The government tax incentives for homebuyers are over.  Does that mean that your window of opportunity for great value in real estate is closed? Not by a long shot! Freddie Mac announced that 30-year mortgage rates fell to the lowest rates in almost 40 years.  There are plenty of homes in every style and price range imaginable - and prices haven’t started rising again…but they will. THAT’S the key to a sound investment, isn’t it: buy low, sell high, right? Historically, real estate has has yielded high returns on long term investment, in most cases faster than investing in the stock market.  There is no reason to believe history won’t repeat itself.  So if you want to make a great investment in your future, call Netter Real Estate 631-661-5100 and don’t wait to buy real estate; buy real estate and wait! 

But don’t just take my word for it.  Below is an article in the Friday, June 25th edition of The Wall Street Journal on the subject:

Sell Stock, Buy Real Estate?  

Mortgage Rates, Stocks Drop

Treasury Yields Fall Amid Hunt for Safety, Pushing Home-Loan Rates to Lowest in Nearly 40 Years

By PRABHA NATARAJAN And MATT PHILLIPS

Persistent worries about the global economy are roiling the stock market, but they also are proving a boon for borrowers.

 The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled another 145.64 points on Thursday as Freddie Mac said that 30-year mortgage rates fell to their lowest level in almost 40 years.

The same forces are driving down both. The prospect of a sputtering economy is prompting investors to bail out of risky assets like stocks while loading up on safe-haven investments like Treasurys and, to some extent, mortgage securities sold by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both government agencies. The Dow is basically unchanged this month and down 2.6% for the year. Thursday’s drop took it down another 1.4% to 10152.80.

Investors are in “glass-half-empty mode,” said Steve Sosnick, equity risk manager at Timber Hill LLC/ Interactive Brokers Group LLC. “It’s not necessarily one piece of news or one piece of legislation, it’s more of a malaise.”

The S&P 500-stock index posted its fourth consecutive decline, marking its longest losing streak n seven weeks, or ssince the four-day period that ended on May 7. The broad index ended down by 1.7% led by declines of more than 2% each in its consumer-discretionary, financial, energy, and basic-materials sectors.

As investors load up on Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities, prices are rising and yields falling. Treasurys, which act as a benchmark for mortgage rates, have tumbled.

The yield on the two-year note—seen as a proxy for expectations on the direction of Federal Reserve interest rates —dropped to 0.63% early on Thursday, near a record low, before rising to end flat at 0.672%. The 10-year note is near its lowest since April 2009.

That pushed down the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to 4.69% in the week ending Thursday, according to Freddie Mac, down from 4.75% a week earlier and 5.42% at this time last year. That is the lowest since Freddie began tracking mortgages in 1971.

The move lower is surprising to many analysts, who thought that the Fed’s decision to stop buying mortgages earlier this year would drive prices down and yields up. But now, analysts say that even lower rates may be coming.

Record-low rates are good news for homeowners looking to refinance and home buyers eager to take advantage of slumping prices. The problem is, lenders are more strict about to whom they will lend, requiring larger down payments, higher credit scores and proof of job stability.

Analysts say that means mortgage rates may fall even more before refinancing picks up.

“Mortgage rates need to hit 4.5%,” without borrowers having to pay any extra interest upfront, for refinancing to increase, said Scott Wede, managing director and head of agency mortgage trading at Barclays Capital.

So far, falling interest rates haven’t spurred home buying, said Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at HSH Associates, a publisher of consumer-loan information.

Rates also have fallen on so-called jumbo loans that exceed government loan-purchase limits, which start at $417,000 and rise as high as $729,750 in the most expensive markets. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate jumbos averaged 5.65% on Tuesday, according to HSH.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page C1

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The future depends on what we do in the present.”  Call Netter Real Estate today 631-661-5100 to secure your future.