Mortgage Rates Hit 6-Month Low
For the week ending Oct. 5, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.30 percent, the lowest level since the week of March 2, when it averaged 6.24 percent, Freddie Mac reports.
“Mortgage rates fell to a six-month low this past week, and, not surprisingly, home refinancing rose 18 percent last week, accounting for almost half of all mortgage applications,” say Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “This is due both to the recent decline in mortgage rates and to home owners who are refinancing ARMs rather than waiting for them to reset in the future when rates may be higher.”
The 15-year fixed rate this week averaged 5.98 percent with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 15-year rate averaged 5.54 percent. This is the lowest the 15-year rate has been since the week ending March 23, 2006, when it averaged 5.97 percent.
Even though rates have fallen recently, housing activity continues to slow, Nothaft says. That has led Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to forecast the national economic rate of growth to lose up to one full percentage point in the last half of this year. Newer sites of interest: San Diego laser eye surgery – San Diego bail bonds
CALIFORNIA HOUSING STARTS DROP
New home construction in California declined during August 2006, falling 25.3 percent when compared with the construction pace recorded one year earlier, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) recently reported. Based on the number of building permits issued, 13,128 new housing units were started throughout the state in August, with single-family units accounting for 59 percent of the starts. While multifamily permits are up 8.3 percent for the first eight months of the year, single-family permits are down 24.7 percent. “Multifamily production continues to rise, with particularly strong activity in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the San Francisco Bay Area — much of it related to vertical construction in the urban core,” said CBIA Chief Economist Alan Nevin. Search all San Diego MLS listings
Twelve U.S. Counties Show Real Estate Glut of Homes for Sale
House Buyer Network (North America’s largest home selling solutions company),declared a bust in several U.S. real estate markets as real estate prices driven to unsustainable levels by years of activity by real estate speculators and increased reliance by homeowners on low down-payment, short-term ARMs have created a glut of motivated home sellers.
In just the previous year, the amount of Arizona property processed by the company each month has soared by 235%, almost exclusively as a result of increases in cities in Maricopa County (243% increase). Surprise, AZ, showed the biggest increase with as many quick-sale homes in August 2006 as in all of 2005 combined. Mesa was next with a 400% increase, followed by Phoenix at 307%.
Florida has seen the second largest year-over-year increase—climbing steadily by 219% since January 2006 alone. The increase there was led by Dade County (400% increase), Lee County (338%), Palm Beach County (318%) and Hillsborough County (210%).
California saw a 196% increase in motivated sellers since August, 2006, but unlike Florida and Arizona, the bust in California has been more widespread with a full seven counties seeing motivated sellers triple or more: Alameda County (650% increase), San Joaquin County (450%), Orange County (375%), Fresno County (333%), San Bernardino County (300%), Riverside County (222%) and Los Angeles County (194%). See all San Diego MLS homes for sale.