Category Archives: Buyers

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Buying is Cheaper Than Renting Til Mortgage Rates Hit 10.5%

The recent rise in mortgage rates has made buying a house a little more expensive: the increase in the 30-year fixed rate over the past month from 3.4% to 3.9% (Freddie Mac) raised the monthly payment on a $200,000 mortgage by $56, or 6%. However, because mortgage rates are still near long-term lows, and because prices fell so much after the housing bubble burst and remain low relative to rents even after recent price increases, buying is still much cheaper than renting. That means that the recent jump in rates doesn’t change the rent-versus-buy math much.

Rates are likely to keep rising, but how far must rates rise before buying a home starts to look expensive relative to renting?

Read the very informative article…

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Repeat Buyers, Backbone of Housing Recovery

The growing ranks of repeat home buyers are helping to drive the housing recovery, making up for the dwindling numbers of first-time buyers.

Repeat home buyers accounted for 54 percent of existing-home sales in June, up from 49 percent just one year prior, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Meanwhile, first-time buyers — who usually account for 40 percent of the market share — shrank to 29 percent in June. A lack of lower-priced homes and strict lending requirements are edging more first-time buyers out of the market.

“What we’re seeing are these buyers who’ve waited around and who have finally realized this is a good time to move,” says David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. “They will feed the demand until our economy gets a little more solid.”

The article…

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The Social Benefits of Homeownership

Social Benefits of Homeownership

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Banks May Ease Lending Standards Soon

With fewer home owners refinancing their mortgages because of rising interest rates, banks may soon relax their lending standards to ramp up business, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Credit availability has risen 3 percent since May — when mortgage rates began to rise — according to an MBA survey. Refinances have fallen 59 percent from a year ago, but applications for home purchases have risen 5 percent.

In recent years, tight underwriting standards have been blamed on shutting out many people from the housing market. Many potential borrowers have been unable to meet requirements for higher credit scores and larger down payments in order to qualify for a loan.

Read more…

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Massive Rent Increases to Continue

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The average annual increase of 3.9% is outpacing inflation and income growth. Will renters be priced out of many cities?

It’s no secret renters have been feeling the crunch of a competitive rental market for a few years now. If it seems like rent increases have been unusually high this year though, that’s because they have been.

More details…

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After months of rising prices, is the Puget Sound housing market cooling off?

 Komo 4 Video

The housing headlines have been screaming all spring and summer about how home buyers have been pushing prices up in King County.

There have been bidding wars for some Seattle-area homes, and median home prices are up 15 percent over a year ago.

Around Lake Sammamish, home prices are back up to peak levels set in 2007. In West Seattle, homes in some turn-of-the-century neighborhoods have been selling for up to $650,000 or more. And in other areas, sellers are getting 10 or 20 offers on a single property.

But now it’s beginning to appear that the price and pace of sales may be cooling off in the Puget Sound housing market.

Watch the KOMOnews…

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Home Sales and Prices Still Rising

… despite lean inventory and increasing mortgage rates.

Rising interest rates, rising prices and rising consumer confidence are creating a “positive cyclone of home sales activity,” according to members of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service earlier this month. A robust job market around the Greater Seattle area is also spurring sales.

Member-brokers reported 9,565 pending sales during July for an increase of more than 13.6 percent from a year ago – the highest year-over-year gain since January. Last month’s mutually accepted offers across 21 counties also marked a slight improvement on June’s total of 9,484 pending sales.

Read the details…

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What’s in a name?

Hear how a new name will revolutionize the real estate industry!

BHHS Seal - Cabernet

Watch the video…

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Surprising Foreclosure Hot Spots

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While housing markets across the country are recovering from the deepest throes of the foreclosure crisis, others are just stumbling into it — and they aren’t exactly the places you’d expect.

States like Maryland, Oregon and New Jersey, which maintained relatively stable markets after the housing bubble popped, saw new foreclosure filings climb by double- and triple-digit percentages in July, according to RealtyTrac.

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Home Buyers Face Higher Closing Costs

Saving Money

Rising mortgage rates aren’t the only problem house hunters are facing. Closing costs for loan origination and other fees have increased 6 percent in the past year, according to a survey by Bankrate.com.

Borrowers with stellar credit who are making a 20 percent down payment are still forking over an average of $2,402 in closing costs on a $200,000 loan.

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