The House and the Senate are in the process of working out the Short Sale type FHA package. It still could get Vetoed by the President if some of the things the Senate added are not compromised on. We really need this Bill passed.

A major bank was taken over by the Federal Reserve and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are getting Federal Assistance that will require Congressional Approval. I hope they will finally act for our best interest and not their political interest.

Slow down and save Gas!! Call me at 240-7130 if I can help you.

There has been a lot of news in the paper this past week. The numbers that they are using I know are not always true. I remember back around last July or so I found lots of double reporting by RealtyTrac. I also read that their statistics include double reporting when the house has a second loan which many did from early 2004 through 2007. The numbers can really look bad if you are not comparing apples to apples. We have 8808 residential units on the market right now and a number I heard was in the 4000’s that were foreclosures. I am not seeing that. There are a lot of them out there but not that large number.

If Congress and the President ever get the FHA program going for the coming foreclosures/short sales it will really help slow down the number of foreclosures and keep the owner in the house. I think it is a great bill and will help everyone including those that are trying to sell and did not have any of the tough loans. Everyone is paying and paying for this housing crunch. If you are against the bill I hope you have read the information I posted last month. The Senate is changing some of that bill and it will get even stronger. I see it as a pay as you go for the program and some real financial gains for the program.

Are you enjoying the high gas prices? Are you still flying down the freeway at 75 to 80mph? I have dropped back to 62mph on my trip to work. I have about 9 miles of freeway in my 18 mile trip. I do not scream away from the red light and I watch ahead to see what the light is doing. I slow down long before I reach the lineup of cars. I can not believe the number of people that race from signal to signal in their big SUV. Slow down and save a gallon here and there.

If I can help you call me at 240-7130.

Are prices going to go up? Not yet but we will see things starting to steady out. The Average and Median Sales price both went down in April but I look for them to come back to the March level in May.

If you are thinking of buying please talk to a lender soon. You will need to have the Loan Status Report (LSR) that the Lender will supply to your agent as it must go with your contract. No LSR, you will get a refusal from the seller because they do not know you are qualified to buy their home. This is very important!!  Call Elaine DeTour-Spronken at Countrywide  731-8382  Ext 235 for a very honest, service oriented Loan Consultant. Then call me at 240-7130

I am working with a lot of buyers right now and I am sure other agents are doing the same. Have we hit the corner? I think we have. Call me at 240-7130 if you need my experience and help.

Remember to slow down and save gas. 65mph is not really that slow and really saves Gas and Money.

My wife was talking with a Century 21 Broker soon to be just a Salesperson and she said things are starting to change in the Phoenix area. I believe her, as we are seeing the same here in Tucson. Arizona can go down for a while but we are still a destination State and they will come!!

Notice the numbers and how they are all better except the Average Sales Price. The average went down but if you look at all the past numbers this is one area that really seams to fluctuate right now. Again lets see what April brings and than we can put a better light on what we can expect over the next six months. Don’t listen to the National Statistics as we are not THAT. We are Tucson and we do things different.

Interest rates are still hovering around 6% but many buyers will be using FHA for that new home. Credit Scores will not kill you right now for a FHA Loan. Plan on 3% down but there are still some Bond programs out there that can get you in with zero down. Call Elaine Detour-Spronken at 731-8382 Ext 235 and see if you qualify for the Bond Program and then call me to help you find your next home.

The Federal Reserve did lower rates again a couple of weeks ago to try to stimulate the Economy, but it did not do much for Mortgage rates. The Federal Government is working on other programs, but as usual it is at a snails pace. I do not think they really see the big picture and what is happening to the cost of goods and lack of jobs. Gas is really up there and we are really helping the oil producing Nations and the Oil companies. Can you believe their profits, and they say it is not their fault they are making all that money.  Ha Ha!!  And can you believe they are getting around $18 billion Dollars in Tax subsidies?

I still think we need to go back to a National 65MPH speed limit. I don’t think you would believe the savings in gas consumption. If you use less you save more, now isn’t that an interesting idea.

Call me any time at 240-7130

Active Listings stay at the same number and I called MLS and they said the number did stay the same. What is the chances of that ever happening again?

The Federal Reserve meets later this month. I expect a 1/2% or possibly a 3/4% drop in both rates. Again it will help the mortgage rates just a little. It helps more in the credit lines such as credit cards and possibly car loans. It does not help savings rates but still save what you can.

Make sure you file your taxes by the 15th of April so you get the Stimulus Check in May. Any one on Social Security or low income tax status WHO DO NOT normally file must file to get their $300 check per person. Go to IRS.Gov and find the free place to file. It is short and sweet. I just did it for my blind friend. I used “File Your Taxes.Com” from the IRS site.

GAS is really up. Slow down and save gas. 65 MPH is not that bad on the freeway right now. If you see a white Pontiac Grand Prix doing that speed headed towards Vail that is me saving money.

