Existing Home Sales Fall In March

The housing slump continues as today's report of Exisiting Home Sales indicates. This is the seventh drop in the past eight months. The median price of a home was also down for the month of March. The National Association of Realtors reported that home sales were down 2.0% for March and the median price of a home sold last month was $200,700 (a 7.7% decline from one year ago). Some economists predict that home prices could keep falling for many more months given the severe credit crunch and continued high foreclosure rate.

Rates have actually been pretty stable so far this week after the late run-up last week on Thursday and Friday. We have eeked out about an 1/8 pt cut in rate so far... let it roll!!

Today's action followed last weeks theme, where it appears that investors are moving out of bonds and into other safe haven investments. We dropped 104 pts on the DOW today, which is usually drives Wall Street to bonds, yet it didn't happen today. The 10 year treasury yield actually went up slightly by .008%. What's more, is that we had a drop in mortgage rates today, which tells me that the spread got a teenie bit thinner.

We'll have to keep an eye on that mortgage spread and bond market to see if investors are feeling sassy again. As I've been saying all year, rates are still great, so things are still looking good for those looking to buy a home or refinance. Selling your home still might be a cahallenge though, depending on your market. Cheers!

Refinance Tool Box.