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Mortgage rates average 3.68% | North Salem Realtor

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Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing mortgage rates moving higher for the second week in a row, while also only posting the second increase this year making mortgage rates very attractive for the upcoming spring home buying season.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.68 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending March 10, 2016, up from last week when it averaged 3.64 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.86 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 2.96 percent with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.94 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.10 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.92 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.84 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.01 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following link for theDefinitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quote
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“The 10-year Treasury yield ended the survey week exactly where it started, however the solid February employment report boosted the yield noticeably on Friday and Monday. Our mortgage rate survey captured the impact of this temporary increase in yield, and the 30-year mortgage rate rose 4 basis points to 3.68 percent. This marks the second increase this year. Nonetheless, the mortgage rate remains 33 basis points lower than its end-of-2015 level.”

Mortgage rates average 3.95% | North Salem Real Estate

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Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ticking slightly higher on a better than expected November employment report.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.95 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending December 10, 2015, up from last week when it averaged 3.93 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.93 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.19 percent with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.16 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.20 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.03 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.99 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.98 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.64 percent this week with an average 0.2 point, up from 2.61 percent last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.40 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

As of January 1, 2016, the PMMS will no longer provide results for the 1-year ARM. Additionally, the regional breakouts will not be provided for the 30-year and 15-year fixed rate mortgages, and the 5/1 Hybrid ARM.

Quote
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“The economy added 211,000 new jobs in November exceeding analysts’ expectations, and the prior two months were revised higher as well. This momentum is likely to cement a decision by the Fed to begin raising interest rates this month. Following the release of the employment report, Treasuries rose 7 basis points and in response the 30-year mortgage rate ticked up two basis points to 3.95 percent.”

Time to break decorating rules | North Salem Real Estate

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Go-to design rules can be a huge help when you feel lost with your decor. But sometimes they end up painting you into a corner. If you’re finding your decor a little on the dull side, or you just like shaking up the system, here are seven of the top design rules that you should consider bending, twisting or totally breaking.
Contemporary Home Office by K&L Interiors
K&L Interiors
1. Rule: Small spaces demand quiet colors.

Why you should break it: Size isn’t everything, so use colors you love. After all, who wants to work in a boring home office? If you love bright or deep colors, don’t be shy about using them even in compact spaces. The life and energy they give will be worth the visual shrinkage of the room. Plus, using a deep neutral shade for the walls (which will recede) with bright items (which will advance) creates an interplay of depth that can actually make a room feel bigger.

Tip: Use open furniture to balance bold colors. This room has a leggy desk and a mirrored cabinet to keep the sightlines of the floor stretching on as long as possible.

Transitional Living Room by Jean Stephane Beauchamp Design
Jean Stephane Beauchamp Design
2. Rule: Tile is only for the kitchen and bath.

Why you should break it: This seating area really proves that tile can be a stunning feature outside of functional areas like a kitchen backsplash. The dark yet reflective surface of this simple subway tile makes a stunning feature wall, and proves once again that dark colors can be beautiful in a small space.

Eclectic Bedroom Industrial Bedroom
Tile can make a dramatic wall treatment that provides interesting and unexpected texture anywhere.

Tip: Balance out the hard surface with extra textiles, such as a curtain, plush rug or piled-on pillows.

Traditional Kitchen by Andrea Schumacher Interiors
Andrea Schumacher Interiors
3. Rule: Kitchens demand tile walls.

Why you should break it: While we’re adding tile to bedroom walls, why not consider other materials in the kitchen? With a low backsplash in place to stop the typical food splatters, the remaining walls of this kitchen are free to take on charming wallpaper. This helps keep the kitchen feeling like a true part of the home rather than a strictly functional space.

Tip: Use a sheet of glass to cover wallpaper and you won’t need the addition of another material at all.

Shabby-chic Style Kitchen by 益永研司写真事務所／MASPHOTO
益永研司写真事務所／MASPHOTO
4. Rule: Kitchens should be neat and tidy.

Why you should break it:Although the clean-white kitchen remains a popular look, a kitchen can actually be perfectly clean without having everything hidden behind closed doors. Restaurant-style open shelving celebrates a sense of whimsical disarray and reveals the human side of cooking, letting your pots, pans and other supplies become part of the decor. So don’t stress about getting that minimalist look. Instead, try letting your kitchen tell a story by having your everyday items displayed proudly instead of locked away in cabinets.

Contemporary Bedroom by Rikki Snyder
Rikki Snyder
5. Rule: Bedrooms should be symmetrical and quiet.

