Members enjoy complimentary tickets to the Southern Home and Garden Show

HBA members, the Southern Home and Garden Show presented by EZ Home Search is this weekend at the TD Convention Center. Each member of record and affiliate member for each member company receives two complimentary tickets to the Southern Home and Garden Show.  Your complimentary tickets are waiting for you at the Will Call Booth beside Exhibitor Registration.  Thank you for your membership in the HBA of Greenville.

FHFA House Price Index Up 1.0 Percent in July

U.S. house price appreciation continued in July 2013, rising 1.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) monthly House Price Index (HPI). The July HPI change marks the eighteenth consecutive monthly price increase in the purchase-only, seasonally adjusted index. The previously reported 0.7 percent increase in June remained unchanged.

The HPI is calculated using home sales price information from mortgages either sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Compared to July 2012, house prices were up 8.8 percent in July. The U.S. index is 9.6 percent below its April 2007 peak and is roughly the same as the March 2005 index level.

For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from June to July ranged from -0.7 percent in the East South Central division to +2.2 percent in the Pacific division, while the 12-month changes ranged from +3.8 percent in the East South Central division to +20.8 percent in the Pacific division.

Click here for complete historical data.
Click here for Home Price Index Frequently Asked Questions.
Release dates for 2013 and 2014 are available by clicking here.

FHFA Index Shows Mortgage Interest Rates Continue to Rise in August

National data show interest rates on mortgages continued their upward trend. Contract mortgage interest rates increased 0.25 percent from July to August, according to an index of new mortgage contracts.

According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders index was 4.26 percent for loans closed in late August. The index is calculated using FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey. The contract rate on the composite of all mortgage loans was 4.25 percent, up 25 basis points from 4.00 in July.

Interest rates are typically locked in 30-45 days before a loan is closed. Consequently, August data reflect market rates from mid-to-late July. The effective interest rate was 4.40 percent, up 28 basis points from 4.12 percent in July. The effective interest rate accounts for the addition of initial fees and charges over the life of the mortgage.

FHFA’s interest rate survey shows the average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages of $417,000 or less was 4.49 in August, an increase of 22 basis points. The average loan amount for all loans was $274,500 in August down $3,700 from $278,200 in July.

FHFA will release September index values October 29, 2013.

FHFA Launches National Education Campaign

Campaign Aims to Reach Homeowners Eligible for Mortgage Refinance under HARP

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today launched a nationwide campaign to inform homeowners about the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). The campaign is designed to encourage homeowners who have been making their mortgage payments, but who owe more than their home is worth, to contact their current lender or any other mortgage lender offering HARP refinances to review their refinancing options. With mortgage rates still historically low and HARP eligibility requirements expanded, qualifying homeowners could reduce their monthly mortgage payments or increase their equity faster with a shorter term mortgage.

As part of this campaign, FHFA has launched a new website, www.HARP.gov, and is working with mortgage companies across the U.S. and HGTV personality and star of Power Broker Mike Aubrey to help reach homeowners who may qualify.

“To date, more than 2.8 million homeowners have refinanced through HARP,” said FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco. “With the launch of this campaign we look forward to reaching those homeowners who may not know about the program or understand the eligibility criteria to take advantage of today’s low interest rates by refinancing through HARP.”

“HARP is an absolute no brainer for eligible homeowners. This program allows underwater homeowners the option to refinance at a lower rate and in my book that is a great deal,” said Aubrey. “I spend my time on TV and as a realtor trying to get great deals for my clients. FHFA has already done the legwork to create an amazing deal. It’s as simple as finding out if you qualify, getting the refinance done and watching the savings add up. “

To be eligible for a HARP refinance, homeowners must meet the following criteria:

• The loan must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
• The mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009.
• The current loan-to-value (LTV) ratio must be greater than 80 percent.
• The borrower must be current on their mortgage payments with no late payments in the last six months and no more than one late payment in the last 12 months.

The FHFA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury introduced HARP in early 2009 as part of the Making Home Affordable program. HARP is one of the only refinance programs that enables borrowers with little to no equity in their homes to take advantage of low interest rates and other refinancing benefits. Since its inception, more than 2.8 million homeowners have refinanced through HARP and significant enhancements have allowed more borrowers to take advantage of the program.
To find out if a mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, borrowers can confirm their mortgage by visiting http://knowyouroptions.com/loanlookup or https://ww3.freddiemac.com/corporate/.

Latest Verizon Promotions Available to NPP Members

As an HBA Member, you can avail yourself of specific offers and discounts to National Purchasing Partners (NPP). The promotions available to NPP members for the third quarter expire on September 30. Verizon Wireless offers such discounts:

• 4G Smartphone offers: You can get the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Droid Razr Maxx HD for $99.99, the Windows Phone 8X by HTC for $49.99, and several devices for free when you activate a voice with data plan.
  
• Bill Incentive Credit (BIC): $100/line on Smartphones, $75/line for basic phone service, and $25/line for Netbooks, Tablets and Internet devices with a monthly plan of $34.99 or higher.
  
• Internet Devices: Two of Verizon’s Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspots, the MiFi 4620LE and MiFi 5510L, are available to you for free when you activate a mobile broadband plan of $29.99 or higher.

Click here for an overview of Verizon's current promotional offers.

View the current Verizon MiFi promotions.


If you would like to further discuss your NPP membership, feel free to contact NPP directly at 800.810.3909 or e-mail customerservice@mynpp.com.

Accent Truss is looking for to add a skilled carpenter to their team

Accent Truss is looking to meet their demand and keep up the high standards they have for their craftsmanship and customer service. They plan to add another member to their team. This person would work in the shop as a skilled timber frame carpenter. Excellent wood working and carpentry skills, familiarity/experience with framing is required but equally important to they are qualities that matter just as much and maybe more than skill and experience. This person will need to have a positive outlook, a willingness to learn what they do and how they do it, like being part of a team, take direction well, and be able to do heavy lifting. Contact Accent Truss at info@accenttruss.com or call 877-898-5108. To learn more about Accent Truss, visit www.accenttruss.com and www.facebook.com/accenttruss.

NAHB: More Buyers Purchasing Homes Still Under Construction

In a recent Eye on Housing blog entry, NAHB's economists describe a significant shift in the marketplace whereby greater numbers of buyers are purchasing homes that are still under construction or not yet started versus newly completed homes that are part of a builder's inventory.

The experts attribute this emerging trend to several factors, including, for example, smaller inventories of completed homes (which have limited buyers' choices in that area) and also builder credit constraints that have led to a surge in construction-to-permanent financing. In any case, our economists note that the recent shift has been quite dramatic.

Whereas completed homes were half of all new-home sales in 2008, by mid-2013, that average had fallen to just 29 percent. In the same period, the share of homes sold but not yet started went from 21 percent of sales to 37 percent and the share of homes sold that were under construction went from less than a quarter of the total to more than one-third currently.

One likely explanation for what seems to be a long-term trend in favor of sales of unfinished homes is the rise in concentration of larger building companies, which can hold an inventory of models and available lots for buyers to choose from without having to risk building ready-to-occupy homes that might not fit buyers’ preferences.