Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Friday Housing News

Still, it's a nice breather for anyone who wants to take advantage of the colder weather to find a bargain on the house hunt. If it were me, I would lock in on a fixed rate and be done with it while things are still at the 6% mark. Here's an interesting look at how flattening bond rates may spell doom for ARM holders. The money (pun intended) quote:

For many borrowers, the savings from an adjustable may no longer be worth the risk that rates will rise further. Rates on one-year adjustables, for instance, currently average 5.48 percent, according to HSH Associates in Pompton Plains, N.J. That is just 1.01 percentage points less than average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Worse yet, even if interest rates remain unchanged, a borrower with a one-year ARM would see the rate on their loan jump to 7.1 percent after 12 months, according to HSH. That is because one-year ARMs typically carry low introductory rates.

Sounds a whole lot like credit card offers, doesn't it? "0% APR FOR SIX MONTHS!!!!! .... oh, and 27.99% for the rest of your natural life."

Apparently in D.C., gentrification and luxury condos favor rich gays and lesbians. This reminds me of talking with my dad...he can be amazingly incisive about politics and economics, and then he'll go off on some bizarre tangent about how blacks and Mexicans are ruining the nation's future. It's another reminder that real estate has myriad dimensions above the financial.

And hey, if D.C. residents want something to get riled up about besides the failing housing market, how 'bout that commuter tax battle?

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Mortgage rates have stopped the Great Leap Upward. I question the use of the CPI as a gauge of inflation, since it excludes the two most important expenses in anyone's budget--food and energy. Gas prices may be down from the astronomical highs of Labor Day, but they're still nothing to be frivolous about. And higher gas prices mean merchants and shipping have to bear bigger costs, which mean food will cost more down the line, if it hasn't already started. Still, it's a nice breather for anyone who wants to take advantage of the colder weather to find a bargain on the house hunt. If it were me, I would lock in on a fixed rate and be done with it while things are still at the 6% mark. Here's an interesting look at how flattening bond rates may spell doom for ARM holders. The money (pun intended) quote: For many borrowers, the savings from an adjustable may no longer be worth the risk that rates will rise further. Rates on one-year adjustables, for instance, currently average 5.48 percent, according to HSH Associates in Pompton Plains, N.J. That is just 1.01 percentage points less than average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Worse yet, even if interest rates remain unchanged, a borrower with a one-year ARM would see the rate on their loan jump to 7.1 percent after 12 months, according to HSH. That is because one-year ARMs typically carry low introductory rates. Sounds a whole lot like credit card offers, doesn't it? "0% APR FOR SIX MONTHS!!!!! .... oh, and 27.99% for the rest of your natural life." Apparently in D.C., gentrification and luxury condos favor rich gays and lesbians. This reminds me of talking with my dad...he can be amazingly incisive about politics and economics, and then he'll go off on some bizarre tangent about how blacks and Mexicans are ruining the nation's future. It's another reminder that real estate has myriad dimensions above the financial. And hey, if D.C. residents want something to get riled up about besides the failing housing market, how 'bout that commuter tax battle?