Portland-Metro’s 2014 RMLS™ stats bested 2013’s numbers in all metrics:
Continue reading “2014 Portland-Metro Sales Stats: Good News Except For Inventory – What’s Up?”
We all know that local property tax revenues are what support law enforcement, fire protection, education, etc. But most folks don’t understand the labyrinthine formulas that go into the determination of their annual property tax assessments. For that they can be easily forgiven. At first blush the formulas have the complexity of a Rube Goldberg machine. Continue reading “Oregon’s Property Tax Limitation Measures: A Good Idea In 1990 &1992, But Not So Much Today”
Background. Quantitative Easing or “QE” is a process whereby the Fed purchases large quantities of long-term securities held by big banks. The Fed prints money to make these asset purchases. By reducing the supply of these securities for other investors, the price goes up. When the price of the bonds goes up, their yield goes down. This means that for large companies and municipalities who depend upon the sale of bonds for the financing of projects, their borrower costs go down. Continue reading “Will Interest Rates Rise In 2015?”
Quantitative Easing (“QE”) & Tapering. QE is a process whereby the Fed purchases large quantities of long-term securities held by big banks. The Fed prints money to make these asset purchases. By reducing the supply of these securities for other investors, the price goes up. When the price of the bonds goes up, their yield goes down. This means that for large companies and municipalities who depend upon the sale of bonds for the financing of projects, their borrower costs go down. Since mortgage interest rates track the long term T-Bill rates, as QE keeps these rates low, it also keeps mortgage interest rates low. The goal of QE was to keep long term interest rates low and release more money into the marketplace, thereby increasing economic activity for households and businesses.[1] Continue reading “The Federal Reserve 2015: Looking For The Goldilocks Solution”
“…the Obama administration may represent “Peak Left” in American politics, and what we are getting from the left these days is a mix of bewilderment and anger as it realizes that this is as good as it gets. America is unlikely to go farther to the left than it went in the wake of the Iraq War and the financial crash, and while that wasn’t anywhere near enough of a shift for left-leaning Democrats, the country has already moved on.” ~Walter Russell Mead writing online for the American Interest, Dec. 19 [as quoted in the Wall Street Journal’s Notable & Quotable: ‘Peak Left’ for Democrats]
Fannie and Freddie [collectively “the GSEs”[1]] are the two major players in the secondary mortgage market, whose role is to purchase qualifying residential loans made by banks to homebuyers. In that way, the banks get money back to make more and more residential loans. Continue reading “Querin Law: Fannie, Freddie And The Future (Part Two)”
Nationalmortgagenews.com recently carried a story (“Fannie Moves Aggressively on New Low-Down-Payment Loans”) by Kate Berry reporting on Fannie’s and Freddie’s [collectively, “GSEs”[1]] venture back into more risky lending. Perhaps the GSEs’ near-death experience in September-October 2008 did not leave a sufficiently lasting impression…. Continue reading “Fannie And Freddie Throwing Caution To The Wind: 3% Downpayment Loans!”
The RMLS™ Market Action Report just came out. Link is here. The Portland-Metro stats for November 2014 continued to show steady growth in almost all sectors, with the exception of new listings, which were down 2.7% from the same period last year. Inventory remained stubbornly low (see chart below). Continue reading “Portland-Metro RMLS™ Stats For November 2014”
Measure 91 – High Times for Oregonians. According to OregonLive.com, here, there are 23 states that currently have medical marijuana laws on the books. Oregon was one of them. On November 4, 2014, Oregon joined a smaller group of pot-friendly states (Washington, Colorado, Alaska, and the District of Columbia), to permit the recreational use of cannabis.[1] I will leave it to the wordsmiths to explain how the term “recreational use” found its way into our lexicon when discussing the use of marijuana. “Recreation” is the last thing one thinks about when taking a toke – or so I’m told…. Continue reading “Recreational Marijuana: Oregon’s New Joint Venture”
In a recent post here, I ranted about our self-absorbed politicians who, by there bickering, dickering, and bartering, had allowed the extension of the tax forgiveness law to move to the back burner of their 2014 agenda – at least until after the mid-term elections, where, as Alec Trebeck is wont to say about Double Jeopardy, “the scores can really change.” And that they did. The Dems got trounced, as I explained here. Agreement should have been reached in 2013, or at least early 2014. Continue reading “Tax Forgiveness For 2014 Likely Here – Will 2015 Result In The Same Waiting Game?”
Introduction. For the last several years, the concept of “equity” [i.e., the difference between the net proceeds received upon sale and the unpaid mortgage balance] that many people counted upon when they sold their home, was moot or close to moot – there was none. However, as we slowly climb out of the Great Recession, and read the housing stats, since 3Q 2012, most homes in the Portland-Metro area have been steadily appreciating. Accordingly, it seems timely to focus upon the issue of taxes. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (“the Act”), which was signed on August 12, 1997, effected several important changes in estate and gift taxes, individual retirement accounts, charitable giving and capital gains rates. Included in the new law was a major revision in how the sale of personal residences were to be treated for income tax purposes. The New Law and Tax Tips, discussed below, apply to residential sales transaction occurring on or after May 7, 1997. Continue reading “Querin Law: Tax Tips When Selling A Primary Residence”
