This week, Palm State Mortgage Company brings you three more golden reasons for fresh feelings of financial optimism this fall In Part One of Autumn Optimism. We detailed two reasons for optimism for homeowners. We invite you to click and read or review them as we continue with Reason Number Three. We call these three reasons “golden” because it is the color of Fall, the color of optimism, and the symbol of better financial times ahead.

HOME OWNERS–AUTUMN OPTIMISM:  Part II

Golden Reason Number Three:  Feeling Good About The Suburbs and Housing Deals!Palm State makes home ownership your nest egg!

We again referred to the Financial Security Index to craft another reason for our optimism. We discovered that not everyone in the Financial Security Index thought prices for mortgages, real estate, and life in general would continue to rise, “Those living in suburban and rural areas were more than twice as likely to say that prices would drop compared with urban dwellers.” This is encouraging.
Indeed, this is just another reason for average families to feel good about moving from rental situations into home ownership, even as they remain in their suburban and rural areas.
On the one side of any housing deal is the buyer, but let us not forget that sellers are getting more optimistic in today’s climate.
Here’s how Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst sees both sides of the home ownership market, in today’s market:

Party of the First Part, A. Buyers:

“If they are confident in the housing market, they are more likely to participate and maybe put in a bid that is closer to the asking price.”

Party of the Second Part, B. Sellers:

“People in a lot of markets are getting close to the asking price, if not more.” The results are more optimistic buyers and sellers in a more positive housing market.

Golden Reason Number Four:  Indicators for Fall Financial Confidence:

Palm State Mortgage also uncovered some golden data in the Financial Security Index, regarding American’s perception of their overall financial standing. According to the Financial Security Index, “Americans’ overall optimism over home prices may stem from greater confidence over their personal finances.”

Palm State Mortgage has observed that Americans in general seem to feel more secure about three important facets of their lives:

A. Their Job Security,
B. Their Net Worth,
In fact, statistics prove that “Twenty-six percent of Americans feel more secure about their jobs compared with a year ago, and 27 percent of respondents said their net worth is higher this year than last year.”

Greg McBride also explained, “Housing is one of two things — the stock market being the other — that consumers look to as an indicator for whether things are headed in the right direction or the wrong direction.”
He added, “The expectation of continued home-price increases underscores an expectation for continued improvement in the job market, household finances, and the overall economy.”

Golden Reason Number Five:  Some Good News from the Jobs Report!

Palm State Mortgage brings fair rates to Florida. This new air of security within the workforce was validated by a recent strong jobs report. Palm State Mortgage can not help but feel a little optimistic when we look at these golden numbers:
A. 248,000 jobs = Non-farm payrolls grew by 248,000 in September! Surprisingly, this was better than Wall Street predicted. They had expected 215,000.
B. It was also a better number than last month’s 142,000 gain.
C. Our unemployment rate slipped to 5.9%. This is a golden number because it represents “the first time the unemployment rate has fallen below 6% since July 2008, and better than expectations for the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 6.1%.”

We would be remiss if we led you to believe that all the employment report news was golden. We were disappointed that, according to the charts, wages continued to float flat month-over-month with a weak 2 per cent year over year. You can find out more financial  information at this convenient site. 

“The strong employment report shows that that the economy has positive momentum going into the final quarter of 2014,” said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
He added this remark, which is certainly representative of a golden optimism for fall:  “It’s consistent with an economy that’s broadening and strengthening.”

No, Palm State Mortgage is not seeing the financial picture as all rosy sunshine for our home buyers. We do see a golden glow of fall optimism!

We are also perceiving lots of silver linings when not long ago, all we could see on the housing and mortgage markets were gray clouds and negativism.
Why not check into home ownership as an option to renting? It might be that your tax refund could help you finance that nice down payment.

As a buyer, or a seller, you have more power than you realize in this fall’s mortgage and home market. Palm State is the mortgage company that can help you discover a mortgage golden situation you can live with–for now and in the future. Let’s see if both the leaves and the opportunities for home ownership can turn golden for you in 2014-2015.