Real Estate Information Archive

Mortgage rates in the U.S. declined, remaining at a 16-month low as more affordable borrowing costs fuel an increase in refinancing.

The Bloomberg article, http://bloom.bg/1zm4zZB, discusses what mortgage interest rates can accomplish for homeowners looking to refinance their current mortgage. But I have found that the lower the mortgage interest rate goes more potential home buyers come to the market looking for “good deals” when purchasing a home. Well, good deals are in the eyes of the beholder. In most cases the deal means what is it going to cost on a monthly basis to live here? With the average selling price in the greater Harrisburg area being close to $190,000 a difference of 3.875% (current rate) vs 4.50% (high this year) means that you could save approximately $3600 - $4100 per year. AND that means it stays in YOUR pocket. And the same can be said if you are looking to refinance your current loan.

Why mention this now? It has been shown that there can be less competition at this time of the year because many are contemplating the holiday season. Less competition means you also may be able to negotiate a better purchase price from the seller. So never decide that you cannot purchase a home at this time but when you consider lower mortgage interest rates and probably less competition it may be the time to get serious. And yes I strongly suggest a consultation with a bank or mortgage lender because they can assist you in attaining home ownership. In addition, if you are looking for a source of actual homes available for sale in the Central Pennsylvania market please click here to  see the available inventory.  

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

It won’t be long now! The neighborhood kids are planning their costumes as you read this. Masks, robes and mummy tape. Maybe even a Justin Bieber hairdo!

Can your house handle the barrage of children begging you for treats? If you’re not sure, then you’re not ready. It’s time to gear up!

1. Decorate your door. This is the first step in any trick-or-treating preparation session. Set up some Halloween decorations on your front door or in your yard, and don’t hold back! The spookier the better. Don’t forget a few jack-o-lanterns, either. If you want to break the mold a bit, try a no-carve pumpkin this year. Note: If you do decide to go with a lit pumpkin, make sure it’s placed well away from areas that trick-or-treaters will be walking through.
    
2. Optimize your lighting. Since your front yard will be getting more foot traffic than usual on Halloween, it’s important to make sure your guests can see so they don’t take a tumble. If you don’t have any exterior lights over your front door, consider adding a few lanterns along your walkway so you don’t have children falling down in your yard.
    
3. Hide your valuables. This isn’t about robbery so much as accidental damage. If you have any delicate ornaments, flowerpots or statues around your front door, relocate them until November. That way, they can’t be damaged if that cute little mummy trips on his or her costume.
    
4. Buy plenty of candy. Nothing squashes a child’s hopes and dreams like knocking on a door that doesn’t have any candy left. To ensure the survival of youthful happiness in your neighborhood – buy plenty of candy. If you live in one of these extremely popular trick-or-treating neighborhoods, consider going to a wholesale store like Costco or BJ’s, just to be safe.
    
5. Wear a costume. It’s not as bad as running out of candy, but answering the door on Halloween wearing a sweater and jeans is kind of a buzz-kill for the kids. Even if you put it together in five minutes, a costume is always a good idea!

The drop in mortgage rates has fueled a surge in refinance activity. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that refinances were up 11% week over week. When the MBA reports on this week's activity (next week), we expect to see continued strong demand.

It's been a different story for purchase activity. Last week, the MBA's purchase index was down 1%. Year over year, the purchase index is down 4%. This is not good news, especially when you consider that cash sales are dropping as a percentage of overall sales, and will likely continue to do so.

Now, we get the report that home builder sentiment is dropping too. The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) sentiment index dropped to 54 in October, which is a considerable decline from the 59 posted in September. Home builders, like a lot of other people, are feeling less sure of themselves these days. We hope the drop is a one-off reading, but time will tell.

