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Jewish World Review Jan. 22, 2001 / 27 Teves, 5761

Real Estate Watch by Pamela Reeves

Pamela Reeves
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Consumer Reports


Rates rise a little...
refinancing soars

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- REFINANCING accounted for 64 percent of mortgage activity last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, thanks to the lowest home interest rates in almost two years. If you missed out, don't worry. Mortgage rates are higher this week but not enough to make much difference in your monthly payments.

At last week's low rate of 6.89 percent, a $160,000 mortgage would mean a monthly payment of $1,052. At this week's rate of 7.02 percent, the payment would be just $14 a month more.

Still, it's nerve-wracking to depend on guesswork when you're making one of the major purchases of your life.

Those who aren't desperate to buy or refinance have the luxury of waiting to see if rates will come back down and fall further. Those who really need a lower payment or who barely qualify for a loan at current rates probably should lock in right now.

If the rate rose to 7.5 percent, the payment on a $160,000 loan would rise to $1,118, which might put the house out of your reach.

Housing prices are growing at close to 8 percent throughout most of the nation, according to Freddie Mac, a large national mortgage lender. But Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist, Frank Nothaft, is predicting that house price growth will slow this year, although it will still outpace inflation.

"With mortgage rates around 7 percent, after-tax mortgage rates are in the 4 percent to 5 percent range," Nothaft said. "So housing is still a good investment and will remain good even at the lower projected appreciation rates."

In the first six months of 2000, Americans spent:

10 billion on credit card purchases.

175 billion on 9 million cars and trucks.

473 billion on 3 million home mortgages.

Factoids from the Mortgage Bankers Association)

If you had a choice of a celebrity neighbor, who would it be?

A survey by the online mortgage firm MortgageIT.com found that men preferred actress Sarah Jessica Parker, who won the hearts of 31 percent of male voters, trailed by Madonna with 21 percent, Rosie O'Donnell with 16 percent and Barbara Walters with 10 percent.

Among the women, 23 percent chose golfer Tiger Woods, followed by actor Tom Cruise at 17 percent and NBC anchor Tom Brokaw at 15 percent.

President-elect Bush won just 6 percent of the vote.

Remodeling? Consider giving your old kitchen cabinets or decent carpeting to Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit national organization that helps low-income families become homeowners.

"Homeowners trying to renovate their homes can help by donating materials such as cabinets and almost new carpet to their local Habitat chapter," the organization wrote in GMAC Mortgage's industry newsletter Market Commentary.

"This may be something to remind those who are fixing up their homes before they put it on the market." If you're interested, get more information on local chapters of Habitat for Humanity at 1-800-habitat (422-4828).

Mortgage rates rose this week (Jan. 18), according to a survey by Freddie Mac. The national average for a 30-year mortgage increased to 7.02 percent from 6.89 percent last week. The average for a 15-year loan was 6.63 percent, up from 6.49 percent. The one-year adjustable fell to 6.64 percent from 6.65 percent.


Pamela Reeves writes this column weekly for Scripps Howard News Service. Comment by clicking here.


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