GREAT NEWS FOR 1ST TIME BUYERS FROM SONYMA

Here is some great first time buyer news: SONYMA has announced two new features that can be used with their loan programs.

1. Down payment assistance loan of up to 3% of the home price with a max of $10,000. This is a no payment 0% interest rate loan that is forgiven after 10 years.

2. Tax credit advance loan. Now the applicants can receive their $8,000 federal tax credit at the closing, when they need it! If the advance is paid back by 6/30 2011 there is no interest ! In order to be eligible borrowers must be generally be First time buyers and have contracts for a home signed on or before April 30th 2010 and close on or before June 30th 2010. SONYMA will launch this on 1/1/2010 .



Income limits for Ulster County:

1-2 person household 3 + Household

$83,640 $ 97,580


Max single family home price $ 354,970

EXISTING HOMES SOLD RISE 15.6%% IN NORTHEAST IN FEBRUARY

AS PER KEN SWEET AT FOX NEWS MONDAY MARCH 23, 2009

The number of existing homes sold in February unexpectedly rose last month, an industry trade organization said Monday, as distressed home sales continued to remain the dominant force in the nation’s impaired housing market.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the number of homes sold rose 5.1% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 4.72 million units in February up from 4.49 million annualized units.
The jump in sales was much better than what economists had predicted, who were expecting existing home sales to fall to 4.45 million units. The data helped boost stocks broadly, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 300 points.
While the increased sale of homes is a welcome sign to Wall Street -- as many believe that the housing will eventually lead the nation’s economy out of this recession -- the bulk of February’s sales were distressed purchases. The average price for a home sold was $165,400, down 15.5% from a year ago.
“Because entry level buyers are shopping for bargains, distressed sales accounted for 40% to 45% of the transactions in February,” said NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun in a statement.
As it has been for the past couple months, existing home sales were stronger in the West than the rest of the nation -- primarily in the struggling housing market of California. Existing home sales in the region were up 2.6% from a month ago to 1.2 million annualized units, and are up 30.4% from a year ago.
In the Northeast, sales rose 15.6% to an annualized rate of 740,000 units and are down 14.9% from a year ago. In the Midwest, sales were basically flat -- up 1% -- to 1.04 million units.
In the struggling Southern market, existing home sales rose 6.1% to an annualized rate of 1.74 million units, according to the trade organization.

It is always hard to predict when a bottom is happening. I read active rain comments by Realtors in California and they feel their market is bottoming. We usually follow California so if you are thinking of buying a home or second home this might be the time to look with rates at 4.6% and in some places even lower.

Most people see the bottom AFTER it happens.

Call me at 845- 417-1314