Mortgage Money Gets Cheaper and Buyer Inquiries and Showings Continue to Increase

The increase in my showing volume and buyer inquiry volume has held up since I reported last week that it was up 100% from December for the first 9 days of the year. Thru last night, it’s up 97% from the first 13 days of December. I met with 5 new buyers myself over this last weekend, and got them going in the right direction to become homeowners. Even one more phone call would have put it over 100%.

30 year fixed rate mortgages with full documentation are being quoted at 5.5–5.625% this morning. Steve’s also got Great FHA rates at 6% for those with less than excellent credit scores. We’re also seeing some loosening of credit and down payment requirements, on other loan programs,  but we’ll NEVER (I hope) go back to the craziness of overly easy money that we saw in 2004 and 2005.

I cut and pasted some statistics from a lender who I’ve never used, but since all these figures are ones I’ve seen before, it was nice to get them compiled into a simple list.

A Positive Note – Viva Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Real Estate Market; why we are better than those other markets.
· $58 billion of new casino and hotel construction now underway
· 25,000 jobs will be created in the next 3 years
· 1 million more residents will move in over the next 15 years
· $68 billion of new construction currently on the board for future projects
· 50,000 Las Vegas high school students will graduate in the next 3 years
· Las Vegas is probably the only city in the US now poised for a speedy recovery and
unprecedented future growth
· Las Vegas has never experienced negative growth in the past 19 years prior to
2007
· Las Vegas has lead nation in growth 19 of past 20 years
(Arizona took it in 2006 Vegas reclaimed in 2007)