Tis The Season

I actually had an agent this week tell me that the recession is over and that
home prices are going up nationally in every neighborhood as we speak. I am all
for an optimistic outtake in life. I do not ever want to represent myself as an ambassador of doom as I have been nicknamed in many markets. But lets get real, the
market traditionally always picks up a little in spring and stays that way just until school starts.
The following information is not bad news, not even false hopes, just real numbers.
Lower interest rates on fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages attracted homeowners as well as people seeking to buy homes.
Application volume for the week ended March 13 was up an unadjusted 31.2% from the same week in 2008, the Washington-based MBA said. Its weekly survey covers about half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
On a week-to-week basis, applications for mortgages to buy homes rose a seasonally adjusted 1.5%, while filings to refinance existing home loans increased 29.6%.
I wanted to thank everyone who attended the full day Short Sale seminar in Bakersfield this last Wednesday. I met some extremely intelligent agents who had an excellent understanding of the local market and economy. Our room was completely packed in the morning class and I thoroughly appreciated the hospitality that not only the local Association of Realtors showed us, but, the entire Real Estate community.