Here are a few national real estate-related stories that came across my desk this week…
- from Mortgage News Daily: Fannie Mae Expects Rates to Continue Higher
- from CNBC: New home sales surge to five-year high despite higher rates
- from CNNMoney: Higher mortgage rates won’t hurt recovery, Fannie finds
- from USA Today: Housing recovery leaves Millennials behind
- from CNNMoney: John Paulson’s advice: Buy a house
- from MSN Money: This trend could signal a new housing bubble
- from The New York Times: The ‘Shift the Goalpost’ Home Sale
- from Daily Finance: Risky Adjustable-Rate Mortgages Are Starting to Make a Big Comeback
- from Bloomberg: U.S. House Prices Climbed 7.3% in Year Through May
- from RIS Media: Market Insider: How Long Will this Housing Shortage Last?
- from Inman News: GAO report suggests FHA leaving REO money on the table
- from Bankrate.com: When ‘not a short sale’ is a selling point
- from Housingwire: Backlog of foreclosures continues to block housing recovery
- from The Wall Street Journal: Using a Margin Loan to Buy a Home
- from CNNMoney: Borrowers in Obama housing program re-defaulting, watchdog says
Sully
From Bloomberg: Americans Gambling on Rates With Most ARMs Since 2008
“In the last week of June, the dollar value represented by ARM applications accounted for 16 percent of mortgage requests, the highest share since July 2008, two months before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed, according to Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington.”
Mortgage rates have spiked in anticipation of the U.S. Federal Reserve starting to taper its generous monetary stimulus later this year. Rates still remain low and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke last week expressed optimism the housing market recovery would continue.
If history is any indication, the recent spike in mortgage rates is going to have little to no impact on home prices, according to a new report from Fannie Mae.
John Paulson made billions betting against subprime mortgages. Now, he says buying a house is the best possible investment.
If you already own a home, buy a second one. “You won’t make returns that good by investing in me,” Paulson told the audience at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Meanwhile back on the ranch, major cities are filing for bankruptcy because they can’t pay their generous pension benefits, an unemployment rate that looks like a stopped clock and a recovery that’s so slow it’s best viewed in fast forward mode.
My favorite is this quote from Yogi Berra – “It’s déjà vu all over again”
Michael S.
I am guessing that I shouldn’t purchase a new home yet?
All this news makes me uneasy.