About me

I am Jean-Marie Caterina, owner of the Caterina MacLean Group, The Maine Real Estate Network , 75 John Roberts Road, South Portland, Maine . My office number is (207)774-4224 and my direct line is (207)318-3440.
Check us out at www.wesellmaine.com

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Where has the time gone??

Believe it or not, the time has flown since my last sign in and that is because I have been very busy selling real estate! It is about time. As mentoned in previous musings, now is the time to be out there scooping up deals. With the dollar in a dive and treasuries not being sold, the only direction for mortgage rates is UP!! Contrary to popular belief, the prime rate which has fallen in recent months only helps the short term borrowers, like equity lines, credit cards, and the like. The mortgage rate is tied to long term treasuries which in turn are very susceptible to the vagaries of the dollar and the stock market. With the dollar at historic lows, investors are not buying tresuries which means less money is avail ble to be lent which means rates go up.........and on and on. While housing prices might come down some more in the next six months, with a rise in rates there will be no difference in monthly payment to borrowers. I have read that it would take an additional drop of 12% in value to make up for an increase in rates. In fact to wait for a drop in price may mean you end up paying more monthly due to a rate increase! Why wait?? The savvy buyers are out now and are getting great deals! This is the time to buy!