Here is todays MARKET UPDATE FOR FARGO MOORHEAD REAL ESTATE

FROM REAL TREND NEWSLETTER - JAN 6 2009


Mortgage rate decline continues

Get ready for a flurry of refinances. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 20 basis points, to 5.64 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.14 percent; four weeks ago, it was 5.92 percent. The benchmark 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 30 basis points, to 5.16 percent. The benchmark 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 9 basis points, to 5.86 percent.

At 5.64 percent, Bankrate's benchmark 30-year rate was lower two weeks ago (when it was 5.42 percent). Before that, the last time it was lower was in June 2003, in the midst of the biggest refinancing boom in history.

Source: Bankrate.com

REAL Trends Comment: Lower mortgage rates have been sited by a large number of industry leaders, from Realogy to NAR, and from the Mortgage Banker's Association to the Home Builders, as the tonic that would do the most to help correct the housing industry. Softness in the economy, confirmed by the December auto sales report and retail sales, indicates that there will be little upward pressure on borrowing in the private sector over the next few quarters - thus allowing rates to continue their decline further.

The upshot is that consumers can take advantage of low rates to buy, invest and refinance to lower their monthly costs - all trends that are favorable for recovery in the housing market.


Top 25 forecast housing markets

Two states with reputations for being some of the coldest places in the country dominate the Housing Predictor (housingpredictor.com) Top 25 housing markets for 2009. Montana placed all of its five forecast markets on the list, and neighboring North Dakota had four markets make the top 25 forecast to have the highest appreciation in home values during the year.

The Housing Predictor Top 25 Markets are selected from the more than 250 local housing markets forecast, and are projected to have the highest probability of hitting their forecast appreciation. Seventeen markets are forecast to experience some level of appreciation in 2009, making the top 25 markets. Eight other markets round out the Top 25 forecast to experience lower deflation than the majority of the country.


The top 10 are:
1. Bloomington, IL 3.6%
2. Grand Junction, CO 3.1%
3. Billings, MT 3.1%
4. Fargo, ND 2.9%
5. Lander, WY 2.3%
6. Trenton, NJ 2.3%
7. Morgantown, WV 2.0%
8. Logan, UT 2.0%
9. Bozeman, MT 1.8%
10. Albany, GA 1.8%








Dan and Lida Deutsch, CRS, Buyers Agents