Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

  Chances are you’re hearing a lot about mortgage rates right now, and all you really want to hear is that they’re coming back down. And if you’ve seen headlines about the early November Federal Funds Rate cut by the  Federal Reserve  (The Fed), maybe you got hopeful mortgage rates would start to decline right away. Although some media sources may lead you to believe that the Fed’s actions determine mortgage rates, in reality, they don’t.  The truth is, the Fed, the job market, inflation, geopolitical changes, and a whole list of other economic factors influence  mortgage rates , too. So, while recent actions from the Fed set the stage for mortgage rates to come down over time — it's going to be a gradual and, likely bumpy, process. Here’s the best advice anyone can give you right now. While you may be tempted to wait for rates to fall, it’s really hard to try and  time the market  — there’s just too much that can have an impact. Instead, set yourself ...

  Foreclosures Housing Market Updates There’s been a lot of recession talk over the past couple of years. And that may leave you worried we’re headed for a repeat of what we saw back in 2008. Here’s a look at the latest expert projections to show you why that isn’t going to happen.   According  to Jacob Channel, Senior Economist at  LendingTree , the economy’s pretty strong: “At least right now, the fundamentals of the economy, despite some hiccups, are doing pretty good. While things are far from perfect,  the economy is probably doing better than people want to give it credit for .” That might be why a  recent survey  from the  Wall Street Journal  shows only 39% of economists think there’ll be a recession in the next year. That’s way down from 61% projecting a recession just one year ago ( see graph below ): Most experts believe there won’t be a recession in the next 12 months. One reason why is the current unemployment rate. Let’s co...