Archive for July, 2009
How A Rising Unemployment Rate Can Improve Your Home Purchasing Power
July 7th, 2009 categories: Buyers, General, Market Trends
Last week’s jobs report is the latest data point to drag down rates for today’s home buyers and would-be refinancers.
As reported by the government, the national Unemployment Rate rose to 9.5 percent in June — a 25-year high.
As the percentage of out-of-work Americans grows, households have less disposable income to pump back into the economy.
And so, because consumer spending accounts for two-third of the economy, the growing ranks of the unemployed are forcing markets to change expectations about when the U.S. economy will reach its full recovery.
Inflation is the enemy of mortgage rates. The perceived absence of inflation, therefore, can be its friend.
With fewer working Americans, we can expect slower economic growth plus a smaller probability for inflation over the medium-term. This is why mortgage rates are lower of late, off by as much as a half-percent from the peak.
Home affordability is up.
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Keep Your Grill From Running Out Of Propane Mid-Burger
July 6th, 2009 categories: General
If you’ve ever been grilling for friends or family and emptied your gas tank mid-burger, you’ll appreciate the GasWatch Propane Level Indicator and Safety Gauge.
For less than $20
When the needle falls to red, grillers can expect another 15 minutes of cooking until total flame out. The method is reportedly more reliable than the magnetic tank gauge
Additionally, if the GasWatch gauge senses a leak, it shuts down the flow of propane to keep the grill from catching fire.
July 4th is behind us, but there’s lots of grilling left in the season. Pick up a GasWatch propane gauge at a local Home Depot or hardware store, or buy one online at Amazon.com
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For The 4th Straight Month, There’s An Increase In The Number Of Homes Under Contract To Sell
July 2nd, 2009 categories: Buyers, General, Market Trends
The number of homes under contract to sell increased in May.
It’s the fourth straight month in which sales volume increased, corroborating the growing notion that housing is on the mend in most U.S. markets.
Consider these other housing-related stories from the past month:
- Existing Home Sales are rising
- New home supplies are falling
- The Case-Shiller Index is turning positive-like
Put it all together and it looks like the housing market is about to reach its bottom (if it hasn’t already).
But just because homes are going under contract to sell doesn’t mean that they actually will sell. A “deal” can fall apart for all sorts of reasons including failed home inspections, buyer-seller disputes, and mortgage-related problems.
In general, though, as the number of pending contracts increase, we find that Existing Home Sales rise, too, some 45-60 days into the future. And so long as buyers’ demand for homes remains strong, we would expect that home prices edge higher.
It’s too soon to say that housing has turned the corner for certain, but there’s an awful lot of data lately that suggests that it has.
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For The 4th Straight Month, There’s An Increase In The Number Of Homes Under Contract
July 2nd, 2009 categories: Buyers, General, Market Trends
The number of homes under contract to sell increased in May.
It’s the fourth straight month in which sales volume increased, corroborating the growing notion that housing is on the mend in most U.S. markets.
Consider these other housing-related stories from the past month:
- Existing Home Sales are rising
- New home supplies are falling
- The Case-Shiller Index is turning positive-like
Put it all together and it looks like the housing market is about to reach its bottom (if it hasn’t already).
But just because homes are going under contract to sell doesn’t mean that they actually will sell. A “deal” can fall apart for all sorts of reasons including failed home inspections, buyer-seller disputes, and mortgage-related problems.
In general, though, as the number of pending contracts increase, we find that Existing Home Sales rise, too, some 45-60 days into the future. And so long as buyers’ demand for homes remains strong, we would expect that home prices edge higher.
It’s too soon to say that housing has turned the corner for certain, but there’s an awful lot of data lately that suggests that it has.
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Home Prices Show Improvement In 19 of the 20 Case-Shiller Markets Is Good News For Knoxville Home Prices
July 1st, 2009 categories: Buyers
Are We At The Bottom Of The Knoxville Real Estate Market??
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