Falling interest rates, as we note above, are an indicator of falling confidence and rising risk aversion. This is why we don't get terribly excited when rates continually fall. To be sure, falling rates are good for refinance business, but for the overall health of housing and mortgage lending, we need to see a pick up in purchase activity. For that to occur, we need more confidence and less risk aversion. This, we believe, will be reflected in rising interest rates.

So if we cheer-lead on occasion for rising rates, it's not because we favor rising financing costs, it's because we favor more business and consumer confidence and more economic growth.

Information provided by Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

And Off the Cliff They Go

Last week, we mentioned that we would not be surprised to see a further reduction in mortgage rates, given the many conflagrations and overall rise of worry around the world. It appears that we were somewhat reserved in our expectations, because we didn't expect to see the drop in rates that occurred over the past week.

Looking at the national numbers, we see Bankrate.com is reporting an average rate of 4.01% on the 30-year fixed-rate loan, which is a dramatic 17-basis-point week-over-week reduction. Freddie Mac's survey shows the national average on the 30-year loan is down to 3.97%, a 15-basis-point week-over-week drop.

Today, mortgage rates are about as low as they've been in the past 18 months. That mortgage rates have fallen off a cliff in the past two weeks is no surprise, given that the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has also fallen off a cliff. If you want a good proxy for mortgage rates, follow the yield on the 10-year note.

Risk aversion among financial market participants has certainly risen over the past month. Stocks, as most of us are aware, have experienced a harsh sell-off. The S&P 500 Index, which is composed of 500 of the United States' largest corporations, is down over 7%. That's a dramatic move. Because bonds – Treasury bonds in particular – are viewed as alternative investments (safer alternatives) to stocks, much of the money that has moved out of stocks has found a new home in bonds, which is why we've seen such a steep drop in yields.

A weakening global outlook is the overarching concern these days. With economies interconnected like they've never been before, when one country's economy weakens it can impact another country's economy.

To be sure, the United States' economy is chugging along fairly briskly, with gross domestic product (GDP) posting at 4.6% on an annualized rate in the second quarter. The problem is the rest of the world, particularly Europe, Japan, and China, are showing signs of running out of steam.

This has investors in the United States worried: If the rest of the world sneezes, we could catch a cold, meaning the strong growth we've seen in recent months could prove fleeting. Now, toss in ISIS, Russian and European hostilities, and Ebola, and it's easy to understand why financial market participants are so risk averse these days.

Low interest rates, including low mortgage rates, are the silver lining in these worrisome clouds. Given the level of uncertainty and fear permeating financial markets, we don't expect mortgage rates to move meaningfully higher in coming weeks. Many lenders view this as good news. We, on the other hand, are more circumspect, as we'll explain below.

Information provided by Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

For humans, Halloween is a time to embrace your inner-monster (or Lady Gaga) and spend a night masquerading as someone, or something, new. For your pets, it’s a night fraught with potential hazards like mounds of dark chocolate, hot candles and a sudden increase of strange visitors. Make sure your pet stays calm and safe this All Hallows’ Eve by paying attention to these potential hazards.

Candy

Those bags of candy are a great treat for your kids, but ingredients like dark chocolate and artificial sweeteners are toxic to dogs, cats and birds. If you have a pet in the house, keep all of your candy sealed and out of pet-reach.

Candles 

It’s always nice to set a spooky mood on Halloween, and that usually means candles. If you decide to put candles in your jack-o-lanterns, make sure the pumpkins are placed somewhere your pet can’t knock them over. If you have a cat, consider forgoing candles in your window sill. They may look nice now, but it won’t be so good when Fluffy’s tail catches on fire. Instead, try some electric candles!

Trick-or-Treaters 

For some pets, especially territorial dogs, having the doorbell ring every five minutes is a very stressful situation. When you throw in a group of costume-clad strangers at the door, it can be downright terrifying! If your pet is going to be upset by trick-or-treaters, keep him or her in a quiet room where they won’t be bothered by the goblins and ghouls visiting the house.

