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

Existing Home Sales continued their upward climb in January.  This is the fourth month in a row where we have seen month-over-month gains in the number of units sold.  The National Association of Realtors reported that sales rose 2.7% from December.  Also, the inventory levels decreased again:

The number one reason that the housing market tanked was due to over supply.  So, with home sales increasing and inventory levels decreasing, this is certainly a trend with some momentum.  All cash sales and distressed sales did increase last period.  But any way that the excess inventory is gobbled up is good.  It certainly shows that the demand is there and that investors are snapping up properties before prices rise.  Maybe you should too?

I was out in Eagle today looking at home where the people will have to list as a short sale, due to the amount they owe compared to what the market is willing to pay for their home.  All the more important that a buyer have a trusted professional locating the best real estate buys in Eagle, Idaho.

Eagle is a beautiful area of Ada County.  It has gently rolling foothills and some back to BLM land and other private land.  Some owners have acreage lots where they can have horses and cows and some have their entire acre landscaped.

Parts of Eagle are much closer to the Boise River, like the house pictured here to the left that was a listing we had in Island Woods Subdivision.

I looked for homes today that have universal appeal, whether for a home buyer to buy and live there or an investor to buy and rent out.

I look for a minimum of three bedrooms and two baths, at least 1,200 square feet and at least a two-car garage.

Today there were seven of them that met the criteria and were a strong value because they were all less than $67.00 per square foot.  You couldn't replace the lot and buy the materials to rebuild them for that cost.

If you would like a copy of that list, or would like to see some of the best real estate buys in eagle, Idaho, please send me an e-mail at Tim@TimBurroughsGroup.com or call or text me at 208-409-7653.

Until next week, have a great day!

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.

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.

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.

With 2010 coming to a close, the "experts" are out in full force, making predictions for next year's housing and mortgage markets on business television and in the papers.

Predictions for 2011 are wide-ranging:

• Some say home prices will rise in 2011
• Some say home prices will fall in 2011
• Some say mortgage rates will rise in 2011
• Some say mortgage rates will fall in 2011

The problem with housing and mortgage predictions is that -- like all predictions -- they're just educated guesses about the future. Nobody knows what will really happen with the housing and mortgage markets in 2011. All anyone can do is theorize. As laypersons, though, it can be hard to separate theory from fact.

Television can make that task even more difficult at times.

As an example, when a well-dressed economist goes on CNBC and presents a clear, succinct argument for why home prices will fall on 2011, we're inclined to believe the analysis and conclusion. After all, the outcome seems plausible outcome given the facts. But then, immediately after, a different economist presents an opposite argument -- that home prices will rise in 2011 -- and her analysis seems sound, too.

Even Freddie Mac can't see the future.

Last year, the government group predicted mortgage rates to 6 percent in 2010. That never happened, of course. Instead, conforming mortgage rates dropped over a 7-month period this year to levels best be described as "historic".  Freddie Mac couldn't have been more wrong.

So, what's a Boise homeowner to believe?

About the only thing that's certain right now is that mortgage rates remain low by historical standards, and that home prices do, too. Also, that both housing and mortgage markets appear to be riding momentum higher into 2011.  This suggests that it will be more expensive to buy and finance a home by the end of 2011.

Until that time, however, predictions are just guesses.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-to-1 to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within in its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent.

In its press release, the FOMC noted that, since September's meeting, the pace of economic and job growth "continues to be slow".  Housing starts are "depressed", income growth is "modest" and commercial real estate investment is "weak". (Ouch!)

With respect to its prior economic stimuli, the Fed deemed the recovery "disappointingly slow", while, at the same time, noting that growth will come.

The Fed also noted that inflation is running lower that what's optimal, hinting at the potential for deflation.

Lastly, the Fed re-acknowledged its plan to hold the Fed Funds Rate near zero percent "for an extended period", and also announced a new, $600 billion support package for the bond market. In most instances, a move like this would drive mortgage rates lower, but the Fed's stimulus had been widely telegraphed, and $600 billion isn't too far from the initial package estimates.

Mortgage market reaction has been muted thus far. Mortgage rates in Boise are volatile with lots of movement up and down, but mostly unchanged post-FOMC. Now is not a great time to float for the faint-of-heart or weak-kneed.

The FOMC's next scheduled meeting is December 14, 2010. It's the last scheduled meeting of the year.