Gaddhafi is dead. That’s pretty fun. Though I can’t imagine there are many people who’d like to fill his now empty shoes. Being told “the guy who had this job before you was brutally ambushed by a coalition of world forces, captured and beaten/shot to death before he could stand trial” would be a deal-breaker for me.
But this is good news for reducing the number of wars we are waging. Hopefully. Obama also announced last week that the vast majority of U.S. military forces will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of this year. So I imagine that will provide a nice boost to the unemployment numbers at the end of this year.
Ha ha. It’s funny because we as a country haven’t even half the respect for our veterans that we used to. And by funny, I mean epicly sad.
National existing home sales dropped 3% in September according to the National Association of Realtors. Conversely, housing starts jumped up 15% and beat estimates in the same month. Yet another grab-bag of mixed indicators. To strike a more intimate nerve with us Central Floridians, CoreLogic recently released analytics indicating that the total mortgage debt in Orlando is greater than the sum of the property values.
You read it right: the City Beautiful is underwater.
Know what? I won’t sugar-coat it. This isn’t good. However, it is a reminder that we seem to consis-tently be at the most extreme points of market swings. When it was good everywhere else it was REALLY good in Orlando. Apparently the opposite is now true.
Coincidentally, U.S. regulators released a statement saying they will be easing the terms of the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program by scrapping the 125% loan-to-value cap. So, according to their logic, no matter how much you owe you can refinance to a lower rate.
News flash: Lenders weren't allowing the refinances to go past 105% regardless of what Uncle Sam mandated. If I had to guess, they will laugh this program right into obscurity before it has a chance to do anything useful.
And on the topic of large institutions flapping their gums about stuff that isn’t going to actually happen, the Vatican came out today requesting a central world bank. Because I know when I think financial authority, I think of the pope. The same guy that says how awesome heaven is while surrounding himself in bullet-proof glass.
The overall volatility coupled with government programs aimed at driving mortgage rates down sent the Freddie Mac average 30-year fixed rate below 4% earlier this month for the first time since the 1940’s. So the whole “rates are still super-low” thing is going on. That’s a bright spot.
Occupy Wall Street. Oodles and oodles of people with posterboard signs. I don’t get it. Yes, I can empathize with Americans feeling cheated by the corporations our tax dollars bailed out and I can wrap my brain around a desire for change. But WHAT change? You think we’re going to re-write the laws of capitalism because of wealth imbalances? I feel really old when I say “Get a job, hippies!”
But amidst all of this craziness, I know for a fact that your friends, family and associates are still out there buying houses. Rates are good and home prices are incredibly affordable. I ask that you please keep me at the front of your mind and mention me when these conversations happen. Your referrals of people looking to buy or refinance homes are the lifeblood of my business. Thanks in advance.
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