For the third straight week, mortgage markets showed little conviction in the face of contrasting data. Mortgage bonds ended the week slightly better, but mortgage rates did not. Conforming mortgage rates in Idaho were up-and-down all week before ending the week with a slight worsening. The inter
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10/04/2010
The value of a home is based on the basic economic principle of Supply and Demand. When the number of buyers exceeds the number of sellers, home prices rise. Conversely, when sellers outnumber buyers, home prices fall. There's always a opening price point for negotiation and that figure often fac
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10/01/2010
The constant "doom and gloom" news reports might make you feel as if everyone is in foreclosure and that no one is buying any homes. Of course, that is the farthest thing from the truth. In fact, there are some very bright spots in the housing market. Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home
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09/28/2010
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Retail Sales (excluding food items) rose 0.6%. This was a much larger increase than what traders expected and put Retail Sales at its highest level since emerging from the recession. This is very important as home sales are largely based upon consumer confide
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09/21/2010
Congressman Walt Minnick has invited me to be part of a roundtable discussion. The topic of conversation will be problems/delays in HUD closings as pertaining to GBS, the HUD contracted closing agent. The congressman is seeking input as regarding how his office can facilitate communication betwee
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09/17/2010
Nothing impacts demand for housing more than employment levels. Quite simply, if someone is out of work or is concerned that they could lose their job, they are not going to make a major purchase such as a home. So, it is good news that for the second week in a row that the Initial Jobless Clai
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09/15/2010
Homebuyers using FHA financing are going to get a surprise on October 4th, their mortgages will cost them less than it does today to close on their loan. That's because some creative bookkeeping at HUD has spread the scheduled increase in FHA's mandatory mortgage insurance premiums over the life
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09/14/2010
First-time home buyers should take note, the most recent quarterly index of national home prices showed improvement for both its first quarter and the year-ago figures. This is according to the latest Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller National Home Price Indices report that was released today. The U
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09/01/2010
First-time Homebuyers really need to be taking advantage of record low interest rates and home values. Mortgage Interest deductibility has not changed and, if anything, tax rates will go up, which makes the present buying situation extremely attractive for the first-time buyer and one of many com
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08/26/2010
Idaho First Time Homebuyers do have access to 100% financing! The property must be a single family residence and stick built construction - no multi-units or manufactured housing. Buyers have at least $1,000 of their own funds into the transaction which can go towards down payment or closing cost
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08/25/2010
