Friday Update - Mortgage Rates Steady - Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended
Posted by Dennis Pease on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 8:32pm.
As shown below mortgage rates are about the same as last Friday. Seems you're seeing that on a fairly consistent basis over the last few months. The employment report was issued this morning by the Labor Dept, and it came in even worse than expected. Unemployment is up to 10.2% nationally which is the worst since April of 1983, also in that report were figures that show worker productivity was up substantially. This means that if the GDP grew in the last quarter as it was reported, then it was done with fewer workers than before. We'll skip the actual stats because the concept is very evident.
If companies can run at full or increased capacity with fewer workers, they are not going to start hiring new workers until they absolutely have to in order to sustain growth. We saw the exact same thing happen here locally, as well as nationally in the early to mid 1980s; when the northwest's wood products industry found that they could produce at a mill's capacity with about half the staff as before. This is why economists call employment a lagging indicator. The economy may well be on its way out of the recession, but the employment picture won't change a great deal for quite some time.
You've most likely been inundated with info about the tax credit extension. However, I did want to cover a few things that might not be readily apparent.
- The $6500 credit for repeat buyers begins the day of enactment, which is today, the date it was signed into law by the President.
- Those FTHB who are in contract now can simply go on with the transaction as if the November 30 th deadline never existed. That should relieve a whole lot of people from all sides of the transaction.
- A repeat homebuyer need not buy up. The new acquisition does not have to be more expensive than their old home. Downsizing works just fine.
- Because of fraud issues with the last program a purchaser will now have to attach documentation of the purchase to their federal tax returns.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the details of the new program. My cell phone will be on all weekend to help answer these and any other questions you or your clients may have.
Have a terrific weekend!!!
The following rates are based on 30 day locks with no discount points, as of this morning. They are not come ons, they are the rates your buyers will most likely get from a reputable lender, regardless of what is advertised. Certainly there are other specialized programs available, depending on the qualifications of the buyer.
30 year fixed conforming = |
4.875% |
|
15 year = |
4.375% |
|
3/1 ARM = |
3.625% |
|
5/1 ARM I/O = |
3.750% |
|
Jumbo fixed = |
6.000% |
|
Jumbo ARM = |
4.000% |
|
FHA/VA 30 year fixed = |
4.875% |
|
Prime rate is currently = |
3.250% |
Authored by Lorin Wamsley, CMPS - Senior Mortgage Consultant, Precision Funding Phone: 541-681-8787
Search all Eugene Oregon Homes for Sale. Call us to schedule any home showings or if you have any questions.
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