Sunday, April 08, 2007

Appraisal - Week in Review

Just for fun I counted the office appraisals for the first week in April. We completed 40 residential appraisals as follows: Chicago (9), Chicago Heights (1), Arlingnton Heights (1), Prospect Heights (2), Melrose Park (1), Bartlett (2), Oak Lawn (1), Palos Hills (1), Carol Stream (1), Frankfort (1), Mount Prospect (1), Palatine (1), Winnetka (1), Flossmore (1), Niles (1), Franklin Park (1), Hanover Park (1), Northfield (2), Elk Grove Village (2), Downers Grove (1), Morton Grove (1), La Grange (1), Bridgeview (1) and Roselle (1).

As you can see we work Citywide

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Mortgage rates have idled in neutral for five weeks.

Bankrate.com reports that "the benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose 3 basis points to 6.22 percent, according to a national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.29 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.44 percent; four weeks ago, it was 6.2 percent."

Further, "the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 1 basis point, to 5.92 percent. The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 3 basis points, to 6.05 percent."

Read more at Bankrate.com

Bernanke's take on economy

Testimony puts scare into bond market

Upward pressure continues on long-term rates: the 10-year T-note at 4.65 percent has jumped the March range, and mortgages are at risk to lose the 6.25 percent level.

The economy has slowed to growth near 2 percent, but shows no sign of serious impact from the housing recession. This morning, personal income and spending each rose by .6 percent in February. Construction spending, expected to drop, instead rose .3 percent.

Weekly applications for mortgages are holding in a steady band. If a mortgage credit crunch were beginning to bite, we would see a decline by now. Refinance apps are running stronger than would be explained by interest-rate-advantage models, indicating that large numbers of ARM borrowers are successfully escaping their upward resets.

The corporate sector is showing some stress: earnings are falling, many estimates calling for mid- to low-single-digit growth, a small fraction of performance in the last several years. Capital expenditures are unexpectedly weak, orders for durable goods in a sustained decline. However, balance sheets are strong, and after a long run the downshift could be no more than a cyclical wobble.

The consumer is king: If spending and job growth continue (the payroll numbers next Friday are crucial), then GDP growth will continue. At a subdued rate, but given the Fed's hope for gradually declining inflation, the ideal outcome.

If growth and inflation behave, fine. However, what if inflation does not "gradually decline," as in Fed forecasts since summer 2006? Will the Fed have the courage to choose inflation-fighting over GDP preservation?

The immediate answer is not so hot: long-term rates broke upward during Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke's Wednesday testimony to Congress.

Read the entire Lou Barnes article at Citywide Services

Sunday, April 01, 2007

March - Appraisal month in review

The spring real estate market is starting to pick up. In the month of March I completed 18 full appraisals. These included condominiums in Chicago's Lakeview, Grand Boulevard and West town neighborhoods. Single family homes in Ashburn, Gage Park, Woodlawn and Chicago Lawn neighborhoods. And two flats in Austin, Auburn Gresham and Greater Grand Crossing.

In addition I saw homes in Round Lake, North Riverside, Chicago Heights and Thornton.