Our New Blog

Hello Everyone,

Hope you're having a nice relaxing weekend!

We enjoyed meeting a lot of you at National Night Out (NNO) 2008 at Windemere. Be on the lookout for an article, photos, and raffle winners soon! To elicit your feedback, we recently sent NNO 2008 participants a survey link to help us plan for NNO 2009. If you'd like to participate in the survey, please send us an e-mail now to participate.

Check out our website when you get a chance - the latest SRVUSD API Scores for 2007-2008, and Market Snapshots are now available. Also, peruse our newsletter that will give you an idea about how the market is trending, Months of Inventory, August Sales Activity in Danville & San Ramon and also, a look at New Homes in different areas you might be considering.

September 2008 Newsletter

If you have a suggestion for what you'd like to hear more about in our newsletter, please send us an e-mail here. We love hearing from you.

First Time Home Buyers

A Starter Home

Looking to move to Windemere?

Now's your chance.....This opportunity will not last!

Click below for more details!

New Home: 3 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath, 2 Car Garage

Firetruck Park, Sports Park, and Elementary School - walking distance!

Move In: Estimated November 2008

Great Incentives are being offered on this home! Price is Negotiable!

Call Zia at (925) 984-7671 for more information!!

Monday's bond market has opened up sharply following a steep sell-off in stocks during early trading. The stock markets are reacting to news that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and other related financial sector news. This has pushed the Dow lower by 250 points and the Nasdaq down 33 points. The fact that the bond market is currently up 48/32, should improve Monday's mortgage rates by approximately .500 of a discount point (or 0.5%).

The news the Lehman was unable to find buyers for its businesses and filed for bankruptcy protection has significantly raised concerns that the financial sector of the market is nowhere near stabilizing and has many fearing that more collapses may be coming in the near future. There are concerns about other banks and financial services companies on the verge of collapse that could create turmoil in international markets also. The benefactor to this news and concern is the bond market as investors seek safe-haven from the volatility. Whether this spike in bond prices will hold is unknown at this time, but what is a safe bet is that more news like this weekend's reports could make mortgage-related bonds much more attractive to investors and may lead to a downward trend in mortgage rates.

Also contributing to this morning's bond gains was a much larger decline in industrial production than analysts had expected. Monday morning's release of August's Industrial Production report revealed a 1.1% decline in factory output. This was much weaker than analysts' forecasts of a 0.3% decline and indicates that the manufacturing sector was weaker than thought in August. This is good news for bonds and mortgage rates because slowing economic activity eases inflation concerns.

Tuesday morning brings us the release of August's Consumer Price Index (CPI). This is one of the most important reports we see each and every month. It is considered to be a key indicator of inflation at the consumer level of the economy. There are two readings in the report - the overall index and the core data reading. Current forecasts are calling for 0.1% decline in the overall reading and a 0.2% rise in the core data reading. A larger increase in the core data would likely lead to higher mortgage rates tomorrow, while a smaller increase would be good news.

The FOMC meeting will adjourn at 2:15 PM tomorrow, Tuesday 9/16. There is little debate about a possible change to key short-term interest rates at this meeting. The overwhelming consensus is that there will be no change to rates at this meeting. However, the post-meeting statement could very well lead to volatility during afternoon trading as investors dissect it in an effort to find the Fed's expected next move. The wild card is how the markets react to the statement. If we see significant weakness in stocks, the bond market may benefit as a safe-haven from the volatility. This could lead to lower mortgage rates tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday morning.

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.

Hope you're having a great week,

I thought this was definitely Newsworthy enough to pass on right away to everyone! If you've been following Mosaic at Gale Ranch, you should know about the potential new release of homes that will be taking place at some of the communities there tomorrow - Saturday September 6th.

Here comes the newsworthy part!

I love visiting with everyone over at Mosaic at Gale Ranch because they do a great job of showcasing their communities. While I was over at Belmaison this morning, guess what..folks are starting to camp out for an anticipated release of new homes....NEXT Saturday, September 13th. That's right NEXT Saturday! Folks have their strategy down to camp out for over a week.

There are a couple of models that have shown to be extremely popular at Belmaison- Residence 1s & Residence 2s. Names are starting to be put on a list, and all the serious contenders are patiently camping out in their cars for the much awaited Release 3 and for a chance at a homesite, model, and plan of their preference. We have to applaud the persistence and commitment of these home buyers!

So, if you're looking for up to date information on Belmaison or any other Mosaic or Gale Ranch community - prices, sq ft, homesites, quick close homes, please give me a call at (925) 984-7671. I would love to hear from you and help you find your dream home!

Happy Reading!