The Euro-zone/IMF approved 110 billion in aid to bail out Greece. Germany’s cabinet approved the draft, allowing them to contribute to the fund as well. The weekend news has been a rally maker for stocks and at the same time, pressured bonds, notes and mortgage backs right out of the gate.
In a nutshell, the bill as passed the House and has now moved on to the Senate. We expect passage with little opposition by the end of this week. Expectations to close loans under the “new USDA” should be no sooner that the first or second week of June. In the meantime, the run rate on current funding will go dry next Thursday or Friday (May 6th or 7th). Any loan without a USDA cert that does not have additional disaster funds left over are unlikely to be able to close until the “new USDA” is up and running.
Last Tuesday's S&P Case-Shiller home price index reported that homes in 20 major U.S. cities were WORTH MORE in February 2010 than they were in February 2009 -- the first year-to-year INCREASE in values in over three years! The good news of this 0.6% annual gain was tempered by a small monthly decline in prices from January to February. But remember, February's unusually stormy weather make it a tough month for real estate in much of the country. ??Corroborating Case-Shiller, a second home price index also showed a national gain in home prices for February 2010 compared to February 2009. This was the First American CoreLogic HPI, an index including distressed sales, which reported a home price increase of 0.3% for the year.
