We are still selling homes here! The numbers below do not include pending sales. The numbers are taken from the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors Multiple Listing System and are completely up to date. The information is divided by County/Area and shows the list price and sale/closed price. There are other counties that I cover such as Morgan, Loudon, Scott, etc., but I wanted to show you an exampleEs por eso que hoy le ha llegado el turno a las reglas del Poker Omaha Poker, una modalidad de online poker muy parecida al poker Texas Holdem que si todavía no conoces seguro que te gustará. of how things are going here. There is nothing but doom and gloom on the news but we are still doing great. компютри втора употребаThe reason that we are still doing great is our people and the beauty of our area.
County Homes Sold Avg List Price Avg Sale Price Avg Sq Ft
Sevier 81 $214,015 $204,232 1939
Seymour 37 $195,920 $186,769 1864
Blount 289 Sie gratis poker spiele gleichzeitig mit 3 Händen. $191,171 $183,171 1806
Knox 1036 $202,266 $197,034 2045
One mortgage broker told me that rates are going to be 7% by March. A banker told me that rates are going to go back down after the fed drops the prime lending next week. I hope that the banker is the one who is right.
From the TAR Digest - Fueled primarily by inflation concerns, interest on long-term mortgage rates moved higher for the week. Freddie Mac reported a rise to
6.04 percent from 5.72 percent last week on 30-year fixed loans, which broke the 6-percent threshold for the first time in seven weeks. Rates on 15-year loans, which are popular in refinance deals, bumped up to
5.64 percent from 5.25 percent; while five-year adjustable-rate mortgages settled at 5.37 percent, up from 5.19 percent. One-year ARMs, however, resisted the downward trend and slipped to 4.98 percent from 5.03 percent in the week-to-week survey.
Texas Real Estate Center Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour explained, “I think we’re in one of those weird situations where the Federal Reserve is likely to cut the one-day interest rate to banks, which will lower short-term treasuries, but the ten-year treasury, which is what mortgages are priced on, is going to go up because of the continued fear of inflation.”
Ok people, what are you waiting for? The rates have risen one whole point in just a few days. I think that someone has the interest rates and oil prices confused. If you are thinking of buying or selling, now is the time before the rates get all the way back up to 8%. It’s almost spring and people are looking, mostly for REALLY good deals. There may be some great deals out there but around here the properties are priced as they should be and really good deals are rare. Regardless, it’s time to buy now before the rates get too high and you can’t afford to buy. If you are interested in selling, it’s time to get your house ready for the Spring and Summer market. When school gets out people start looking so they can move and get the kids settled before school starts back. Get your house ready now and get in touch with your Realtor so everyone is doing their research, knows how to price the house, knows what the comps are and knows what to expect. Let’s do this thing!
Freddie Mac reports a slight decline in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 5.67 percent from 5.68 percent during the week ended Feb. 7. Interest on 15-year fixed loans also dropped, falling to 5.15 percent from 5.17 percent. Over the same period, the five-year adjustable mortgage rate slipped to 5.21 percent from 5.32 percent, and the one-year ARM moved down to 5.03 percent from 5.05 percent.
Meanwhile, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports a 3-percent jump in home-loan applications to a nearly four-year high last week and a year-over-year gain of 73 percent as borrowers try to refinance in order to reduce their interest rates. While purchase loan requests shot up 12 percent, a three-fold increase in refi applications since December is responsible for the recent gain.
According to MBA senior director of economic forecasting Orawin Velz, “We can’t say that this is going to be a refinancing boom or that we have hit bottom in the housing market, but it shows renewed interest.”
This is the second time in six months that my hometown has been mentioned on the Today show. The first time was because it is one of the most beautiful places to see in the fall. They also mentioned that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the MOST visited in the country.
Today, we are number 4 in the cheapest places to live in the country. You can see the full story at the link below.
