Low Mortgage Rates Available

Spokane real estate mortgage rates are still very low. With today's rates, the large resale inventory, and lower prices Spokane homes are very attractive.

clipped from www.cnbc.com Rates on 30-Year Mortgages Fall to Average 5.16% Rates on 30-year-fixed mortgages fell this week, offering homeowners a chance to refinance their loans, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 5.16 percent this week from 5.25 percent last week. A year ago, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.72 percent. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are almost 1.5 percentage points below last year's peak set in late July, "offering many homeowners an incentive to refinance." The new rate translates into a monthly payment savings of about $188 on a $200,000 loan, Nothaft said. Average rates for 30-year-fixed mortgages had been rising since hitting a record low of 4.96 percent a month ago, a decline attributed to the Federal Reserve's move to buy $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities to spur lending by banks.

Retail Sales Rebounding?

You won't hear this on the evening news?

clipped from seattlepi.nwsource.com Retail sales rise unexpectedly in January WASHINGTON -- U.S. retail sales jumped 1 percent in January, reversing a six-month declining trend and defying economists' expectations by posting the biggest increase in 14 months. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that January retail sales rose 1 percent from December after having fallen for six straight months. Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected January sales to show a drop of 0.8 percent. They plunged a revised lower 3 percent in December, which marked the weakest holiday selling season since at least 1969. "This is a big surprise, though the net rise in sales is less impressive than it looks because (December and November) were revised down by 0.3 percent each," Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a research note. "The headline relief today is welcome but it is unlikely to last."

New Jobless Claims Slightly Down

Is this good news or bad news? I bet the media emphasizes all the bad and overlooks any encouraging signs.

clipped from seattlepi.nwsource.com New jobless claims drop slightly to 623K The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of initial jobless benefit claims dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 623,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 631,000 the previous week. The latest tally still was above analysts' expectations of 610,000 claims. Economists consider jobless claims a timely, if volatile, indicator of the health of the labor markets and broader economy. A year ago, initial claims stood at 339,000. Virginia saw the largest drop in claims, a decline of 1,937, which it attributed to fewer layoffs in manufacturing. Drops of 1,000 or more also were reported in New Jersey, Missouri, Oklahoma and Connecticut. Among the states, California saw the biggest increase in jobless claims, a jump of 20,000 that it attributed to layoffs in construction and service industries. The next largest increases were in: North Carolina, with 8,663; Ohio, with 4,738; Georgia's 4,392; and Kansas, with 3,232.

Mortgage Help on the Way?

Solving the mortgage crisis is the best bet to turn around the economy.

clipped from www.nypost.com HOME LOAN ASSIST TARP COVERS MORTGAGE A cornerstone of the economic recovery plan that President Barack Obama is expected to unveil Monday will be modifying problem mortgages, The Post has learned. In a nod to Main Street over Wall Street, sources familiar with the plan say Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner plans to allocate almost half of the remaining $350 billion in funds from the Trouble Asset Relief Program to the so-called "Mo Mod," or mortgage modification, platform. "Mo Mod" is an algorithmic mortgage processing program that can rewrite up to 500,000 loans a month, and will be a major part of Treasury's plan to help repair tattered bank balance sheets. The 21-day "Mo Mod" program works by structuring a new mortgage that more accurately reflects a home's worth so that a troubled borrower no longer owes more on their home than the property is worth.

Resale Home Prices Fall (Less in Spokane)

All real estate is local!! Spokane real estate prices have fell some but not nearly as much. In my opinion, probably about half as much. Spokane homes have held their value better than many other regions.

clipped from www.inman.com Resale home price falls 9.3% in 2008 The National Association of Realtors today reports that the median price of single-family resale homes sank 9.3 percent in 2008 and is projected to dip another 2.4 in 2009 before rising 4.6 percent in 2010. Sales of resale homes fell 13.1 percent in 2008, following a 12.8 percent drop in 2007, and are projected to rise 4.1 percent this year and another 6.3 percent in 2010, the Realtor trade group also reported. Single-family new-home prices fell an estimated 7 percent in 2008 and are projected to fall another 1.7 percent in 2009 before rising 4.8 percent in 2010. New-home sales dove 37.8 percent in 2008 following a 26.3 percent decline in 2007, and are projected to drop 30.4 percent in 2009 before rising a whopping 44.9 percent in 2010, according to the latest monthly NAR forecast. After dropping from 103 in 2007 to 58 in 2008, NAR projects that consumer confidence will fall to 44 this year before kicking up to 55 in 2010.

Hopefully Good For Spokane Real Estae

I hope technology will show off all the benefits Spokane has to offer and boost the real estate market here.

clipped from www.inman.com Craig: on change, democracy and technology Craigslist founder sees opportunity in economic crisis By Glenn Roberts Jr., Thursday, January 8, 2009. NEW YORK -- Craigslist founder Craig Newmark sees light at the end of this economic downturn, with technology and teamwork serving as sparks for a recovery. "Our system of representative democracy, with its flaws, works OK. What's different now is the Internet makes this grassroots democracy possible on a large scale," said Newmark, an avid supporter of President-elect Obama, during an appearance Wednesday at the Real Estate Connect conference in New York City. "Instead of thousands of people getting involved, we can get millions and maybe tens of millions involved, and that's just beginning to happen. It's a start." He added, "I see the beginning of people working together, actually from the bottom up, to support some of the programs that we're going to need to get the country back on track."

Record Snow Makes Home Selling Challenging

Nearly sixty inches of snow this past December has made selling Spokane real estate especially difficult. Vacant homes with piled high snow and snow berms from street clearing add hurdles to the few clients interesting in viewing homes.

clipped from www.boston.com Spokane buried by record Dec. snows December 31, 2008 SPOKANE, Wash. - Spokane residents were trying to dig out yesterday after a record-breaking month of snow collapsed roofs and clogged streets. The center of a supermarket roof in north Spokane collapsed Monday evening, prompting the evacuation of that store. A fire official said one minor injury was reported. Two more collapses were reported yesterday morning, at a church gymnasium and a hardware store. No one was injured. The collapses occurred as Spokane set a monthly record for snowfall, at 59.7 inches, after 8.3 inches was recorded in the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ellie Kelch. That's more snow than the area receives in a typical winter.