Open Houses Sunday December 6
Just a handful of Open Houses again – but there again there are not many properties on the market. (more…)
Mortgage Markets Return to Normal
Before delving into the details, let me show you the answer, the chart showing the spread – difference- between the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM), as reported weekly by Freddie Mac, and the yield on the 10-year US Treasury Note (10T):
In recent years the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) has averaged a spread of about 1.7% above the yield on the US 10-year Treasury (10T). (more…)
New Listings week ending December 4
Just a handful of New Listings this week:
Click on these links for the New Listings: (more…)
Conforming Mortgage Loan Limits raised for 2021
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2021. In most of the U.S., the 2021 maximum conforming loan limit for one-unit properties will be $548,250, an increase of 7.4% from $510,400 in 2020. FHFA has determined that the average U.S. home value increased by that amount between the third quarters of 2019 and 2020.
Essex County
The first table shows the limit both nationally and in Essex County in recent years, as well as the maximum home price that would qualify for a conforming loan. Since 2012 the limit has increased 31% nationally and 55% in Essex County.
Massachusestts (more…)
How Marblehead’s 2021 Property Tax Rate is Calculated
This article, which explains how the tax rate is calculated, is a follow up to Marblehead’s 2021 Property Tax Rate
The formula is actually very simple: take the $ amount of the previous year’s Tax Levy, add 2.5% for Proposition 2 1/2, and also add any New Growth (such as new construction or a condo conversion). This figure is the new tax levy. To this figure is added debt service – the Principal and Interest payable on the town’s debt. – to produce the new Tax Levy.
Here are the numbers for Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021, remembering that FY 2021 runs from July 2020 to June 2021. (more…)
Open Houses Sunday November 29
Some things don’t change. Normally there are few Open Houses on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Well maybe a slight change – there are even fewer than usual. (more…)
Open Houses weekend November 28/29
Rather like the turkey by this stage, it’s slim pickings for this weekend’s Open Houses. This list will be updated on Sunday morning (because of the quirks of MLS some of the Sunday Open Houses don’t show up on Saturday.)
Click on these links for details:
Marblehead Open Houses
Swampscott Open Houses
Salem Open Houses
Beverly Open House
Lynn Open Houses
Mortgage Rates: Another new low
Goodbye Boston, Hello Marblehead
Why now is a GREAT time to sell (more…)
Last New Listings before Thanksgiving
These are the last New Listings before Thanksgiving: (more…)
Mortgage Rates: Another new low
As if in response to my questioning whether mortgage rates were about to rise in Mortgage Rates: another Head Fake or Early Warning? the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) as reported by Freddie Mac dropped to yet another new low this week of just 2.72%.
This is the moment when you turn to a friend or family member – probably the latter at the moment – and say “when I bought my house in 19xx the rate was – fill in the blank, 7%,8% or whatever.” My highest was 7.3% in 1999. (more…)
New Listings week before Thanksgiving
The election, new COVID-19 restrictions and the upcoming holidays combined to produce just a small number of New Listings again this week. See below to see how low supply is for the towns, while demand remains strong. (more…)
Does nobody want to leave Marblehead?
Marblehead has a population of around 20,000 and more than 6,250 Single Family Homes (SFH).
In a normal year perhaps 250-300 of these change hands, which is a remarkably low number. Once people move to Marblehead they are very reluctant to leave! And that was true even before COVID-19.
Everybody has heard how low inventory is, but how low is very low?I looked at the inventory of SFHs for sale on this date for the last 20 years. (more…)
Why now is a GREAT time to sell
The election, more COVID restrictions, Thanksgiving less than two weeks ago, Hanukkah starts on December 10 and Christmas is two weeks later.
All these are reasons not to sell right now but wait for the New Year – boy, aren’t we all waiting for and looking forward to the end of 2020!
But I would like to suggest that, in fact, this is a great time to sell. Inventory is remarkably low – read Does nobody want to leave Marblehead? (more…)
Mortgage Rates: another Head Fake or Early Warning?
Back in June I wrote Mortgage rate head fake, when mortgage rates jumped but only very briefly.
On Wednesday this week I wrote: “In normal times, the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) is priced based upon the extra yield investors require over and above that which can be received on the US 10-year Treasury Note (10T). In recent years that extra yield – spread – has averaged 1.7%.
2020, as you may have noticed, has not been normal. In the peak of the disruption to mortgage markets in April the spread reached 2.7%, as the yield on 10T was driven sharply lower, dropping from 1.8% at the beginning of the year to as low as 0.55%.
But recently, the yield has been climbing and now approaches 1%. And the spread over 10T has been under 2% for the last three weeks.”
Here is a chart of the spread in recent years and by quarter in 2020: (more…)
Open Houses Sunday November 8
Here are today’s Open Houses (as always, rather more Open Houses are scheduled for today than were shown when the list was published yesterday) (more…)
Open Houses weekend November7/8
Here are this weekend’s Open Houses. This list will be updated on Sunday morning (because of the quirks of MLS some of the Sunday Open Houses don’t show up on Saturday.) (more…)
Recent Comments