April 12, 2010
The Housing Market Update
Waterstone Mortgage
Brought to you by:

Barb Perry
Branch Manager
Office: 208-472-8877
Cell: 208-859-9696
bperry@waterstonemortgage.com

5583 Glenwood
Boise, ID 83714
www.themortgageplace.us

Most Americans Say Now Is The Time To Buy:
A new Fannie Mae survey showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans think the time is right to buy a house, with a majority believing prices will be the same or higher over the next year.

The 64 percent that said it is a good time buy is just shy of the 66 percent that said the same thing back in 2003 as the U.S. housing market was racing higher, said the survey.

In a separate report, Pending Home Sales rose sharply in February. The National Association of Realtors reported that contracts for pending sales of previously owned homes rose 8.2 percent. First-time home buyers need to sign a contract before the end of April and close the transaction before the end of June to be eligible for the $8,000 tax credit. Clearly, there is a rush to take advantage of this with many Realtors reporting multiple offers on a single home. Buyers who are selling a home and purchasing a different one are eligible for a $6,500 tax credit.

Subprime Delinquencies Fall For First Time In 4 Years:
Subprime mortgages are simply loans that did meet Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, or VA standards. The massive onslaught of subprime delinquencies was one of the main culprits in our housing slump. So it is great news that for the first time in 44 months, delinquencies bucked their trend and actually improved to the best levels in 2 years.

With Unemployment decreasing, delinquencies falling and home prices increasing, this could shape up to be a much better Spring/Summer housing market than last year.

What Happened to Rates Last Week:


Mortgage backed securities (MBS) gained +88 basis points last week which caused 30 year fixed rates to decrease for both government and conventional loans, but rates are still higher than two weeks ago which is a level that we are unlikely to see again this year.

We benefited from a strong 10 year Treasury auction, weaker Initial Jobless Claims, and global concern over Greece.

What to Watch Out For This Week:
The following are the major economic reports that will hit the market this week. They each have the ability to affect the pricing of Mortgage Backed Securities and therefore, interest rates for Government and Conventional mortgages. I will be watching these reports closely for you and let you know if there are any big surprises:
Date ET Release For
12-Apr 14:00 Treasury Budget Mar
13-Apr 8:30 Export Prices ex-ag. Mar
13-Apr 8:30 Import Prices ex-oil Mar
13-Apr 8:30 Trade Balance Feb
14-Apr 8:30 CPI Mar
14-Apr 8:30 Core CPI Mar
14-Apr 8:30 Retail Sales Mar
14-Apr 8:30 Retail Sales ex-auto Mar
14-Apr 10:00 Business Inventories Feb
14-Apr 10:30 Crude Inventories 10-Apr
14-Apr 14:00 Fed's Beige Book Apr
15-Apr 8:30 Continuing Claims 3-Apr
15-Apr 8:30 Initial Claims 10-Apr
15-Apr 9:00 Net Long-Term TIC Flows Jan
15-Apr 9:15 Capacity Utilization Mar
15-Apr 9:15 Industrial Production Mar
15-Apr 10:00 Philadelphia Fed Apr
16-Apr 8:30 Building Permits Mar
16-Apr 8:30 Housing Starts Mar
16-Apr 9:55 Mich Sentiment Apr

I know you are busy and it is virtually impossible for you to keep track of what is going on with the economy and other events that can impact the housing and mortgage markets. Just leave it to me, I monitor the live trading of Mortgage Backed Securities which are the only thing government and conventional mortgage rates are based upon.




Waterstone Mortgage
5583 Glenwood, Boise ID, 83714
Phone: 208-472-8877
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