National and Southern New Hampshire News Roundup from December 2010

Frequently, there are news stories that impact our Southern New Hampshire real estate market.  Here are two I want to share with you this month:

Rising Interest Rates Could Get Buyers Moving

Rising interest rates may finally push Southern New Hampshire real estate buyers off the fence and into the market.  (In fact, December and the early part of January have been much busier than normal for the winter months.)

In December, after President Obama agreed to extend tax cuts for two years, the financial markets indicated this event would most likely push mortgage interest rates higher.

Analysts predict that buyers will move quickly when it looks like rates are going up and are unlikely to come down. "Once people see this might actually be the bottom, they’ll go for it," says Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics Ltd.

For an example of interest rate increases, note what happened in December, 2010.  

    * On December 2, the 30-year fixed interest rate hovered around 4.46 percent.
    * One week later, on December 9, it was up to 4.61 percent.
    * Then by December 26, the 30-year fixed interest rate was up again to 4.875 percent.

National Foreclosure Rates Fall

Has the real estate market hit bottom?  One sign that it has is RealtyTrac’s report that foreclosures fell sharply in November.  RealtyTrac’s November, 2010, U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ indicated a 21 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month and a 14 percent decrease from November, 2009.

According to RealtyTrac, a mortgage research firm, foreclosure activity decreased dramatically in November with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving a foreclosure notice for the first time since February, 2009.

While foreclosures typically decrease in November, and we’re sure to see a rebound in foreclosure activity, these statistics are not to be dismissed because they show the lowest level of foreclosure activity since November, 2008.  Additionally, both the 21 percent month-over-month decrease and 14 percent year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity were the highest drops recorded since RealtyTrac began publishing the U.S. Foreclosure Report in January, 2005.

Want to know more about the Southern New Hampshire real estate market?  Give me a call at 603-821-1134 or email me at Dave@DaveHeeter.com to discuss our real estate market.  I look forward to hearing from you.