in the Realtor-Buzz Network

Mortgage market update from Chris Nooney at Prime Lending:

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE…”The Federal Reserve surprised the market last week by indicating that short-term rates were likely to stay at their current low levels until the end of 2014,” according to the Mortgage Bankers Association chief economist. He added, “Longer-term Treasury rates dropped… and mortgage rates for the week were down slightly.”

Freddie Mac’s chief economist felt rates had eased because “fourth-quarter growth in the economy fell short of market projections.” He did see “one bright spot… residential construction spending rebounded in December, rising 0.7%.” For the year, housing starts in fact rose 25%! Maybe that’s why the National Association of Home Builders’ Market Index rose from 14 in September to 25 in January, a 4-year high. Both new and existing homes are now very affordable, with prices at post-recession lows. Yet the home price decline since the end of the recession in mid-2009 has been a modest 3%-7%. 

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Mortgage market update from Chris Nooney and Prime Lending:

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE…Well, we can all make our way with a bit of a smile on our faces, courtesy of the latest Housing Starts numbers. At first blush, the December report seemed disappointing, down 4% for the month. But starts overall are UP 24.9% from a year ago and December’s drop was all from multi-family starts, very volatile month-to-month. Single-family starts were UP 4.4% for the month and UP 11.6% for the year. No wonder the National Association of Home Builders confidence index went to 25, its highest reading since 2007.

For those who still couldn’t put on a happy face, Friday’s data should have done the trick. Existing Home Sales were UP 5% in December, their third consecutive gain, to their highest level since January 2011. The inventory of existing homes is down 21% from last year and the months’ supply dropped to 6.2, the lowest level since April 2006. For all of 2011, sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops rose 1.7%, to 4.26 million units.

See Galveston real estate listings.

See Galveston condos.