Real Estate Information Archive

Mortgage rates have eased over the past couple of weeks. Greece bores more than it titillates, and China's economy is on firmer footing than it was a month ago. On our side of the world, fewer people seem willing to speculate on when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.

There's not a lot going on, and that's reflected in lending rates. Mortgage rates are down, though purchase mortgage activity continues to climb. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association's survey showed application activity was up 1%. This lifts the year-over-year increase to 18%.

The mortgage market is robust, and should become even more robust. The MBA now forecasts that purchase originations will hit $801 billion this year and $885 billion in 2016. That's a $71 billion and $94 billion respective increase over the previous forecast.

Now is the time to act. Mortgage rates are lower, but the impetus is for them to rise longer term. Keep in mind, the impetus is there whether the Fed acts or not. Market participants are pushing for higher lending rates.

Also keep in mind that demand influences lending costs. If the MBA's forecast on mortgage activity materializes, there is less incentive on the suppliers' side to discount fees or offer other accommodations. The bottom line is that today's prices – both financing and real estate – are very likely better than tomorrow's prices.

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.

The Market Gives Us More of What We Like

A week ago we wondered aloud if housing was set to lead the economy for the rest of 2015. Data this week suggest it's certainly moving in that direction.

After smoldering for far too long, existing home sales have taken fire. Sales were up a blistering 3.2% to 5.49-million units on an annualized rate in June. That's on top of May sales, which were revised up 4.5%. We haven't seen this monthly rate of sales since February 2007.

What's more, we haven't seen existing homes fetch what they are fetching in some time. The median price of an existing home surged 3.3% in June to hit $236,000, which surpasses the July 2006 peak.

This is really quite extraordinary, if not logic defying. When prices surge, demand usually abates (more so, though, with lesser consumer goods than with homes). That's hardly been the case. People obviously want a home, and they want it now. At the current sales pace, inventory has dropped to 5.0 months from 5.1 months. Supply isn't getting ahead of demand.

Sale composition is also contributing to rising prices. What was once a surfeit is now nearly a dearth: Distressed sales tumbled to 8% of existing home sales in June, down from 10% in May. This time last year, 11% of sales were distressed. Considering where we were four years ago, the distressed-home market has made a remarkable recovery.

Veteran readers might remember that four years ago we were anticipating the turn of fortune that we are witnessing today. To be sure, we didn't expect the turn to be so sharp and so robust, but we did anticipate it. There was no shortage of exhortations on our part for people to seriously look at housing, and then get in. There were fewer takers than there are today, though prices in most markets were considerably cheaper.

To be sure, the world was different in 2011: Credit underwriting standards were tighter, the economy was less surefooted, household finances were shakier, and many potential buyers were fearful the nascent recovery would backslide. Today, economic conditions have improved all around, but of course, that's reflected in higher prices. The takeaway is that if you can afford (and stomach) being assertive when most are timid, it frequently pays off being assertive in the long run.

This isn't to say we don't like today's market; we do. Rising home sales is a sign of improved market liquidity. Lack of liquidity also kept many potential buyers on the sidelines a few years ago. When you buy a home today you are reasonably assured you can sell it within a reasonable time at a reasonable price. That's a huge plus.

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.

Don Roth harrisburg pa jessica regan mortgage update

Are magnets sitting pretty on your fridge? You’re selling them short! Using magnets just to hold up crayon drawings is like forcing Billy Joel to play Chopsticks on repeat. C’mon, people!

These multi-use tools are inexpensive, come in a variety of sizes and can save your rump by fixing problems all over the house.

Below are 15 of our favorite magnet tricks around the house. Do you know any others? Tell us in the comments.

1. Corral Paper Clips (and Bobby Pins!)

If you have a home office, chances are you have paper clips. To prevent them from becoming a mess, place a magnet in your desk drawer and stick the clips to the magnet. Tip:This works with bobby pins, too.

2. Keep a Sliding Door Shut

If you have a drafty sliding door at home, keep it closed tightly with magnets. Superglue one small magnet on the door and then attach a second one to the frame.

3. Organize Aluminum Foil and Plastic Wrap

If you’re short on drawer space, organize your aluminum foil and plastic wrap on the side of the fridge for instant access. Hot glue a small magnet inside the boxes. The magnet will stick to the fridge and keep the boxes in place. Tip: The hot glue makes it easy to peel the magnet off of the back and reuse it on a new box.

