I’m just dropping a note to let people who are considering buying a home or who have friends who are considering a home purchase know that mortgage interest rates rocketed higher again this week. Bankrate, (Bankrate.com) a mortgage tracking company, showed that the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit its highest level since April 2010.  That puts the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 5.05 percent, up from 4.81 percent a week ago. This week’s rate actually spiked to 5.23 percent before coming down a bit. 

The more positive news we have about an economic recovery the higher the rates will go. That’s called inflation and it is inevitable. The higher the rate, the less you qualify for and the higher your monthly payment will be. By the way, even though it is important to get your loan application started as soon as possible, you cannot lock in an interest rate until you have a purchase contract signed by both the buyer and the seller. 

So I am just giving everyone a heads up that if you are in a position to and think you will be buying a home soon, sooner is better than later.  Now is the time to act. Get hold of your Realtor and start the process.  It will be to your benefit. 

Please feel free to call if you have any questions or I can be of help.

I have talked about this before but I think it is important enough to point out again. Once again the Denver area real estate market has some of the most afforadable housing prices in the country. Below is an article form DSNews quoting Trulia’s Rent Vs. Buy Index, showing Denver to be ranked in the Much Less Expensive to Buy Than Rent Ratio category. This is worth reading.

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/truila-survey-shows-buying-still-more-affordable-than-renting-in-most-cities-2011-01-25

I don’t know if you knew it or not, but mortgage rates came up every day last week. Yes, they have been bouncing up and down but the more consistent good news there is that the economy is recovering, the more rates will go up and stay up.  It’s called inflation.

There are excellent homes to be purchased in the Aurora South and Centennial CO areas at good and fair prices.  The more rates go up the less house your dollar will buy. So if you are considering that  home purchase, there isn’t a better time than to do so.

Have questions?  Need some help?  Please give me a call.  I promise sound information with no obligation. Period.

  Toni   303-475-1738

I was having a conversation with a young man yesterday about purchasing his first home.  He asked if now was a good time to buy.  My answer was that I have never seen a better time to be a first time homeowner, that prices are down and so are mortgage rates.

 More news came out today that confirmed my opinion.  Analysts at Capital Economics say that due to price drops in the third quarter  house prices are now 17  percent undervalued relative to disposable income per capita.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency reports that housing prices are 14 percent undervalued. Fourteen to 17 percent – this is record setting.

What this means is that a medium income household can now more easily afford the mortgage payment on a medium priced home than anytime in the last 30 years. Couple this with “dirt cheap” mortgage rates, now is the time to buy.

Back to the young man I spoke of earlier, there are some great choices on great houses in the Aurora South-Centennial area of town that I plan on showing him. He agrees, now is the time to act.  If you are considering a home purchase and you, too, have questions please feel to give me a call.  I’m excited about what our Denver Metro market has offer home buyers right now and would love to be your resource.

 What in the world is really going on with prices in the Denver area real estate market?  We hear so many conflicting reports that it is dizzying and almost paralyzing.

Here I am not even going to address the market over $500K. That is its own sad entity right now.  Let’s talk about where most of the real estate action is, the under $300k market.

There is no question that the end of the buyer tax credit has hurt the markets they most helped.  That is homes selling up to approximately $250,000.00.  The often fierce competition to get the home of their dreams before the credit expired often caused bidding wars driving prices upward.  Now that incentive is gone.  Summer inventory is up but now there is no urgency for home buyers to buy. Inventory just keeps accumulating with more for buyers to choose from.   It all comes down to supply and demand.  What went up is coming down.

How much will this market be effected? That is the $64,000.00 question.  Some scary national estimates are as much as a 20% decline.  That is not the Denver area.  The worst report I heard for our metro area has been seven per cent.  More seem to think up to three per cent. 

Houses still sell here.  When buyers see a good home priced right they will buy it.  All of this makes a strong point for sellers to price their home correctly to start with rather than playing the market and to present it like it is a model home.  The buying public will tell you in a hurry how they see your house as compared to others. So hit a home run the first time at bat and do it all correctly.  Sellers who play this way will be the least effected by any declines we may see between now and the end of the year.