Daily Mortgage Comment

Thursday’s bond market has opened in negative territory yet again as the stock markets show early gains and investors await tomorrow’s employment figures. Stocks are in positive territory with the Dow up 35 points and the Nasdaq up 14 points. The bond market is currently down 9/32, which will likely push this morning’s mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 of a discount point.

There is no important news scheduled for release today. The Labor Department did post weekly unemployment claims, saying that 338,000 new claims were filed last week. Analysts were expecting to see 335,000 new claims. This was not enough of a variance to affect trading since the data is considered to be relatively low in importance.

Home Prices Up in D.C. Area

The Washington Business Journal reported November 9th that the average selling price for homes in D.C. and the close-in suburbs rose in October compared with last year, while those in further away counties like Prince George’s fell.The largest price jumps from September to October were in D.C., Arlington and Alexandria, according to a study released Friday by Rockville-based Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.The average selling price for a house in D.C. rose nearly 6 percent to $499,526 as compared with the city’s prices in October 2006. Alexandria prices increased 6 percent to $490,476 and those in Arlington jumped 7 percent to $556,517. In Montgomery County, homes cost on average $317,221, up 2 percent from last year.The results defy the national market trend, showing there are still buyers in the market willing to pay a premium to be near D.C.”Prices continue to rise in the central jurisdictions,” said John McClain, a senior fellow at George Mason University’s School of Public Policy, in a statement. “By comparison, outlying suburbs of Northern Virginia have been particularly hard hit.”Selling prices in Prince George’s County dropped 9 percent to $317,221 compared with a year ago. Fairfax County’s prices feel 2.85 percent to an average $520,186.The suburbs further from D.C. may be more affected by the housing slump in part because they have the highest rates of new construction and new homes cost more than older homes, according to MRIS.

Four Washington Suburb Counties Rank Top Wealthiest Suburbs in Nation

According to a recent Washington Business Journal study four counties around Washington ranked in the top 10 list for the Wealthiest Suburbs in the country. Washington was the only metro area to have more than one suburb to make the list. Those counties are:

#2 - Fairfax County, VA
#4 – Howard County, MD
#5 – Loudon County, VA
#6 – Montgomery County, MD

To view the article view http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/slideshow/35.html.

Housing Market Update

2007 3Q Housing Report Please read the 3rd Quarter Market Report for the Washington DC / Baltimore area from MRIS.