Pet Costumes

There’s no denying that a dog in a ladybug costume is pretty much the cutest thing in the world. But, your dog might not think it’s quite as fun as you do. If you’re going to dress up your pet, make sure they seem comfortable with their outfit. A stressed-out pet will chew their costume and possibly hurt themselves trying to get it off. If they don’t seem happy when you put on their costume, snap a quick photo and then take it off.

That's Not Necessarily Good News

Many of our colleagues remain convinced that low-interest rates are vital to rejuvenating home sales (particularly in existing homes) and keeping housing starts on an upward trajectory. But we think that boat has long sailed. We say that because low interest rates are indicative of the issues we mention above: geopolitical upheaval, slow global economic growth, and weakness in employment growth in a key U.S. demographic.

In addition, low rates are indicative of banks that are flush with cash and simply aren't seeing the opportunities to put that cash to use. Bloomberg reports that banks have accumulated so much cash that deposits exceed loans by a record amount. Banks make money lending, and are motivated to make loans when the opportunity arises. Instead, they've been plowing money into low-yield Treasury securities. That tells us two things: A dearth of lending means there is still a dearth of economic growth. On the other side of the coin, bank demand for Treasury securities will help keep interest rates – mortgage rates included – low.

When Federal Reserve officials begin to back off their cautious talking points and begin to talk up the economy, interest rates will rise. But that will be a good thing, because we'll have an economy marked by more opportunities that can support higher interest rates and a more market-driven lending environment.

Information provided by Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

One Confounding Market

At the beginning of the year we mentioned that with stronger job growth would likely come higher interest rates. We certainly have stronger job growth. After a lull in August, job growth returned with a vengeance in September, with payrolls increasing by 248,000. This marked the seventh month of 200,000+ monthly job gains in the past eight months. The unemployment rate is now down to 5.9%.

We anticipated stronger job growth back in January, and that's been the case. So you can say that we got the equation half right. The other half – rising interest rates – we quite frankly got wrong. More jobs and more economic growth would lead to more loan demand and rising inflation expectations, and thus, higher interest rates. At the beginning of the year, 5% on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage seamed a real possibility by the time we reached this time of the year.

But here we are in the early days of October and the rate on the 30-year loan is down to a 16-month low. Indeed, Bankrate.com's latest survey shows the national average dropped nine basis points week over week to 4.18%. Freddie Mac's survey shows the national average down to 4.12%, a seven-basis-point week-over-week decline.

The good news is that lower rates have spurred mortgage demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association data show refinance activity increased 5% last week, while purchase activity increased 2%. When the MBA reports on this week's activity (next week), we expect the percentage gains to be even higher.

So what's the skinny on mortgage rates?

They were actually trending higher through most of August. Market participants were focused on Federal Reserve language that suggested that rates (all rates) could start moving higher sooner than most market watchers anticipated.

But the most recent release of Fed meeting minutes (released this Wednesday) reveals Fed officials aren't so eager to get interest rates moving higher. The following sentence lifted from the minutes supports our contention: “The costs of downside shocks to the economy would be larger than those of upside shocks because, in current circumstances, it would be less problematic to remove accommodation quickly, if doing so becomes necessary, than to add accommodation.”

Fed officials even went as far as to stress "patience" in waiting for interest rates to rise. They are concerned with weak global economic growth and a stronger U.S. dollar. Rising geopolitical risk, such as what's occurring in Russia, the Middle East, and in Hong Kong also have the Fed on edge.

Here in our own backyard, a few structural issues remain. Though overall job growth has been robust for much of the year, the labor participation rate and unemployment rate among 25-to-54 remains a concern . There are still too many people in this important demographic who aren't working. At the same time, many of those who are working are dealing with stagnating wage growth.

So, it appears sub-5%, if not sub-4.5%, on the 30-year fixed-rate loan will be with us for some time to come.

Information provided by Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.

Here are simple tips to help you prepare your home for Fall.