Why you should break it: Matchy-matchy furniture sets with paired side tables flanking the headboard isn’t the only way to create a blissful bedroom. Feel free to get asymmetrical. Use a chair or stool on one side (to provide a seat for tying a shoe or reading) and a chest on the other for extra storage, with mismatched lamps to add visual interest and variety. Let your observer mattress make the bedroom a restful sleeping experience and let the decor be something fun to wake up to.

Transitional Dining Room by Paul Warren Design
Paul Warren Design
6. Rule: The chairs should match in a grown-up dining room.

Why you should break it: Some people associate mismatched furniture with their college days, when hand-me-down pieces were mixed with bargain finds with no consideration for style. But mixing and matching seats is a look for grown-ups too. Visit https://gottasleep.com/blogs/sleep-talk/best-mattress-canada Gotta Sleep to learn more about the best mattress for backpain that are affordable and more comfortable.

Mix to add personality, interest or to create a conversation starter. Plus, you get to include old favorites along with new additions to your collection.

Transitional Living Room by meero
meero
7. Rule: Art should be hung at eye level.

Why you should break it: Hanging art at eye level is a safe bet. But art doesn’t have to be safe, or even hung at all. Leaning frames and canvases on the floor or even on furniture creates an “artist’s studio” vibe, so use your instinct when displaying pieces and forget about the suggested heights and measurements.

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http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/

Housing recovery based on age, race, place | North Salem Real Estate

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It’s the most profitable time to sell a house since the Great Recession started in late 2007. But first-time buyers are increasingly scarce.

More Americans are qualifying for mortgages, yet minorities still get disproportionately rejected.

Three new industry analyses released Thursday show that the recovering economy has produced a divided U.S. housing market. Where people live, their age and the color of their skin have largely influenced who has benefited as real estate continues to heal from the bursting of a mortgage bubble that triggered the worst economic downturn in nearly 80 years.

Budding sales growth over the past year has overwhelmingly helped existing owners who are seeking an upgrade. But the millennials buying their first home are being priced out of the market because student debt has prevented them from saving. And a major gap exists among who qualifies for a mortgage even as the overall approval rate improves.

Seller’s market

Between July and September, sellers unloaded their homes for an average of $40,658 more than they paid for their properties, according to RealtyTrac, the California-based real estate information company. This was the largest profit recorded since the third quarter of 2007, although it remains below profits averaging in excess of $100,000 during the height of the boom in late 2005.

The financial gains might be enough to coax more people to list their properties for sale, ending a shortage of homes on the market.

The profits are “enough to say, yes, I can leverage this into moving up and buying a bigger home,” said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.

But not all markets are equal.

Sellers in San Francisco pocketed $463,505. Manhattanites reaped $385,909. Those in Washington, D.C. made $130,593, while sellers in Los Angeles came away with $115,573.

Meanwhile, housing in other major U.S. counties sold on average at a loss.

This includes the Chicago suburbs outside Cook County, with McHenry County sellers losing an average of $19,849. Sellers tended to unload properties for less than they paid in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Tampa, Florida.

“In some cases, it may have to do with outlying areas that people were willing to buy into during the housing bubble,” Blomquist said. “They’re not close enough to jobs to make sense for buyers now.”

First-time troubles

Millennials, ages 18 to 34, face a less affordable housing market than their parents, forcing them to put off ownership.

The share of first-time homebuyers has fallen for the third consecutive year to its lowest level since 1987, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.

First-timers accounted for less than a third of sales that are expected to comfortably exceed 5 million this year. This group has traditionally represented 40 percent of sales.

The Realtors survey indicates that student loans and other debts have delayed down payment savings by a median of three years. A quarter of the first-time buyers identified saving for a down payment as their biggest challenge, with the majority of this group saying that education loans hurt their ability to set aside money.

This problem may only worsen as student debt burdens continue to expand.

College borrowers who graduated in 2014 finished on average with $28,950 in debt, a 31 percent increase over the past decade after adjusting for inflation, according to a report last week by The Institute for College Access and Success.

Mortgage approvals

It’s gotten easier to receive a mortgage, yet black and Hispanic homebuyers continue to lag substantially behind whites and Asians.

The mortgage rejection rate fell last year to 11.2 percent from 12.4 percent in 2013, according to Zillow, the real estate marketplace.

The rejection rate for blacks also fell over the past year, but it remains elevated at 23.5 percent. Just 2.5 percent of approvals for conventional mortgages went to blacks in 2014, even though they represent 12 percent of the U.S. population.

