Meridian Title Company – Rock Island, Il plans to launch it’s new interactive web site soon. Their new site will include industry related blogs, mortgage and loan calculator, easy order form and opportunities for their business partners to post their web site links. Mark Dilley shared: ” Our previous site was very one dimensional, our new site will provide a destination location for others to see current information on housing and financial related material. It will be a very interactive web site.”. Other features of the site will include links to their Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter accounts. Meridian Title Company offers property title searches and title insurance policies. They are most widely known in the area for their settlement services for both residential and commercial properties.
A Simple Explanation Of The Federal Reserve Statement (April 25, 2012)
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within its current target range of 0.000-0.250 percent Wednesday.
For the fifth consecutive month, the Fed Funds Rate vote was nearly unanimous. Just one FOMC member, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker, dissented in the 9-1 vote.
The Fed Funds Rate has been near zero percent since December 2008. It is expected to remain near-zero through 2014, at least.
In its press release, the Federal Reserve noted that the U.S. economy has been “expanding moderately” since the FOMC’s last meeting in March. Beyond the next few quarters, the Fed expects growth to “pick up gradually”.
This key phrase will likely be repeated by the press. It suggests that the economy is no longer contracting; instead moving along a path of slow, consistent expansion.
In addition, the Fed acknowledged that “strains in global financial markets” continue to pose “significant downside risks” to long-term U.S. economic outlook. This is in reference to the sovereign debt concerns of Greece, Spain and Italy, and the potential for a broader European economic slowdown.
The Fed’s statement included the following notes :
- The housing sector remains “depressed”
- Labor conditions have “improved in recent months”
- Household spending has “continued to advance”
Also, with respect to inflation, the Fed said that the higher oil and gasoline prices from earlier this year will affect inflation “only temporarily”, and that inflation rates will return to stable levels soon.
At its meeting, the Federal Reserve neither introduced new economic stimulus, nor discontinued existing market programs. The Fed re-affirmed its intentions to hold the Fed Funds Rate at “exceptionally low” levels through late-2014, and to buy mortgage-backed bonds in the open market.
Immediately following the FOMC’s statement, mortgage markets improved slightly, pressuring mortgage rates lower nationwide.
The FOMC’s next scheduled meeting is a two-day event slated for June 19-20, 2012.
New Home Sales Revised Higher In February; Slip 7% In March
Sales of new homes ticked lower in March, unexpectedly.
Based on Census Bureau data, the number of new, single-family homes sold in March slipped 7 percent from February — the largest one-month drop in more than a year.
On a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis, buyers nationwide purchased 328,000 newly-built homes last month. The decrease in sales from February to March can be attributed, in part, though, to a massive upward revision in February’s figures.
Last month, the Census Bureau had reported 313,000 new home sales in February on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized basis. This month, those sales were re-measured to be 353,000 — an increase of 13 percent.
January’s sales were revised higher, too.
The long-term trend in the market for new homes remains “up”. This is no more apparent than when we look at the available new home inventory.
At the close of March, just 144,000 new homes were available for purchase, down 2,000 from the month prior and representing the most sparse new home housing supply since at least 1993, the year that the Census Bureau starting tracking such data.
At the current pace of sales, the new home housing stock would be sold out in 5.3 months. A six-month supply is believed to represent a market in balance.
For new home buyers , March’s New Home Sales report does not represent a housing market pull-back. It may represent opportunity, however.
From October 2011 to February 2012, housing data was uniformly strong. Home sales were higher, home supplies were lower, and confidence was rising. In March, it was the reverse. This is normal because growth is rarely linear.
In any market, it’s a few steps forward and a single step back, and housing is likely showing a similar pattern. With mortgage rates still low and builder confidence down, it’s a terrific time to shop new construction.
There are deals to be found for buyers who seek them out.
The Fed Starts A 2-Day Meeting Today. Make A Strategy.
The Federal Open Market Committee begins a 2-day meeting today in the nation’s capitol. It’s the group’s third of 8 scheduled meetings this year. Mortgage rates are expected to change upon the Fed’s adjournment.
Led by Chairman Ben Bernanke, the FOMC is a 12-person, Federal Reserve sub-committee. The FOMC is the group within the Fed which votes on U.S. monetary policy. “Making monetary policy” can mean a lot of things, and the action for which the FOMC is most well-known is its setting of the Fed Funds Funds.
The Fed Funds Rate is the overnight interest rate at which banks borrow money from each other. It’s one of many interest rates set by the Fed.
However, one series of interest rates not set by the Fed is mortgage rates. Instead, mortgage rates are based on the prices of mortgage-backed bonds and bonds are bought and sold on Wall Street.
There is little historical correlation between the Fed Funds Rate and the common, 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate.
As the chart at top shows, since 1990, the Fed Funds Rate and the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate have followed different paths. Sometimes, they’ve moved in the same direction. Sometimes, they’ve moved in opposite directions.
They’ve been separated by as much as 5.29 percent at times, and have been as near to each other as 0.52 percent.
Today, that spread is roughly 3.65 percent. It’s expected to change beginning 12:30 PM ET Wednesday. That’s when the FOMC will adjourn from its meeting and release its public statement to the markets.
