When you are in last, you have a good shot at winning "Most Improved"

Product Update:

A Brief review of ways to finance a home with little to No Down Payment:

·        Are you a veteran?  VA!

·        USDA for homes located in certain geographic locations throughout Southern Nevada.  http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/nvhousinghol.html

·        Nevada Housing Division State Bond Down Payment Assistance Program. http://housing.nv.gov/programs/Programs/

·        Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada down payment assistance programs to coincide with FHA, VA and Conventional financing.  http://nwsn.org/

Financial Markets

The Dow Jones ended the closing bell this past Friday down minimally, at 16,302, rounding out a very uneventful and unsexy month for trading.  The Dow hasn’t breached the 16,500 mark or dipped below 16,100 in the past 20 trading sessions despite the political volatility in Eastern Europe.  Mortgage backed securities had an equally uneventful month in volatility, until this past week when the Fannie Mae 4.0 coupon lost nearly 80 basis points in a single day.  This translates loosely in to .25% increase in rate to the consumer on a 30 yr fixed mortgage.  The catalyst for the MBS sell off was Fed rhetoric that they will no longer wait for unemployment to hit 6.5% before raising key interest rates. 

Southern Nevada Real Estate Related Data

The local unemployment data released this past week has local economists cautiously optimistic that the recovery is still headed in the right direction.  Nevada finally fell out of the top slot for national unemployment rate, holding firm at 8.9% while the national average has dropped to 6.6%.  Nevada did lead the nation in year over year job formation rate (3.4%) and is just shy of 1.2 million jobs.  To offer perspective, in 2007, moments before free-falling into the great recession, Nevada was experiencing year over year job formation rates of over 6%.  Experts say that a job creation rate of 6% was completely unhealthy or unsustainable, and current rates are more in line with stable growth.  The national average for job growth is 1.7%, according to the article below.  So, to summarize, Nevada is recovering at the fastest pace, but primarily because it has the most ground to make up.  In 2007, Nevada had nearly 1.3 million jobs, and 7 years later, we are still shy of that number. 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/nevada-leads-us-job-creation-no-longer-tops-nation-unemployment

For more real estate financing information, please visit my website: http://www.matthewtmaltese.com/home.html

Siri says "We've arrived at our destination"...I think she is right for once

Product Announcement!

Nevada State Bond has become relevant again, making wide sweeping revisions to its Down Payment Assistance Program, below the highlights for yet another nearly 100% financing option for home buyers:

·        No longer need to be a first time home buyer

·        Household income can be up to $91,140 (with household head count of 3 or higher)

·        Not restricted to geographic location

·        Lend up to 3% of sales price towards down payment and closing costs

Financial Markets

The Dow Jones ended the closing bell this past Friday topping out at 16,321, up 170 + points from two weeks ago.  Investors have been shrugging off weaker than expected economic data in recent trading sessions as many predict the soft numbers are predominantly a result of the miserable weather across much of the country for much of the winter.  Many expect a pent up demand to create for robust sales across all goods once the Polar Vortex has released its deadly grip!!  The Fannie Mae 3.5 MBS (mortgage-backed security) improved roughly 50 basis points (often equivalent to an improvement in mortgage interest rate by .125%) during the same time span. 

Southern Nevada Real Estate Related Data

Home sales for January support that Southern Nevada’s real estate market is stabilizing and giving the appearance of normalcy for the first time in nearly 15 years, as the data becomes more closely aligned with markets nationwide.  Institutional investors consisted of roughly 6.5% of sales (down from 11% in January 2013), nationwide institutional investors consisted of nearly 6% of home sales.  Cash buyers still dominate the market, with 56.7% of home buyers paying cash for homes, compared to 44% nationwide.  Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries predicts real estate to appreciate by roughly 3%, nationally for 2014, which is consistent with historical averages….

Despite how ridiculously volatile Nevada’s recent real estate market has been in the past 15 years, we are currently on pace with very boring and historically traditional value appreciation trends.  Take a look at the last link.  In 1940 the median priced home was $20,000 for homes in Nevada.  Today, the median priced home is roughly $185,000, an approximate 925% increase in values over roughly 75 years computes to about 1-2% appreciation per year….Now, stay with me here, take from 2000 to today, $142,000 to $185,000…Current prices are up 13%, or roughly 1% per year…We happened to have taken the road never traveled….Up 100%, down 60%, up 35%....But as Siri would say “ you have arrived at your destination”…..and for the first time in a very long time, prices for Las Vegas real estate are right where they need to be. 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/share-nevada-homes-bought-major-investors-drops-65-percent

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/las-vegas-home-prices-defy-national-trend-show-increase

https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/values.html

For more real estate financing information, please visit my website: http://www.matthewtmaltese.com/home.html