For those who didn’t hear of the news yesterday that the Federal Reserve plans on pumping $1.2 trillion in the U.S. economy, let me assure you that this is BIG news. It was no surprise that the Federal Open Market Committee kept the federal funds rate at .25%, and economists expect that rate to stay [...]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record or, to put it into more modern parlance, a scratched CD (or a corrupt MP3 file?), I’m quite please to note that 30-year mortgage rates have again fallen, hitting another low last week of 5.1%. This comes after noting a decrease in mortgage rates 2 weeks [...]

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell again last week, offering a holiday gift to many would-be homeowners and those suffering with recently-reset ARMs. The new 30-year fixed mortgage rate, as reported by Freddie Mac, dropped to 5.14% last week, from the previous week’s low of 5.19%. That represented the 8th straight week of mortgage rate [...]

Mortgage rates, and specifically the 30-year fixed mortgage rate, dropped to their lowest level in 37 years last week, no doubt aided by the Federal Reserve’s promise to push money into the mortgage market. The 30-year rate dropped to 5.19% according to Freddie Mac, which dropped from the previous week’s low of 5.47%.
In e-mail communication [...]

To all those trying to sell a home in Maryland - believe me, I know how you feel. And, no, this is not some attempt by me to cozy up to any would-be readers and offer a sympathetic word. I know what it’s like to have a home on the market now because I DO [...]

The Federal Funds Futures (FF) market indicates expectations of a fairly steep decline in the Federal Funds Rates before or at the December 16, 2008 (today) meeting of the Federal Open Market Comittee (FOMC). The expectation is for at least a 0.5% drop in the rate, which already sits at 1%, though some research indicates [...]

I’ve been screaming this at a brick wall of late, it seems. Fear is one hell of a motivator or, in this case, a “de-motivator.” And, even though the brick wall hasn’t yet responded to me, let me say it again - if you’re in the right financial situation, now is a GREAT time to [...]

Plans abound to “save” the U.S. housing market, from those put forth by the National Assocation of Home Builders that call for drastic mortgage rate buydowns and tax credits to the “Four Point Plan” of the National Assocation of Realtors. But rumors and aggressive lobbying seem to be turning into a plan with some legs [...]

How’s that for a headline? And I’m not grasping at straws here either. The two headlines that immediately caught my attention on this fine morning focused on the fact that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will be suspending foreclosures through January 9, 2009. Call it an early holiday gift and, even though it’s really not [...]

I read a post recently on the Maryland Commercial Title blog about the sheer economic ugliness that awaits president-elect Barack Obama. What I took out of that post more than anything else revolved around this statement:
Government will have to shrink in size. Period. With entitlements growing with the expanding baby boomer population (and with more [...]