2010 March « The Philly Pretzel

Archive for March, 2010

Philly Mortgage Rate Update: March 23rd 2010

March 24, 2010 at 10:15 am · Filed under First Time Home Buyers, For Home Buyers, Mortgage

Mortgage bond prices rose last week helping mortgage interest rates improve slightly. We started the week on a positive note with rates falling amid tame inflation readings.

While there is growing and well-warranted concern that continuing to keep rates low will lead to inflation down the road…and remember, inflation is the arch enemy of bonds and home loan rates…it does appear that inflation is subdued at present. Last week’s reports showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI), which gauges inflation at the wholesale level, was reported well below expectations and at the largest monthly decline since July 2009. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation at the consumer level, came in just below expectations for February.

Todays Mortgage Rates:

30 Yr Fixed – 4.75% (1 point) / 4.95% (0 points)

15 Yr Fixed – 4.25% (0 points) /

5 yr ARM – 3.5% (.5 point) / 3.75% (0 points)

7 yr ARM – 3.75% (.5 point) / 4% (0 points)

FHA 30 Yr Fixed – 4.75% (.25 point) / 4.875% (0 points)

FHA 5Yr ARM – 3.625% (1 point) / 4% (0 points)

Investment – 5.125% (.5 point) / 5.25% (0 points) 25% down payment required

*Rates are based on 80% loan to value unless noted and 720+ credit score (with the exception of FHA) *Income and Asset verification required and must meet DTI guidelines *This is not a commitment to lend and other conditions may apply

Technorati: philly mortgage, mortgage market, carina marchese, center city mortgage company

APPLY FOR A MORTGAGE ONLINE

Brought to you by our favorite mortgage broker:

Carina Marchese
Center City Mortgage
267.238.5785

email Carina for today’s rate

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South Street Bridge Update

March 15, 2010 at 3:14 pm · Filed under YO Philly

If work continues at its current pace, PennDOT believes the new bridge should be open in December 2010. “As far as I know, the bridge is going along according to schedule and is expected to be completed on time and on budget,” said architect James Campbell of the South Street Bridge Coalition, “We will have a very walkable, bikeable, drivable, and completely useable bridge in the near future that will give everyone access to two great neighborhoods as well as to Schuylkill Banks.”

The new bridge and viaducts – elevated roadways – will span about 2,000 feet. It will include new pedestrian entrances to the University City Regional Rail Station and University of Pennsylvania’s Hollenback Hall. The project is the largest the city’s streets department has handled since it was created in the early 1950s, department chief engineer and surveyor David J. Perri said.

Technorati: Yo Philly, South Street Bridge, Philly neighborhoods, University City, UPenn

posted by janice SEARCH the Philadelphia MLS. No Registration Required!

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Philadelphia Real Estate: 5 Most Exclusive City Neighborhoods

March 13, 2010 at 8:45 pm · Filed under Philadelphia Market Conditions, YO Philly

Most Expensive Zip Codes

1. 19102 (Broad to 16th, Pine to Callowhill) $554,880

2. 19103 (Rittenhouse / Fitler) $385,000

3. 19118 (Chestnut Hill) $375,000

4. 19106 (Old City/Society Hill) $372,500

5. 19107 (Center City East) $332,500

Technorati: philly home sales, philly home buyers, philly home sellers, expensive zip codes

posted by janice SEARCH the Philadelphia MLS. No Registration Required!

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Fishtown Neighborhood Find: Penn Treaty Park

March 10, 2010 at 8:44 pm · Filed under Fishtown, Neighborhood Finds, Neighborhoods

Penn Treaty Park is a small park on the western bank of the Delaware river, in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown. It is located at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Beach street, just off Columbus Avenue.

View Larger Map

QUICK FACTS:

Philadelphia’s only true waterfront park
In 1683 the land that is now the park was part of the Lenape village of Shackamaxon
This was the year that William Penn famously entered into a treaty of peace with a chief of the Lenape
This peace between the Lenape and Penn’s successors would endure almost a century, until 1782
Penn Treaty Park was officially established in 1893
Significantly enlarged during the 1980s by annexing a neighboring former industrial site, the park is now several acres

HAVE HOT NEW FISHTOWN LISTINGS DELIVERED FRESH TO YOUR INBOX

Technorati: Fishtown, Penn Treaty Park, Philly parks, Philadlephia neighborhoods

posted by janice SEARCH the Philadelphia MLS. No Registration Required!

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Philadelphia Housing Shows Further Signs of Stabilization in Q4

March 8, 2010 at 12:27 pm · Filed under For Home Buyers, For Home Sellers, Philadelphia Market Conditions

Prices hold steady, sales activity exhibits unusual increase.

The most recent home sales data indicate a solidifying of the local housing market’s condition after several years of both declining sales and prices.

After two years of falling prices, prices held steady for the third consecutive quarter in 2009 Q4. The typical Philadelphia home rose in value by 0.5% on a quality- and seasonally- adjusted basis this past fall, according to the latest analysis by Econsult economist Kevin Gillen [pdf]. From the housing market’s peak in 2006 to the recent trough of last winter, the average Philadelphia home had fallen in value by a total of 10.5%. But with the market’s apparent stabilization in the latter part of 2009, the average Philadelphia home has recovered 3.5% of its lost value, thereby reducing its total loss to only 7% since the bursting of the national housing bubble several years ago.

Download the report and Kevin’s commentary.

Price changes across the city’s neighborhoods were essentially flat, with slight increases in some neighborhoods being offset by slight decreases in others.

Center City / Fairmount +1.6%
West Philadelphia +1.5%
Lower Northeast Philadelphia +1.2%
Upper Northeast Philadelphia +0.8%
Northwest +0.1%

University City -13.1%
South Philadelphia -0.6%
Kensington/Frankford -0.4%
Northwest Philadelphia -0.1%

Philadelphia’s housing market continues to significantly outperform other major U.S. cities during the current economic downturn.

According to Case-Shiller MacroMarkets’ composite house price index, house prices have fallen by an average of 30% in the ten largest U.S. cities since the bursting of the housing bubble, compared to only 7% in Philadelphia. Of the twenty largest cities in the U.S., all but one (Dallas) have experienced more severe house price declines than Philadelphia.