East Coast Trend

More households are moving to East Coast states while leaving Rust Belt states -- the area in the U.S. between the Midwest and the Northeast -- where unemployment remains high, according to the latest Atlas Lines Migration Patterns study, which has tracked the nation’s moves since 1993. For the fifth year in a row, Washington, D.C., had the highest percentage of inbound moves while Ohio had the highest percentage of residents leaving, or “outbound moves.” Meanwhile, western states mostly stayed balanced in moves for the year. Several southeastern states, such as Florida and Georgia, also stayed balanced in moves despite high foreclosure rates, possibly because they also serve as retirement hot-spots, according to the survey. The summer months continued to have the largest number of moves per season, according to the survey.

Source: Atlas Van Lines 2011 Migration Patterns

Recovery of Housing Market

Real estate economists and analysts are increasingly optimistic that the housing market will have a dramatic recovery in the next two years, according to results of a new semi-annual survey of 38 real estate economists and analysts conducted by the Urban Land Institute’s Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate. The economists predict that the national average for home prices will stop falling by this year and a subsequent turnaround will occur. By next year, they project that home prices will begin to rise by 2 percent, and then get a larger boost of 3.5 percent by 2014. The economists also predict that housing starts will nearly double by next year. They also foresee rental prices continuing to increase for all property types, ranging from 0.8 percent to 5 percent. The economists’ predictions were made on assumptions that the economy would continue to strengthen, including a larger drop in unemployment. “While geopolitical and global economic events could change the forecast going forward, what we see in this survey is confidence that the U.S. real estate economy has weathered the brunt of the recent financial storm and is poised for significant improvement over the next three years,” says Patrick L. Phillips, ULI chief executive officer. “These results hold much promise for the real estate industry.”

Source: RISMedia

Time to Refinance

For homeowners who have been waiting for rates to fall even further before refinancing, it might be time to pull the trigger on a deal. Rates are moving up—and could stay higher for a while, experts say. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan has climbed approximately 0.25%, according to Freddie Mac. While rates still are below where they were a year ago, some economists say they are likely to keep rising throughout 2012 and into 2013. That means your window of opportunity to lock in a rock-bottom rate might be closing soon. "If you're considering refinancing, there's really no point in waiting," says Frank Nothraft, the chief economist at Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association all are projecting that rates will keep ticking higher this year and beyond. Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association predict the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate home loan will reach 5% next year. The biggest culprit in rising rates: the spike in yields on 10-year Treasury notes over the past two weeks, which rates generally track, says Mr. Nothaft. "It's a good-news, bad-news situation. The economy seems to be finally getting its legs back under it, and as a natural course interest rates are going to be back up, too," says Keith Gumbinger, vice president at mortgage-data provider HSH Associates. But if the fledgling economic recovery falters, rates could hold steady or go back down, he says. If you wait until the end of the year to refinance, and the average 30-year rate goes up as Freddie Mac projects—you will be paying $1,877 more per year on a $400,000 home loan than if you refinanced at rates which exist in late March, 2012. Source: The Wall Street Journal Did you know that every month that you don't refinance costs you the same amount of money as you would have saved? That means a six month wait on a potential $300 per month savings actually gives you a cost of $1,800 in lost benefits. Contact us for more about "the cost of waiting" and how to act quickly so as not to miss today's opportunity to refinance.