Florida Homebuilder Centerline Homes | Real Estate Blog

Mortgage Rates Are At Historic Lows

Mortgage rates reached their 2008 apex in July, when the long-term average rate hovered just below 7%. They’ve since dropped to and are around 5%.  The low rates makes financing your home significantly easier, as the money you spend over a thirty year period paying off your house gets lowered to something you may actually be able to afford.

Home Prices have Dropped

Experts indicate that we haven’t seen the bottom yet in all markets, but planning for that bottom and hitting the housing market at the perfect time may be more difficult than worth your while. Keep a close eye on the national average and the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index, but don’t rule out diving into the housing market before a talking head on television tells you that home prices have reached rock bottom.

Tax Credit For New Home Buyers

Taxpayers who qualify for the first-time homebuyer credit and purchase a home this year before December. 1st have a special option available for claiming the tax credit either on their 2008 tax returns due April 15 or on their 2009 tax returns next year.  Qualifying taxpayers who buy a home this year before Dec. 1 can get up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married filing separately.

More Housing Supply Means More Opportunity

Real estate agents still need to sell homes and the fact that there exists less qualified buyers for the homes you’re considering and more homes to select from could translate into additional savings. Be smart when talking to agents and remember that the slow market has given buyers better opportunities to own a New Home.

Desperate Measures for the FHA

The Federal Housing Administration is offering 3.5%-down mortgages to qualified buyers and many cities are offering additional incentives. Last year over 630,000 people purchased homes in part because of the FHA’s low down mortgage.  Applying for an FHA loan is rather easy. Stop by any of our communities to learn more.

New Guidelines put on Lenders

According to CNN, one of the major contributors to the rapidly increasing price of homes in the past few years was that home appraisers, pressured by loan officers and mortgage brokers, would inflate home values. As a result, homebuyers would either end up paying more or would be put in a situation in which they couldn’t handle their mortgage payments.  The Federal Housing Financing Agency announced the Valuation Code of Conduct, which took effect this past May and serves as an attempt to improve the reliability of appraisals for mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Under the new Code of Conduct, lenders are prohibited from influencing home values appraisers may come to.