More Encouraging News

Hidden underneath all the headlines and stories on the proposed government health plan, there are signs of encouraging news that the recession may be easing.

The first full week of August saw some positive results in economic activity, but the news of the declining unemployment rate made investors optimistic. For the first time in the past 17 months fewer job losses were posted and we saw an improved unemployment rate. July saw the lowest number of job losses all year, and the number came in much lower than anticipated. The stock market climbed upward as well. The Dow is now up almost 7% for the year.

This isn’t to say the recovery is in full swing yet, but don’t we all deserve some good news!

And, we saw another positive housing report too. Pending home sales jumped an unexpected 3.6%, when a 0.7% increase was predicted by the experts. We’ve now seen 5 consecutive months of gains in pending contracts. That’s the first time since July 2003 we’ve seen that happen! Affordable home prices and low interest rates have been driving the market upwards. Construction spending was up slightly as well, much better than the drop that was expected.

The 28 major markets the real estate experts watch saw a drop in inventory of 2.5% from June. (The average drop over the last 25 years from June to July is 1%) AND, compared with the inventory in July 2008, there was a big drop of 27%!

Mortgage interest rates are still holding at low levels as well.

At InSight Mortgage Group we’re available to answer your questions regarding new home purchase loans or refinancing your current loan. Call us, 913-642-3334 or email us at michele@wantinsight.com or dickw@wantinsight.com. Look to us for integrity and ethical handling of your financial transactions. Blessings.

More Encouraging Signs

I’m seeing less stridently negative headlines these days; how about you? Not so much doom and gloom; a bit more moderate. That in itself is what I consider good news!

We’ve all made lifestyle adjustments -- cutting back or eliminating non-essential spending, hiding the credit cards and paying cash, maybe even refinanced a mortgage loan into a lower rate to save a few hundred dollars a month.

Within the past few days additional positive news has surfaced – though not screaming headlines; maybe “page 2” style.

Monday, July 20 saw a economic survey released which indicated an easing in the economy, but not an end to the recession. Sara Johnson, IHS Global Insight’s managing director of global macroeconomics, said “ the survey provides new evidence that the U.S. recession is abating, but few signs of an immediate recovery”. She assisted the National Association for Business Economics with the analyzation of the survey.

The recession, which started in December of 2007, is the deepest in 30+ years, and also is the longest since the Great Depression. Most economists are looking to the second half of 2009 for the return of economic growth, but a sluggish recovery is what is expected. Also, the survey indicated a wide disagreement about if the economy had bottomed out or not. 55% of those surveyed said the bottom has not been reached, while 45% replied that the worst was over.

Also on Monday, new construction starts for single family homes were up for the second straight month. The numbers were higher than expected according to economists.

National real estate brokerage ZipRealty released inventory data indicating our housing market is beginning to stabilize. They look at 28 markets across the country. The drop in MLS-listed homes was 2.1% from May through June 2009. And, they saw a slight increase in the median list price, June over May. Many of the hardest hit markets, such as California, have seen dramatic decreases of inventory; 14 straight months of sales growth! And equally hard hit Florida has seen 9 straight months of sales growth too. The word this summer appears to be “affordability”.

With the first time buyers tax credit, historic low interest rates, declining inventory of homes, and increased buyer activity, we should see sales prices and homes values increase as we go into autumn.

Let InSight Mortgage Group analyze your specific financial situation and offer solutions customized to your needs. Don’t sit on the fence any longer; the time is NOW to take action. Please give us a call,913-642-3334 or email us at michele@wantinsight.com or dickw@wantinsight.com. Blessings

Facing Crisis with Faith and Trust

I’ve blogged in the past about positive attitude and taking personal responsibility for maintaining a focus on fiscal steadfastness. I want to share with you some wisdom that addresses these same issues. These thoughts are from the pastor of my church. No matter what your particular faith may be, the impact of facing crisis with trust and faith in God gives each of us hope and peace in these turbulent times.

To paraphrase his words: Bail out, recession, layoffs, and foreclosure -- all are media headline material, and it’s hard to ignore that a national and global crisis exists. Most of us are impacted by, or know someone being impacted by, our current economic crisis. There are different types of crisis we encounter in daily life. It’s not a matter of IF a crisis will come, but WHEN it will come. It could be when a death of a family member occurs, a job is lost, someone we care about is assaulted, a divorce, or a diagnosis of cancer.

How do we respond to this? What is a biblical response to crisis? We need to look to the response we choose when crisis comes, no matter the cause of the crisis.

Pastor Anderson shares wonderful passages and stories of persevering, standing firm in faith, a biblical response to crisis. He talks of four central truths about God and these affirmed in the face of any crisis, will help us have a Godly response to crisis:

1. God is in control
2. God has a plan for the world
3. God has a plan for me
4. I can trust God

I encourage you to click on the link provided to listen to the sermon “Trusting God in the Face of Crisis”:
http://vineyardop.org/Site Resources/Modules/MinistryTools/Sermon/default.asp

As always, any of us here at InSight Mortgage Group will be happy to assist you with your mortgage needs or questions. Please call us at 913-642-3334 or email me at michele@wantinsight.com May God bring you peace now and in your time of crisis.