WASHINGTON July 23, 2009 -The U.S. housing market has started to recover from the most far-reaching crisis since the Great Depression, data released Thursday show.  Sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third month in a row in June, the National Association of Realtors reported. That hasn’t happened since early 2004, during the boom. “The turnaround in the housing market appears finally to be here and indeed may be gaining some speed,” wrote Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc.
Stocks jumped on the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising above 9,000 for the first time since early January.  Home sales rose 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May.
Sales were up in all four regions of the country.  It was the highest level of sales since last October and beat economists’ expectations. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 4.84 million  units, according to Thomson Reuters.
In another encouraging sign, the share of foreclosures on the market is shrinking. About one out of three homes sold in June was foreclosure-related, down from nearly half earlier this year.  And the glut of homes up for sale dwindled to 3.8 million. That’s a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace and another important sign of a recovery. When the market balances at a 7-month supply prices should begin to stabilize, the Realtors group said.
That probably won’t happen until next year because of a backlog of foreclosures that have yet to come on to the market. The median sales price was $181,800 in June, down 15 percent from year-ago levels but up slightly from $174,700 in May.  Nevertheless, prices have risen for three straight months in about half of the 55 major metropolitan areas tracked by the Associated Press-Re/Max Housing Report, also released Thursday.
For our Maui report, please email or call us and we will send you those statistics.  dad@MauiRealEstate.net  or 808-874-8473

It seems like the only headline news we have heard over the past few years is gloom and doom but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we don’t believe it is a train coming!  Our supply of “good values” is quickly dwindling and reports are starting to come out pointing in that direction.  Don’t miss out on the opportunities of low interest rates, tax advantage and great prices.  We will be posting some interesting articles and reports for you to view within the next few weeks.  Here is a link to one report we just received:

 Existing home sales up 3.6% in June, third straight rise – USA Today – –

If you would like our help, call us at 808-283-9456 or email us at dad@MauiRealEstate.net

HAPPY WEEKEND!

THE HANSEN OHANA

www.MauiRealEstate.net

We thought you would want to read this from a local Maui lender:
 

The current Government purchases of mortgage backed securities are likely to end soon; this is because the perception among economists is that the economy and the housing market are starting to improve.
As many of you know, the Government has been purchasing mortgage backed securities since the beginning of January.  Interest rates went down in December in anticipation of this taking place.  At that time, we discussed that these rates were unlikely to last because of the upward pressure on interest rates as the economy begins to stabilize.  Interest rates have increased about 1% over the past month.  If the Government wasn’t purchasing mortgages, it is estimated that rates would be at least 1% higher than they are now.
According to all our sources (which are many and we track them daily), the Government is unlikely to continue to purchase mortgages after December of this year.  The purchase program could also end abruptly (before December) if the economy stabilizes further, the housing market shows more signs of recovery or if there are any signs of inflation. 
Even if the Government purchases mortgages through December, loans would have to be closed by November 15th.   For a December Government purchase given the current 60-90 day escrows, properties would need to be in escrow by August to meet these windows.
As we have been telling our clients, NOW is the time to purchase and take advantage of the low rates, large selection and low purchase prices.  People who buy now will be considered geniuses in the years to come!
Hawaii’s Premiere Mortgage is both a banker & a broker with offices in Kihei, Wailea, Kahana & on Kauai to assist you and your clients.  Some realtors have found that providing rate flyers specific to a property, can help with marketing efforts for Open House Events; Please let us know if we can assist you by providing Flyers for your events or if we can assist you in any other way!
Mahalo & Aloha,
Tricia & the Premiere Mortgage Team
Tricia & the Premiere Mortgage Team

Please take 5 minutes to vote for the best restaurants, activities and specials Maui has to offer.  See link below, click right below the lead titles. 

 http://extras.mauinews.com/onlineform/

The bubble in the mortgage markets finally blew up this week.  After holding and holding, while the 10 yr note rate climbed, mortgage rates jumped to levels not seen in several months. Many analysts have been warning that the mortgage markets couldn’t hold on forever while treasury rates increased. Mortgage lenders became complacent with hedging risk, believing apparently that the $1.25T the Fed committed to buy, would keep mortgage rates from increasing.  It is finally hitting home that the Fed has a serious problem; the problem is how to keep mortgage rates down, the housing markets are the key to any economic recovery and one of the keys to getting the housing sector back on track is keeping mortgage rates affordable and low. It was widely thought that buying $1.25T of MBSs would do it. Not the case; we all know about the massive supply Treasury has to sell in the debt markets, as we have noted it is unlikely that can happen (raising $200B a month along the yield curve, not including T-bills under 1 yr) without higher rates and the potential of creating inflation fears.

Without lower mortgage rates the economy isn’t going to recover at the pace recent thoughts had developed. If housing and home prices are not stabilized there isn’t going to be much of a recovery based on the timeframe markets had been expecting. 

The market had been looking for a solid showing and while this was less impressive than the 2-yrs, that was also expected. The market had been looking for a draw of 2.33% plus and liked the lower yield. More Treasury borrowing tomorrow; $26B of 7 yr notes will complete this week’s $101B of borrowing. Markets will have two weeks to breathe before Treasury comes back with 3 yr, 10 yr and 30 yr bond auctions on June 9, 10, and 11. With this mornings jobless claims at 8:30 expected to be up 5K; and April durable goods orders (+0.5%). At 10:00 Apr new home sales are expected to be up 1.8%. The selling today adds to the technically oversold markets. 

Mortgage rates cannot stand against the increase in long term treasury rates. The spread between the 10 yr note and 30 yr mortgages came back in line two weeks ago as we reported, back to about 165 basis point from a high of 270 basis point six months ago.

BOTTOM LINE…if you are a home buyer looking to purchase in the bay area, your window of opportunity to get a super low rate may be closing, so act now.  If you are a home owner and have not refinanced into the low rates we have seen , you will want to act now!