EveryJoe » housing industry

Worst May Be Over for Home Market

Mark Ellis — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:02:29 +0000

While national home prices have fallen again to a level that has not been seen since 2002, there is evidence that the situation may have hit rock bottom and is creeping back upwards for some areas of the country.

According to The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller National Home Price index, home prices have fallen 19.1 percent in the first quarter compared to last year, 32.2 percent compared to their peak in 2006. The drop from last year to today represents the largest drop in the history of the index.

Image: Flickr

Home prices vary remarkably from city to city depending on the local economy, foreclosure activity, and affordability. For some markets, the situation has gotten as bad as it is going to get, while others have not even come close to the bottom. Nationally, however, home prices are expected to creep downward for the rest of the year.

Post from: EveryJoe

Worst May Be Over for Home Market

Mortgage Rates on the Rise

Mark Ellis — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:05:22 +0000

The national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has increased from 5.21 percent to 5.24 percent over the last week, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly survey. Regardless of this small gain, mortgage rates are still at all-time lows, having plunged from 6.77 percent last October.

Image: Flickr

Analysts generally agree that mortgage rates will remain relatively low for the rest of 2009, thanks to investors’ concerns about the weak economy. Continued government purchases of government and mortgage-backed debt should also help to keep mortgage rates low for the rest of the year.

This makes now an ideal time for those who are currently paying off a mortgage to consider refinancing, as the plunging mortgage rates could end up saving families hundreds of dollars per month. For example, a homeowner who purchased the home a year ago could refinance now and benefit from a mortgage rate that has dropped a full percentage point.

Post from: EveryJoe

Mortgage Rates on the Rise

Stock Market Surges on Monday

Stephen Kersey — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:26:51 +0000

Not long ago, it seemed like the stock market would never stop dropping. However, after a few weeks of strong gains, the mood on Wall Street is much improved. Many experts believe that the worst days are in the past and that the future should include a steady climb.

Wall Street (Image: Flickr)

On Monday, all the indexes look healthy. The Dow Jones industrial average went up 2.6% to finish the day at 8,426.7. NASDAQ finished at 1,763.6 after also jumping 2.6%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 3.4% to 907.2.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is especially impressive because that index is now in the positive since the start of 2009, which means that all the damage done in the last few months has now been recovered. The last time the S&P 500 was higher than 900 was the second week of January.

The two industries that helped Monday’s rally were two industries that had been responsible for the fall — the banking industry and the housing industry. With good news in both industries hitting the wire as of late, investors are showing more and more confidence in those companies that were previously questioned.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stock Market Surges on Monday