Welcome Home San Diego County

Times are a Changing in the Real Estate World!

Times are a Changing in the Real Estate World

Most real estate news seems to be telling us times are a changing for the better. Last week thirty year fixed rates dropped below the five percent mark for the first time on record, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The average rate for a thirty year loan was 4.89 percent, and fifteen year loans were around 4.6 percent.

The outlines of Obama and Congress’s plans to help the housing market return to a more normal state are becoming more apparent.  Ending the foreclosure epidemic is one of the top priorities through aggressive new programs intended to rework the terms of hundreds of thousands of mortgages that are now unaffordable. There also seems to be another three month freeze on foreclosures in the works, and recent news explains there will certainly be a reform in the  legislation allowing judges to modify mortgage terms to forestall foreclosures.

There are plans from the incoming National Economic Council to use portions of the remaining funds in the “Troubled Asset Relief Program” to rework monthly payments for responsible home owners who are now facing economic challenges in this recession.

Stabilizing the housing markets according to most economists is the  best way to reduce the distressed property transactions. Foreclosures typically reduce the property values in neighborhoods and push home prices down, this in turn discourages home buyers when they think home prices are still declining.

There is also news that Congress may create a new and improved tax credit – one thats not repayable and covers all home purchases, not just first time home buyers.

So all in all action is being taken to improve the real estate market, changes don’t happen overnight – so lets be patient and remain hopeful that with some of these new programs at least some will make a difference we WILL experience better days ahead.