I just helped two clients save a lot of money by buying a Short Sale and a new Foreclosure that we were waiting for it to come on the market again. I can help you buy one also. It takes a little longer but it is usually worth it.

Call me on my cell 520-240-7130

The Median price dropped, but the Average Sales price increased. More expensive homes sold to push that number up. Notice the Days on Market jumped to 83. That is the most for the past year. More listings coming on the market giving more selection.

The Federal Reserve dropped both rates by 1/2% two weeks ago. I think this created an inflation fear in the market and caused the mortgage rates to go up  a few basis points. We still have some great rates so think about it. We still have a long ways to go in reducing the number of listings available. I expect at least a 1/4% and maybe another 1/2% decrease in the Fed Rates at their next meeting.

Don’t forget to file your tax returns by April 15th to be able to receive your Stimulus Check. I usually filed an extension which helped my tax preparer, but not this year. Buy something you need or want and that money will multiply as it works through the economy this next year.

If I can help you purchase give me a call on my cell 240-7130.

The number of new listings fell to 1590 in December as compared to 2224 new listings in November. The re-lists of properties in December was 116 as compared to 184 in November. Days on market jumped probably again because of the Holidays.

I expect January will see numbers just under the December numbers, but I think the Listings Under Contract will increase to about the November numbers of around 900.  After that, I truly expect to see the numbers of Solds and Listings Under Contract to go up every month at a slow rate.

We have not seen the last of the foreclosures and short sales. There are some great bargains out there. A large portion of a homes search will contain many of these.

I still say you should start the loan process and start looking before prices stabilise and start back up. Loans just below 6% are showing up. The Federal Reserve is poised to cut the the Discount Rate the end of this month. Everything I see says it will be 1/2%. Now this does not mean mortgage rates will go down that much, but it will have a slight affect.

I still think now is the time to get your ducks in a row and be ready to look to see if the home you want is out there.

Have a great 2008, spend wisely, and slow down to save gas.

This past week I have shown homes that are now priced below the start of our 2005 debacle. If that is true, many sellers are selling below that price that should have been the normal increases for that time frame. I really feel we are going in the wrong direction now.

Here is another statistic that just came out. Nationally the sales of newly constructed homes has fallen by 9% last month. This is the lowest since April 1995. Now something is really wrong there. Where are the Buyers? This sure helps reduce the Inflation worries of the Federal Reserve for the moment.

You or they are waiting for the bottom. Guess what!  I think we just passed it and we are soon going to wake up and see that. Are you ready, and do you have your financial ducks in a row? I know I now have more buyers starting to look and get a better home now before things start moving up again. Interest rates are hugging 6%. The Federal Reserve did lower their rates by 1/4% in December as I thought they would. I still think 1/2% would have been a better number but they want to be safe and not really charge the economy. I really think they are out of touch with what is really going on.

Foreclosure numbers have gone down some but I am not sure it will stay that way. The deal President Bush struck with the larger Lenders will only help a small number of home owners who have good payment history and are not behind in their payments. These are the people who have ARM’s that are about to go up. I wish we could help those who are in foreclosure for other reasons. BUT NOT THE INVESTORS who caused a lot of the problems.

If I can help you get started on the road to owning a home, call me on my cell 240-7130 and tell me you read my Blog.

As you can see by the chart we had some positive changes and some negative changes. I am not seeing this as the bottom as the foreclosures are still a concern to me. It is still a very good buyers market right now and I would suggest you think about getting your loan approvals lined up and maybe start looking at what is on the market now. If the right home is there, see what you can do on a good purchase price.

The fires in California will start some of the construction people back to work on those burned homes and the sales of clothing, supplies , furnishings, appliances and autos. It may seem like a small number but think of the prices on those homes and the money that goes back into the California economy.

Maybe some of those California people should think of Tucson for a new home. They could definitely make a move up for less money. I am a native Californian but I love the Southern Arizona Desert and have lived here for 30 years now. You couldn’t get me back there now!

The Federal Reserve lowered the Federal Funds Rate and The Discount Rate by 1/4% two weeks ago. I wish they had lowered by 1/2% as I believe the economy has really slowed. I think they will lower another 1/4% before the end of the year but I felt it was needed sooner not later. It is not a permanent thing and they can take it away as fast as they want.

Can you believe they are worried about inflation and gas is part of that fear. What control do we have? Watch for BIG profits from our wonderful Oil Corporations. What is our government doing about it? Not much that I can see. You know we all could do something about it if we would just SLOW DOWN. Drive 65mph on the freeway and obey the speed limits in the city and county. Make fewer trips and consolidate those trips to reduce consumption. We keep hearing about tire pressure and all those other small things to reduce gas usage. They are fine and they do help but the biggest savings is your speed and the number of fast stops and go’s from the signals. As much as I hate it, I would like to see a maximum speed of 65mph again. So many people blast by me doing 80mph or greater and no Cops to bust them. The slower speed would probably cost each of us 5 minutes on our commute but will you do it?

Why not join me at 65mph and save gas and money!