Mortgage Rates Move Upwards, But Stay Low

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2016

For the second consecutive week, fixed mortgage rates inched up, but still remain near historical lows, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

"The 10-year Treasury yield remained flat this week in anticipation of the Fed's July policy meeting,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

“Mortgage rates, on the other hand, rose another 3 basis points to 3.48 percent. Nonetheless, home sales continue to benefit from the persistently low mortgage rates with June's new home sales coming in at an annualized rate of 592,000 homes -- its fastest pace since 2008."

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week ending July 28:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.48 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 3.45 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.98 percent. 
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.78 percent, with an average 0.5 point, increasing from last week’s 2.75 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year ARMs averaged 3.17 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.78 percent, with an average 0.5 point, holding steady from last week. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.95 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

The Worst Real Estate Advice Your Clients Hear

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2016 - Click Here to read more

As a real estate professional, you sometimes have to compete with well-intentioned friends and family members offering your clients some not-so-great advice from the sidelines. Most of that advice tends to be aimed at the pricing of the home, which may hinder your client discussions.

“Price the house based on what you paid, plus a little extra for profit.”Realtor.com® recently highlighted some of the worst of that advice that real estate professionals say their clients recite to them, including:

• “Price the house based on what you feel is right.”
• “Add the cost of renovations you’ve made to your price.”

Sound familiar? It's important that you set your clients straight and let them know that pricing a property shouldn’t be based on what their gut says or what they think it should be. A home’s list price should come from comps and square footage. You may need to step back and carefully explain to your clients the importance of comps and why real estate professionals use them -- before just jumping right in to comp review mode and the price.

Also, beware that home owners may sometimes hear advice to price their home higher, despite what the comps say. For example, they may hear:

• “Price your home high because buyers will come in low.”
• “‘Not in a hurry to sell? Price the home high’'

Explain to them the dangers of pricing too high. “If a home is substantially overpriced, it’ll end up sitting on the market for a long time,” says Bill Golden with RE/MAX Metro Atlanta Cityside. If the house lingers on the market, buyers often start making low-ball offers. “In the end, these homes almost always sell for less than if they had priced it right to begin with.”

Indeed, Tracey Hampson, a real estate professional in California, says “if a home is priced correctly, you will get full-price offers and even over-asking-price offers.”

Source: “The Very Worst Home-Pricing Advice You’ll Ever Hear (and Why),” realtor.com® (July 21, 2016)