Arizona Real Estate News

April 15 Is 1 Week Away And 27 Million Taxpayers Have Yet To File. If You’re One Of Them, Here’s Some Tax Tips.

April 8, 2009

There are 138 million taxpayers in the United States and, according to the IRS, 20 percent of them file their taxes within 7 days of April 15. In a holiday-shortened week, that means that 27 million people had better get a move on

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Current Mortgage Rates for the week of April 6 2009

April 6, 2009

Mortgage markets were up-and-down last week as rates fell Monday and Tuesday before surging higher from Wednesday through Friday. In some case, after touching all-time lows, conforming mortgage rates added a half-percent in the second half of the week, ruining some homeowners’ chance to refinance

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Another Positive Housing Signal : The Number Of Homes Under Contract Increase

April 2, 2009

The number of homes under contract to sell is rising, another signal that the housing market may be regaining its footing. As reported by an industry trade group, the Pending Home Sales Index gained 2 percent in February . The report measures MLS-listed homes in “pending” status — sold but not yet closed.

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New Home Sales Figures Show Unexpected Improvement

March 26, 2009

The national housing market got its third piece of good news in 3 days: Monday: Existing Home Sales up Tuesday: Home values appear higher nationally Wednesday: New Home Sales up And although national real estate statistics are irrelevant to the local markets in which real estate transactions happen, to a country of would-be and wanna-be home buyers, repeated positive news on housing can be a strong signal that it’s time to get off the sidelines. At least, that’s what the data is showing us. According to an industry trade group, first-time home buyers accounted for half of all sales of previously-owned homes.

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Monthly Home Sales Rise 230,000 In February 2009

March 24, 2009

Each month, the National Association of REALTORS ® releases a study called the Existing Home Sales report. It’s a detailed look at “used” home sale data from all four regions of the country

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What To Do When Mortgage Rates Plummet

March 20, 2009

For the fifth time in a year, rate shoppers learned an important lesson this week: When mortgage rates plummet unexpectedly, they often recover just as fast. Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s newest $750 billion mortgage market pledge helped to push conforming mortgage rates near their lowest levels since WWII. 24 hours later, however, those rates were expired.

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What You Should Know When Buying A Short Sale or A Bank Owned Home (Part 3)

March 19, 2009

This is the final part of this series. I will be moving on to bigger and better things in the near future 🙂 I would like to focus on what you should expect from the banks after you have procured an offer on one of their properties. Short Sale The bank has not fully negotiated […]

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Mortgage Rates Plummet on New Round of Mortgage Bond Purchases from Fed

March 18, 2009

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today, within the target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. This doesn’t mean the Fed stood pat, however.

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The Federal Reserve Is Meeting And What It Means To Your Mortgage Rate

March 17, 2009

The Federal Open Market Committee begins a scheduled, 2-day meeting today to discuss the country’s monetary policy. As is custom, the group will issue a press release to the markets upon adjournment.

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Real Estate Investments: Some Words of Guidance

March 13, 2009

“Most of the biggest real estate fortunes were not made in good times, but in bad times like this” Barbara Corcoran reminds us in this talk with NBC . It’s important perspective for Americans wondering how to invest in foreclosed properties without losing their cash or their credit rating. In the 4-minute interview, Corcoran quips on the basics and the essentials of foreclosure investing, “Everyone who loses their shirt loses it somewhere else.” “Every big shark started small.” “The house on the corner sets the tone for the block.” She also lends some personal perspective to rent rolls, the cost of losing a tenant, and finding a good business partner.

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Mark-To-Market : How An Obscure Corporate Accounting Rule Might Impact Your Mortgage Rate

March 12, 2009

You know you’re in the middle of an economic crisis when an accounting issue become Front Page News, and that’s exactly where we’re at today. Mark-to-market accounting is having its day in the sun and people in need of mortgage sometime soon would do well to pay attention. If you’ve never heard of mark-to-market accounting, don’t worry.

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The Half-Truth Of The Headline “1 In 8 U.S. Homes Are Late Paying Or In Foreclosure”

March 10, 2009

USA Today ran this 2008 Foreclosures By State heatmap last week, reminding us of a simple truth: Headline statistics can be misleading. According to data compiled by RealtyTrac, 1 in 8 U.S. homes were in various stages of default or delinquency at the end of 2008

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What High Unemployment Numbers Mean to your Mortgage Rates

March 9, 2009

Mortgage markets improved last week with investors’ renewed aversion to risk. To the benefit of home buyers, as major stock indices touch 12-year lows , investors are moving investible cash to the bond market.

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Homes Listed For Sale Plummet Across 96% Of Major U.S. Markets

March 6, 2009

If you asked an economist why home prices have broadly fallen over the past 2 years, you’d get a short lesson in Supply and Demand.

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Can You Guess What Percentage Of Mortgages Are Still Paid On-Time?

March 3, 2009

Mortgage delinquencies are on the rise nationwide, but the news may not be as bad as it appears at first glance. Using anonymous data from its national credit database, TransUnion reports that 4.58 percent of American homeowners were at least 60 days past due on mortgage payments last quarter

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What Are The Country’s Best Affordable Suburbs?

February 27, 2009

Nationwide, home affordability has received a serious boost from the combination of falling home prices and falling mortgage rates. Today, because of the sagging economy, in most parts of the country, the cost of owning a home versus renting one is now very close to its historical average

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The Key Fact Missing From Today’s Existing Home Sales Headlines

February 26, 2009

In reading the headlines this morning, you’d think that last month’s Existing Home Sales figure signaled more trouble ahead for the housing market. Quite the contrary. Beyond the attention-grabbing headlines is the real story; the one that shows — once again — that housing market fundaments are coming back into balance

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The Relative Cost Of Owning Versus Renting Is Back At Historical Norms

February 25, 2009

One popular housing theory is that — before a bona fide housing recovery can begin — the cost of owning a home versus renting one must return to historical levels. If that belief is a truth, a national return to rising home prices may be in store for 2009

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County-By-County: The 2009 “High-Cost” Conforming Loan Limits

February 24, 2009

As part of the stimulus package passed last week, Congress authorized a temporary increase to conforming loan limits in certain high-cost parts of the country. “High cost” is defined by a regions’ median sales price

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2009 Conforming Loan Limits Return To $729,750 In High-Cost Areas

February 20, 2009

Everything old is new again. Conforming mortgages are limited by loan size, based on “typical” housing costs around the country

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