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Rates Remain
Affordable
Mortgage interest rates are ending
the year just about where they were when 2004
began -- hovering below the very affordable 6
percent mark.
Freddie Mac's Weekly Mortgage Market Survey put
the average fixed interest rate for 30-year
conforming loans at 5.87 percent on Jan. 8,
2004, in the year's first weekly survey. On Dec.
30, rates were at 5.81 percent. Still, rates
finished 2004 well off the 6.75 rate originally
forecast.
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Slower
economic growth in 2005 should hold average
mortgage rates to 6.5 percent or lower
throughout 2005, according to the Mortgage
Bankers Association forecast.
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Efficient Homes Offset Energy
Costs
 Freddie Mac analyzed data from the
American Housing Survey (AHS) and found that fuel
cost as a percentage of home value was about 0.8
percent between 2000 and 2003, versus about 1.8
percent before 1960 and an average of 1.3 percent
in the oil crisis decade of the 1970s.
While some of the
cost difference can be attributed to home value
appreciation, Freddie Mac says much of it is due
to recently built homes that are about twice as
energy efficient as homes built in the 1960s.
Crude oil pulled back from a peak of $55.23 per
barrel in October, but remains far off the $30 a
barrel mark of a year ago. |
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Laundry Rooms a Hot Amenity for
Homebuyers
 Laundry rooms top buyers' list of
most desired extra rooms, regardless of the
property size or the buyer's income, according to
a survey by the National Association of Home
Builders.
Laundry
rooms are no longer relegated to the basement, and
many buyers are requesting more than one. They are
now multi-purpose spaces, where homeowners store
cleaning and pet supplies, surf the Web, and do
crafts.
Builders of
single-family homes priced under $200,000 have
made deluxe laundry rooms a standard feature, and
many are including them in multi-family structures
as well. | |
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2004-2005 Home Sales Remain
Bullish
The National Association of Realtors
revised upward its year-end forecast for home sales and
the trade group projects the healthy housing market will
stay alive and well in 2005.
By the end of 2004,
existing-home sales should be up 7.9 percent to 6.58
million, easily surpassing 2003's record. In 2005, NAR
projects 6.38 million sales, the second highest level in
history. The median price on existing homes will rise
7.9 percent to $182,500 in 2004 and another 5 percent in
2005.
New-home sales are
expected to rise 8.9 percent to a record 1.18 million in
2004, but only 1.13 million in 2005. New-home prices
should be up 8.9 percent to $214,600 in 2004 and another
5.8 percent in 2005.
"We're
setting our fourth consecutive record year for
existing-home sales, and even with strong fundamentals
such as household growth, low interest rates and an
improving economy, we simply can't set records every
year," said David Lereah, NAR's chief economist.
"Given the sharp rise over
last year's record, a lot of buyers have found the home
they've been looking for and we can expect a bit of a
breather in 2005, which will remain a historically
strong year," as builders work to ease the backup in
housing demand, he added. |
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