Following four consecutive weekly declines, Freddie Mac reports a jump in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 5.68 percent during the week ended Jan. 31 from 5.48 percent the prior week. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 5.17 percent from 4.95 percent over the same time span. Meanwhile, the five-year adjustable mortgage rate edged up to 5.32 percent from 5.13 percent; and the one-year ARM climbed to 5.05 percent from 4.99 percent. Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft attributes the recent gains to an uptick in 10-year Treasury bonds.
There is so much going on around us that my head is beginning to spin just from the noise. Let’s take a moment and see if we can sort through all the noise to get a perspective of what is occurring. There are some negatives in the market place but let’s focus only on the positive aspects of what is occurring and there are quite a few positive aspects in the marketplace. Each item has a positive impact on our industry. Here are just a few of the positive influences that are impacting our economy and our ability to make a good living in the real estate industry:
• Since January 22, 2008 the Federal Reserve has lowered the discount rate 125 basis points. The Federal Reserve discount rate is now 3%. Now that the cost of money is lower, the funds that were going to pay interest will go directly into the economy.
• The dollar will begin to strengthen against foreign currencies. Exports will continue at record numbers.
• Corporate profits remain in the high single digits.
• There is no, I repeat no, recession on the horizon! Job creation is still positive, unemployment is stable, inflation is still moderate and economic growth is slowing but still positive. A recession needs two quarters of negative growth to be defined as a recession.
• The economic stimulus package will generate additional cash in the economy in the third quarter, just before the election. Members of Congress will claim that the economic stimulus package prevented us
from going into a recession. The economic stimulus package will cause additional spending to occur before the rebate checks arrive since consumer confidence will be on the rise prior to check distribution.
• Real estate sales are on the rise. The median sales price will continue to soften due to more stringent loan application requirements. The consumer is adjusting and sales are occurring.
• China and India economies will continue to grow between 8 to 9% during 2008, continuing a strong demand for U.S. goods.
• International interest rates will begin to soften.
• The cost of oil will soften as we go into Spring.
• Many real estate markets throughout the Southeast have bottomed and buyers are returning.
• Investors are making low ball offers in many of our markets signaling prices have stabilized and in some areas there has been slight appreciation.
• Thirty year mortgages are at their lowest in over 50 years and some mortgage companies are quoting 30 year fixed instruments at a 5.5% rate.
• The ten year bond is below 4% and will remain in a stable trading range for the immediate future.
• Gold should inch higher in the near term until the dollar begins to strengthen in the international market.
What is going on in our industry? Florida just passed a constitutional amendment reducing property taxes. This will cause the real estate market activity to adjust upward. People will be allowed to take their current tax rate with them if they sell their house in Florida and purchase another house in Florida (portability). This event will allow an increase in sales that will impact the entire Southern Region. People who wish to purchase in the South outside of Florida and have a home in Florida to sell, will have a greater chance of selling now that the property taxes will be less in Florida.
The above information was written by Ken Durkee for the Southern Region newsletter for Realty Executives.
National news reports about housing do not reflect market differences from region to region!
Going against the grain of the rest of the nation, the Northeast U.S. posted year-over-year home price GAINS of 2.1 percent during the fourth quarter of 2007 versus one year prior, according to a new survey by REAL Trends, the nation’s leading source of trends and analysis on the residential real estate industry.During this same time, prices in the Midwest, West and South decreased modestly.
“To fully understand this market, you need to look at both sides of the coin - closed home sales and home prices; then you need to analyze the trends,” Steve Murray, editor of REAL Trends, explained.
“Without a doubt, we’re seeing double-digit declines in home sales. Conversely, prices are actually firm, or in the case of the Northeast, have gone up.In the West, we’ve seen the biggest drop in sales. But to keep things in perspective, that region also saw the biggest run-up in terms of home prices during the boom,” Murray said.
REAL Trends’ analysis of closed home sales data is pulled from real estate brokers representing more than 35% of all homes sales throughout the country.
National sales figures may have been down in 2007, BUT - as RISMedia has pointed out - 2007 was STILL the fifth highest year on record!