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Friday, April 02, 2004

Home Sales Are Sleepless In Seattle

by Blanche Evans

Low new-home inventory and low interest rates are combining to help ease Seattle's buyer's market into a seller's market, say local Realtors.

"As last year came to a close, home sales continued to go up in all Seattle neighborhoods, with an average sale increase of 17 percent," says Realtor Ricklie Stone, "Capitol Hill and Madison Park homes sales were up nearly 30 percent as the year came to a close. Average home prices in Roosevelt and Northgate neighborhoods jumped 7 percent compared to 2002. Greenlake, Wallingford and Ballard homes were selling 14 days faster than the year before! New market data shows that inventory is down 14.1 percent from a year ago. At the same time, home sales have increased 9.6 percent. This is the tightest supply to demand since 1990! At the same time, building permits in King County are down 45.8 percent from this time last year. With interest rates their best in 40 years, our market is sizzling and is expected to stay robust throughout the spring.

Stone advises, "If you're a Seller, this is an incredible time to put your home on the market. Multiple offers are the norm at the moment and are netting Sellers tens of thousands of dollars over the list price for homes. If you're a buyer in the $700,000 and under range, prepare to be as competitive as possible with the terms of your offer and to act quickly when you see 'your' home!"

Says Realtor Lauri Huston, "New listings in January increased slightly and the buyer's market continued to show steady activity. Because of the continuing low interest rates, there are still more buyers looking to purchase than sellers wanting to sell. Properties that are in average-to-good condition and priced correctly from the day they are listed tend to go very quickly for full or close to full price."

Huston suggests, "If you are considering selling your home, this is the ideal time to do so, because your home won't have as much competition as it does in warmer weather. If you are considering buying a home, there are still good prices and homes are more affordable due to the low interest rates. Interest rates have actually taken a small drop. Overall interest rates have held steady for the last quarter and appear to be on the same trend for 1st Quarter 2004 and into the 2nd Quarter 2004."

Notes Realtor Rebecca Haas, "Appreciation continues to build in the neighborhoods surrounding the core downtown area."

Haas explains, "With inventory in early 2004 down from the previous year it has become a bit more of a seller's market in the Seattle area. However, there are still good deals that come on the market all that time, which means that the savvy investor needs to be able to move quickly when these opportunities present themselves. With interest rates continuing to stay low, it is an excellent time to look into investment property as many economic trends are lining up to make the next three to five years a good time to own rental property in the Seattle area as rental rates are starting to climb again and vacancy rates are dropping. The Ballard area has maintained a 2.5 percent vacancy rate even throughout our recent period of typical 7-10 percent vacancy rates. New construction cannot keep up with the housing needs of this beautiful area. The job market still may not be as strong as local industries and government officials would like but that hasn't stopped many people from wanting to move into our gorgeous location."

Published: April 2, 2004

Related Articles:

Market Conditions City Reports

Blanche Evans is the publisher of Agent News and the associate editor of Realty Times, the Internet's largest independent real estate news service. She is the author of two best-selling real estate books: The Hottest e-Careers In Real Estate, Real Estate Education Company, an Internet marketing primer for real estate professionals, and homesurfing.net: The Insider's Guide To Buying And Selling Your Home Using The Internet, Dearborn, a consumer homebuying and selling guide. In 2000, she was recognized by the editors of REALTOR(r) Magazines as one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate," and in 2003 when the "Most Influential" list was updated, she was recognized as one of nine "Notables." She is also a frequent contributor to "Your Money" on CNN fn.
E-mail Blanche at: blanche@realtytimes.com

For more articles by Blanche, Click Here

Copyright © 2004 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

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Mortgage Rates Jump In Anticipation Of Jobs Report

McLEAN, VA -- In Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.52 percent, with an average 0.6 point, for the week ending April 1, 2004, up from last week when it averaged 5.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.79 percent.

The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 4.84 percent, with an average 0.6 point, up as from last week when it averaged 4.70 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.06 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 3.46 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from 3.36 percent last week. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 3.82 percent.

"In advance of what is hoped will be a strong jobs report tomorrow, bond yields rose this week and, predictably, so did mortgage rates," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist. "The economy has been conducive to job gains for several months, but we have yet to see any significant rise in employment.

