We all love to talk about real estate – especially today. Here are some timely FACTUAL tidbits for you to use next time you get together with your friends:
- Mortgage rates are now under 5% – the lowest they’ve been since Freddie Mac started it’s mortgage survey in 1970. (Source: Freddie Mac )
- To qualify for a great interest rate your credit score must be solidly in the 700’s.
- The Housing Affordability Index composite level for January was 166.8. A composite H.A.I. value of 166.8 means that a family earning the median income has 166.8 percent of the income needed to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home. (In other words, a higher index number means housing is more affordable; a lower index number means housing is less affordable.) The index had fallen during most of the housing bubble, when it became more and more expensive to buy a home. January’s composite level was the highest the index has reached since the association began collecting this data in 1971. (Source: Nat’l Assn of Realtors )
- Wisconsin’s foreclosures are less than 1%. The highest foreclosure state is Nevada at 7%.(Source: Realty Trac)
- Nationally, housing inventories were at an all time low in January. There was buyer hesitation with buyers sitting out waiting for clarity on the stimulus package. NAR estimates the impact of the stimulus package and lower interest rates on the housing market to be about 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package. Inventory is expected to fall below an 8-month supply by the year end, which would be consistent with home price stabilization. (Source: Nat’l Assn of Realtors)
- The average sale price in our Madison, Wiscosnin MLS was $239,098 – about the same as 2007 ($240,168). (Source SCWMLS)
