Record Lows Mortgage Rates Still Going

 

Freddie Mac had good news to report regarding 30-year mortgage rates last week. It was the third consecutive week the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped. This report was the lowest point in the history of the survey, which was established in 1971.

Great news for homebuyers in the market. Today’s rates will allow homebuyers to purchase a home with a sticker price they would not even consider looking at a year ago. Sam Khater, Chief Economist at Freddie Mac says this surge in low rates has kept the homebuyer demand going throughout the summer. Realtor.com reported a flood in the market with monthly traffic hitting an all-time high of 86 million unique users in June. Daily traffic was also off the chart at 7 million unique users as of June 25. The global pandemic is not stopping the housing market. Buyers are still ready to make a purchase.

Why not, when the rates are so low. The average monthly mortgage payment has decreased significantly. Looking back per decade since the inception of Freddie Mac’s survey, today’s rates allows a very low monthly payment. As seen in the chart displayed the mortgage payment for a $300,000 loan by decade sharply declined. In the 70’s the average rate was 8.86% with a 2,384 monthly payment, the 80’s saw even higher rates at 12.7% with a $3,248 monthly payment, in the 90’s the rate dropped to 8.12% with a $2,267 monthly payment, the year 2000 had a significant drop to 6.29% with a monthly payment of $1,855, ten years later in 2010 the average rate was reported at 4.09% making the monthly payment $1,448 and finally today we see the record low of 3.03% with a low monthly payment of $1,270.

These low monthly payments can add up over the life of a home loan. As mentioned earlier, homeowners can now qualify for a bigger home purchase than before. This year has seen its share of disaster but the home market has been positive among the pandemic. If you are in a position to purchase a home, reach out to a Realtor who can help you through the process of purchasing a new home.

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Dana Wade the New FHA Commissioner

The Senate announced the replacement of the Federal Housing Administration commissioner Brian Montgomery will be Dana Wade. President Trump nominated Dana Wade this February. Wade previously was the acting FHA commissioner from July 2017 to June 2018 and then became the program associate director for general government at the Office of Management and Budget from December 2018 to December 2019.

“I believe that FHA has a duty to support the nation’s housing markets and homeowners facing economic hardship,” Wade said during her Senate testimony in May. “While the virus will pass and the economy will eventually regain its previous strength, the road to recovery will require our sustained effort.”

Her top priorities as the FHA commissioner “would include protecting current FHA homeowners and fully deploying FHA’s loss mitigation toolkit for COVID-affected homeowners; ensuring that FHA has the necessary staffing and other resources, as well as continuing the innovative FHA IT Modernization effort; and vigilantly monitoring risk to taxpayers of losses stemming from COVID-19 and protecting FHA’s capital reserve to the maximum extent possible.”

Wade was praised for her Senate testimony. HUD Secretary Ben Carson congratulated her for her confirmation and shared that he believes she “has been a tremendous asset to the Department and the Administration throughout her years of service, and I have full confidence in her ability to successfully lead FHA.”

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Jefferson Parish Schools Delayed Because of Coronavirus

In the July 15th Jefferson Parish School board meeting it was voted to delay the start of the school year because of the pandemic. The school board recently conducted a survey regarding coronavirus concerns. Out of the 10,305 responses, 68% would like to delay the first day of school to August 12th.

The coronavirus is a struggle for the whole world and everyone is learning how to navigate this new territory. The district wants to ensure that its staff and teachers are trained and prepared for safely reopening the schools for the 20-21 school year. Teachers need more time to prepare and learn the additional safety guidelines that will be implemented due to coronavirus.

Another concern is what phase the state will be in, in terms of reopening when the school year begins. Jefferson Parish Schools have come up with three possible scenarios to try and cover all basis. The first scenario will be to allow students back into schools with kids in the classrooms. The second would be an all virtual learning platform and the third scenario would be some brick and mortar and some virtual.

As of now, it is voted for 1-12 grades to begin August 12th and PreK and kindergarten will begin August 17-18 in the school buildings. July hit record highs in cases all over the state. The parish is the largest district with 51,000 students and 80 schools so plans could change once again.

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Central Business District’s New Project Will Include A Bowling Alley

New Orleans’ Central Business District is set to be the home of Marcel Wiznia’s $44 million co-living project named Two Saints. The project, located at the intersection of St. Charles Avenue and St. Joseph Street, will now include a bowling alley with a restaurant and bar. The New Orleans City Council approved the bowling alley in their July 5, 2020 meeting with one condition, the project will include affordable housing units.

Among the project, 40 units of the 218 units will have several rooms that would be rented, one tenant per private bedroom, that will share a kitchen and living room with other renters. In order to rent one of these shared units, you must make between 60% and 80% of the area’s median income. Rent would be less than $1,000 a month on the 40 units while the other 218 will rent between $1,400 and $1,500. This is part of the agreement made between the developers and the Industrial Development Board and is part of the program called payment in lieu of taxes.

“This will help us in our ability to provide affordable housing for working people here in this city,” Councilman Jay H. Banks, who represents the district said.

The 141,000-square-foot project plans to include a bowling alley which will be run by the franchise Punch Bowl Social. The bowling-themed entertainment venue will include bowling lanes, a variety of other games including darts, karaoke and a restaurant with several bars.

Current residents that are close to the proposed project have some concerns but the project will be bound to certain set hours. In order for the project to work with affordable housing, the commercial aspect is a must.

“I know there were concerns about the commercial aspect of this development but the fact of the matter is they needed some kind of commercial supplement to make the numbers work,” Banks said.

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First Nine-Week Plan For Plaquemines Parish Schools

In the last week of June, The Plaquemines Parish School District released their plans for the school year during the pandemic. The majority of the Parish’s schools will offer both virtual and brick and mortar classes.

Belle Chasse High School will only offer virtual learning for the first nine weeks of the school year. The 7-12 graders that make up the 900 students at the high school would have a hard time physical distancing. Superintendent Denis Rousselle explains that they “looked at all kinds of scenarios” but it was just too challenging. The teachers at Belle Chasse High school are all currently being trained in Google Classroom.

“The kids will have to complete assignments and they will be graded as if they were traditional assignments,” Kenny Petkovich, Director of Secondary Education in Plaquemines said.

Plaquemines Parish schools sent out a survey at the beginning of July asking parents which path they will take for their students’ learning. The district asked in the survey which learning option they would choose for their students either traditional or virtual learning.

“I’m just very grateful that at least Plaquemines Parish has a plan,” said Jaime Sauer who has an 8th, 6th, and 3rd grader in Plaquemines Parish schools.

The school district explained the plans for the upcoming school year in a letter sent out to the district’s parents. The district will follow the LDE and LDH guidelines. If the state reverts to Phase 1, all students in the district will participate in online/virtual learning. If Louisiana is in Phase 2 or 3, Belle Chasse High School will remain online/virtual while remaining schools will offer both virtual and brick and mortar options.

“The plan of today is to try to get as many children as we can in the brick and mortar schools safely,” Rousselle said.

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