Snoqualmie Pass Undressed

Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage, and Economy 11/9/09

Here is the lastest information on Snoqualmie Pass Real Estate, Mortgage and the Economy: Big news for the housing market came Friday when the President signed a bill extending and broadening tax credits for homebuyers. Major points were first reported in an Inside Lending Bulletin last Thursday. The tax credits apply to contracts signed by April 30, 2010, that close by June 30. Income limits for eligibility have been increased to $125,000 per year for individuals and up to $225,000 per year for couples. Credits up to $8,000 continue for first-time buyers but there is now a $6,500 tax credit for buyers who’ve owned their current home at least five of the last eight years. However, homes selling for more than $800,000 are not eligible.  The week began with September Pending Home Sales coming in UP for the eighth month in a row. The National Association of Realtors index was UP 6.1% for the month, and UP 21.2% over September a year ago! The index hit 110.1, with 100 equaling the average level of sales contracts in 2001, the first year measured by the index.

 

Let’s be clear. The job market is lagging behind the turnaround analysts are seeing in the overall economy. 10.2% unemployment is the highest since 1983, though still below that era’s 10.8% rate. And because of the economic growth that began in the summer, some economists now feel unemployment is at its peak or very close. There were encouraging signs in Friday’s numbers. There were fewer jobs lost than first reported for August and September. And the three-month average of job losses has declined in each of the last eight months.

Getting back to more obviously positive economic news, the 9.5% productivity gain was its largest boost since 2003. ISM Manufacturing was much better than expected, now solidly in above-50 expansion territory at 55.7. ISM Services has also begun to expand at 50.6, while Construction Spending bumped up 0.8% and Pending Home Sales saw the great shot up we covered above. The Fed’s policy statement after last week’s meeting recognized for the first time that household spending is “expanding” now, rather than “stabilizing” as they characterized it before. 

 

Hello 10,000 and above.  The Dow finished above that magic number when the market closed for the week. The S&P 500, which many consider an even better indicator of investor sentiment, was up every day. The big jump came Thursday with solid earnings from tech giant Cisco and a 9.5% jump in Productivity. Friday saw what some considered a gloomy October Employment Report, but investors wouldn’t let it push the Dow under 10,000.  For the week, the Dow finished UP 3.2%, to 10023.42; the S&P 500 was also UP 3.2%, to 1069.30; while the Nasdaq went UP 3.3%, to 2112.44.