Bob's Coto Blog

Both mortgage rates and home affordability took a turn for the better Wednesday after the Federal Reserve released its December 15-16, 2009 meeting minutes. The Fed Minutes is a follow-up piece to the post-FOMC meeting press release. But whereas the press release is succinct and to-the-point, the...

2010 is just a few days old and already the "experts" are making predictions for the year. Housing calls and mortgage rate predictions run the gamut: Home prices will fall in 2010 Home prices will rise in 2010 Mortgage rates will rise in 2010 Mortgage rates will rise by a lot in 2010 Given how va...

Mortgage markets were relatively flat last week during holiday-shortened trading.  After starting the week with a Monday surge higher, mortgage rates settled down thorough Tuesday and remained somewhat flat into the early-close for New Year's Eve. However, as compared to the 4-month low posted po...

The following is the second part of Steven Thomas’ end of year real estate market report for Orange County, California. Steven is a highly respected source of O. C. data, frequently cited in much of Southern California media, both television and newspapers.  He has been producing this twice month...

The following is a first part of Steven Thomas’ end of year real estate market report for Orange County. Steven is a highly respected source of O. C. data, frequently cited in much of Southern California media, both television and newspapers.  He has been producing this twice monthly report for 5...

More positive signals from housing -- home values are still on the rise. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, after posting its first quarterly increase since 2007 this past September, the Home Price Index rose by another 0.6 percent in October. Prices are up in 4 of the last six mon...

It's not only the real estate markets that differ from town to town -- the Cost of Living does, too. Insurance costs, tax bills and just plain, day-to-day living will dent a household budget differently depending on where that household is.  It can be a nerve-wracking fact for families moving acr...

Mortgage markets made a 4-day losing streak last week on thin holiday volume and overall economic optimism. It was awful news for rate shoppers because mortgage rates were higher every day last week. The holiday-shortened week marked the third out of 4 during which rates worsened and last week's ...

One day after November's Existing Home Sales report blew away estimates, the Census Bureau's related New Homes Sales report failed to impress. A "new home" is a home that is newly-constructed; not bought as a resale. In a lackluster showing, New Home Sales dropped 11 percent in November, falling ...

Home resales are soaring. For the 4th consecutive month, the Existing Home Sales report revealed what today's buyers and sellers already know -- there's a lot of buyer activity right now. Existing Home Sales surged 7-plus percent in November, posting its largest number of recorded sales in 33 mon...