Utah Rates, Programs, Purchases or Refinaning by Utah's Mortgage Guy

Overall, the economy looks to have stabilized from the crisis situation a couple of years ago. Although there are still some global economic concerns in Europe, the U.S. economy appears positioned for continued growth and strengthening – especially in terms of meeting the growing demand for goods in Asian and Latin American countries. What does this mean for you personally? Professionally? Economically?

The stock market finally had a good year in 2010 and saw some strong earnings to help continue the climb out of the financial crisis a couple of years ago. With the strong finish to last year, the stage is set for another good year in stocks and that is news that gives us all something to look forward to.

The positive economic news and corporate earnings in 2010 should also help the labor market strengthen in 2011. Of course, it won’t turnaround over night, but will instead start out slow and build up to more noticeable improvements in the latter part of the year. An uphill increase is worth the wait, I would much rather see this than continue to see a decline in the market. Patience will get us through this. With that said, don’t mistake those improvements for a complete rebound, since we probably won’t see significant improvement in the overall unemployment rate until after 2011. Still, any positive news for the labor market is good news for the economy – and for families across the country!

What Does All That Mean to Housing and Home Loan Rates?

The economy, stock market, and employment are all closely related. For example, an improving economy leads to better corporate earnings and increased manufacturing demand, which in turn leads to increased hiring as companies try to meet that demand.

In addition, all of the aspects discussed above influence the housing market and home loan rates. One of the biggest influences is employment, since people who are unemployed, under-employed, or afraid of losing their jobs are less likely to purchase a new home. So the improvements in the labor market will be good for the housing industry as well. And in terms of home prices, a more secure employment market can help home prices stabilize – since fewer people would be at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure.

That said, it’s important to remember that all real estate markets are local…and that means there can be enormous variations across the country. Areas where employment is struggling, the housing market will continue to struggle as well. However, in many parts of the country where the bottom has been tested and employment is improving, we’ll see the housing market on the mend in 2011.

If you are ready to refinance or you are purchasing a home, simply give me a call and let's get you taken care of.