Why buy a house?

I promise this is my last post for a while on the economy or real estate. I'll get some new material but I'm just passionate about helping, informing and educating people in real estate because this is what I do.  Let me first vent for a moment by saying I had a gentleman tell me the other day he would use me to list his home. I was excited as I enjoy listing homes and the process of it. I quickly realized he was dodging my calls and I found out why - he listed with a very large real estate agency that makes a lot of promises on the radio but does not always follow through.  I went to see the listing and lo and behold - there were not even pictures posted.  The first 24 hours are crucial to a listing as it gets on the Hot Sheet for my fellow agents and we see the new listings. No Pictures - no interest - no buyers. When you are ready to move allow me to to go over with you my 25 point marketing strategy or I can even email it you.

My friend and my own personal mortgage lender put out a newsletter about why buying a home is a good thing.  

Lorcan LuceyPresident Lucey Mortgage Corporation Phone: 843-884-8133 Cell 843-224-3650 lorcan@luceymortgage.net www.luceymortgage.net

Financial Reasons to Buy There are a number of personal and emotional reasons to buy a home. But there are also some strong financial reasons to make the investment. Here are just a few of those reasons to share with your clients: Increase Net Worth: Few things have a greater impact on net worth than owning a home. In a comparison of renters versus homeowners, the Federal Reserve Board of Consumer Finance found that the average net worth of renters was just $4,000 compared to homeowners at $184,400. A Big Tax Deduction: One of the largest tax deductions available is the amount of interest paid on a mortgage. In fact, a $150,000 home at a 5.50% interest rate can add up to approximately $8,000 in first year's interest. This amounts to a significant savings – effectively reducing the amount of a homeowner's monthly mortgage payment. Long-Term Appreciation: Over the last few years, home prices have corrected and become more affordable. While that's good news for potential buyers, it has overshadowed the long-term appreciation of a home's value. The reality is, despite market ups and downs between 1950 and 2002, US home prices appreciated at an annual growth rate of 4.8%. Even if you calculate a modest appreciation of 3%, a home purchased today for $150,000 will grow in value to $364,000 over 30 years.

Mortgage Interest Rates*

Rates as of Friday, 29th April, 2016:

Term Conforming APR Payment per $1,000 Jumbo APR Payment per $1,000 30-YR Fixed 360 3.625% 3.71% $4.56 3.875% 3.92% $4.70 15-YR Fixed 180 2.75% 2.82% $6.79 3.5% 3.59% $7.15 HomePath 30 FIX 360 3.875% 4.41% $4.70 -% -% $0.00 FHA 30 FIX 360 3.25% 4.12% $4.35 -% -% $0.00 VA 30 FIX 360 3.25% 3.51% $4.35 -% -% $0.00 *Rates are subject to change due to market fluctuations and borrower's eligibility. Payment amounts do not include amounts for taxes and insurance. Actual monthly payment could be higher. For professional use only. Not intended for consumer distribution.

Rates Assume 20% down, excellent credit, primary residence and 30 day rate quote. FHA assumes 3.5% down on $335,000 Sale Price. VA assumes first use on $400,000 Sale Price. The above quotes have 0% points and 0% origination fee. © 2016 Vantage Production, LLC. All rights reserved.

Economic glimpse from a local mortgage lender...

Last Week’s Economic News in Review Below you will see a newsletter from one of the mortgage lenders I personally use, Stephen Perry. The other lender I use is Lucey Mortgage in Mt. Pleasant and they are both very good at what they do and very customer friendly. Check out Stephen's newsletter on the local economy below.  In short it says we are doing very well. Unemployment continues to drop and the housing continues to grow. Surprisingly, the new construction dropped and preexisting home sales grew.  Maybe the trend is starting to change.  We still have a strong, very strong, seller's market. My last listing went under contract in 2 weeks for a full price offer. Call me and I'll tell you how I did it and how I can do it for you. "Existing home sales rebounded, while new housing construction retreated, and layoffs continued to fall to historic lows." Existing Home Sales: Existing home sales bounced back in April with transactions of single-family homes, town-homes, condominiums, and co-ops growing 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 5.33 million in March, the National Association of Realtors reported last week. “Closings came back in force last month as a greater number of buyers — mostly in the Northeast and Midwest — overcame depressed inventory levels and steady price growth to close on a home,” NAR (National Association of Realtors) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Buyer demand remains sturdy in most areas this spring and the mid-priced market is doing quite well. However, sales are softer both at the very low and very high ends of the market because of supply limitations and affordability pressures.” The median price for existing homes of all types in March grew to $222,700, which marked a 5.7 percent increase over March 2015’s $210,700. Looking at inventory, March’s supply of existing homes increased 5.9 percent to 1.98 million units for sale, marking a 4.5-month supply, but when compared annually was down 1.5 percent from March 2015. Price and supply will continue to be key influences on overall sales volume. Housing Stats: Housing stats dropped to their lowest level since October, with construction stats on private housing in March falling to an annual rate of 1,089,000, an 8.8 percent decline from February’s rate of 1,194,000, according to last week’s report from the Census Bureau. That said, March’s starts were 14.2 percent over March 2015’s rate of 954,000. Starts on single-family homes in March dipped to a rate of 764,000, which was 9.2 percent below February’s pace of 841,000. Building permits issued in March for construction of private housing dropped to an annual rate of 1,086,000, which was 7.7 percent below February’s rate of 1,177,000, but was 4.6 percent over March 2015’s rate of 1,038,000. Permits for single-family homes in March dipped to a rate of 727,000, which was 1.2 percent below February’s pace of 736,000. That decreasing pace of permits worried Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc. “That is somewhat more worrisome as the permit demand has lagged starts for the last two months,” Naroff told the Wall Street Journal, adding that declining permits “could signal continued softness in the market.” Initial Jobless Claims Layoffs continued to fall with first-time claims for unemployment benefits filed during the week ending April 16 dropping to 247,000, a decline of 6,000 from the preceding week’s level of 253,000, the Employment and Training Administration reported last week. This marked the lowest level for initial claims since November 24, 1973’s 233,000, and was the 58th straight week of initial claims being below 300,000, a level economists consider indicative of a growing job market. The four-week moving average — considered a more stable measure of unemployment activity — dropped to 260,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the prior week’s average of 265,000. This week we can expect: Monday — New home sales for March from the Census Bureau. Tuesday — Durable goods orders for March from the Census Bureau; April consumer confidence from The Conference Board. Thursday — First quarter GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis; initial jobless claims for last week from the Employment and Training Administration. Friday — Personal incomes and spending for March from the Bureau of Economic Analysis; consumer sentiment for April from the University of Michigan."     STEPHEN PERRY  Loan Officer direct: (843) 343-5295 fax: (843) 628-0755 NMLS: 474166 1180 Sam Rittenberg Blvd, Suite 105 Charleston, SC 29407 https://movement.com/lo/stephen-perry/

