Please take a few minutes to read the following powerpoint presentation that was just presented today by the Vice President of Freddie Mac.

 Christy Hudson of Metro Alaska Mortgage says, “WOW - I just got done listening to a conference call for Metrocities Mortgage where Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s Vice President and Chief Economist talked about the economic outlook and I am SO thankful to call Alaska home! As most of us know our housing market has faired out extremely well compared to the rest of the US.  Now we have news directly from Freddie Mac that supports this! Please take a few minutes to go over the power point presentation from this call. Pay particular attention to slide # 7 (page 8 of 23)!  This shows that Alaska is the ONLY state that has APPRECIATION!!”

VIew the slide show by clicking on the following link http://www.topproducerwebsite.com/users/24437/downloads/Economic%20Forecast.pdf?id=0.6684946 

If you are considering buying a home or need to refinance your current home, call Christy at 865-6598.

Recently, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson talked about his plan to help certain homeowners who may be facing higher mortgage interest rates due to adjustable rate mortages increasing.  Paulson states, “We have worked through an evolving process to help minimize the impact of the housing downturn on homeowners, neighborhoods and the
U.S. economy.”

Here are some key facts to the plan:

* Those homeowner’s with a fixed interest rate mortgage will not be helped by the plan only some of those who have adjustable rate mortgages.

*To qualify, you need to have received your loan sometime between Jan. 1, 2005, and July 31, 2007, and you need to be facing a reset of your interest rate sometime between Jan. 1, 2008, and July 31, 2010.

*If you are well enough off to still pay the higher mortgage payment when your interest rates increase, you will not qualify.  This plan is only intended for those who will possibly not be able to make the higher mortgage payment.

*Along with the previous fact, if you currently can’t afford the payment at the current low interest rate, you won’t qualify. If you’ve already fallen behind on your mortgage payments, you’re not eligible for the rate freeze.

*This plan is not intended to help those that are currently in the foreclosure process or who want to purchase a home now or in the future with an adjustable rate mortgage.

*You must owner occupy your property to qualify.

Christy Hudson with Metro Alaska Mortgage gave me some insight into Alaska’s housing market and where we stand compared to the markets in the lower 48.  Christy had the following to say:

By now we are all aware of the “Mortgage Crunch” going on in America. The media reports on it daily with a “Sky is Falling” attitude that sensationalizes what is going on which helps them sell the news. 

I’m here to give you my two cents, for what it’s worth and hopefully a little insight on how all of this affects our local market. I was born and raised in the beautiful town of Anchorage, Alaska! This is where I went to school, watched as the neighborhoods grew, schools where built and more and more stores made their way up to the last frontier. I was here in the 80s when the housing market took a sever beating (I just wish I had enough money back then to scoop up a ton of properties) and I was here watching the recovery and blossoming of our housing market. 

Lets start off with a few facts provide by Mortgage Bankers Association. 

Florida and California—the two largest states in terms of mortgages outstanding—drove the increase in the national foreclosure rates. While California andFlorida together have 36.4 percent of all prime ARM loans in the country, they had 42.4 percent of the nation’s foreclosure starts for prime ARMS. Similarly, California andFlorida together have 28.1 percent of subprime ARMs and 33.7 percent of foreclosure starts for subprime ARMs. Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana have 16.4 percent of prime fixed loans in the country but 29.3 percent of foreclosures started on prime fixed loans and 18.9 percent of the subprime fixed rate loans and 26.3 percent of the foreclosure starts. 

Duncan noted that while subprime ARM delinquencies and foreclosures are climbing in all states, in most states the actual number of loans involved is fairly modest. For example, he said, the number of subprime ARM foreclosure starts in California during the third quarter equaled the starts in 35 other states combined. What these numbers show is that specific localized areas are driving up the nation wide figures. So when the media reports these national figures they are not a true reflection of what is going on in our home town.Alaska is definitely experiencing a higher number of foreclosures and a slow down in the market but nothing like what many of the places in the lower 48 are experiencing.  

Honestly I am excited about what is going on and what this means for my clients. The days of easy money as a realtor or lender are gone, which means a number of realtors and lenders that jumped in to make a quick buck but were not true professionals are mass exiting because they have to work much harder. There has been a cleansing and the consumer benefits because true professionals are the ones that tend to remain. 

The other great news is prices have fallen making it easier for 1^st time home buyers to get in to their own home.  Some consumers are holding off buying because they think prices are going to get lower and they don’t want to “over spend” on a home.  Here is what I have to say to that – No one is going to ring a bell signifying we are at the top of the housing market and no one is going to ring the bell signifying we are at the bottom. You can guarantee you are not paying top dollar right now for a home and we may not be at the bottom but what one can be certain of is it’s a great time to buy a home, prices have come down and interest rates are still low. 

I don’t see the gloom and doom that some see, I see opportunity! 

 
Christy Hudson
Senior Loan Consultant
Metro Alaska Mortgage
907-865-6598
chudson@metrocitiesmtg.com
www.metroalaskamtg.com

We’ve all heard the news, read the paper, and listened to people around town say the real estate market in Anchorage is a buyer’s market and that now is not a good time to buy because the prices are DROPPING.  My question to you as a buyer is how many years have you been telling yourself that you aren’t going to buy until prices come down?

If you said this in 2004, you missed buying that great home for $258,137.

If you said this in 2005, you missed buying that great home for $289,287.

If you said this in 2006, you missed buying that great home for $312,478.

If you say this in 2007, you will have missed buying that great home for $330,570.

The fact is, it’s the same house and even in this “bad” market, it’s still appreciating.  For year to date for 2007, homes are selling for 5.7% more than last year.  Is it worth waiting another year just to see if the market crashes?  In my opinion, absolutely not.  You have to hope that house values will not rise at all next year and I honestly believe the chances of that happening are ZERO.  Maybe the market will only jump 3% next year, but that would still mean you are going to pay an extra $10,000 for the same house on average. 

If you would have bought that house in 2004 and sold it today, you could have made a potential gross profit of over $72,000.  Even today, nice, clean, well maintained homes in desirable locations still sell when priced right.  If they aren’t selling, they aren’t priced right because you as a buyer get to decide how much a home is worth, not tax records or a recent appraisal. So why aren’t you buying your new home today?

Welcome to Brandi Croom’s Blog! This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Anchorage.