Eagle (Boise, ID)
By Dean Tucker NMLS 103829, Mortgage Banker
(Dean Tucker Benchmark Mortgage)
Sales of new homes rose sharply in December, posting a 17.5 percent gain from the month prior. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, New Home Sales climbed to 329,000 in December, besting November by close to 50,000 units on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis. Last month's reading is an 8-month high for New Home Sales, and the latest in a series of signals that housing is improving in Meridian and around the country. Note that December's Existing Homes Sales and Building Permits reports also showed marked gains last month, climbing 12 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Furthermore, an interesting pattern is emerging in the price points of home sales. The highest levels of relative growth are occurring within the "move-up buyer" segments. Entry-level price point...
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By Dean Tucker NMLS 103829, Mortgage Banker
(Dean Tucker Benchmark Mortgage)
Looking for an extra 2010 tax deduction? Consider making your January mortgage payment a few days early. It's a simple strategy that works because of how mortgage interest works. Unlike rent which is paid in advance at the start of a month, mortgage interest is only paid after it's been borrowed. Your January mortgage payment, therefore, accounts for the interest that accrued in December. And for a lot of Idaho homeowners, that mortgage interest is tax-deductible. By making January's mortgage payment in December, eligible homeowners can apply the interest paid to 2010′s tax returns instead of waiting to claim the same deduction against 2011. Don't cut it close, though. It's best to remit payment prior to the last week of the month, leaving your servicer ample time to receive and process...
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By Dean Tucker NMLS 103829, Mortgage Banker
(Dean Tucker Benchmark Mortgage)
The value of a home is based on the basic economic principle of Supply and Demand. When the number of buyers exceeds the number of sellers, home prices rise. Conversely, when sellers outnumber buyers, home prices fall. There's always a opening price point for negotiation and that figure often factors in specifics like square footage, number of rooms, and finishes and amenities. Location matters, too. On a ZIP code-by-ZIP code basis, prices can vary wildly and it's tiny, tony 91008 - located in Duarte, California - that tops the 2010 Forbes list of America's Most Expensive ZIP Codes. Home to fewer than 1,400 residents of Los Angeles County, the ZIP code's median home cost is $4,276,462. By contrast, the median home cost across all of Duarte's ZIP codes is just $358,454. As listed by Forb...
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By Dean Tucker NMLS 103829, Mortgage Banker
(Dean Tucker Benchmark Mortgage)
Only 17 out of the 91 European Union's banks failed their stress test.  The ultimate goal of the stress test was to give the global markets more confidence in the EU.  The results were released last week and so were the criteria.  No one expected the criteria to be so tough.These tests ran a bank's balance sheets through a series of worse case scenarios.  A bank fails the stress test if its Tier-1 capital ratio is below 6% under two scenarios: Adverse scenario and adverse scenario plus sovereign risk.  The adverse scenario assumes that the bank must face an economic climate that is so severe that it is only experienced once in 20 years.  The same tests in the U.S. last year assumed a once in seven year possibility.  These tests assumed a further decrease of 6% in unemployment from curre...
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By Dean Tucker NMLS 103829, Mortgage Banker
(Dean Tucker Benchmark Mortgage)
U.S. foreclosure rates fell for the third straight month according to RealtyTrac's new report.  New foreclosure fillings in June dropped 2.81 percent from the previous month and 6.98 percent from the previous year. While foreclosure rates are falling, they are still at high levels with 16 straight months of readings of over 300,000.  Still 410 out of every 411 homes are not in foreclosure, so there is still some strength in the housing market.
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Boise, ID Real Estate Professionals