The near-record low mortgage rates seen during the past few weeks may not be around much longer.
Signs of improving economic conditions could lead Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke to raise key interest rates, driving up mortgage rates.
Fewer banks have reported tightening their lending standards in the past quarter. If lending standards start to stabilize, the Fed may remove emergency lending procedures, including the zero rate.
This means that consumers will start to see interest rates climbing back up in the months ahead.
10.8 percent annual growth in San Diego home prices
San Diego County home values rose 10.8 percent in March compared to 12 months earlier, as a smaller number of buyers chased deals on the most expensive homes, according to the latest update of Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
For months, the momentum behind San Diego home prices has been a frenzied market of investors and first-time homebuyers looking to score a deal on a house.
But March saw that trend flipped on its head: Homes priced under $311,200 fell 0.5 percent, the first monthly drop since May, though still up 11.3 percent since the previous March. Meanwhile, homes prices above $465,686 rose 2.9 percent in March from February, and were up 7.7 percent from the previous year.
The index, a widely respected measure of the resale value of houses, shows that San Diego is still 36 percent off its November 2005 high.
For months, the momentum behind San Diego home prices has been a frenzied market of investors and first-time homebuyers looking to score a deal on a house.
But March saw that trend flipped on its head: Homes priced under $311,200 fell 0.5 percent, the first monthly drop since May, though still up 11.3 percent since the previous March. Meanwhile, homes prices above $465,686 rose 2.9 percent in March from February, and were up 7.7 percent from the previous year.
The index, a widely respected measure of the resale value of houses, shows that San Diego is still 36 percent off its November 2005 high.
Existing-Home Sales Continue to Improve in April
Existing-home sales rose again in April with buyers motivated by the tax credit, improving consumer confidence and favorable affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, and are 22.8 percent higher than the 4.70 million-unit pace in April 2009. Monthly sales rose 7.0 percent in March.
Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, and are 22.8 percent higher than the 4.70 million-unit pace in April 2009. Monthly sales rose 7.0 percent in March.
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