Home affordability slipped slightly last quarter, dragged down by rising mortgage rates and recovering home prices in Massachusetts and nationwide.
The National Association of Home Builders reports a Q2 2011 Home Opportunity Index reading of 72.6. This means that nearly 3 of 4 homes sold last quarter were affordable to households earning the national median income of $64,200.
Q2 2011 marks the 10th straight quarter — dating back to 2009 — in which the index surpassed 70.
Prior to 2009, the index had never crossed 70 even one time.
However, we must remember that the Home Affordability Index is a national survey. From region-to-region, and town-to-town, home affordability varied.
In the Midwest, for example, affordability was highest. 14 of the 15 most affordable markets nationwide were spread throughout Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. Only Syracuse (#9) cracked the list from other regions.
The top 5 most affordable cities in Q2 2011 were: More… »
If you’re shopping for a mortgage rate, today may be a good day to lock one down. That’s because Friday morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its Non-Farm Payrolls report for August 2011.
The “jobs report” tends to have a big influence on mortgage bonds and mortgage rates in Leominster.
The jobs report is a monthly issuance, providing sector-by-sector analysis of the U.S. workforce. It also report the national Unemployment Rate.
Wall Street expects the August Non-Farm Payrolls data to show 75,000 jobs created in August, down from 117,000 in July; and it expects that the Unemployment Rate will remain unchanged at 9.1%.
The jobs report’s connection to mortgage markets is straight-forward — as jobs go, so goes the economy. This is because when the number of working Americans rises :
Consumer spending gets a boost
Government tax collection gets a boost
Household savings gets a boost
These are each good turns in a recovering economy. More… »
The Fed publishes meeting minutes 8 times annually – three weeks after each scheduled Federal Open Market Committee get-together. The Fed Minutes summarizes the FOMC meeting.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its August 9, 2011 Federal Open Market Committee meeting Tuesday.
The Fed Minutes contained no surprises and, as a result, mortgage rates across Massachusetts and nationwide have idled.
Although it gets less press attention, the Fed Minutes is every bit as important as the more highly-publicized, post-meeting statement from the FOMC. With its detailed record of conversation, the Fed Minutes highlights the discussions and debates that shape our nation’s monetary policy.
For example, here is some of what was said at the Fed’s August 2011 meeting :
On growth : Economic growth had been slower than the committee expected
On housing : The market “remains depressed”. Underwriting standards are “tight”.
On rates : The Fed Funds Rate will remain low until mid-2013
In addition, the Fed talked about whether a third round of asset purchases should be announced. Ultimately, that plan was rejected by consensus.
The FOMC’s next meeting is a 2-day meeting, scheduled for September 20-21. The meeting was originally scheduled for just one day, but Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke chose to extend it to two. Wall Street believes that the extension was made so Fed members could discuss new forms of economic stimulus. More… »
Standard & Poors released its May 2011 Case-Shiller Index this week. The index measures change in home prices from month-to-month, and year-to-year, in select U.S. cities.
May’s Case-Shiller Index showed a 1 percent increase from April 2011. Home values rose in 16 of the Case-Shiller Index’s 20 tracked markets. Only Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa fell. Phoenix was flat.
Don’t look too far into the findings, though. Like the FHFA’s Home Price Index, the Case-Shiller Index is rife with flaws.
The first flaw of the Case-Shiller Index is its limited geography. Despite being positioned as a national housing index, Case-Schiller Index is sourced from just 20 cities nationwide. There are more than 3,100 municipalities nationwide.
The Case Shiller Index’s second flaw is that it ignores all home types excepts for single-family, detached homes in its findings. Condominiums, multi-family homes, and new construction are not included in the Case-Shiller Index.
In some markets, these excluded home types outnumber the included ones. More… »
In today’s Leominster homes, front-loading washing machines are a popular choices as compared to traditional, top-loading machines for 3 main reasons:
They wash more clothes per cycle, lowering household energy costs
They’re environmentally-friendly, using less water per cycle
They’re gentler on clothes, preserving colors and fabrics longer
They also require more care in the “cleaning” department.
Because of the way most front-loading washers are built, they tend to pool water in their drums, which can be a breeding ground bacteria and mildew.
Whether your front-loading washer smells “dirty” or not, you’ll want to follow proper procedures to keep it clean.
