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Atlanta Mortgage Loan News for week of October 28

Atlanta Mortgage Loan News for week of October 28

2.2985 Mount Oliver Drive Kitchen10Thanks again to James Williamson and the Shelter Six for the latest Atlanta Mortgage news.  Very interesting info about Atlanta home values and current Atlanta housing inventory.

  • The Case-Shiller Index reports that Metro-Atlanta home values are up 35% from the low point of March 2012 but down 18.27% from the peak of July 2007. 

  • Metro-Atlanta’s listing inventory is also on the rise up 30% from last month to a supply of 4.7 months. Although inventory is still low, it is now up 27.7% from the low point of February 2013 and clearly moving in the right direction. 

  • The number of closings under $100k is shrinking rapidly and now represents only 21% of all closings. Two years ago, this amount was over 50%. The exit of large investors from the market has played a major reason for the decrease. 

  • A great question for a listing agent to ask is if the appraisal for the buyer’s lender will be done by a national Appraisal Management Company (AMC). If so, don’t be surprised if the appraiser is not from the area, not familiar with the property, and does not seem to put the kind of effort into the appraisal that your listing deserves. There is a better way! At Shelter, we only use the very best local appraisers who are friendly, turn all orders around in only a week, and will always work hard to determine the fairest market value. The reliability, consistency, and professionalism of our appraisers helps hold transactions together! 

  • September’s delayed Employment data was weaker than expected with the economy adding just 148k jobs, which was well less than the 180k forecasted. The Unemployment Rate did unexpectedly drop from 7.3% to 7.2% though and to the lowest level since November 2008. However, much of the drop was attributed to people who had stopped trying to find a job and had left the labor force. 

  • While the labor market data disappointed investors, the housing market continues to perform well. September Existing Home Sales were just slightly down from the 4-year high reached in August and were 11% higher than one year ago. 

  • Rate Update: With the end of the government shutdown, investors turned their attention to economic data. The September Employment report was weaker than expected, while the rest of the data released last week was mixed. Bottom line is the results were weaker than what Fed officials would like to see and mortgage rates ended the week a lower as a result. Between the ongoing uncertainty about future fiscal policy and the slow pace of improvement in the labor market, investors now expect that the Fed will not begin to taper until at least the March Fed meeting. The benchmark Conforming 30 year fixed-rate is back down to 4.125% for the first time since June 19th.

  • This Week: It’s a busy week as the calendar is packed with reports that were delayed by the shutdown. Wednesday will be the biggest day due to the Fed meeting. Investors will be looking for indications that Fed policy will not change policy any time soon. In addition, Industrial Production & Pending Home Sales come out on Monday, PPI & Retail Sales on Tuesday, CPI on Wednesday, Chicago PMI on Thursday, and ISM Manufacturing on Friday.

If you want more detailed info about anything above, or if you just want to apply for a mortgage loan, here is your go to contact information:

My “go to” mortgage lender for metro Atlanta home loans is Shelter Mortgage. Why? James WilliamsonRobbie Crozierand Susan Sharp at Shelter Mortgage get home loans approved!

If a buyer needs some work on their credit, James WilliamsonRobbie Crozier and Susan Sharp will help the buyer figure out what the obstacles are to purchasing a home and provide them with a road map for working around those obstacles. Even if you do not qualify for a home loan the first time around, James and Robbie will help you determine what steps you need to take to make a home purchase a reality.

Call them to get started on your home loan:

James Williamson 404-483-5512 James.Williamson@sheltermortgage.com

Robbie Crozier 770-337-9833 robbie.crozier@sheltermortgage.com

Susan Sharp 770-724-8121 susan.sharp@sheltermortgage.com