Sawmill Branch Trail in Summerville, SC
Pic taken from VisitSummerville

If you have not taken a stroll or a bike ride along the Sawmill Branch you have not partaken in on the Low Country joys of Summerville. My friend and I used to leave Scotts Mill Subdivision on our bikes and ride to the trail head and do a round trip back to home.  This was about 18 miles door-to-door and so much fun. Often times we hit downtown Summerville for a drink or lunch before our return home.  This is a 6.5 mile paved, flat trail that is approximately 10 feet wide.  A year or two ago the Dorchester Chamber Leadership class did some beautification projects along the way which made it even nicer.  While you stroll along or take a ride you'll notice it parallels the Sawmill Branch Creek where you may see wildlife or kids playing.  There are many places to park along the trail which makes it easy to get on and off and the map above can help you find some locations. The easiest is probably to go to the YMCA fields and the trail ends (or begins) there by the creek.If you go far enough and need re-fueled you can stop at the Sunoco Station on Bacon's Bridge before it splits onto Trolley for a beverage or snack. 

Go take a walk or ride and enjoy our amazing spring weather.  Grab lunch or a drink downtown and don't forget this Thursday is our 3rd Thursday.

-Jason

Spring is Here - April Update

     April is here and the azaleas are in bloom and Charleston is beautiful!  Summerville just had a boom weekend with its Flowertown Festiva0l where they expected 200,000 people.  How cool for our “small” town to get National attention and visitors.  What a great month to take a stroll through Middleton or Magnolia Gardens.  It’s truly a must see.  We just had 35k people in town for the Cooper River Bridge Run.  It was a little rainy, but that didn’t really seem to bother anyone.  The big events this month are the WTA tennis tournament at Daniel Island, Currently sponsored by Volvo Cars and that goes from April 2-10 as well as all the house and garden tours.  The 69th Annual Festival of Houses and Gardens goes on all month until the 25th.  And the farmer’s market in Marion Square and Summerville gets started again on April 9.  You can also go see acts such as Gregg Allman, Widespread Panic, David Sedaris, and Amy Schumer.  Of course, you need to start planning for Spoleto in May.

Here’s your April calendar of events for the Tri-County:

2: Cooper River Bridge Run

2-10: Volvo Car Open WTA tennis tournament (formerly Family Circle Cup), Daniel Island

8: 16th Annual Kiawah Island House and Art Tour

8-9: 81st Garden Club House and Garden Tour

10: Aaron Neville, Chas Music Hall

13-17: Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus Legends, N Charleston Coliseum

14: Greg Allman, Chas Music Hall

14-21: Charleston Race Week, International Sailboat Regatta

15: North Mississippi All-stars, Chas Music Hall

15: Charleston Outdoor Festival, James Island County Park

15-17: Kiawah Motoring Retreat

15: Out to Lunch with the Conservancy, Hampton Park

16-17: Zac Brown’s Band Southern Ground Music and Food Festival, Daniel Island

16: Bird Songs, Center for Birds of Prey

19: David Sedaris, Gaillard

21: Welcome to Night Vale, Chas Music Hall

22: Widespread Panic, N Chas Coliseum

22,23: CSO Masterworks Series, Tchaikovsky and Brahms

24: Music of Janis Joplin, Gaillard

24: 29th Blessing of Fleet and Seafood Festival, Memorial Waterfront Park Mt Pleasant

28: Amy Schumer, N Chas Performing Arts Center

29: Dave Rawlings Machine and Punch Brothers, Chas Music Hall

30: Paula Poundstone, Chas Music Hall

Our real estate market is really booming.  Buying activity is extremely high and inventory is low.  Prices are going up, but at a very reasonable pace.  January and February buying activity was up 10% over 2015 and prices were up 6.6% over Jan and Feb 2015.  Median sales price is maintaining at about $235k.  It will be interesting to see if buying activity can exceed the 2005-2006 records.  2015 was the 3rd busiest year ever.  2016 will likely exceed 2015, but I don’t know if we’ll break the records set in 2005-6.  While we are often the #1 or #2 best city by Conde Nast Travel Magazine, we also get rated high by other publications.  US News and World Report just ranked us 19th Best Place to Live in the country.  Charleston’s suburbs are expanding westward with more growth in Summerville.  Summerville has now annexed property on the Goose Creek side of I26 and the Nexton home development there will be huge.  They are currently doing some major road construction in that area to handle all the new population coming to that area.  Google already has a plant up there and that’s also where the new Volvo plant is going to be.  What a great place to live!!

Summerville, SC Flowertown Festival