Village Bank Mortgage

November Housing Starts Increase

psell — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:42:02 +0000

Housing starts for November rose 9.3% to 685,000. The highest annual rate since April 2010. Leading the way was multi-family units, rising 32.2%. Single-family units saw an increase of 2.3%. Over the last year, housing starts are up 24.3%.

The Housing Starts report measures the number of residential units on which construction is begun each month. A start in construction is defined as the beginning of excavation of the foundation for the building and is comprised primarily of residential housing. Changes in the rate of housing starts tell us a lot about demand for homes and construction outlook. Furthermore, each time a new home is started, construction employment rises, revenues for the home builder and a myriad of other producers also increase; the economic “ripple effect” can be substantial.

Delinquency Rate Down- Homeownership rate up.

hdalton — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:36:17 +0000

The Virginia Mortgage Lenders Association release the National Delinquency Survey today. It showed that Homeownership in Virginia rose by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter of 2011 compared to the 3rd quarter 2010. Virginia’s homeownership rate is above the national average by 2.5% at 68.8. Delinquency rates and foreclosure starts fell during the third quarter of... Read More »

Initial Jobless Claims Reach 3-Year Low

psell — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:46:15 +0000

Initial jobless claims dropped 19,000 for the week ending December 10th to 366,000. This marks the lowest level for initial claims since May 2008. Though the weekly claims report can be volatile, 5 of the past 6 weeks have come in below the 400,000 mark. A sign that perhaps the employment sector is improving. The 4-week average for initial claims also fell, dropping 6,500 to 387,750. This report is timely and occasionally moves the market. Although volatile and subject to big revisions, it is considered a good gauge of labor market conditions and an indicator of the employment report.

Mortgage Rate lower

hdalton — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:14:19 +0000

In a rare move the stock market soared and mortgage rates fell. This is in reverse of the normal trend. Usually when stock improve mortgage rates go higher.

Existing Home Sales Increase

hdalton — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:27:36 +0000

Existing home sales for October rose to 4.97 million, a 1.4% increase from September, and a 13.5% increase from October 2010. An additional positive sign is the decline in the number of homes on the market. Total inventory for October fell 2.2% from September. This represents an 8.0 month supply at the current sales pace, down from 8.3 months in September.

Existing Home Sales is a measure of the selling rate of pre-owned single-family homes, collected by the National Association of Realtors from 650 realtor associations. Sales of existing (or pre-owned) houses account for roughly 84% of all houses sold. Sales of new houses account for the other 16%. Simply put, the volume of sales indicates housing demand.

Dave Worrie shares marketing ideas with Village Bank Mortgage Loan Officers

hdalton — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:55:15 +0000

On Monday November 11th, Dave Worrie with Remax Commonwealth, met with Loan Officers from Village Bank Mortgage to share his insite into his marketing success. Dave also meet with Village Bank Mortgage CEO and President Jerry Mabry. During their discussion they agreed that “…housing has never been more affordable. Real Estate values are the best in years and rates are the lowest in decades. It really is a great time to buy a home!”

Job Openings show improvement

hdalton — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:44:53 +0000

According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover report (JOLTS), the number of job openings in September was 3.4 million, up from the August reading of 3.1 million. Although the number of job openings is still below the pre-recession reading of 4.4 million in December 2007, there has been significant improvement since the low in 2009. The September 2011 level was 1.2 million higher than the 2009 low (set in July) and represents a 38% increase since that time.

The chart on this page shows the job opening readings for the past two years, starting in October 2009 and going through the most recent reading for September 2011.

Stock Markets show historic increase in October

hdalton — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:12:28 +0000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 saw historic gains in the month of October. The Dow advanced 12.0%, it’s biggest gain since January 1987. The S&P 500 saw an increase of 13.5%, it’s largest gain since October 1974. Optimism surrounding Europe, positive economic data and better than expected earnings reports all helped these indexes to huge monthly gains.

How does this affect home loan rates? Home loan rates pushed up in October in large part due to the meteoric rise in stocks. As investors looked to take advantage of favorable stock conditions, money flowed out of bonds. With all the money coming out of bonds, home loan rates took a hit.

Home sales up!!

hdalton — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:48:59 +0000

Featured Chart for Wednesday, October 26th New Home Sales Rise

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, new home sales for September climbed to 313,000. This is up nearly 6% from the revised August rate of 296,000. As you can see from this chart, September comes in just below the 2011 high of 316,000 set in April.

The median sales price of a new home sold in September was $204,000 while the average sales prices was $243,900.

Grant funds

hdalton — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:44:07 +0000

We continue to have grant funds for home buyers. We have a $7500 grant for qualified buyers. We also have a $15,000 grant for certian qualified foreclosed properties. There are income restrictions and other restrictions.