Tag

mortgage rates

The Federal Reserve’s Gift to Summer 2019 Home Buyers (Sellers, Too)

Booster Shot for Housing Market “10-Year Treasury Yield Falls Below 2%, Defying Expectations.” —Wall Street Journal headline (6/20/19). Thanks to diving interest rates, the housing market is getting a booster shot entering a time of year (mid-Summer) when things customarily start to slow down a bit. How dramatically have rates fallen? In just six weeks,...
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How Will Rocky Stock Market Affect Housing?

All Eyes on the Fed How will rocky stocks — down another 2% in early trading today — affect the housing market? My knee-jerk response is to cite Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who, when asked (in 1950), “What’s the significance of the French Revolution?,” responded, “it’s too soon too tell.” So, if stocks quickly rebound in the...
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Financing Addendum: “Buyer Shall Apply For and Secure a Mortgage With an Initial Interest Rate of [ _________ ]”

Traps for the Unwary in an Environment of Rising Interest Rates In the vast majority of Financing Addenda I’ve seen — along with the Inspection Contingency, the two critical Addenda in a Purchase Agreement — the Buyer’s agent fills in the blank above with the word “market.” When rates are stable or falling . . . no problem....
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Anxious 2017 Buyers Fret: “Is Another Housing Bubble Brewing?”

When Bearishness is Bullish As the 2017 housing market officially gets underway, at least a few Realtors are dealing with Buyers haunted by the post-2008 housing crash — and the fear that something like that could happen again. How warranted are those fears? Housing Market Vital Signs:  Checklist Unfortunately, bubbles are usually only obvious in retrospect...
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What to Worry About in 2017: Housing Market Edition

Et Tu, Fannie & Freddie? Stocks are breaking records, the dollar’s soaring, and gas at the pump is still (too?) cheap. And, y’know, the economy actually doesn’t seem to be doing too badly. What could go wrong? (at least, in the housing market). If you’re going to be a worrier, anyways, you might as well worry...
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Are First-Time Buyers Diving Into the Deep(er) End of the Housing Pool?

Skipping the Starter Home There’s some anecdotal evidence that first-time Buyers in the Twin Cities are making their mark a rung (or three) higher than you’d normally expect to find them. Namely, they’re disproportionately active in transactions around $500k — especially new construction in some of the more affordable ‘burbs — rather than in the...
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