4. Find a Stud in the Wall

When you’re hanging a framed photo or mirror, it’s important to find a wall stud before you grab your nail and hammer. Otherwise, you could have crumbling drywall on your hands. You can do this really easily with a magnet and some painter’s tape.

5. Keep Chip Bags Closed

Chip Clips are nice, but this is way cooler: place magnets on opposite sides of a closed chip bag to keep your favorite snack from going stale.

6. Retrieve a Ring from the Drain without Dirtying Your Hands

So, you’ll need a special kind of magnet for this trick called a Mighty Magnet. If you take your rings off to wash dishes, it’s worth preemptively grabbing one and storing it under your sink!

If you do drop your ring, don’t panic. Crawl under your sink and detach the pipe to your sink only. Then, move the magnet along the pipe trap (it’s shaped like a “U”) until you hear a metallic clink. The magnet has found your ring! Then, slowly draw your magnet to the top of the pipe and grab your ring. At this point, it may be worth visiting your local jeweler for a quick clean.

7. Extract Batteries

Dead batteries can be a pain to remove from some electronics (like remote controls). To make life easier, use a magnet to attract the metal battery out of its tight grip. All you need to do is hold a strong magnet at one end of a magnet and slowly lift up. The battery should loosen enough for you to easily grab it.

8. Keep The Trash Can Closed

Place a magnet sticker on the inside of the lid and the lip so that the top will stay put. This way when you shut the lid, even if it’s on a spring, it’ll close.

9. Keep a Trash Bag from Slipping

This is one of my personal favorites: Use magnets to hold the edges of the trash bag to the outside of a metal trash can. Simply pull the bag over the edge and then place small magnets over the edge. Boom, done!

10. Use Magnets To Label Recycling and Trash

Keep track of which container is trash and which one holds recyclables in the specified by affixing labels to the bins with magnets. Now there’s no excuse not to recycle!

11. Sort Spices

Keep your cumin and coriander organized by placing magnets on the bottom of your spice containers. Attach them to a sheet of steel on your kitchen wall, a stainless steel backsplash or your refrigerator. No more sifting through a cluttery cabinet!

12. Organize Jewelry

Organize your loose bracelets and bangles with magnets. All you need is an old-fashioned tray made of metal. Pop a few magnets on it, hang up your jewelry and you’re done!

13. Hang Knives

If you haven't figured it out already, metal sticks to magnets, so all you need to do is install a strong magnetic strip along your kitchen backsplash. It’s important to use a strong magnet, otherwise you might have sharp knives falling like rain in your kitchen, which is not at all safe.

14. Magnetize Chalkboard Paint

Next time you paint a surface with chalkboard paint, coat it with magnetic primer first. Follow it up with chalkboard paint, and then your surface will double as a magnet board! Note:Magnetic primer is not as strong as a regular magnet surface, so you’ll likely need 2 to 3 coats of the primer before you begin your project.

15. Organize Makeup

Display every eye shadow you own with your own makeup magnet board. First, purchase small circular magnets and hot glue them to the back of your makeup containers. Then just stick the magnets on a metal tray or piece of stainless steel. Tip: When the makeup runs out, the hot glue makes it easy to peel the magnet off of the back and reuse it on a new makeup container.

Information provided by BrightNest.com.

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.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen again addressed the question of the Fed and interest rates earlier this week. This go around Yellen suggested that an interest-rate hike was in the cards for later this year. We say “suggested,” because as usual Yellen made any rate hike conditional: When the economy can support a rate hike, in the Fed's opinion, then we will see a rate hike.

To be sure, a rate hike could be in the cards (though we remain skeptical), but it really doesn't matter. Interest rates have been rising with or without the Fed's imprimatur.

The yield on the very influential 10-year U.S. Treasury note seems intent on hanging above 2.35%. This, after it was hanging around 1.9% as recently as April. Mortgage rates, in turn, also seem intent on hanging around at a higher level. The 30-year fixed-rate loan continues to creep progressively higher. It's now comfortably above 4%. The 15-year fixed-rate loan has followed a similar trajectory. As the yield on the 10-year note goes, so goes longer-term mortgage rates.

