Weekly Update
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Economic Review …So long to 2009 If the daily broadcast of mixed economic news sounds like the same old song, then 2009 certainly ended on a sour note. Nonfarm payroll employment dropped sharply, construction spending was down, and a key service-sector indicator languished in neutral. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 2.7% to 1,145, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield dipped 2 basis points to 3.83%. Read more Movin on up or a first time home buyer? Here’s more good news about the tax credit. First-time buyers as well as move-up buyers across the country are entering the market at a rapid pace in order to take advantage of the extended and expanded tax credit. Finding the new home buyer tax credit just a little confusing? Helping home buyers easily understand the home buyer tax credit is the goal of Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty with the launch of its new home buyer tax credit website, the company has announced. The website (www.homebuyertaxcredit.com) provides buyers with extensive information and analysis of the tax credit, as well as an eligibility test to help buyers determine if they qualify. Read more… Considering buying a condo? Here’s some good news. Condominium buyers can purchase knowing that their lender has reviewed the association’s financials and found them to be mortgage worthy. .. The new guidelines call for FHA-approved condominiums to be financially stable and require the mortgage lender to approve the association budget, reserve account and more. Read more… So often people list their homes based on emotion rather than facts. Report finds 21 percent of homes for sale experienced price reduction. A report by Trulia.com found that as of Jan. 1, 21 percent of homes currently on the market have experienced at least one price reduction. The total amount reduced for all homes nationwide declined to $21.2 billion in January compared with $24.7 billion in December. The average discount for homes with price reductions remained at 11 percent, according to the report. In the west, which includes California, 22 percent of listings experienced price reductions. Read more… Have you ever wondered what the effect of a Foreclosure is? Having the bank seize your home is nobody's idea of a good time. A word that was hardly part of the American vernacular two years ago, Foreclosure is all too common these days. While the number of homes in some state of foreclosure is decreasing each month, the fact is that foreclosures across the country are up 19 percent from a year ago (RealtyTrac). Read more... Help! Save my home. In support of President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Program , Freddie Mac offers two options to help you keep your home:
You’ve seen it, a home building project is started and then there it sits, a lonely unfinished dream. First foreclosures, then short sales. Now we are seeing more half-finished homes for sale: bare-stud, bare-yard houses abandoned by their builders and left to languish on the market. Read more… Seems like a day for good and not so good news! One of the leading online marketplaces for Foreclosure properties, recently released its Year-End 2009 Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 3,957,643 foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions—were reported on 2,824,674 U.S. properties in 2009, a 21% increase in total properties from 2008 and a 120% increase in total properties from 2007. The report also shows that 2.21% of all U.S. housing units (one in 45) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 1.84% in 2008, 1.03% in 2007 and 0.58% in 2006. Read more… They may look hilarious but what follows may be not so funny…Social networkers of the world, it’s time to amp up your security software and put on your cynical cap before clicking on friend requests and links to “funny videos.” Facebook and Twitter will be the top targets for cyber attacks in 2010, according to several security firms. Read more… Let’s end this week’s post on an up note. I know, it’s been a difficult year and sometimes things have not gone the way we wanted them to but that’s the past. Let’s focus on today and what we have control over. Think about it, when we worry over something we have not control over it seems silly doesn’t it. What would we accomplish by worrying? Here is something to think about. Did you know that by using the power of positive thinking you can accomplish the following:
Think positive, live well and be happy. Read more… |
