Robert's Blog

 Interest Rates:  Since the Fed lowered the Fed Funds rate ½% last month we have had mortgage rates climb about ½%.  About half of that move up was from Friday’s employment report that surprised the market with mostly good news on the employment front. If you have ever read any of my letters you ...

You read that correctly.  Mortgage rates are higher now than before the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates last week.  First you have to understand how the market moves, especially the long end of the yield curve.  We have had HUGE improvements in rates since the high in fall of 2023 and all ...

The USDA Rural Housing program is an excellent way to purchase a home when you have limited funds.  While we do not typically think of NJ as being a rural area there still are significant parts of the state that are eligible for financing.  Below is the map of NJ showing the eligible areas.  The ...

DON'T Wait: Home prices continue to climbFor today's blog I am going to focus on NJ specific numbers since that is where I am located.  You can do the math for your area by vising FHFA.Gov or take a look at the chart I posted a few blogs back that have the FHFA numbers for all the states.The FHFA...

The best time to buy Real Estate was Yesterday.  The second best time is today.You may have heard in the headlines that Inventory is up... While there has been a large increase in inventory nationally it is far from where we need it to be.  Take a look at the chart above.  You can see inventory b...

 Housing FunI’ve begun to see some posts on social media stating that Foreclosures are up a ridiculous percentage. Do not fall for that trap. It is not true. Here are the real year over year numbers: For the most part delinquencies have dropped significantly with the exception of those over 120 d...

The FHFA just released its latest housing numbers through March and the following is the list by individual state by Month, Year, 5yrs and since 1991.  It is pretty eye opening.Who is the FHFA?  That is the Federal Housing Finance Agency.  They over see all the "agencies": Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac...

 Homeowners are sitting on record equity. New Jersey Homeowners gained 11.6% in home equity in 2023 alone.  Nationally the average homeowner has $300,000 in equity and owes less than half their value in their mortgage.  It is estimated that 70% of existing mortgages are below 5% now with current ...

This is a blog I posted on my corporate page yesterday with the latest from Fannie and Freddie.  Its good news and FHA and VA are expected to treat things the same way.  In reality we wont know everything until the DOJ decides but here is what we know:   Yesterday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac clar...

 Let me know if you have heard this before (Or maybe you thought it yourself?):"I am going to wait to buy a home until prices come down."I was a little scared at the beginning of this market myself since I was both a buyer and a seller a few years ago and had flashes of the bubble pop.  So I went...