Car Art Show in West Seattle
June 23, 2011 by Isabelle Bolliger · Leave a Comment
An Art Car Party is going on behind the Feedback Lounge (and Zeeks Pizza) until around 8:30 tonight and is worth the visit in you’re in the in West Seattle neighborohood. NOTE: I’ll post more pictures as soon as I can (I’m in the process of making a Father’s Day dinner for my hubby). Link posted below to more pictures.
Hat tip to Marlow Harris, her Elvis Traveling Museum is pictured below.
This is the “Yarn Car”.
Housing Market Remains Weak
June 23, 2011 by Isabelle Bolliger · Leave a Comment
Last week, I reported that mortgage rates have declined to another record low. Unfortunately for the housing market, the resulting uptick in mortgage activity was dominated by refinancings, and there is little evidence that low rates are spurring new borrowers. This is confirmed by the updated S&P Case Shiller Index, which shows that while prices are still rising on average, they are rising at a slower rate than before and appreciation could soon turn negative.
Morgan Stanley may speak for everybody; “It expects 2011 home prices to fall 5% to 10% from this year with four years of flat prices after that, although ‘the risk of slight additional downside in prices, and extension of the trough to 2012, has increased.’ ” Most of the government home-buying incentives have expired and lending standards have tightened. If the
Mortgage advances up by 8% during April
June 22, 2011 by Isabelle Bolliger · Leave a Comment
Mortgage advances to people buying a home jumped by 8% during April but lending levels remained down on a year earlier, figures showed today.
Around 40,900 loans were taken out by people moving home during the month, compared with 37,900 in March, but the total was still 2% lower than in April last year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Although advances were higher than they had been earlier in the year, they were also still running at around half the level typically seen in April before the credit crunch struck.
The group said with recent figures from the Bank of England showing a fall in mortgage approvals for house purchase in April, there was likely to be a “lull” in lending to buyers in the next few months.
Housing Market: Double-Dip in 2011?
June 21, 2011 by Isabelle Bolliger · Leave a Comment
A few months have passed since I last offered an update on the state of the housing market. Since then, there have been a number of developments which suggest that 2011 could witness double-digit declines in housing prices, and that the long-awaited double-dip will finally materialize.
In an analysis of the housing market, it’s difficult to know where to begin. So much has been written on this topic over the last month and a trove of new data [Gary Shilling has dutifully compiled all of this data in a must-read research report] has been released, to the point that I experienced an acute case of information overload when researching this article. H
Mortgage Rates: 30 Year Mortgage Rates Down, Averaging 4.41% on Weak Economic Data
June 12, 2011 by Isabelle Bolliger · Leave a Comment
A slew of weak economic data released last week sent conforming mortgage rates lower and jumbo mortgage rates higher. Conforming 30 year mortgage rates are averaging 4.41%, down from last week’s average 30 year mortgage rate of 4.44%. The current national average 30 year mortgage rate is now at another record low for 2011 as reported by MonitorBankRates.com. (continued below) Your browser does not support IFrames, check out monitorbankrates.com/mortgages for current mortgage rates. Find mortgage rates in your state by searching our mortgage rate tables at MortgageRates.MonitorBankRates.com. You can Continue reading…