The FOMC is expected to announce no change in the Fed Funds Rate, holding the benchmark rate within in its current target range of 0.000-0.250%. However, how mortgage rates respond will depend on the verbiage of the FOMC statement.
In general, if the Fed acknowledges that the U.S. economy as in expansion; growing from job growth and consumer spending, mortgage rates are expected to rise. If the Fed shows concern about domestic and global economic growth, mortgage rates are expected to fall.
Any time that mortgage markets are expected to move, a safe play is to stop shopping your rate and start locking it. Today may be one of those times.
America’s 20 Best Small Towns
America is stuffed with world-class “big cities”; New York, San Francisco and Chicago make for three great examples. But beyond the biggest cities, there are some wonderful small towns, too.
Smithsonian.com highlights 20 of them on its website.
Focusing on cities with 25,000 residents or fewer, the publication ranked areas high in “culture”; towns with high concentrations of museums, public gardens, art galleries and other cultural assets including resident orchestras.
The author states “big cities and grand institutions per se don’t produce creative works; individuals do. And being reminded of that is fun”.
The Top 10 Small Towns in America, as judged by Smithsonian.com :
- Great Barrington, Massachusetts
- Taos, New Mexico
- Red Bank, New Jersey
- Mill Valley, California
- Gig Harbor, Washington
- Durango, Colorado
- Butler, Pennsylvania
- Marfa, Texas
- Naples, Florida
- Staunton, Virginia
Other notable cities on the list include Princeton, New Jersey; Beckley City, West Virginia; and Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
The Smithsonian.com website provides an in-depth review of each of its twenty listed cities, including historical notes and quotes from key community members. It makes for good reading by local residents and visitors, alike.
Existing Home Sales Slip In March
In March, for the second straight month, home resales slipped nationwide.
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, March 2012 Existing Home Sales fell to 4.48 million units on a seasonally-adjusted annualized basis — a 3 percent drop from February.
An “existing home” is a home that’s been previously occupied or owned.
The weaker-than-expected Existing Home Sales data is the third such housing report this month to suggest a lull in the spring housing market. Earlier this week, homebuilder confidence slipped for the first time in three months and March Single-Family Housing Starts fell, too.
The news wasn’t entirely bad for home resales, however. Although total home units sold decreased, so did the number of homes available for sale. There were just 2.37 million homes for sale nationwide in March, a 2 percent drop from the month prior.
At the current pace of sales, therefore, the entire nation’s home resale stock would “sell out” in 6.3 months. This is the second-fastest pace since the housing market’s April 2007 peak.
A 6-month supply is widely believed to represent a market in balance between buyers and sellers.
The March Existing Home Sales data shows that — despite record-low mortgage rates nationwide — buyer activity is slowing, and seller activity may be slowing, too.
So long as the two forces remain in balance, home prices should do the same. This is the law of Supply and Demand at work.
However, if home sales continue to slide and home inventory builds, buyers may find themselves with an edge in negotiations.
If you’re planning to buy a home in 2012, the long-term housing trend is still toward recovery. This season may be a good time to look at your options. Talk to your real estate agent to see what’s available. Low mortgage rates may persist, but low home prices may not.
Nevada Relinquishes “Top Foreclosure State” Title
According to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings fell to 199,000 in March 2012, a 17 percent decrease from March 2011. Last month marks the first time since July 2007 that foreclosure filings numbered less than 200,000 on a monthly basis — a span of nearly 5 years.
The generic term “foreclosure filing” is used to group all types of foreclosure activity into a single reading. It includes default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions.
As in most months, foreclosure density varied by region. 6 states accounted for more than half of the nation’s repossessed homes in March.
- Florida : 13.6 percent of all bank repossessions
- California : 12.0 percent of all bank repossessions
- Georgia : 8.0 percent of all bank repossessions
- Michigan : 7.5 percent of all bank repossessions
- Arizona : 6.5 percent of all bank repossessions
- Illinois : 6.4 percent of all bank repossessions
At the other end of the spectrum, North Dakota and Washington, D.C. were home to the fewest bank repossessions, with 0.03% and 0.02% of the national total, respectively.
Also noteworthy is that the RealtyTrac report revealed that Nevada relinquished its title as Top Foreclosure State after 62 consecutive top-ranking months. In March, 1 in every 301 Nevada homes received some form of a foreclosure filing. The March rate was a nation-topping 1 in 300 in neighboring Arizona.
For home buyers, today’s foreclosure market represents an interesting opportunity.
Homes purchased while in the various stages of foreclosure can often be bought at lower prices relative to homes not in foreclosure. It’s one of the reasons why foreclosed homes now account for 20 percent of all home resales.
However, don’t confuse less expensive for less costly.
Foreclosed homes are often sold “as-is” and may be in various stages of disrepair. Fixing a foreclosed home to make it habitable could wipe out the money saved on its price tag. Your best real estate “deal”, therefore, may be a non-distressed home in sound, move-in ready condition.
If you’re buying foreclosures — or even considering it — be sure to talk with a real estate agent first. The process of buying a foreclosed property is different from buying a “regular” home. You’ll want somebody experienced on your team.