February 25, 2009
February 25, 2009 by admin
The stock market rally appears to be a one day anomily as the market is selling off sharply on Wednesday. The market went down fast following a grim report on the housing front with the existing home sales report showing a fall off of 5.3% in the month of January, pacing annual sales at under five million units. Almost fifty percent of all homes that are being purchased are considered to be distressed properties (homes in foreclosure or short sale status). Home values continue to trend lower nationally with the median home sales price coming in just over 170k.
Mortgage rates which are critical to the housing market have been flat over the past two weeks. Long term fifteen year fixed rate loans, popular options for consumer looking to refinance remain in the high four percent range. The expectation that the drop in interest rates the market experienced in mid December would spur a surge of home buying has yet to be realized. Home buyers remain very cautious, despite historically low rates. The yield on the ten year bond was at 2.86% on Wednesday, with little movement this week.