After running back up, Florida mortgage rates recovered somewhat this week. All eyes are on the Fed announcement (6/24 - 2:15 EST). This places rates about 1% lower than a year ago. However, there are still concerns that the interest rate increases over the past month could work against a recovery in the housing market. In our view, rates have further to fall, as the concerns about eventual inflation that drove yields up and mortgage rates higher have been tempered by the reality of continued weakness in the economy. Also, if borrowers expect to obtain much-needed financing, rates will have to fall below 5.00% to make a difference.

As I said, the FOMC begins a two day meeting with a statement being issued Wednesday. We expect no change to the Fed Funds Rate, but of great interest will be any announcement of an increase in the Fed’s buying of Mortgage Backed Securities or longer-term Treasuries. Such an announcement would positively impact mortgage rates. Yesterday, President Obama seemed to indicate that more had to be done to help the housing market. We’ll see - the Fed is supposed to be politically neutral but so is the Easter Bunny!

Volatility remains the game of the day, as an assortment of economic data is released this week. From inflation to Personal Income and Spending, investors will be able to gauge a large portion of the economy in the space of four days.

Remember we do FHA/VA now and we still have the Bayside Service that we are famous for. Do you need a Florida Mortgage - give us a try - can’t hurt!

A bit of good news?  Maybe the South and the Florida market are seeing that elusive bottom? 

The Southern region of the United States posted the strongest quarter-over-quarter price returns in a new quarterly housing market report launched Wednesday by Clear Capital

The bad news: The region still posted an overall decline of 1.7%. But the (relatively) good news is the South posted the smallest overall decline of the four regions, according to Clear Capital’s report.

The South also posted half the decline of the national rate, 3.4%.

The data and solution provider for real estate asset valuation, investment and risk assessment launched the new report as a way to track pricing conditions in real time. The July report considers data compiled through May 25.

With quarter over quarter price declines slowing, and the Southern market showing the smallest of those declines, it seems that the market may be stabilizing.  In addition there could be a real pressure on southern markets like Florida which has no state income tax, as many states in the Northeast and California start taxing their citizenry to make up for huge budget shortfalls.  High property taxes, sales taxes, etc. have been known to send people looking for greener pastures in the past, and there is none greener than Florida.  With several quiet hurricane seasons under our belts, a relatively low tax rate and property values at their lowest in a long time… we might see people flocking to the Sunshine State once again.  Put into perspective and context, some of the deals down here are just too good to pass up.

Here are the highlights of the story.

The number of U.S. homebuyers who agreed to purchase a previously occupied home in April posted the largest monthly jump in nearly eight years, a sign that sales are finally coming to life after a long and painful slump.

Casey Serin For Sale By Owner

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in April surged 6.7 percent to 90.3, far exceeding analysts’ forecasts. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001, when pending sales rose 9.2 percent.

The index was 3.2 percent above last year’s levels and has risen for three straight months after hitting a record low in January.

A nearly 33 percent sales increase in the Northeast and a 9.8 percent jump in the Midwest led the overall surge. Sales contracts rose 1.8 percent in April from a month earlier in the West, but fell 0.2 percent in the South.

The big boost likely reflects the impact of a new $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers that was included in the economic stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama in February.

Since buyers need to finish their purchases by Nov. 30 to claim the credit, “we expect greater activity in the months ahead,” Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement.

A lot of the activity is related to foreclosures and while contracts are up there is still likely to be a higher turnover in these pending deals as banks fail to negotiate prices with potential buyers.  The news regardless is good, but still doesn’t exactly point to a bottoming out in the market.  Notice of that will likely come too late for those waiting for the nebulous “absolutely best” deal, because you usually don’t know that the market has bottomed until it’s already back on the rise.  Timing this market is akin to reading tea leaves.

We have said it before and we will say it again, if you find a property you love, at a price that seems fair, you should grab it.  There is nothing that says that your Florida dream home is going to be available if and when you come to believe that the market has cratered.  Rates are low, prices are low, (even if not yet the lowest).  If you find a Florida property that you love, grab it up!

I read a story once about professor teaching Political Science.  His class of young whippersnappers, maybe a few future star Florida Mortgage Brokers, in their midst, sick and tired of the corruption and profit taking of big business, implored this professor that socialism should be the way of the future.  No one would be poor, no one would be rich but everyone would be happy and equal.  The teacher thought it over and came up with a very novel approach. 

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.  After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.  The second test average was a D!  No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.  All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed. 

We work hard for your business here at Bayside and we have 20 years of complaint free history to back that up.  You can trust us like you can trust the sun will rise tomorrow.  Do we always have the best rate - absolutely not, but most days we do and you will be dealt with honestly and promptly.  You can call our office any time of the night and you will get me.  Try it - call me at 3:00 AM see if I answer.  As far as Florida Mortgage companies go - we are a tiny boutique operation but we are always on the other end of the phone and there will never be a surprise.  These are difficult times, let us help.