First, only use High Efficiency detergent. High Efficiency detergent is super-concentrated and creates fewer suds than traditional laundry detergent. Fewer suds means more soap is drained in the rinse cycle, leaving fewer chemicals and fragrances to sit in the drum. More… »
Our office has received the 2010 All Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than 400,000 small organizations worldwide. Our office is one of Constant Contact’s 2010 top performers and most prolific user of its tools, whether within Constant Contact’s email marketing, event marketing, social media marketing, or survey products – or a combination of all four.
Constant Contact looked at criteria including the following when selecting this year’s All Stars:
Frequency of campaigns, events and surveys
Open, bounce and click through rates
Usage of social features
Mailing list sign up tools
Use of reporting tools
“We work hard to listen to our customers, and we use that feedback to create products and services designed to help them better engage with their customers and prospects,” said Gail Goodman, chairman, president and CEO of Constant Contact. “The Constant Contact All Star Awards are our way of recognizing our customers that have successfully used Constant Contact to market their companies. We have some of the most committed, passionate customers out there and we’re proud we can be a part of their continued success.” About Constant Contact, Inc. Constant Contact is revolutionizing the success formula for small organizations through affordable, easy-to-use Engagement Marketing™ tools that help create and grow customer relationships. More than 400,000 small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and member associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact as their engagement hub for starting and driving ongoing customer dialogs through email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online surveys. All Constant Contact products come with unrivaled know how, education and free coaching with a personal touch, including award-winning customer support.
Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
In Massachusetts an estate of homestead protects a homeowner’s primary residence from the claims of certain creditors. Prior to the change in the law the declaration of homestead protected the equity in the home for up to $500,000 of its equity in the event the home owner is sued. That is, if a homeowner is successfully sued in court, $500,000 of the home’s equity could not be touched by an attachment and or execution of sale by the judgment creditor. To acquire the homestead a homeowner would need to file a written declaration and record it with the county Registry of Deeds.
The Massachusetts Legislature has recently passed long awaited revisions to the Massachusetts Homestead Act.The revised law now provides automatic protection up to $125,000 on a homeowner’s primary residence, and a written homestead can also be filed to increase the protection up to $500.000. The act also provides homeowners additional protection: More… »
HUD’s videos are easily accessible from HUD’s website as well as from HUD’s YouTube channel.Keeping up with the changing times and the push of social media the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has set up a YouTube Channel. HUD has unveiled three how-to videos to assist potential homebuyers find an affordable home, shop for the right mortgage and what to expect at closing. More… »
With all of the recent talk of improper foreclosures having taken place, and the issues with bank owned real estate title problems, the question of the need for title insurance has been a hot topic. I have always stressed the importance of purchasing an owner’s policy of title insurance. Regardless of who is selling the property, how long it has been in the family or how familiar you or the seller may be with the property you just never know More… »
I have had a few clients ask me recently about the difference between buying a property at a foreclosure auction and buying a property owned by a bank (REO/Real Estate Owned).
A property purchased at a foreclosure auction or foreclosure sale is purchased through a bidding process by individuals at the auction. The property is sold to the highest bidder. If the foreclosing lender is not satisfied with the amount of the bids they may also bid on the property to raise the selling price. In the end the lender often ends up as the highest bidder and takes ownership of the property. Property that is acquired by the lender in this process is called REO property or Real Estate Owned property. The lender will in turn, eventually, place this property on the market with a Realtor for resale to the public. More… »
This is the real estate blog for the Law Office of David R. Rocheford, Jr., P.C.. Posts to this blog include topics of interest to the real estate and mortgage lending community. Posts also may also include topics that relate to personal and business development, humor and just plain interesting information.
Home affordability slipped slightly last quarter, dragged down by rising mortgage rates and recovering home prices in Massachusetts and nationwide.
In today’s Leominster homes, front-loading washing machines are a popular choices as compared to traditional, top-loading machines for 3 main reasons:
Our office has received the 
etts an estate of homestead protects a homeowner’s primary residence from the claims of certain creditors. Prior to the change in the law the declaration of homestead protected the equity in the home for up to $500,000 of its equity in the event the home owner is sued. That is, if a homeowner is successfully sued in court, $500,000 of the home’s equity could not be touched by an attachment and or execution of sale by the judgment creditor. To acquire the homestead a homeowner would need to file a written declaration and record it with the county Registry of Deeds.
