Interesting fact: On average, there have been 4 changes a week in the mortgage industry in the past 2 years. If that doesn’t say you need to work with an expert, I don’t know what does. So let’s ask an expert, Carrie Guarrero with MN Home Loan Partners of Cornerstone Mortgage Company, what is happening with interest rates?
Carrie: “Interest rates have ticked up a little bit more over the last week, Freddie Mac’s mortgage market survey shows rates just over 5.25% on a 30 year fixed mortgage, those are the highest rates since August 2009. Whoopee noodle. In the grand scheme of things, it isn’t like that is the equivalent to the sky falling. What’s awesome is that Minnesota Housing is standing by their word and they are still offering interest rates for first time home-buyers at 4.625 percent on first time home-buyer programs. Also, City Living for St Paul and Minneapolis as well as Dakota County Bond programs still show interest rates below 5% on 30 year fixed rate mortgages. So, it’s still a great time to buy.”
If buyers haven’t positioned themselves to take advantage of the $8,000 home-buyer tax credit, they need to get moving immediately. First time home-buyers need to have an accepted purchase agreement by April 30th and close by June 30th in order to be eligible for that tax credit. That is cutting it pretty close if you haven’t been approved for a mortgage yet. “The reality is that not every home-buyer can get approved for a mortgage overnight, however we can process approvals quickly. Home-buyers need to get in, bring their paperwork to us, and get started in order for us to ensure those tax credit deadlines will still be an option for you.” Carrie Guarrero told listeners on The Minnesota Real Estate Show.
What’s going on with the real estate market in places like Burnsville, Apple Valley, Eagan, Savage and Bloomington? New listings up 29% over last year at this time, pending sales (meaning there has been an offer accepted on the property but hasn’t yet closed) are up 14%, 1,049 homes sold last week in the Twin Cities market. There are currently 25,275 active properties for sale on the market. That figure covers the metro area and includes Scott and Dakota Counties.
“A few weeks back we were at 21,000 homes for sale in the Twin Cities, now we are up over 25,000. We knew this was coming. The reason that’s important to you if you are a retail seller, is looking at what percentage of these homes coming on the market for sale are bank owned or short sale homes, because competing dollar for dollar against these bank mediated properties is a losing proposition. I believe that if we see the active listing numbers tick up toward 27,000 homes on the market, we will start seeing longer times for those homes to be on the market and maybe a little softening on what has been a great first quarter in the Minnesota real estate market,” Scott Wollmering with RE/MAX Results W/E team explains.
To get pre-approved for a mortgage, talk to Carrie Guarrero at Cornerstone Mortgage Company or click here to get started.
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