The fact is that mortgages rates have moved higher without any prompting by the Fed. This point is worth underscoring. Many borrowers believe low mortgage rates will remain as long as the Fed continues to procrastinate on its first rate hike in nearly a decade. This is untrue. Interest rates in general and mortgage rates in particular can rise without any input from the Fed, as we've seen in recent months.

Nevertheless, many borrowers believe time is on their side. Until the Fed announces a rate hike, low rates are here to stay. That's a dangerous mindset, because there is nothing to stop credit markets from supplanting low interest rates with high interest rates. What's more, there is nothing to stop the market supplanting rates much quicker than most people expect.

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.

Housing Set to Lead the Economy Forward

Housing matters, and it matters more than most people realize. Yes, money is made on every sale, because sales directly generate commissions and lending fees. Of course, there is so much more to it than that.

Housing has a powerful cascading effect. National Association of Home Builder data show that residential investment averages 5% of gross domestic product (GDP). That's a lot of economic activity when you consider that 5% of $17 trillion is $340 billion. When ancillary services and goods – remodeling, furnishings, appliances, maintenance, improvements, etc. – are factored in, the percentage rises exponentially. The NAHB puts the percentage of total contribution at roughly 17% of GDP. Seventeen percent of $17 trillion is $2.9 billion.

To be sure, existing homes generate more sales transactions and more ancillary demand in aggregate. But new homes provide the biggest GDP bang for the buck. That's why we are always encouraged to read good news on new homes.

The news on home-builder sentiment is certainly good. The Wells Fargo/NAHB Home Builder Sentiment Index continues to hover near a multi-year high. The index remained unchanged at 60 for July. This is the strongest level since November 2005 and signals sustained strength for the new-home market.

Mortgage activity also supports a bullish outlook. Purchase mortgages for new homes continue to trend higher. The latest survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows new-home purchase activity was up 1% in June. Year over year, new-home purchase lending is up 8%.

So, housing is looking very stout at the mid-point of 2015. This really isn't a surprise. A strengthening housing market was one of our January prognostications for 2015. At this point, it's just a matter of waiting for the rest of the economy to catch up with housing.

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.

You’ve ordered the turkey, you’ve picked your side dishes and your family has finalized their travel plans. The holidays are almost here! If you’re going to spend the hours (and cash) necessary to cook the perfect holiday meal, why not take a few extra minutes to make sure it looks nice on the table, too? Cranberry sauce eaten on your good china with your real silver tastes at least twenty percent better. We promise.

It’s easier than you think to impress your guests with a proper place setting – just follow these simple rules. And remember, no elbows on the table!

Photo: Cake with Giants

Start with Plates

Use your plates as anchors for the rest of your setting. Make sure they’re far enough apart so your lefties and righties won’t be bumping elbows. A good rule of thumb is to leave about two feet of space between plate centers. If possible, make sure they’re evenly spaced. Note:Salad and bread plates go above and to the left of the dinner plate.

Next Comes Glassware

Drinks may not get the spotlight during the holidays, but they’re still an important part of your feast. Water glasses go to the right of the plate and wine glasses go to the right of the water glass (all still on the right side of the plate). If you’re going to be serving coffee after dinner, don’t break out your coffee cups until it’s time for dessert!

Then Forks, Spoons and Knives

Place your silverware in the order of its use, from the outside in. So your first course fork (probably salad, right?) goes on the outside, and then your main course fork. If you can’t tell the two apart, remember that the salad fork is smaller. Forks should be placed on the left side of the plate, knives and spoons on the right (except for your dessert spoons – those go above the dinner plate). Place all your knives so that the cutting edge faces towards the plate, and make sure the bottoms of your utensil handles all line up.

Now Add Your Flare

By flare, we mean napkins and decorations. All of your napkins should go to the left of the forks. As for the cloth vs. paper napkin debate, we’ll let you pick your own side. The tradeoff? Cloth napkins are greener, but paper napkins make for a much easier clean-up job!
Information provided by BrightNest.com.

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.

If you follow the stock market, you're aware that there is no shortage of bubble talk. Since the market bottomed in March 2009, stocks have gone mostly up. The S&P 500 Index, the most followed market barometer, has tripled over the past six years. The latest run nearly matches the run during the Internet boom in the 1990s. That boom went bust in 2000, and stock prices were nearly cut in half in the ensuing two years.