Hispanics face similar obstacles. They composed only 5.5 percent of mortgage approvals, despite being 17.3 percent of the population.

One of the issues is that home values in minority communities have been slower to rebound for the recession.

Zillow found that home prices in primarily white neighborhoods are 4.7 percent below their peak, compared to being 20.3 percent below in neighborhoods that are predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods and 16.7 percent in neighborhoods that are largely black.

 

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http://www.djc.com/news/bu/12083383.html

TRID and Title: Is Shopping Really an Option? | North Salem Real Estate

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In 2005 five companies controlled about 92 percent of the national market for title insurance.  Ten years later, only four title insurers now control 86.9 percent of the title insurance business.  In all but five states, only five companies account for 80 percent of more of premiums paid.

Despite the introduction of online insurerers a federal policies encouraging consumers to shop around, the $12 billion a year title industry looks pretty much the same as it did decades ago.

Will TRID centralize control of the title industry even more or will it initiate a disruption of the status quo?

A stinging 2007 study by the General Accountability Office led to an effort to encourage real shopping by consumers, but failed miserably.  Beginning in 2010, lenders were required to provide applicants estimates for all closing services costs, including title, when each loan application was received.  They were called Good Faith Estimates because lenders are required by law to be “within range” of the final settlement fees.

The idea was to give consumers time to shop for themselves to see if they could find a title company who do as well for less than the one the lender proposed.  Consumers got interested when a widely publicized February 2011 survey commissioned by Federal Title & Escrow Co. in Washington, D.C., showed homebuyers could save as much as $1,180 by shopping for title services.

Save 35 percent

About the same time, a new breed of title insurance company entered the market, promising discounts on a type of policy many home buyers don’t even realize they need: title insurance. When it launched its web platform for closing services in 2008, Entitle Direct took a page from the Geico model and offered savings of 35 percent by selling title insurance directly to the consumer and cutting out the commission-based title agent.  Other direct insurers include OneTitle is a New-York based company that offers savings of 10% on title insurance and Title Forward, a new entrant from Redfin.

“Many consumers are unaware that they have the right to shop around for a lower insurance premium rate and choose their title insurance company,” said Timothy O’Dwyer, CEO of Entitle Direct at the time. “The Internet provides a good starting point for shopping. Search for title insurance or go to one of the sites designed to help with the process.”

Yet seven years later, Entitle ranks only 14th among the industry’s 27 independent companies who collectively did only 12 percent as much business as the four “families” of companies that dominate the business—Fidelity, First American, Old Republic and Stewart.

After five years, GRE’s seemed to make little difference to the industry or consumers.  Why didn’t consumers shop for title services?

“I think it was simply too intimidating for consumers,” said Holden Lewis, assistant managing editor/mortgage analyst at Bankrate.  He tells the story of his wife doing the research to find a title insurer. “She actually called the title company and got a quote.  But you know, she was in the dark in just making that call and knowing who to ask for.  It’s hard.  She got it done but it wasn’t easy.  It was an intimidating process, so I think that just knowing how to shop is the main roadblock.  The consumer is going to say ‘the lender already did this for and whom I to think I can do any better.  I don’t know who to call anyway.”

Four days to shop

TRID changes the process.  It provides consumers with forms that are easier to understand and an accounting how their closing dollars were actually spent, but it also speeds up the timeline for consumers to act.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/10/trid-and-title-is-shopping-an-really-an-option/

Construction spending up | North Salem Real Estate

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United States Construction Spending 1964-2015 

Total construction activity in the United States increased by 0.7 percent month-over-month to $1,086.2 billion in August of 2015 from $1,079.1 billion in the previous month. It was the highest level since 2008, boosted by a surge in outlays for residential projects. Construction Spending in the United States averaged 0.45 percent from 1964 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 5.90 percent in April of 1978 and a record low of -4.80 percent in February of 1975. Construction Spending in the United States is reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.

United States Construction Spending

 

ActualPreviousHighestLowestDatesUnitFrequency
0.700.405.90-4.801964 – 2015percentMonthly
Current Prices, SA
Construction Spending refers to monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done on new structures or improvements to existing structures for private and public sectors each month in the United States. This page provides the latest reported value for – United States Construction Spending – plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Content for – United States Construction Spending – was last refreshed on Thursday, October 1, 2015.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/construction-spending

US Homebuilding slows in August | North Salem Real Estate

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Builders broke ground on fewer houses and apartment complexes in August, a possible sign that the housing market may be levelling off after accelerating for much of the year.

