According to Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, interest rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage are currently at 3.47%. Rates have remained at or below 3.5% each of the last 16 weeks, marking a historic low. The interest rate you secure when buying a home not only greatly impacts your monthly housing costs, but also impacts your purchasing power. Purchasing power, simply put, is the amount of home you can afford buy for the budget you have available to spend. As rates increase, the price of the house you can afford will decrease if you plan to stay within a certain monthly housing budget. The chart below shows what impact rising interest rates would have if you planned to purchase a home within the national median price range, and planned to keep your principal and interest payments at or about $1,100 a month. With each quarter of a percent increase in interest rate, the value of the home you can afford decreases by 2.5%, (in this example, $6,250). Experts predict that mortgage rates will be closer to 4% by this time next year.
Act now to get the most house for your hard earned money. SOURCE KCM #InterestRates #PurchasingPower #SimardRealtyGroup
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The results of countless studies have shown that potential home buyers, and even current homeowners, have an inflated view of what is really required to qualify for a mortgage in today’s market. One such study by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, revealed that many Millennials have not yet considered purchasing a home, simply because they don’t believe they can qualify for a mortgage. The article quoted Jessica Lautz, the National Association of Realtors’ Managing Director of Survey Research, as saying that there is a significant population that does not think they will be approved for a mortgage and doesn’t even try. The article also quoted Fannie Mae CEO Tim Mayopoulos: “I do think that there’s a sense out there in the marketplace among borrowers that credit may not be available, especially for people with lower credit scores.” Ellie Mae’s Vice President, Jonas Moe recently encouraged buyers to know their options before assuming that they do not qualify for a mortgage: “Many potential home buyers are 'disqualifying' themselves. You don't need a 750 FICO Score and a 20% down payment to buy.” So what credit score is necessary? Below is a breakdown of the FICO Score Distribution of all closed (approved) loans in August from Ellie Mae’s latest Origination Report. Over 50% of all approved loans had a FICO Score under 750. Many potential home buyers believe that they need a score over 780 to qualify.
Bottom Line If owning a home of your own has always been a dream of yours and you are ready and willing to buy, find out if you are able to! Meet with a local real estate professional who can help you determine if your dreams can become a reality sooner than you thought! SOURCE KCM #CreditScore #HomeBuying #SimardRealtyGroup Some Highlights:
SOURCE KCM #RentingCost #Buying #RentVSCost #SimardRealtyGroup In today’s housing market, where supply is very low and demand is very high, home values are increasing rapidly. Many experts are projecting that home values could appreciate by another 5%+ over the next twelve months. One major challenge in such a market is the bank appraisal. If prices are surging, it is difficult for appraisers to find adequate, comparable sales (similar houses in the neighborhood that closed recently) to defend the selling price when performing the appraisal for the bank. Every month, Quicken Loans measures the disparity between what a homeowner believes their house is worth as compared to an appraiser’s evaluation in their Home Price Perception Index (HPPI). Here is a chart showing that difference for each of the last 12 months. Bottom Line
Every house on the market has to be sold twice; once to a prospective buyer and then to the bank (through the bank’s appraisal). With escalating prices, the second sale might be even more difficult than the first. If you are planning on entering the housing market this year, meet with an experienced professional who can guide you through this, and any other obstacle that may arise. SOURCE KCM #ForSellers #Pricing #SimardRealtyGroup So you’ve decided to sell your house. You’ve hired a real estate professional to help you with the entire process and they have asked you what level of access you want to provide to potential buyers.
There are four elements to a quality listing. At the top of the list is Access, followed by Condition, Financing and Price. There are many levels of access that you could provide to your agent to be able to show your home. Here are five levels of access that you could give a buyer with a brief description:
In a competitive marketplace, access can make or break your ability to get the price you are looking for, or even sell your house at all. SOURCE KCM #GettingYourHouseSold #SellingYourHome #Sellers #SimardRealtyGroup CoreLogic released their most current Home Price Index last week. In the report, they revealed home appreciation in three categories: percentage appreciation over the last year, over the last month and projected over the next twelve months. Here are state maps for each category: The Past – home appreciation over the last 12 months The Present – home appreciation over the last month The Future – home appreciation projected over the next 12 months Bottom Line
Homes across the country are appreciating at different rates. If you plan on relocating to another state and are waiting for your home to appreciate more, you need to know that the home you will buy in another state may be appreciating even faster. Meet with a local real estate professional who can help you determine your next steps. SOURCE KCM #HomePricing #PastPresentFuture #SimardRealtyGroup If you are debating purchasing a home right now, you are probably getting a lot of advice. Though your friends and family will have your best interest at heart, they may not be fully aware of your needs and what is currently happening in the real estate market. Ask yourself the following 3 questions to help determine if now is actually a good time for you to buy in today’s market. 1. Why am I buying a home in the first place? This truly is the most important question to answer. Forget the finances for a minute. Why did you even begin to consider purchasing a home? For most, the reason has nothing to do with money. For example, a recent survey by Braun showed that over 75% of parents say “their child’s education is an important part of the search for a new home.” This survey supports a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University which revealed that the four major reasons people buy a home have nothing to do with money. They are:
What does owning a home mean to you? What non-financial benefits will you and your family gain from owning a home? The answer to that question should be the biggest reason you decide to purchase or not . 2. Where are home values headed? According to the latest Home Price Index from CoreLogic, home values are projected to increase by 5.3% over the next 12 months. What does that mean to you? Simply put, if you are planning on buying a home that costs $250,000 today, that same home will cost you an additional $13,250 if you wait until next year. Your down payment will need to be higher as well to account for the higher home price. 3. Where are mortgage interest rates headed ?A buyer must be concerned about more than just prices. The ‘long term cost’ of a home can be dramatically impacted by even a small increase in mortgage rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the National Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have all projected that mortgage interest rates will increase over the next twelve months as you can see in the chart below: Bottom LineOnly you and your family will know for certain if now is the right time to purchase a home. Answering these questions will help you make that decision.
Source KCM #HomeBuyers #Pricing #RealEstateNews #SimardRealtyGroup Some Highlights:
SOURCE KCM #MortgageRates #RealEstateNews #Infographic #SimardRealtyGroup Fantastic private location near the Farmington River.
Priced at $175,000 #ComingSoon #Windsor #SellingCT #SimardRealtyGroup The number of new home sales is far off historic norms. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) just reported that the percentage of all house sales that were newly constructed homes has fallen to the lowest numbers in forty years. Here is a graph showing the percentages This should come as no surprise as the number of new housing starts has fallen dramatically over the last several years: Bottom Line
We need more new construction for two reasons:
SOURCE KCM #NewConstruction #Buyers #Sellers #SimardRealtyGroup |
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