Don't Get Excited by Jump in New Home Sales

There has been quite a bit of chatter about the recent rise in new home sales. If you dig down into the numbers and prior year chart comparisons, you might be surprised to see it may not be time to go out and buy a bunch of builder stocks.

Don’t Get Excited by Jump in New Home Sales

Wall Street Journal, February 26^th, 2014

New home sales jumped to the highest level since July 2008 in January, which is really good news if it holds. But the Census new-home sales data is a choppy indicator with a small sample size, and when you take a longer look at the series it’s pretty clear that the nation’s two-year-old real estate turnaround is still largely a recovery in prices.

The building of new homes — the housing sector’s biggest contribution to annual economic growth — continues to lag badly. This disconnect goes a long way toward explaining why U.S. growth is still pretty weak some four years after the recession. It’s also why economists’ hopes that 2014 will finally be a breakout year for the economy depend on home building regaining its footing in the spring. 

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/02/26/dont-get-excited-by-jump-in-new-home-sales/?mod=wsj_valettop_email

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Buying a Home versus Paying Rent - a financial benefit analysis

Why Pay over $2700 in rent when you could enjoy the benefits on home ownership. See how you can purchase a $600,000 with special low down payment programs and actually pay much less than rent. Click on the following link for a free illustration on the financial benefits.http://mcedge.tv/16i61d

Is Housing Really Unaffordable Today?

While there is much discussion regarding the formation of another housing bubble and incomes not keeping up with the rise in home values, you may be surprised at these findings.
WSJ Blogs - Is U.S. Housing Unaffordable? It Depends on How You Chart It - Developments

The Benefits of Owning Vs. Renting - a financial perspective

Look at the benefits of home ownership versus renting. I put together an analysis illustrating the financial benefits of buying a $600,000 home versus throwing away your money on renting a similar property for $2750 per month. Go to this linkhttp://mcedge.tv/16i61d

ARE WE HEADED FOR ANOTHER HOUSING BUBBLE?

 The most important chart in housing right now http://t.co/a7R41Ptlfp

5 Things To Watch For Housing in 2014

http://blogs.wsj.com/five-things/2014/01/07/5-things-to-watch-in-housing-in-2014/

Effective Friday, January 10th, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrower eligibility requirements tightened, making it even harder for the self-employed to qualify for a mortgage. In addition, debt-to-income requirements dropped from 45% to 43%, requiring borrowers have higher incomes and lower debt load. There are other mortgage program options borrowers will want to consider that include loans from portfolio lenders, as opposed to those sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As a mortgage broker, I have several options to fit the unique profile of every borrower, that may not be available from your local retail bank or direct lender. One size does not fit all. Feel free to call me at 714-478-3153 should you have questions on what mortgage options are best for you.

Very Cool Interactive Map Illustrating Home Appreciation History Across the U.S.

Here's a very cool interactive map showing home price appreciation by state during different time periods. (Pass your cursor over the time period or state desired. Thanks to Brian Larrabee, founder of Estate of Mind, Inc., New York, for passing this along.)