Real Estate Home Loans in Boise Idaho, Benchmark Mortgage - Prime Equity Group: January 2011

A new report shows the buying still more affordable than renting in most cities.

©2011 DS News. All Rights Reserved.  By Joy Leopold

Sales of new homes rose sharply in December, posting a 17.5 percent gain from the month prior.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, New Home Sales climbed to 329,000 in December, besting November by close to 50,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis.

Last month's reading is an 8-month high for New Home Sales, and the latest in a series of signals that housing is improving in Meridian and around the country.

Note that December's Existing Homes Sales and Building Permits reports also showed marked gains last month, climbing 12 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

Furthermore, an interesting pattern is emerging in the price points of home sales. The highest levels of relative growth are occurring within the "move-up buyer" segments. Entry-level price points are lagging the market, as a whole.

December's New Home Sales data breaks down by price point as follows:

• Homes under $200,000 : 36% of the market (-9% from November)
• Homes between $200,000-$299,999 : 32% of the market (+7% from November)
• Homes between $300,000-$499,999 : 27% of the market (+7% from November)

Luxury homes accounted for less than 5% of the newly-built home market, suggesting that Idaho homeowners are either not "buying new" as frequently, or are choosing to renovate their existing properties instead.

The 2010 housing market finished on a tear, and that momentum is carrying forward into 2011. Expect the spring season to show strongly, putting pressure on home prices to rise.

Coupled with rising mortgage rates, the long-term cost of homeownership is unlikely to be as low as it is today. 

Each week I am providing the Best Real Estate Buys in Boise, Idaho.

As a former real estate appraiser and a Realtor since March 1, 1995 I try to always watch out for the best interests of my clients.

What I have assembled is a look at all the condominiums, townhomes, and single family homes with exceptional value.  I have limited them to those that have at least a three-bedroom, 2-bath, with at least a 2-car garage for resale.

In Boise, Idaho I have found twenty-seven homes that have a per square foot value of $50.00 or less.  You could not re-build these homes for the prices they are being offered for today.

If you would like a list of these or to see some exceptional values in other nearby communities, please e-mail me at Tim@TimBurroughsGroup.com or call 208-409-7653.

Watch each week for updates to these best real estate buys in Boise, Idaho.

Each month, in conjunction with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Census Bureau releases its New Residential Construction report. The report is comprised of several sections, one of which counts the number of homes that have "broken ground" in Idaho and nationwide.

They're called "Housing Starts" and, by most measures, they faded quickly as 2010 came to a close.

According to the Census Bureau's report, Housing Starts of single-family homes fell to 417,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted, annual basis. The figure marks a 9 percent drop-off from November, and is the lowest reading since May 2009.

Not surprisingly, the press went bearish on housing post-release:

• U.S. Home Building Stuck Near 50-Year Lows (AFP)
• Housing Starts Slowed Sharply In December (New York Times)
• Housing Starts Fall In December To One-Year Low (Bloomberg)

Despite being truthful, these headlines are somewhat misleading. They each ignore a key element of December's New Residential Construction report - Building Permits. Building Permits rose 6 percent to an 8-month high last month.

A building permit is a local-government certification that authorizes home construction. 

Permits are a precursor to Housing Starts with 82% of homes starting construction within 60 days of permit-issuance. More permits in December, therefore, should lead to more Housing Starts in January and February.

It's unclear whether permits were up because the economy was improving, or because builders raced to beat new building code for 2011. Regardless, expect additional "new home" supplies this spring which would ordinarily help home prices drop if not for the normal surge in spring buyers to gobble those new homes up.

Look for home prices to stay flat, but with rising mortgage rates contributing to higher costs of homeownership overall.

Consumers keep spending, the economy keeps growing.

Mortgage rates are improving this morning on just-released, slightly worse-than-expected Retail Sales data from December 2010.

Excluding motor vehicles and auto parts, December's sales receipts were $1.5 billion higher from November. Analysts had expected a number north of $2 billion.

Despite falling short of estimates, however, December's reading is the highest in Retail Sales history, surpassing the previous record set in July 2008, set during the recession. In addition, December's strong numbers helped 2010's year-over-year numbers go positive for the first time in 3 years.

Although the data is a mixed bag for Wall Street, home affordability in Eagle is improving today.

The link between Retail Sales and home affordability may not be up-front obvious, but in a post-recession economy like ours, it's often tight. Retail Sales is another name for "consumer spending" and consumer spending makes up more that 70% of the U.S. economy.

As spending grows, the economy tends to, too.

