Rates
Rates on Thursday hit their 2014 loans, with FHA rates finally dipping below the 3.75% mark and some lenders quoting Conventional Rates in the high 3’s
It is all about Europe and warning of a pending recession over there, which may drag the US down with it.
Although all of the US economic numbers this week came in quite good.
We also had the Federal Reserve indicate that their Fed Fund Rate may stay at historical lows for the foreseeable future. The Fed Fund rate does not have any direct correlation to interest rates, but it does affect the Stock Market which does influence our Mortgage rates.
Previous indications was rates were trending to rise in 2015, but after the latest Fed statements, all bets are on 2016.
Data from this week:
-Job Market Openings 4.8M jobs available, up from 4.71M last month, most opening since January 2001!
-Jobless claims 287,000 vs est. of 295,000, stull under the 300K mark.
-August Wholesale inventories 0.7% vs est. of 0.3%
We did see some bad news out of the EU, with Germany still showing sign of a weakening economy.
Ebola is also becoming more of an economic concern, as more and more countries now have cases, US, Germany, Turkey, Australia and Spain have confirmed or watches on patients.
The gamble on holding off locks from last week to this week, could of paid off by .25 of a point, in speaking with a couple people in the know, they are concern that if Christmas doesn’t pan out, and Ebola takes hold, we could see rates continue slide.
Nothing really on the horizon to cause rates to go up, atleast dramatically.
Overall, with rates this low, we can’t be too greedy…well maybe just a little.
eSign
More and more lenders and government agencies are accepting eSign on documents now, which is GREAT because it really makes it quite a bit easier to get things signed.
But recently I have noticed that some agents and some clients are just using the mouse to sign forms, or are just using a Adobe PDF signature to sign forms.
This is not an acceptable way to sign documents, eSigned document have to follow the ESIGN Act (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce act) and the UETA (Uniform Electronic Transaction Act).
Without a signature that follow the specific requirements, it is not considered legal.
I have a couple of links here for better definition for your reference:
https://www.docusign.com/esign-act-and-ueta
https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/compliance/manual/pdf/X-3.1.pdf
So moral of this story, if you are utilizing eSignatures, make sure they are legitimate!
Home Price Correction
Are we going to see a home price correction, according to quite a bit of people I am speaking with the answer is YES!
Home prices over the last 2+ year have leaped, with areas in Idaho up as much as 40-60% from their lows.
And although this has been great for the home sellers, the home buyers have been left out because wages in Idaho have not gone up to compensate for the increase in home prices.
The data lately have seen the homes are selling for < listing prices, more sellers are giving concession and builders are also starting to give concession.
As we roll into the winter months, we are going to see even more concessions and home prices being put on the market less and less.
The added bonus is that rates are creaping lower, which may get more people back into the market.