Lenders and vendors alike are emerging from Thanksgiving and looking ahead to which day they have off for Christmas in the U.S., the 23rd or the 26th. An informal Chrisman poll shows the 26th, but there is definitely a noticeable percentage who are taking both days off. It is good to keep things in perspective and appreciate what we have in the United States. Here in Mexico (yes, that Mexico; down here for a short visit) the daily minimum wage in pesos is $172.87 MXP (approximately $8.06 USD) for the countryside, slightly more in cities and tourist area. Yes, you read that correctly: 8 smackers. With a Gross Domestic Product of $1.4 billion, Mexico’s economy is about the same as Florida’s. Wages aside, in terms of interest rates, across the Atlantic, Ghana, which most people would be hard-pressed to identify on a map of Africa, the latest rate hike to combat inflation puts rates at a19-year high of 27 percent! Not a lot of rate and term refis there, that’s for sure
The other day I walked in on Myrtle who was looking at the litter cleaning robot on the screen as if to ask, “What’ll they think of next?” Businesses and arrangements are always coming and going. There’s a new in-house appraisal product, noted below. Who wants to go in with me on starting a 2nd home company with a common-sense name, nothing foreign sounding. “Let’s Split It.” (Tagline: “Your Perfect Vacation Home Awaits.”) Wouldn’t “I Gotta Guy” be a cool name for a business? And useful? Call the number, they hook you up with a plumber who shows up, or a gutter repair person who is competent, or whatever you need. New companies are out there. Ever heard of “Calque”? Me neither until Morgan C. from Highland Mortgage pointed out “The trade-in mortgage.” Freddie Mac announced its newly enhanced mortgage rate survey. Progress Residential, with over 85,000 single-family rental (SF
For some reason, companies laying off large numbers of people (most recently Better, Freedom, Mr. Cooper) make headlines, whereas shouldn’t the unusual, like companies that aren’t laying off anyone or who are hiring, be more newsworthy? There are indeed companies that are not laying off anyone, and in fact are hiring to take advantage of slow times. There is other good news. Despite inflation, elevated mortgage rates, and slowing sales activity, severely limited housing inventory will prevent large home price drops for most of the country next year according to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in his 2023 outlook. “For most parts of the country, home prices are holding steady since available inventory is extremely low. Some places are experiencing price gains, while some places, most notably in California, are seeing prices pull back… Housing inventory is about a quarter of what it was in 2008, distressed property sales are almost non-existent, at just 2%, a
/PRNewswire/ The "Global Pipe Insulation Market by Material Type (Rockwool, Fiberglass, PUR & PIR foam, Elastomeric foam), Application (Industrial, Oil,.
/PRNewswire/ The "Global Pipe Insulation Market by Material Type (Rockwool, Fiberglass, PUR & PIR foam, Elastomeric foam), Application (Industrial, Oil,.