Archive for April, 2009

Earlier this week I predicted mortgage rates would continue to head lower but not drasically lower.? My Monday Mortgage Rate Predictions were as follows:

Unfortunately, the government is not letting free markets work themselves out but this is not different than any other part of the business world today.? Now that the Fed is accelerating the amount of money they are dumping into MBS?s it is hard to predict a rise in mortgage rates in the near future.? This week?s mortgage rate predictions:

30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage – 4.76%

Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey reported 4.78%.? Once again I was within .02% of being exactly correct but that could change at any time in the weeks ahead.? With mortgage rates at historic lows in terms of modern history, now is the time to refinance or buy your first home.? It is likely that the Federal Reserve Bank will continue to push mortgage rates lower, but it is quite risky to take the chance of the housing market bottoming and mortgage rates sling shooting right back up.

Make sure to check back in next Monday as I will release my weekly mortgage rate predictions.? On Thursdays I will do my best to post a follow up reflecting the accuracy of my predictions.

Guest Writers?.

For the first seven months of this blog I have opened up the forum to a few readers who had the desire to post their feelings through articles.? After realizing how much passion some of the readers have for the current economic crisis and the mortgage industry, I am going to allow YOU, the reader, to send me articles to post.? The only requirement I demand is that you have PASSION for what you write and it must involve the housing industry.? I would actually prefer you to be strongly opinionated as that is the point of this blog.? If you are interested in writing every once in awhile or every single day please email me at jwojdylo@subprimeblogger.com.? I look forward to posting your articles and getting engaged with the reader.

Guest Article by Tim

In the past month there have been many experts that now think America will start to recover from this deep recession during the summer of 2009. Of course, there are other experts that feel we have not seen the worst of this recession and may be tickling the edge of the next great depression. So, how do you know which way to go? Well, without a crystal ball, you have to become educated on what to look for in determining what the economic indicators really mean.

One of the first places to look for where the economy is headed is in the inaugural speech given by President Obama. President Obama made it clear that he is going to focus on rebuilding America’s infrastructure. He also wants increased funding toward renewable and alternative energy, a re-emphasis on education, and to re-establish leadership in technologies. This wish list along with goals of creating 5 million jobs (over 2 years), building some structure into the bailout money the financial sector has received, and advancing programs to modify foreclosures, should give some weight to President Obama’s recovery plan.

Obviously, the task of turning the economy around will be challenging, if not daunting. To hinder matters, time will elapse between building a strategic economic plan and implementing one. But, watching the progress of these endeavors in Congress and in economic or financial news stories should shed some light on how quickly a recovery plan can be implemented. Once the recovery starts, those that can invest should have already invested in these markets. The question is: Do you, the reader, believe that President Obama’s economic plan is feasible?

Many Americans are very serious about refinancing their current mortgage to a lower rate.? With the government doing everything in their power, including defacing the United States currency, to lower mortgage rates, now may be the best time in history to refinance your home.? Average mortgage rates are hovering around 4.8% and there is extreme pessimism in the housing industry.? While there are a few analysts who believe the worst is over for the housing industry, there is still a majority who believes the worst has yet to come.

If you have been smart with your money and saved for a “rainy day” you may get the opportunity of a lifetime this year.? That rainy day may very well be today.? Every housing market documented in the Case/Shiller Housing Index has seen steep declines since the housing top of June 2006.? There are some markets that are down well over 40% including Phoenix, Detroit, Los Angeles and Miami.? Even though the entire country has yet to see steep declines, it is the overall sentiment of the media that the housing market is dead.

With this being the sentiment, very people people are willing to buy a new home because they fear the value dropping immediately.? With new home sales being stagnant, there is a great deal of room for those who want to refinance, which in turn could cause refinance rates to decrease even more.? When President Obama and Ben Bernanke first announced the trillion purchase of MBS many analysts feared that those who did not get in early would not be able to find funding for their loan.? This is just not the case as the housing market continues to struggle great.

Take a chance and apply for that refinance you have always wanted.? You never know, that rainy day you always worried about might be the most opportunistic day of your life which is an extremely low refinance rate.

For the first seven months of this blog I have opened up the forum to a few readers who had the desire to post their feelings through articles.? After realizing how much passion some of the readers have for the current economic crisis and the mortgage industry, I am going to allow YOU, the reader, to send me articles to post.? The only requirement I demand is that you have PASSION for what you write and it must involve the housing industry.? I would actually prefer you to be strongly opinionated as that is the point of this blog.? If you are interested in writing every once in awhile or every single day please email me at jwojdylo@subprimeblogger.com.? I look forward to posting your articles and getting engaged with the reader.

This does not mean that I will stop producing articles.? As many of you know, I am quite opinionated and I will make sure that my beliefs and opinions are still represented through this blog.

I am a firm believer that knowledge is power and it seems that there are quite a few Americans who have NO knowledge whatsoever of how much President Obama is saving them in taxes.? Since April 20th, “Obama Stimulus Check” has been the number 2 searched keyword for Subprime Blogger.? Does America realize there will be no Obama stimulus check?? It is coming in the form of a tax cut on your weekly or biweekly paycheck.? Since April 1st this has been the case, but there are still thousands of searches a day for “Obama Stimulus Check.”

If you are wondering how much President Obama is saving you in taxes here are a few sites:

What?s Your Obama Tax Cut?

2009 Economic Stimulus Tax Comparison Calculator

Obviously these links are not exact but they will give you a ballpark figure of how much the Obama Stimulus Tax Cuts are saving you.? Some corporations are even documenting your tax savings on your paystub so you might just want to look on your pay stub to see how much your “Obama Stimulus Check” is.

Last week the Freddie Mac weekly mortgage rates survey reported an overall average of 4.80% vs. my predicted 4.77%.? The 30 year fixed rate dropped slightly in part because the Federal Reserve purchased $50 billion in mortgage backed securities during the prior week.? The objective of the Fed it to put a ceiling on mortgage rates and that ceiling is getting lower and lower each week.? Last week the Federal Reserve reported that they increased their purchase of MBS’s by 50%; this is sure to send mortgage rates even lower.

Current mortgage rates are artificially low because of the actions by the Federal Reserve Bank.? Unfortunately, the government is not letting free markets work themselves out but this is not different than any other part of the business world today.? Now that the Fed is accelerating the amount of money they are dumping into MBS’s it is hard to predict a rise in mortgage rates in the near future.? This week’s mortgage rate predictions:

30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage – 4.76%

The data produced by Freddie Mac on Thursday should be quite interesting this week as we are likely to hit another “all time low” in terms of survey data.? It is still unknown if this drop in mortgage rates will help the overall housing market, but the government is sure giving it a try.