Better Late Than Never?

The daily intention has been to get this thing done, not that the world is waiting, but daily the torrent of news causes a "gee maybe something is about to happen" reaction in me, and so the delay, and nothing particularly surprising has happened. For today the Dow dropped almost $250 points and the "flight to quality" caused a jump in treasuries, and a similar drop in mortgage interest. Now a quality 30 year loan is down to about 6.25, no points. This is very attractive money, but not readily available to the same mob that have caused all the problems. This money is destined for people who intend to pay it back. The surprising thing to me about the jittery stock market, and the seeming alarm at the rapidly shifting patterns in the economy is the fact that it seems surprising to the media, and investor types. We've all known that the withdrawal of equity from rising home values for spending on "things" has been driving the economy. Now there is no equity, no spare cash, and Sear's has quit selling appliances, Home Depot and Loews have stopped selling big ticket improvement items, dealers have quit selling new cars, and many of the building trades are effectively shut down. Employment in the mortgage industry is in the tank, Countrywide announced today a layoff of 12,000 is pending, and other peripheral industries are likewise hurting. Would you like to be in the furniture business? Or perhaps buy a kitchen cabinet and appliance store? If all your money isn't tied up in an ice pick sharpening franchise this could be the big chance. Watching the first domino fall over and considering it a solitary event is a touch naive, and so is expecting the mortgage debacle to confine itself to housing. This is not negative commentary, and as the figures for sales in our little corner of the world will show, we're enjoying some semblance of normalcy. Are home prices dropping? Of course they are. Is that a problem? No. The problem was they were too high. As usual these figures are for MLS listed sales only and for single family residences. Chico, Aug 07, 85; Aug 06 91; Aug 05 108. Paradise/Magalia, Aug 07 37; Aug 06 42; Aug 05 60. Glenn County, Aug 07 12; Aug 06 14; Aug 05 24. The 2005 figures obviously reflect the flipping and speculative fervor of the time, aided in no small part by the activities of real estate people.
For whatever it may be worth, our offices are doing well both in real estate and mortgage activity, Chico and Orland both enjoying positive results, including I'm happy to say, some commercial loan business. We have a new web site which I hope you'll visit, devoted to mortgages and trying to attract commercial interest. If I've mentioned this before, I apologize. It's here.
The sky is not falling, if you want to sell or buy a home this is as good a time as any, and if refinancing is in your future, rates could hardly get any better. Call us.
As usual,
Thanks for visiting.