Learn about local real estate and housing market trends from The Cascade Team Real Estate.

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The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages fell to 4.76 percent this week, while the rate on the 15-year home loan slipped below 4 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. Here's a historical look at rates for fixed and adjustable mortgages for the last 52 weeks.

 

Current week's average rate(1) Previous week's average rate(2) 52-week high(3) 52-week low (4)

                  1     2    3    4

30-year fixed 4.76 4.88 5.21 4.17

15-year fixed 3.97 4.15 4.52 3.57

5-year adjustable 3.57 3.73 4.25 3.25

1-year adjustable 3.17 3.21 4.25 3.17

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Pulte flags mark a neighborhood in the Redmond Ridge East development.

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 27, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Snoqualmie Ridge II Development LLC (a joint venture of Quadrant Homes and Murray Franklyn Family of Companies) jointly announced the sale of residential lots and other undeveloped residential land within Snoqualmie Ridge II (SRII) to Pulte Group.  

"This is an opportunity for the Pulte Group to establish an ongoing relationship with both Murray Franklyn and Quadrant, two of the Pacific Northwest's most established and well respected home builders," said John Ochsner, the company's Pacific Northwest Division President.

Both Quadrant Homes and Murray Franklyn will continue to build homes in the community and will retain ownership and Lead Developer role in the Commercial/Retail parcels yet to be…

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buyers-sellers_street_sign_575        “The White Paper” Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market – A report to Congress.  http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/Documents/Reforming%20America%27s%20Housing%20Finance%20Market.pdf

This is a 31 page document from The Department of the Treasury and HUD that was given to Congress in February.  I have included the link above if you want to take the time to read it. If you don’t, the basics are:

  1. Over the next few years Freddie and Fannie will play a reduced role in the Nation’s housing market with the majority of the effect being felt in 5 to 7 years. 
  2. Fannie, Freddie and HUD will continue to play a role in providing financing to low-to-moderate income borrowers.  FHA will return to its traditional role as a targeted lender of…

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Proposals to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may make 30-year fixed-rate mortgages harder to find, housing experts say.

An outline drafted by the Treasury Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the White House and circulated last month calls for winding down Fannie and Freddie over the next five to seven years. Congress continues to debate the future of Fannie and Freddie, and how and whether it should move to phase out the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). For its part, the Obama administration has argued for scrapping the GSEs, but replacing them with some form of federal involvement in mortgage financing.

But housing experts warn that 30-year fixed rate mortgages — a popular choice among buyers — might become…

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Arizona, Nevada, and California are among the states that have proposed using federal aid money to have Bank of America lower the amount struggling borrowers owe on their mortgages.

Bank of America Corp. will begin the mortgage principal reduction program for customers in Arizona, as part of a pilot program in using the federal aid dollars from the Hardest Hit Fund. The Hardest Hit Fund is an Obama administration program designed to provide extra aid to states that face high unemployment and sour real estate markets. Individual states can determine how to use the federal money. Arizona received $125.1 million in aid.

Bank of America customers in Arizona who are struggling to make their mortgage may be eligible to have the amount owed on their mortgage…

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1) Distressed Homes make up 37% of the Housing Market in King County

2) King County Single Family Home Prices Drop 10.4% Year over Year compaired to Feb 2010

3) Closed Sales in King County Drop 9.2% (Mainly due to the slow process of dealing with Distressed Properties)

KIRKLAND, Wash. (March 3, 2011) – Housing activity during February continued to reflect the downside of distressed properties with fewer sales and lower prices than a year ago. Nevertheless, brokers believe there are reasons for optimism when taking a closer look at the numbers in the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

(Note to editors: A distressed property is a dwelling that is in danger of foreclosure or that is in the process of being foreclosed due to…

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92010 - Rancho Carrillo Homes in Carlsbad, CA

Homes in Rancho Carrillo are sometimes overlooked when it comes to hunting for great Carlsbad Real Estate deals. You can search all active Rancho Carrillo Homes here.  This includes Rancho Carrillo are townhomes, homes in gated communities, estates, short sales and bank owned homes in the Rancho Carrillo area.

The Rancho Carrillo Community in Carlsbad is one of the older "new master planned communities" in North San Diego County. Rancho Carrillo real estate is located in the heart of Carlsbad, surrounded by many fine Carlsbad neighborhoods including Bressi Ranch, La Costa Greens, Old La Costa Homes, Shadowridge Homes in Vista, Old Creek Ranch, San Elijo Hills to the East and La Costa Ridge.

Rancho…

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Cast member Nicolas Cage arrives for the premiere of the film ''Season of the Witch'' in New York January 4, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

(Reuters Life!) - Although sales of foreclosed homes dropped last year, they still account for a quarter of U.S. home sales and the rich and famous are among them.

Basketball legend Julius "Dr.J" Erving, actor Nicolas Cage and hip-hop artist Chamillionaire have all gone through foreclosure proceedings in the last six months, according to forbes.com.

"All price points have been hit by the foreclosure crisis. The rich and famous have not been excluded from that. There are a handful of people in the luxury real estate category that are experiencing foreclosures as well," said Morgan Brennan of forbes.com.

Former Detroit Red Wings hockey star Sergei Federov and Patricia Kluge, the ex-wife of the late media mogul John Kluge, have also lost their…

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boa-mortgage_120 Get pre-quallified and take advantage of The Cascade Team preferred program here:

http://www.thecascadeteam.com/bank-of-america-loans.php 

Mortgage loan applications increased 13.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications survey.

The number of refinancings increased the most: The Refinance Index increased 17.8 percent compared to the previous week. Overall, the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 65.7 percent of total applications.

Meanwhile, the Purchase Index increased 5.1 percent compared to the week prior.

“Ongoing turmoil in the Middle East brought interest rates lower last week,” says Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of…

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open-house_120 By Lucia Mutikani Lucia Mutikani –

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of previously owned homes set their highest rate in eight months in January, but more than a third of purchases were distressed properties and prices hit a nearly nine-year low.

The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing homes sales climbed 2.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.36 million units, marking the third straight month of gains. Economists had expected a fall to a 5.24 million-unit pace.

Foreclosures and short sales typically occur below market value and their large share of overall sales suggested further price declines ahead.

"What this shows is that there is will be an ongoing adjustment to prices to the downside. Housing fundamentals are still weak,"…

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