Real Estate Continues To Be the Best Investment [INFOGRAPHIC]

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 21, 2023. Posted in First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Infographics, Move-Up Buyers, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

Some HighlightsAccording to a recent Gallup poll, real estate has been voted the best long-term investment for 11 years in a row, beating gold, stocks, bonds, and more.Owning real estate means more than just having a home—it’s an investment in your future. That’s because it’s typically a stable and secure asset that tends to increase in value as time goes on.Connect with a local real estate agent if you’re ready to buy a home and invest in your future.

Street Tree Advisory Committee

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 21, 2023. Posted in St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

The Street Tree Advisory Committee (STAC) is a staff-appointed volunteer board which meets quarterly to assist and advise the Public Works and Planning departments as it relates to protection, preservation and management of the city’s urban forest.

Septic Tank Vulnerability Study

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 21, 2023. Posted in St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

Septic Tank Vulnerability Study

Wastewater Technologies report

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 21, 2023. Posted in St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

Owning Your Home Helps You Build Wealth

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 20, 2023. Posted in Buying Myths, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Rent vs. Buy, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

You may have heard some people say it’s better to rent than buy a home right now. But, even today, there are lots of good reasons to become a homeowner. One of them is that owning a home is typically viewed as a good long-term investment that helps your net worth grow over time.Homeownership Builds Wealth Regardless of Income LevelYou may be surprised to learn homeowners across various income levels have a much higher net worth than renters who make the same amount. Data from First American helps illustrate this point (see graph below):What makes wealth so much higher for homeowners? A recent...

Explaining Today’s Mortgage Rates

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 19, 2023. Posted in For Buyers, Housing Market Updates, Interest Rates, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

If you’re following mortgage rates because you know they impact your borrowing costs, you may be wondering what the future holds for them. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to answer that question because mortgage rates are notoriously hard to forecast. But, there’s one thing that’s historically a good indicator of what’ll happen with rates, and that’s the relationship between the 30-Year Mortgage Rate and the 10-Year Treasury Yield. Here’s a graph showing those two metrics since Freddie Mac started keeping mortgage rate records in 1972:As the graph shows, historically, the average spread...

Homebuyers Are Getting Used to the New Normal

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 18, 2023. Posted in For Sellers, Housing Market Updates, Interest Rates, Selling Myths, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

Before you decide to sell your house, it’s important to know what you can expect in the current housing market. One positive trend right now is homebuyers are adapting to today’s mortgage rates and getting used to them as the new normal.To better understand what’s been happening with mortgage rates lately, the graph below shows the trend for the 30-year fixed mortgage rate from Freddie Mac since last October. As you can see, rates have been between 6% and 7% pretty consistently for the past nine months:According to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of Realtors (NAR),...

Home Prices Are Rebounding

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 17, 2023. Posted in Buying Myths, For Buyers, For Sellers, Pricing, Selling Myths, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

If you’re following the news today, you may feel a bit unsure about what’s happening with home prices and fear whether or not the worst is yet to come. That’s because today’s headlines are painting an unnecessarily negative picture. If we take a year-over-year view, home prices did drop some, but that’s because we’re comparing to a ‘unicorn’ year when prices peaked well beyond the norm.To avoid an unfair comparison to that previous peak, we need to look at monthly data. And that tells a very different and much more positive story. While local home price trends still vary by market, here’s what...

Sister Cities

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 15, 2023. Posted in St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

St. Augustine has a very active chapter of Sister Cities International and maintains relationships with four cities: Aviles, Spain; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Cartagena, Colombia and the Island of Menorca, Spain.

Low Housing Inventory Is a Sweet Spot for Sellers [INFOGRAPHIC]

Written by St. Augustine Mortgage Syndicated User on July 14, 2023. Posted in For Sellers, Housing Market Updates, Infographics, Selling Myths, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Mortgage.

Some HighlightsToday’s housing inventory is still well below more normal years.This low inventory is why homes that are priced right are still selling quickly and seeing multiple offers.If you want to sell your house, now is a great time because inventory is still low. Contact a trusted real estate agent to start the process.

Category: St. Augustine Mortgage