Last week the Federal Reserve slashed the federal funds rate on January 22nd by 3/4 of a percentage point, the biggest interest rate cut in 18 years!! The federal funds rate is the interest that banks charge one another on overnight loans.
On the same day, the Fed also lowered its discount rate to 4% from 4.75%. The discount rate is the rate at which banks can borrow directly from the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s twin cuts are designed to keep financial institutions lending money to businesses and consumers, rather than fuel an economic downturn.
For the week of January 17th, rates on 30-year fixed-rates fell to their lowest level since July 2005 (as reported by Freddie Mac).
Falling mortgage rates helped boost mortgage application volume by 8.3% over the same week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on January 24rth. Applications were 63.7% higher than during the same week in 2007 (of course, many of those applications were for re-finances I am surmising). The MBA is claiming that 66% of the mortgage applications were for refinances. But, still that is good news for the recovery of our mortgage marketplace. If these stats are correct, then we are experiencing exactly the results for which the Fed cuts were intended! These should keep financial institutions lending money. However, I must say that none of my clients are having any trouble getting financing. I think the “biggie” at the moment is “consumer confidence”. But, remember “buy low, sell high”. If appreciation has taken a momentary hiatus and interest rates are low, won’t it allow the first-time buyer to get into the housing market? Thus, allowing each tier (second-time move-up buyers purchase, allowing 3rd-time buyers to move on, etc) to progress!! This will naturally stimulate a market that is correcting, in my humble estimation!!!
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I really feel this is one of the best additions I’ve added to enhance my business services!! This website does allow you to see ALL the new available listings from ALL the companies. You get online access 24 hours a day to a private website that includes pictures, prices, addresses and maps to every property—no obligation! This allows you to get a lot of property information on new properties that come up for sale without having to talk to a lot of different agents. I hope you enjoy utilizing the many features of this very interactive site. As a buyer, seller or someone interested in the local real estate market, you can go to www.fabulousportland.com :
- Sign up for free
- Click on the map and choose general areas or particular neighborhoods
- Determine price range and other search parameters
- Modify your search at will
Please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail with questions. I would be happy to increase your mailings to include new properties that come on the market every hour (with more exact search details), find out more about a particular home or investment, arrange a showing of any of the homes or help you analyze your real estate needs. If there’s anything else I can do, please let me know….otherwise, please ENJOY!!!…jj PS: when the time comes that you are ready to buy or sell, I would love to have the opportunity to earn your business
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creditreportingscores0001.pdf Welcome to 2008!!! I truly believe that credit reports are important, not only for protection against identity theft, but as an important component of the ability to build wealth through real estate. You must be in a position to finance & purchase if you intend to add real estate (whether primary or investment real estate) to your financial portfolio! Even in today’s mortgage climate, many creative loans are available to those with decent credit scores. I attended a class this week on credit reporting and the complexities of the making of a credit score. I am including the article below, as well as an attachment on what affects your credit scoring.
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Correcting Credit Report Errors
If your credit ratings are suffering because of mistakes on a credit report, it is your right to have them corrected at no cost. Credit bureaus are legally required to investigate disputed information by contacting the creditor that originally supplied them with the information. Keep in mind that the three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and Trans Union — usually have the same information for each consumer file, but not always. You need only contact the bureau that actually shows an error.
Factual information cannot be removed from a credit report, and the credit bureaus will not automatically remove information from your reports just because you dispute it. You do have to prove that the information is wrong with supporting documentation before a credit bureau will correct a report. However, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a credit bureau must within 30 days remove or modify a disputed item if it is found to be inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified after a reasonable investigation.
Contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus: |
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Are condos here to stay? Of course!!! The Pearl District of Portland, Oregon rose from the rubble of a former industrial area of downtown to the now interesting & glistening variety of towers that form the landscape of this NW section of town. The urban lifestyle doesn’t suit everyone, but the Portland real estate market has definitely embraced the ease of condo living in a very big way. In barely 10 years, the Pearl ‘hood emerged to compete with the other big west coast destinations offering great restaurants, a fun bar scene, an award-winning streetcar system and sophisticated art galleries! So, as our local real estate market makes its correction, what exactly is happening in the Pearl at the moment? There are currently 158 active condos being marketed in our Realtor’s Multiple Listing (RMLS) system. Of course, this does not include some of the available product in under-construction projects such as the “Encore” and “Riverfront Pearl” which only input a few of their inventory at a time. If you take away the one “Old Town” listing, the 3 that are actually in the “Northwest Alphabet District” and two in “Goose Hollow”, that leaves a 153 condos for sale on the Realtor’s site. The “Pearl District” reaches south to north from Burnside to the Willamette River and from NW 16th (or I-405) to NW Broadway. Then, I looked at actual sold & closed listings for the calendar year 2007, which was 216 sold! Not so, so bad (I thought to myself). That’s an average of 18 sales a month, which would take our present listing inventory around 6 months to exhaust. RMLS says there was 8.3months of inventory in November 2007 (latest stats) for all property types in the greater Portland metro area! But, that still does not factor in the 177 new units at the Encore and 196 new units at Waterfront Pearl (estimated date of completion is somewhere around Spring of 2008). As always, when there is a market adjustment like we are currently experiencing, condos seem to take the hit first, and often, the hardest. So I guess developers over-estimated the appetite for condo consumption?? Or is this just part of the cycle? But, of course, development is way ahead of any cycle or it isn’t successful. And, a building only breaks ground after hours/days/years of work, planning & permits! I think we have to shift our thinking to include a slower pace of sales, no rampant appreciation and price adjustments. I really believe that we have “lost a bit of ground” on the actual market value of condominiums in the Pearl (which is how much a buyer is willing to pay to own that property)! I really have total confidence that Portland and the Pearl will remain vital and a desired destination for those that love the downtown, urban life. Portland is maturing into a classy, cultured & refined “big, little city” and the Pearl District is just one of it’s “shiny pockets”!!
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Janeese Jackson
Bill Norris
