May 3, 2012 | The Economy
Been shopping for a mortgage rate? You may want to lock something down. Tomorrow morning, mortgage rates are expected to change. Unfortunately, we don’t know in which direction they’ll move.
It’s a risky time for Worcester County area home buyers to be without a locked mortgage rate.
The action begins at 8:30 A.M. ET Friday. This is when the government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its April Non-Farm Payrolls report.
The monthly Non-Farm Payrolls report is more commonly known as “the jobs report” and provides a sector-by-sector breakdown of the U.S. employment situation, including changes in the Unemployment Rate.
In March 2012, the government reported 120,000 net new jobs created — half the number created during the month prior, and the third straight month of declining job creation. The Unemployment Rate fell one-tenth of one percent to 8.2%. (more…)
May 2, 2012 | Uncategorized
Last Friday, the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts (REBA) filed an action in Suffolk Superior Court against a non-lawyer settlement service provider, National Loan Closers, Inc., and a number of Massachusetts lawyers who continue to perform “witness only” closings in violation of Real Estate Bar Ass’n for Massachusetts, Inc. v. National Real Estate Information Services, 459 Mass. 512, 946 N.E.2d 665 (2011). The filing followed a unanimous vote of the REBA’s Board of Directors.
“ ‘Witness only’ closings violate Massachusetts law prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law, place homebuyers and mortgage lenders at risk, erode the public’s confidence in the Commonwealth’s recording and registration system, and deprive the Massachusetts IOLTA Program of thousands of dollars of revenue,” said Chris Pitt, REBA’s President.
“Although most lenders, title companies, and title insurers now recognize that ‘witness only’ closings are not permitted in the Commonwealth, there are still some who persist,” said Tom Moriarty, Co-chair of the Committee on the Practice of Law by Non-Lawyers. “There is no justification for these unlawful practices to continue and title insurers, title companies and the attorneys who participate in ‘witness only’ closings should stop.”
For a copy of the complaint click here.
May 1, 2012 | Mortgage Guidelines
Despite an improving U.S. economy, the nation’s banks remain cautious about what they will lend, and to whom.
Last quarter, by a margin of 3-to-2, more banks tightened residential mortgage lending standards for “prime borrowers” than did loosen them.
A “prime borrower” is defined as one with a well-documented cre (more…)
Apr 27, 2012 | Housing Analysis
After a series of worse-than-expected data last month, the housing market appears to be back on track.
The Pending Home Sales Index posted 101.4 in March, a four percent gain from the month prior and the index’s highest reading since April 2010 — the last month of that year’s federal home buyer tax credit.
A “pending home” is a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed. The Pending Home Sales Index is tracked and published by the National Association of REALTORS® monthly.
The March report marks the index’s first 100-plus reading in nearly two years.
To home buyers and sellers throughout Worcester County area, this is statistically significant because the Pending Home Sales Index is normalized to 100, a value corresponding to the average home contract activity in 2001, the index’s first year of existence. 2001 was an historically-strong year for the housing market.
The March 2012 Pending Home Sales Index, therefore, puts current market activity on par with market activity from 2001. (more…)
