Ken Harrison | Coldwell Banker Real Estate | Bellingham, WA Your Buying or Selling Specialist
Coldwell Banker Miller-Arnason
Clarification and GOOD News!
Posted on January 11, 2010
Good Morning Everyone!! Bellingham Real Estate News!
Well - Here is some clarification and GOOD news for a change here in Bellingham.
It was reported last week that Pending Home Sales (contracts on existing homes) fell 16% in November, not at all surprising since buyers expected the $8,000 tax credit to expire at the end of October. This artificially boosted contract signings for August-October and artificially depressed them for November. Still, November pending sales were higher than at any time from mid-2007 to mid-2009.
Wednesday, the minutes from the Fed's December 15�16 meeting were released, revealing some debate over the future of their purchases of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), which helped keep interest rates at record lows. The Fed said it would end MBS purchases March 31, but according to the minutes, "a few" of the Fed's 12 members are in favor of expanding and extending the program. On the other side, one member felt "improvement in...the economic outlook suggested that...(MBS purchases) could be scaled back."
Who knows what will happen. Most experts feel the rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages will head up during the next two years, so smart homebuyers are focusing on taking advantage of the present very favorable rate situation along with the tax credit still available.
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