Mortgage news that matters

I'm going to add a new twist to the blog by providing links to articles that I feel relevant to real estate in the Pacific NW. I'll still give the occasional opinion piece.

Here goes...

Making sense of the mortgage mess By Mara Der Hovanesian, Peter Coy, Matthew Goldstein, & David Henry Well balanced article of how we got here and what should happen.

Fed looks set to stay course amid housing turmoil by Mark Felsenthal As the Fed completes it's 2 day meeting look to see the Prime Rate stay the same. However, strategists hope to see a softening of the wording that a cut might be in the future. Look for a market reaction if the wording is less then expected.

Subprime's Salvation Is Fed's Conundrum By Liz Rappaport Opinion piece doubting the need for the Fed to step in to "save the day" since the free market system we love seems to be doing it for them.

Builders' confidence falls in March By Chris Isidore Builders are a little down in the dumps since there aren't as many easy credit buyers available to buy the glut of homes they built last year. The west still looks ok...

House buyers have more to choose from in Portland Associated Press Confirmation that we're leveling off into a sustainable market. Prices are rising modestly, there isn't the "feeding frenzy" of the last few years and rates are holding steady.

Economy Can WithstandMore Mortgage Foreclosures By James R. Hagerty Interesting take on the 1.1 million potential foreclosures over the next few years. Spread out over time the impact could be modest...except for the 1.1 million...

Ranking the Real-Estate Agents:Clunky Site Identifies Best Bets By James R. Hagerty How does your realtor match up against his/her peers? Not sure the reliability of the linked site, but it's interesting info...

How Good Are Zillow'sHome-Price Estimates? By James Hagerty Good blurb on Zillow. We're finding that it's a good barometer, but boy, can it be wrong...

As always, if there is anything I can do to assist please let me know.