The December 2010 Housing Trends eNewsletter is live and ready for you, see link below.

http://tampaarea.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/show-local-market-data.cfm?pid=38&loadid=59

Housing Trends eNewsletter is filled with local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs and the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, consumer videos, blogs, real estate glossary, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, and REALTOR.com local community reports.

Nationally, nearly 6.5 million homes went into foreclosure from 2005 through 2009. As a result, the homeownership rate fell from a high of 69.0% in 2004 to 67.4% in 2009. The share of homes owned by investors and banks has grown and this trend will weigh on the homeownership rate for years to come. Locally, there were 884,282 foreclosures in Florida over this same 5-year period. The result was a decline in the statewide homeownership rate from its recent peak of 72.4% in 2006 to 70.9% in 2009.

Tampa's homeownership rate fell in recent years, but was above the national average in 2009.

After rising in the first half of the second quarter, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage followed the 10-year Treasury bond downward in the third quarter. The sharp drop in home sales in July following the expiration of the Federal tax credit sent stock markets into a quandary. Soft economic indicators in July and August maintained this pattern, but by August, rates were falling for a different reason. Speculation that the Federal reserve would engage in a second round of mortgage and Treasury purchases to stimulate the economy by lowering the cost of borrowing, dubbed QE2 for the second round of such quantitative easing, sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury to record lows and the 30-year fixed rate mortgage followed suit. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage, as measured by Freddie Mac, registered 4.32% in the first week of September, a record, and stayed under 4.4% the entire month. However, the spread between the 10-year Treasury and 30-year FRM rose 24 basis points in the third quarter to 166. The bulk of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing was expected to be implemented through purchases of 2-year and 10-year Treasury notes. Consequently, demand for these instruments surged relative to long-term mortgage debt, which caused the spread to widen.

Thanks,

Nathan Bangs