Thinking of buying a home?

Thinking of buying a home, now may be the time. At Wednesday's meeting the Federal Reserve kept its lending interest rate at 5.25% which means interest rates on mortgages are virtually unchanged. If your a buyer the inventory of existing homes is up which means you will have plenty to choose from. According to the National Association of Realtors housing starts are down 18% from last year, new home sales are down 17%, existing home sales are down 14% and inventory of existing homes for sale is up 35%. Mortgage rates as of 10-27-2006 source Bloomberg: 15 yr current- 5.61, last month 5.47, 30yr current- 5.89, last month 5.75 and 1yr ARM current- 5.36, last month 5.26.

Other economic news
For the third quarter 2006 oil companies once again posted record profits.

Exxon Mobil $10.5 billion up 5.7% from last year
Shell $5.94 billion down 34% from last year

Questions or comments: write or email eugene.dougherty@realliving.com