Over the past few weeks, Chinese stocks have lost over 30%. This has investors thinking a similar sell-off could occur here. We don't think it will, but the prospect of a stock-market sell-off conjures a question: How would a sell-off impact housing?

A rising stock market increases the wealth effect – a theory that when people feel wealthier they spend more. People invested in stocks have certainly felt wealthier in recent years. At the same time, home sales and construction activity have trended higher. It appears housing and stocks are positively correlated.

It's not so clear cut, though. No doubt that when people feel wealthier they upgrade their lifestyle, such as by trading up to a larger home. But the correlation between stocks and housing can be fuzzy. After the sell-off in stocks in 2000, housing activity actually rose. Many investors burned in the stock market wanted a new asset class; housing was that asset class.

To be sure, stocks might tank, but that doesn't mean housing will tank with it. We think housing is sufficiently sound to stand on its own independently of the stock market. That said, we'd prefer not to find out.

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.

It Still Ain't Happening This Year

Call us presumptuous, but we just don't see it happening. We don't see the Federal Reserve raising its target range on the federal funds rate.

Since the beginning of the year, we've expressed doubts that a fed funds rate increase was in the cards for 2015. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) has yet to fully materialized. European GDP growth is even more anemic (which is why the Europeans undertook quantitative easing in March). The turmoil in Greece and the deep sell-off in Chinese stocks has further tempered Fed ardor for an interest-rate increase. Of course, things can change over the next couple months, but we don't think they'll change enough to warrant the Fed raising the fed funds rate. Things are simply too fragile.

The fed funds rate influences short-term rates most, but over time it works its way toward the long-end of the yield curve. Private participants exert more influence on the long end at the moment. These participants have pressured yields to rise. That is until this past week. Due to events in Greece and China, yields have fallen. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury notehas dropped nearly 20-basis points.

As the yield on the 10-year note goes, so goes mortgage rates. The 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate loans were down over the past week, though not much. In most markets, borrowers were looking at only a five-basis-point drop . This suggests to us that the impetuous is for longer-term rates to rise once the turmoil on the world stage subsides.

The good news is that the turmoil hasn't taken any steam out of mortgage lending or housing. Purchase activity is again on the rise. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported its purchase index was up 7% week over week. Year over year, activity is up 32%. Not surprisingly, the trend in purchase lending mirrors the trend in home sales. Both have climbed palpably since early spring.

We see both continuing to climb through 2015. Home price growth remains robust, thus lifting more homeowners into positive equity. Home-price appreciation has also reverted to a more normalized pace. This is good news because double-digit year-over-year price appreciation is unsustainable. Price growth is getting closer to the “Goldilocks” sustainable rate of 3%.

In short, nothing has really changed since the beginning of the year: We don't see a rate increase, and we're as bullish on housing and mortgage lending today as we were six months ago.

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.

Clutter. The ever-present menace in so many of our lives.

It doesn’t physically hurt anyone, but clutter has a way of slowly digging under your skin and stressing you out. And a serious clutter problem is a seriously overwhelming thing to fix.

So, why not spend this month tackling your clutter in bite-sized chunks?

Each day, we’ll give you a manageable de-cluttering task, so that by July 31^st your home’s in tip-top shape again.

Want to hang it on your fridge? Click here for a printable version!

Information provided by BrightNest.com.

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.

All-cash buyers continue to retreat into the background. RealtyTrac reports that all-cash purchases dropped to 24.6% of all single-family and condo sales in May. This is down from 28.5% in April. As recently as February 2011, all-cash purchases accounted for over 42% of all sales.

A normal, stable home market is driven by owner-occupied buyers. An owner-occupied market is a market where buyers look to a house as a home, not as a profit center. Stability and predictability rein in such a market.

Stability and predictability extend to price appreciation, which should return to a normalized historical rate in more markets. Normalized price appreciation, in turn, should generate more inventory, particularly for young and first-time buyers. Most investment properties are taken from starter-home inventory. The trend to more owner-occupied buyers is good news for young people entering the market.

We're not disparaging investment buyers. They were vital to the recovery. Without someone – mostly investors – to halt the slide, we'd be a few years behind in the progress we've made to date. That said, normalcy needs to eventually take over to sustain the market. Fortunately, normalcy has taken over in 2015.

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.