The big news yesterday for Florida mortgages, which sparked a huge stock market rally was the release of details of the Treasury’s plan to get “toxic assets” off the books of lenders. The idea being that once these debts are sold off to private investors, banks will now have capital freed up which they can then start to lend. Usually, when the stock market rallies, MBS (Mortgage Backed Securities) and treasuries sell off. Well, yesterday treasuries sold off but MBS held their ground. This is probably due to the extra $750 billion that the Fed announced will be used to buy more MBS. The government is doing all they can to encourage low rates and they are being successful. If you are sitting on the sidelines wondering if you should refinance now or wait and hope that rates go lower, let me help you with some advice. Get off the fence, buy or refinance now as rates are under 5% if you pay a point. Yes, rates might go lower but there is much more room above for rates to go higher. In addition, if you are waiting, there are many things outside of your control that might negatively affect your ability to buy or refinance. For example, our economy is still doing rather poorly. The company you work for is probably making less money and might need to cut back on expenses. It is quite difficult for a company to reduce their rent payment as that is pretty much fixed, but one expense and their largest expense that can be cut very easily and quickly is labor expenses. I have spoken to several clients who wanted to wait to refinance but then got laid off and now cannot qualify. With no job, there is no hope for refinancing even with any of the government programs being released. So, contact me, your professional Florida mortgage lender, get moving on your refinance, then you can forget about your mortgage as you will have a record low interest rate.

FINALLY SOME HOPEFUL COMMENTS!  CHECK OUT JIM CRAMER’S TAKE ON RATES, CLICK HERE.

… and the beat goes on. 

Complaints from Floridians about fraudulent mortgage schemes and questionable foreclosure-rescue services were the most common concerns reported to state regulators in 2008, according to a report released Monday by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Consumers filed 7,305 complaints related to mortgage and foreclosure schemes, followed by 5,103 complaints about debt-collection services, collection agencies and credit-reporting companies.

The Attorney General’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force now has more than 35 active investigations and has filed several lawsuits that originated from the complaints.

State officials said the complaints indicate the troubled financial times are boom times for con artists who take advantage of Florida residents.

The mortgage loan business in Florida is already in a shambles and yet the parasites continue to feed. We cannot express to you how important it is that you research any lender or loan modification company you might seek to do business with. While regulations are set to tighten in the near future, opportunists are wasting no time when it comes to taking advantage of the desperate. If you are looking to modify your Florida mortgage loan, or refinance it, you need to make sure that you are dealing with a reputable company that has been in business for a while and who has no complaints filed against them. You can utilize various resources such as www.flofr.com (state site which gives you licensing and complaint information for Florida mortgage brokers, lenders, etc.) and www.sunbiz.org which you can use to see how long a company has been in business.

We’ve said it before and we will continue to say it, the Florida mortgage market is an absolute gold mine for crooks. We’re no longer just battling against companies that are publishing bogus rates that they can’t deliver, it’s far worse than that. These companies are offering loan modifications, refinances and other services that they cannot deliver, dishing out hope only to compound misery. Please, please, please, get informed and when you finally do decide on a company to work with, be vigilant and stay on them to deliver what they promised.

There is a lot of talk these days about mortgage modification.  This is especially the case given the economic stimulus that was passed by the Congress earlier this month.  In essence, people are supposed to have the ability to go back to their bank and to renegotiate the terms of their current mortgage note.  Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous companies popping up all over the place promising help but delivering nothing but scams and compounding the misery.  The problem is especially dire in Florida, where the real estate market has taken a beating and where mortgage foreclosures are through the roof.

While legitimate firms can indeed help borrowers wade through the tricky loan restructuring process, housing advocates and state regulators suspect that a large number of businesses offering to help consumers modify their mortgages may be predatory. Some fear that the $75 billion plan President Barack Obama announced last week to subsidize new loan terms for millions of American homeowners will draw even more shady operators to the niche.

In the past two weeks, the Florida attorney general’s office fielded 108 complaints from possible victims of foreclosure rescue schemes. The attorney general has sued about a dozen companies, including Outreach Housing, based in Margate.

Loan modification companies offer, for an upfront fee or monthly retainer, to negotiate with lenders to save homes. The pitch includes assurances that billions are available to bail out homeowners — and that lenders are eager to avoid foreclosing.

In the worst cases, the firms do nothing and pocket the money. Others make an earnest but unsuccessful attempt to help, then refuse to refund clients’ money. Either way, homeowners lose thousands of dollars they could have paid their lenders.

Mortgage modification in the Florida market, can make sense.  After all, a great many borrowers are so upside down where it concerns Loan to Value, that there is no way that they could obtain conventional financing.  For some people this might be their only viable option, but still the consumer needs to be aware.  Unscrupulous mortgage brokers and real estate agents have flocked to this new “opportunity” and continue to wreak havoc.  Make sure you do your homework if you are considering a loan modification, much of the leg work can be done by you, simply by making some phone calls to your current loan servicer and getting informed. 

As always, you can call us to discuss your options.  We will give you the straight skinny on your options and assist you where we can.  If you are considering refinancing your mortgage or buying a home, our rates are always amongst the lowest and our service is second to none.  We’re Florida homeowners and we too share in the angst and the uncertainty of the real estate market and the mortgage marketplace.  If there is a way that we can help you, we will let you know.  If we can’t we’ll be honest about it.  We’re not going to waste our time, but more importantly, we aren’t going to waste your time.  Give us a call and at least allow us the opportunity to try to assist you.