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News Article From: 12-03-2008
Valley housing recovery on track, an article from azcentral.com, examines a seven-point test for tracking the recovery of the local housing market. This report card, created by Tim Sullivan of the Sullivan Group, shows the Phoenix market getting better marks. Last December, the metropolitan market only passed one of the seven points - it is now passing six of them. One of the points requires homes sales to stop slowing. Resales are up from a year ago - 4,465 existing homes sold last month Valley-wide as compared to 3,280 in November 2007. Another point involves an increase in mortgage-purchase applications - last week marked a significant increase in applications from homebuyers. A drop in 30-year mortgage rates below 6% is another factor that has been met. The point that has yet to be reached involves inventory levels dropping below seven-month supply. A year ago the supply stood at 14 months. It is now down to 12 months, so progress still needs to be made in that area. http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2008/12/02/20081202biz-catherine1203-ON.html
Mortgage applications surge by record, an article from msnbc.com, reports that last week marked a record surge in mortgage applications as interest rates dropped to their lowest level in more than three years. The Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications (purchase and refinance) soared a record 112.1% for the week ending November 28. Mortgage rates had plummeted following the Federal Reserve's announcement that it would buy up to $500 billion of mortgage securities, which in turn prompted potential borrowers to act. Last week, the average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage stood at 5.47% - a 0.52% drop from the previous week. Rates are now sharply below the 6.59% reached during the summer. A year ago, interest rates stood at 5.82%. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28032242/
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