Two exciting product updates I wanted to make you all aware of:
· 97% conventional loan! (great for flips or if non-borrowing spouse had recent foreclosure/short sale)
· HARP 2.0. Unlimited Loan to Value. If the loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and the loan was taken out prior to May 31st, 2009, we can refinance with rates in the high 3’s and low 4’s.
Financial Markets
The Dow Jones ended its best week of the year with a 93 pt gain, up over 400 pts for the week ending at 12,460. Once again Europe’s debt crisis took center stage, the latest (and who really cares, it’s been dragging on for what seems like years) was that Eurozone leaders indicated that there would be a recapitalization of Spain’s banking system. This came literally 1 day after Fitch downgraded Spain’s banking system 3 levels to “BBB”. As is typically the case, mortgage rates increased by about 50 bps for the week (about .125%), as investors trade safe haven bond investments for the riches of more aggressive returns in the stock market. Facebook ended the day at $27 per share. (It’s IPO opened at $38 per share)
Southern Nevada Real Estate Related Data
Data we all know too well at this point (unless you have been asleep for the past 6 months). Prices are up for the 4th consecutive month, and up 1.6% from May 2011. The number of single family residence sales are also up (3,413 for the month of May) nearly 10% from May 2011! According to the article below, 17,346 homes for sale in the MLS and only 3,800 are not under contract. My uncanny math skills tells me that we have roughly 1 month’s supply of homes available….Again, can’t underscore how encouraging it is for home builders. There is actually a secondary benefit to the local economy, as home builders build more, it creates construction jobs and am sure you can all draw the parallel to how that helps the local economy. The future relies heavily on how bill 284 will affect banks bringing the backlog of foreclosures to market. If we have a tsunami of homes hit the market at once, we will most likely see a decline in prices. If we experience a trickle or even flow, we can expect slow steady appreciation in home values.
