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Rates Remain Flat
In Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage
Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
(FRM) averaged 5.72%, with an average 0.6
points, for the week ending November 24, down
a little from last week when it averaged 5.74%.
Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged
5.83%.
The average
for the 15-year FRM this week is 5.15%, with
an average 0.6 points, unchanged from last
week. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged
5.17%.
One-year Treasury-indexed
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adjustable-rate
mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.27% this
week, with an average 0.7 point, up
from last week when it averaged 4.17%.
At this time last year, the one-year
ARM averaged 3.72%.
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Home Building Boom
Home builders hammered by growing
demand, upped production of new homes to 2.02 million
in October, an increase of 2.2% from a year ago,
according to the U.S. Census
Bureau.
Single-family new home
starts represented 1.64 million of the total which
also includes multi-family starts and manufactured
homes.
Meanwhile, sellers were
snatching up single-family homes at the rate of
1.2 million a month in September, an increase of
7% from a year ago and the third highest monthly
rate ever.
New home starts increased
in all four regions including a whopping 20% in
the Northeast, 8.6% in the Midwest, 5% in the West,
and 4% in the South. |
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NAR Vows To Save
Interest Deduction
 T he tax write-off for mortgage interest
isn't even on the National Association of Realtors'
issues radar screen. Indeed, issues such as predatory
lending and the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac top the group's legislative agenda.
But if the deduction is
put in play as part of any Bush Administration effort
to re-write the tax code, as some think it will
be, the full force and fury of NAR's nearly 1.1
million members can be expected to be brought to
bear.
"We will do all in our
power" to save the vaunted deduction, Al Mansell
the new NAR President, vowed at the politically
powerful group's annual convention in Orlando last
month. |
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Tips For A Safe
Holiday Season
 As you pull out those holiday storage boxes
filled with decorative goodies and embark on your seasonal
embellishing, take extra care as you hang those outdoor
lights, choose that tree, and spark those holiday candles.
In any given year, about 8,700
people go to the emergency room because of holiday-related
injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission. Additionally, Christmas trees are the cause
of about 400 fires a year, resulting in 20 deaths, 70
injuries, and an average of $15 million in property loss
and damage.
Trees aren't the only cause of
holiday fires: Some 10,000 candle-related fires are also
reported each year.
Here are some safety tips to
keep in mind as you begin your holiday decorating:
 Your Christmas tree should
be green.
It should be difficult
to pull the needles from the branches.
The needles shouldn't
break when bent between your fingers.
The trunk butt should
be sticky with resin.
When the trunk is bounced
on the ground, needles shouldn't shower to the ground.
Be sure the tree
is away from fireplaces and other heat sources.
Place away from traffic.
If you buy an artificial tree, make sure it is fire-resistant.
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