Many of you heard that mortgage rates were good last week.  Many of you also heard that rates may go even lower.  The fact is that last week rates were great and today the trend has followed through on this chilly Monday morning.  Rates actually held a trend around or below 5.5% for the better part of 7 working days.  In the recent market a steady trend of anything is unexpected.  The announcement of the Treasury willing to buy additional mortgage backed securities was the cause of our low trends.  The short term future of rates is still something that cannot nor should be forecasted.  The market doesn’t allow us to follow traditional trends and driving indicators of where rates will go.  With that said, it is better to take advantage of an opportunity of already low rates when you can rather than waiting for something that may never happen.

Great prices, yes, I say great prices.  As I’ve said numerous times, we’re fortunate to live in the Willamette Valley where we haven’t seen too drastic of a drop in home values.  However, there is enough inventory currently on the market to offer an amazing opportunity for anyone thinking about buying a home (regardless of whether you are a first time home buyer or a seasoned veteran).

The key to success in this market is understanding that now is the time to take advantage of each of these opportunities at hand.  If you wait for the rates to drop even lower or the prices to fall even more, you’re likely to miss the boat.

If you need help finding the starting point call or email conrad(at)conradventi.com today.

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day.  I can say that those in the real estate or lending industry had plenty to be thankful for heading into the long weekend.  After the Feds announcement last week among other things, to purchase mortgage backed securities, mortgage rates dropped.  Rates on Wednesday were the lowest we had seen since January.  As I stated in my post “Help For Main Street”, there have been many recent announcements that have caused moments of opportunity for those looking to for purchase financing or those looking to refinance.  However, the volatility of the market has caused these moments to last for just a day or two.

Heading into a new week, we opened the market in positive territory this morning.  It looks like this moment of opportunity may be extended past the one or two day norm.  I’m certain that with the talk of our “slowing economy” or “recession”, we’ll need more than just a few days of low mortgage rates to stimulate our housing market.  As the week progresses we’ll see if this is simply another moment of “opportunity” or if it is a trend to stimulate our struggling housing market.

You’re probably wondering the story behind the two pictures above and how in the world it may pertain to the mortgage market.  On Thanksgiving morning I took Wyatt (my dog) for a walk around the block.  I returned to the awesome sight of a shattered window from someone breaking into our car (among four others in my neighborhood) on Thanksgiving eve.  My father-in-law was kind enough to help me vacuum up the glass as we were nearing our lunch time with the family.  Knowing the Oregon weather, we knew it was necessary to find a cover for the window.  He mentioned, “do you have one of those signs from church?”.  So I dug our Merry CHRISTmas sign out of the garage and thus the remedy.  Despite the broken window on our newer van we were able to make the most of the opportunity to share the simple sign that represents the true meaning of Christmas.  So far that is the extent of our Christmas decorating!