30-Year Mortgages @ 3%?? For the moment, mortgage rates have bottomed, and may be even be climbing a bit. But, broader market forces (as they say) definitely seem to be tugging rates lower this Summer. Brexit Financial Aftermath There is now a stunning $10 billion-plus in negative-yielding government bonds globally (think, Germany, Switzerland, and — surprisingly,...Read More
The “X Factor”: Exposure to China Me-thinks an instant investing line has popped up in the wake of unprecedented stock market volatility the last 2 weeks: the way to play this market going forward is to suss out individual companies’ China exposure. In a nutshell, here’s the thesis: Lots of China exposure = bad. Minimal...Read More
Beleaguered Shareholders: “Stop the Merry Go Round, I Want to Get Off!” Are gyrating, crashing stocks good or bad for the housing market? Both. In fact, I see three positives and negatives apiece emerging from the recent market carnage. Positives Here are the pluses (yes, pluses): Weak equity markets forestall the Federal Reserve’s plan to...Read More
China’s Chickens Come Home to Roost** or, Is the Opposite of the “Wealth Effect” the “Poverty Effect??” Normally, I tell prospective home Buyers and Sellers to tune out “macro” factors like the broader economy, (un)employment, etc. and instead focus on “micro” factors affecting the specific property they want to buy or sell. So, forget about...Read More
Ben Bernanke’s Mortgage “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” –Proverb “This side appears to be brown.” –Joke about what a CPA will answer, when asked what color a horse standing 50 feet away in a pasture is. When clients ask me where I think home prices are headed, my standard Realtor answer is,...Read More
Is Apprehension About Rising Rates Misplaced? Conventional wisdom is that higher interest rates would be disastrous for a still-recovering economy. Is that mindset right? Maybe not. Whither Interest Rates? If rates are rising because the economy is stronger, that’s a positive, not a negative. As one loan officer I work with said, “If you’re hoping for dirt-cheap...Read More