"But even with rates slightly higher, the housing industry will continue to be an active, solid sector of the economy going into the spring buying season. We don’t foresee any major slowdown in the housing market this year. Quite the contrary, we are confident 2004 will be another banner year for home sales."

Published: April 2, 2004
Related Articles:
Runaway Housing Market Could Jump Track

Early Detection Of Mortgage Fraud

Mortgage Rates Mellow In March, 40 Million Of Us Are On The Move, And Color TV Turns 50

Low Inflation Translates Into Low Mortgage Rates

Copyright © 2004 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

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Protecting ID/Credit Takes More Than A Day

by M. Anthony Carr

My identity theft saga continues. This will be my third column in a year, journaling the trials of protecting my identity and credit standing against a really determined white-color criminal in Miami, Florida. (Miami Police, please take note and return my phone calls!)

In the world of real estate finance, you can't let your credit take a hit because of some idiot, using your credit to illicitly line his pockets with your cash and fill his house with consumer goods bought on your good name. When you're looking at buying a house, you don't want to find out during your credit check (just a few weeks before you want to settle on your new home) that your credit is in horrible condition because of the dastardly deeds of someone else.

Thankfully, for me, this ID Burglar has continued the same modus operandi -- he likes cell phones. I can only imagine what he's doing … opening new accounts in my name with my social security number and home phone number, then sub-letting them out to his buddies. I'm sure they're either drug dealing or carrying out some other illegal activity. I really hope they're not terrorists.

I found out about this latest attack on my credit when I received a phone call from Cingular Wireless. The collection agent wanted me to make a payment on my $1,000-plus phone bill. Since I've never had a Cingular Wireless account, I knew immediately that Tony down in Miami, was at it again.

Supposedly, when certain vendors open new accounts, they are supposed to check a person's credit. These folks said they had checked my credit and there was no fraud warning on my credit report. That was mistake number one on my part -- letting the fraud alert expire.

When all of this began, I checked through the credit agencies to find out what to do -- generally, you can immediately place a fraud alert on your account which lasts for 90 days. The next step is to file a fraud statement on the account which stays with the report for seven years. However, it's not as simple as just getting on the phone and calling it in. First, you have to have a credit report in your hand from them -- that means going to each of their sites or calling in to order the credit report, then calling the customer service number.

Keep in mind, you need to go to each agency separately (listed below) -- even though they all offer the new three-in-one report where you can get all reports from the three major agencies in one order. The problem I found, was that when you're looking to place a fraud alert on the account for seven years -- they each want you to give them the individualized report number found on the report, thus you're going to have to go to each site or call each toll-free number to order a report, then get back on the phone with each agency to file the seven-year statement.

What this is supposed to do is to alert credit-providing companies (credit card companies, retail stores, utilities, etc.) with a note on the report that they must call you at a phone number on the credit file to verify the requested credit.

I found out that my ID Burglar even tried to have the phone number changed on my credit report so that he could change information on my report. Thankfully, the operator on the phone followed procedure and said she would call him back on my home number to verify that he was who he said he was.

In checking my reports this time around (versus the ones I saw six months ago) I found several pieces of incorrect information -- including three home addresses in Boston, Mass., (though I've never lived north of the Mason-Dixon Line) a Miami-based phone number, and two employers for whom I never worked.

By NOT checking my credit report, I would never have discovered that this person was starting to integrate his own personal (or at least fabricated) credit and work history into my bona-fide credit report. Now, it's all been taken off of my report, the incorrect information has been deleted and I'm safe for a while longer.

Keeping up with your credit doesn't mean looking in your wallet to see which credit cards you possess -- it takes a determined effort to insure you are who you think you are.

Credit Reporting Resources:

Equifax - 800/525-6285
Experian - 888/397-3742
Trans Union - 800/680-7289

Published: April 2, 2004

Related Articles:

Online Banking Stifles Identity Theft

Patriot Act Scrutinizes Borrowers' Identities

Keep Your Home And Identity Safe; Home Burglaries Traditionally Peak in August

ID Protection Your Responsibility

Identity Theft Prevention Tool Chest Grows

Identification Theft Hits Close To Home

What You Should Know About Identity Theft

Five Reasons to Check Your Credit Report Regularly

Mr. Carr has covered real estate for more than 15 years. He is authoring “Street Guide to Real Estate,” due out 2004 through www.AmacomBooks.org. He can be reached via email at manthonycarr@erols.com.

Copyright © 2004 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

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