Housing starts last month fell 3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.13 million homes, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Construction activity slowed sharply in the Northeast and Midwest last month, edged downward in the West and climbed in the South.

Still, homebuilding appears much stronger than a year ago, despite figures that can be highly volatile on a monthly basis.

“This is a mere blip on the radar,” said Tom Wind, executive vice president of home lending at EverBank. “The housing market’s underlying fundamentals remain on pace for continued recovery.”

Housing starts have climbed a solid 11.3 percent this year to date. Steady job gains of 2.9 million in the past 12 months are contributing to increased demand from buyers and renters. And as the recovery from the Great Recession has entered its seventh year, residential construction has stated to both reflect and fuel broader economic growth.

Developers see favorable demographics helping to sustain demand, as approved permits rose 3.5 percent in August to an annual rate of 1.17 million.

Confidence among builders is also improving.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Wednesday rose this month to 62, up from 61 in August. The last time the reading was higher was October 2005 at 68.

New construction has yet to fully satisfy demand, a sign that further building will likely remain profitable.

Only 5.2 months’ supply of new homes is listed for sale, well below the standard level of six months usually seen in a healthy market. This shortage has led to rising prices for new and existing homes.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOME_CONSTRUCTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-09-17-08-40-14

Underwater borrowers increased for two straight quarters | North Salem Real Estate

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Home prices are still rising, and the economy is improving, but the ills of the housing crash are far from cured: 7.4 million borrowers were still “seriously” underwater on their mortgages at the end of June, according to RealtyTrac.

The real estate information company defines that as the loan amount being at least 25 percent higher than the property’s estimated market value.

Over 13 percent of all properties with a mortgage are in this predicament, and that is actually a slight increase from the first quarter of this year.

House underwater

Cherezoff | Getty Images

How can this be when home prices are still rising? It depends on how you read those prices. The National Association of Realtors reported that the median price of a home sold in June reached its highest level in history. The median, however, means half the homes sold for more and half sold for less, so if higher-priced homes are selling more, which they are, that skews the median higher. S&P/Case Shiller, which measures repeat sales of similarly priced homes, shows price gains have been shrinking in general but are still higher than a year ago.

Still, another report from Weiss Residential Research digs deeper in local areas and finds that nearly half the homes in the nation’s top markets are actually losing value.

“Don’t be fooled by averages,” said Allan Weiss, founder and CEO of Weiss Residential Research. “All of the largest metro indexes are rising more slowly than they were a year ago though market reports give the impression that values are rising across the board. However, people don’t own the entire market, they own one house.”

Larger, more expensive homes, are sitting on the market longer and seeing more price cuts than smaller homes with two bedrooms or less, according to Weiss. That is likely because there is so much less supply on the lower end of the market than on the high end.

Home prices are most often measured in terms of sale price, but RealtyTrac’s numbers are based on estimates of home all home values, not just the ones for sale.

 

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http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/30/more-homeowners-drowning-in-debt.html

Buy Julia Roberts’ Hanalei Bay Estate in Kauai, Hawaii for $30 Million | North Salem Real Estate

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Julia Roberts has listed her Hanalei, HI estate with more than 200 feet of beachfront for $29.85 million, Pacific Business News reports.

The estate, which the actress bought for $13.4 million in 2011, is called “The Faye Estate” for the sugar plantation manager who bought it in 1915, four decades before Hawaii became a state.

“H.P. Faye had the vision and the finances to purchase not one but two lots in the best part of the Bay,” according to the listing, which is held by Neal Norman of Hawai’i Life Real Estate Brokers.

The 2-acre property has views “mauka and makai,” meaning toward the mountains and seaward.

The 3,792-square-foot home was built in 1946 and has 7 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Building may be permitted for up to 9,000 square feet for more buildings and a pool.

 

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-29/buy-julia-roberts-hanalei-bay-estate-in-kauai-hawaii-for-30-million

Mortgages average 3.97% | North Salem Real Estate

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Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates flat to down slightly from the previous week with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remaining below four percent.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.97 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending November 26, 2014, down from last week when it averaged 3.99 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.29 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.17 percent with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.30 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.01 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.94 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.44 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.60 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for the Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates were little changed on the week with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declining to 3.97 percent. This comes during a week of uplifting economic news heading into the holiday; GDP growth was revised up in the third quarter from 3.5 percent to 3.9 percent, while existing homes sold at a 5.26 million unit pace in October, topping expectations of 5.15 million units.”