News You Can Use

Today is Cyber Monday when sales and deals abound. Mortgage rates seem to be joining in with rates at record lows – the lowest we’ve seen this year since April. These low rates are back because bearish traders are nervous about the strength in recent stock market gains and implications of riskier asset holdings (Dubai World anyone?), so they are favoring safer investments and Mortgage Backed Securities reap the rewards.  This influx of cash into the MBS market gets passed on in the form of lower rates.  Fun fact: did you know a 1% decrease in the interest rate can increase a buyer’s purchasing power by approximately $15,000?

Couple these low rates, add in a homebuyer tax credit and you’ve got a big jump in sales for October – a 24% increase in purchases, compared to last year.   As if lower rates and an increase in sales weren’t good enough, it was also reported last week that national home prices rose for the second straight quarter.  The American economy certainly isn’t out of the woods yet, but every little bit helps.

So with all this good news, how do we spread the word – how do we make buyers buy or sellers sell?  We can’t…what we can do, and what we should do is be a resource for information and help clients weigh their options. In short – be part of the solution.

This week will have important economic reports released each day except Monday.  We’ll hear the latest on November’s employment numbers and the ISM Manufacturing index.  Let’s see how it all plays out.

Featured Loan Program

Mortgage Credit Certificate

 Cunningham & Company along with North Carolina Housing Finance Agents offers the Mortgage Credit Certificate program to help qualified homebuyers obtain a federal tax credit. 

• Must meet income requirements, sales price, and first-time home buyer guidelines
• MCC can be used with almost any type of mortgage, including adjustable rate mortgages.
• Eligible buyers can claim 20% of their mortgage interest (up to $2000)

Have you heard?

Have you heard about Charlotte’s premier mom resource - Charlotte Smarty Pants?  If you have kids and want to be in the know, check out their Smarty Picks and the blog - and as they say, “get Smarty”

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