percent of the homeowners will have a positive equity position after that period of time.
Bottom line: 2008 represents the best window that buyers will have to find excellent deals with excellent financing. Get the word out there. If they wait, prices and interest rates will be higher and the reluctant buyer may be forced out of the market.
Bernice Ross, national speaker and CEO of Realestatecoach.com, is the author of "Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters" and "Who's the Best Person to Sell My House?" Both are available online. She can be reached at bernice@realestatecoach.com or visit her blog at www.LuxuryClues.com.
Traditions
During the holiday season and in the hectic world we create for ourselves; rushing to work, rushing to practice, rushing here or there we need something constant. A tradition is something you can create, count on and look forward to. Today I started a tradition. My husband and I did the “New Years Day Hike” at the ENO River (www.enoriver.org) where there were two hikes to choose from: a 2 ½ mile hike and an almost 5 mile hike. Both hikes are equally as beautiful and the hike is self paced. At the end of the hike there was hot chocolate, popcorn, marshmallows, water and a fire waiting for us. The hike didn’t start until 2pm, so there’s no excuse. Check it out. ENO is a fabulous natural asset to the area: 30 min from Cary or Raleigh in North Durham. Much love & Happy New Year.
I can’t wait for spring…. When life & flowers starts to bloom and… when it is the best time to put your house on the Market. If you need tips on getting ready to sell in this Raleigh, Cary North Carolina real estate market, the Kaspar Team can help! Call our Agent on Duty at (919) 469-6555 or visit our website: www.KasparTeam.com , Vic Kaspar, Lead Broker. – Submitted by Janet Allen, Realtor, Kaspar Team
I can’t wait for spring…. When life & flowers starts to bloom and… when it is the best time to put your house on the Market. If you need tips on getting ready to sell in this Raleigh, Cary North Carolina real estate market, the Kaspar Team can help! Call our Agent on Duty at (919) 469-6555 or visit our website: www.KasparTeam.com , Vic Kaspar, Lead Broker. – Submitted by Janet Allen, Realtor, Kaspar Team
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