Category Archives: housing market

Mortgage Applications-Builder Optimism Rising

The Mortgage Corner Are homebuyers and borrowers finally realizing that mortgage rates might not fall much further? We are seeing a huge jump in both mortgage and builder activity, and much of the most recent interest rate drop has been … Continue reading

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More Jobs Key to 2012 Growth

Popular Economics Weekly How do we know what to look for in 2012? We should not be looking at the headlines, which tend to trumpet totally conflicting news. But more accurate information is available—usually several months later. For instance, jobs’ … Continue reading

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Can the Fed Rescue Real Estate?

The Mortgage Corner How can we thank Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for keeping our economy afloat? Not only has the Fed kept interest rates low enough to prevent actual deflation, as happened to Japan over the past 20 years and … Continue reading

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Will Real Estate Recover in 2012?

The Mortgage Corner The recovery road may remain bumpy for real estate in 2012 but construction spending continues to increase from low levels of activity, and so housing starts. Much of it is multi-family apartments going to both new households … Continue reading

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Will Younger Generation Rescue Real Estate?

The Mortgage Corner Privately-owned housing starts in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000, which combined with increasing builder sentiment is a sign that children of the baby boomers—the so-called Boomerang or echo boomer generation—may finally be … Continue reading

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Housing Picture is Better Than We Know

The Mortgage Corner There have been some developments that tell us housing prices could stabilize and new home construction pick up in the New Year. This is even thought the continuing fall in housing prices has stymied any growth prospects, … Continue reading

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Employment Report Means Holiday Cheers!

Popular Economics Weekly Not only were the employment numbers for the past 3 months much higher than originally estimated, but job openings are growing. All we need now is for consumers’ credit conditions to ease to bring back their confidence. … Continue reading

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What will Boost Real Estate?

The Mortgage Corner Never in my 30 years as a Mortgage Banker did I think I would see interest rates this low—as low as during Harry Truman’s Presidency. Yet very few homeowners are able to take advantage of those rates, … Continue reading

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Don’t Blame Fannie and Freddie…

The Mortgage Corner Please don’t blame Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, guarantors of most of the housing market’s conventional mortgages and reason the housing market continues to function at all, for the housing bust. The bust was caused by the … Continue reading

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It’s Basic Economics, Stupid!

Popular Economics Weekly What was the reason for Fed Chairman Bernanke’s almost pathetic plea to understand real world economics, in his latest speech at the Atlanta IMF Conference? He said in essence that the Fed is caught between worries about … Continue reading

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