1. Change your linens and move your mattress. Strip and vacuum your mattress and machine wash all of your bed linens, including your comforters, duvets, bed skirts and pillows. Then, turn your mattress front-to-back and end-to-end – flipping your mattress prolongs its life by evenly distributing the wear. For more tips, read: Maintain Your Mattress.

2. Inspect your windows. Start by cleaning your windowpanes, then your drapes or blinds, and finish with the window tracks (a vacuum with a hose attachment works best for this last job). If your windows are older, you likely have weather stripping to help seal your windows and keep cold drafts and moisture at bay. Inspect this weather stripping to see if it’s torn, damaged or needs to be replaced. Proper weather stripping can reduce your energy bills by as much as 30 percent! For a step-by-step guide to cleaning your windows, read: Inspect and Maintain Your Windows.
    
3. Inspect your exterior doors. For each exterior door, check the weather stripping that runs along the bottom and side of it for any cracks, leaks or wear. Close the door and place your hand along the bottom and sides of it. If you feel a draft coming through, you should replace your weather stripping. For extra insulation, purchase a few draft stoppers, which cost about $5 at your local hardware store.
    
4. Check your gutters. During the fall and winter, your gutters are filled with leaves, rainfall and snowmelt, so the clearer they are now, the better you’ll fare come winter. Break out a ladder (always practice proper ladder safety) and remove all dirt and debris from your gutters by hand. For a step-by-step guide, read: Gutter Cleaning.
    
5. Clean and store patio furniture. It’s always a good idea to clean your patio furniture before you store it inside for the winter. Different types of patio furniture require different cleaning techniques, so to learn how to properly clean your type of patio furniture, read: Clean Your Deck / Patio. Tip: Remove any stains from your furniture cushions before putting the chairs into storage, because if a stain sits on the fabric all winter, it’ll be more difficult to get out.
    
6. Clean light fixtures and dust ceiling fans. It doesn’t take long for dirt to create a film on your light fixtures and a layer of dust to form on the blades of your ceiling fan. To clean your glass light fixtures, denture tablets are actually one of the most effective products. To remove dust and dirt from your ceiling fans you simply need a ladder, canned air and all-purpose cleaner.

A few weeks ago, we noted the uplifting news that millennials are still very much interested in homeownership. Since then, we've run across a plethora of articles focused on millennials and housing. (Though when you search for a certain subject, you are sure to find it.)

Many of these articles position millennials as saviors. Without millennials, there is little upside left in housing, so the reasoning goes. We don't see it that way. Though we'd love to see more millennials enter the housing market as owners, they are still only a subset of the overall ownership market. What's more, their support is mostly concentrated in lower-priced homes.

More important than millennials, baby boomers, gen-x, or any particular demographic is the overall health of the economy. On that front, the data we've seen on the overall economy is encouraging. The latest gross domestic product (GDP) data show growth at a robust 4.6% annualized rate. This is good news for everyone, and should serve as tight backstop to housing, which is why we see no backsliding.

To be sure, we welcome millennials, but we don't need to be rescued by them. Rising economic growth will lift all demographic groups.

Information provided by Jessica Regan.

Search all Harrisburg PA homes for sale.

When you are buying or selling property in today's Harrisburg PA real estate market, it's important to have confidence in your real estate professional. Don’s commitment as your Harrisburg PA REALTOR® is to provide you with the specialized real estate service you deserve.

When you are an informed buyer or seller, you'll make the best decisions for the most important purchase or sale in your lifetime. That's why Don’s goal is to keep you informed on trends in Harrisburg PA real estate. With property values continuing to rise, real estate is a sound investment for now and for the future.

As a local area expert with knowledge of Harrisburg PA area communities, Don’s objective is to work diligently to assist you in meeting your real estate goals.

If you are considering buying or selling a home or would just like to have additional information about real estate in your area, please don't hesitate to call me at (717) 657-8700, complete my online form, or e-mail me at don@donroth.com.