Investors recognize this and start chasing "risk". It becomes a boost for the stock market, but those gains are made at the expense of "safe" asset classes which include mortgage-backed bonds. Mortgage-backed bonds are the basis for conforming and FHA mortgage rates so, as bond markets sell off, asset prices fall and rates move up.

Thankfully, rate shoppers will avoid that scenario today -- at least for today. December's Retail Sales results are a factor in the bond market's early-day improvement. Conforming and FHA mortgage rates across the state of Idaho should be lower today.

Despite the good news, if you're shopping for a mortgage, consider locking your rate as soon as possible. Mortgage rates are coming off a 2-week rally and look poised to reverse appear -- especially with a full docket of data due for next week. As mortgage rates rise, purchasing power falls.

I set out to find the best buys in Kuna, Idaho this morning.  When you try to find the best buys, do you look for the most square footage for the dollar, or what?  We tried to look at all homes that were listed for less than $50.00 per square foot.

Then, we looked at those homes to see if they were really a good value. 

Then, we looked at the probablity for a quick close as an investor wants to see his/her money turn.

We found five and reduced that number by the ones that were short sales since we don't know when those would close or if they would close for the listed price.

We came up with three homes that are either bank-owned, new construction or in-between resale homes that have exceptional per square foot value.

If you would like a copy of that list for the City of Kuna, simply send me an e-mail to Tim@kw.com and ask for Best Buys in Kuna, Idaho for the week of January 15, 2011.

I set out to find the best buys in Star, Idaho this morning.  When you try to find the best buys, do you look for the most square footage for the dollar, or what?  We tried to look at all homes that were listed for less than $75.00 per square foot.

Then, we looked at those homes to see if they were really a good value. 

Then, we looked at the probablity for a quick close as an investor wants to see his/her money turn.

We found twenty six and reduced that number by the ones that were short sales since we don't know when those would close or if they would close for the listed price.

We came up with fifteen homes that are either bank-owned, new construction or in-between resale homes that have exceptional per square foot value.

If you would like a copy of that list for the City of Star, simply send me an e-mail to Tim@kw.com and ask for Best Buys in Star, Idaho for the week of January 15, 2011.

I set out to find the best buys in Eagle, Idaho this morning.  When you try to find the best buys, do you look for the most square footage for the dollar, or what?  We tried to look at all homes that were listed for less than $75.00 per square foot.

Then, we looked at those homes to see if they were really a good value. 

Then, we looked at the probablity for a quick close as an investor wants to see his/her money turn.

We looked at those homes with at least three bedrooms, two baths, 1,200 square feet and a 2-car garage.

We found nine and reduced that number by the ones that were short sales since we don't know when those would close or if they would close for the listed price.

We came up with six homes that are either bank-owned, new construction or in-between resale homes that have exceptional per square foot value.

If you would like a copy of that list for the City of Eagle, simply send me an e-mail to Tim@kw.com and ask for Best Buys in Eagle, Idaho for the week of January 15, 2011.

I set out to find the best buys in Meridian, Idaho this morning.  When you try to find the best buys, do you look for the most square footage for the dollar, or what?  We tried to look at all homes that were listed for less than $50.00 per square foot.

Then, we looked at those homes to see if they were really a good value. 

We also looked for homes with at least 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,200 square feet, and a 2-car garage.

Then, we looked at the probablity for a quick close as an investor wants to see his/her money turn.

We found eleven and reduced that number by the ones that were short sales since we don't know when those would close or if they would close for the listed price.

We came up with six homes that are either bank-owned, new construction or in-between resale homes that have exceptional per square foot value.

If you would like a copy of that list for the City of Meridian, simply send me an e-mail to Tim@kw.com and ask for Best Buys in Meridian, Idaho for the week of January 15, 2011.

I set out to find the best buys in Boise, Idaho this morning.  When you try to find the best buys, do you look for the most square footage for the dollar, or what?  We tried to look at all homes that were listed for less than $50.00 per square foot.

Then, we looked at those homes to see if they were really a good value.  We eliminated on because the listing agent or their assistant had added one too many zeros to the square footage so it showed a "false" good deal.

Then, we looked at the probablity for a quick close as an investor wants to see his/her money turn.

We looked for homes with at least 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,200 square feet and a 2-car garage.

We found twenty and reduced that number by the ones that were short sales since we don't know when those would close or if they would close for the listed price.

We came up with eleven homes that are either bank-owned, new construction or in-between resale homes that have exceptional per square foot value.

If you would like a copy of that list for the City of Boise, simply send me an e-mail to Tim@kw.com and ask for Best Buys in Boise, Idaho for the week of January 15, 2011.