U.S. Home Sales Climb at Fastest Pace in 10 months

Never forget what the boys from Monty Python said:

“ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE”.

A little (or maybe even a lot) of good news from the U.S. Commerce Department today. 

First, durable goods orders rose 3.4% in February to $165.6 billion, the biggest gain since December 2007, and second, sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes rose at their fastest pace in 10 months.

I am quoting directly here,

“The sky is no longer falling, we seem to have hit rock bottom. The data suggest that the weakest month of the recession possibly was January and now things will probably stabilize at this lower level,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.

GOOD GRIEF????  Could it be that we are not teetering on the edge of the world after all?

For full Reuters report, click here.  AND DON’T FORGET TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS  

 - MARIA

Chinese Sheetrock

Remember how I went on and on and on about Chinese milk products, well, here I go again.

Now we are hearing about toxic emissions from Chinese made sheetrock used in homebuilding all across America from 2001 forward.  Check out this link for the basic story.

More to follow – I PROMISE

- Maria

Magor League Soccer (MLS) Comes to Portland, OR

As Realtors, MLS, has a different meaning – Multiple Listing Service – but it looks like we’re going to have to get used to a double meaning.

Today, MLS (Major League Soccer) Commissioner Don Garber announced Portland, OR has won the final bid for an expansion franchise in 2011!  That’s gives us only two years to prepare. 

What a great opportunity for Portland – generating jobs, stimulating our economy, and putting Portland on the map internationally as a contender for major league sports – thanks Trail Blazers for blazing that trail!

Click here to see the live announcement from Commissioner Garber.

~Kori

Feds Continue to Support Housing Revival

Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - the AP reported:

The Federal Reserve kept Wall Street’s big rally alive - and gave the Treasury market a huge boost as well.     Both markets surged Wednesday after the Fed said it would pump more than $1 trillion into the economy to help revive the housing market. The plan includes buying up to $300 billion of long-term government bonds during the next six months.     Investors expect the move to drive down borrowing costs for everything from mortgages to credit cards.

This is great news for the housing market!  We saw an immediate drop in rates – almost instantly rates were down .25% on the day after the US central bank stated they would purchase the majority of new mortgage-backed securities for at least the rest of the year, possibly longer.  Many analysts believe the housing market must recover in order for the overall economy to prosper again.  We will continue to see low rates for an extended period of time in an effort to bolster the economy.

Couple low rates with soft housing prices (see RMLS Market Action Stats February 2009) – year-over-year, the median house price has decreased 7.5% in the Portland Metro Area – has created the perfect storm for home buyers.  If you’re a first time home buyer, the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Credit is the cherry on top!  With all the energy and money being pumped into the economy it’s just a matter of time before we see a thriving housing market again. 

As we’ve said before, don’t be on the wrong side of the curve – when the market makes a full recovery, that’s when you’ll know we already hit bottom and by then it’s too late to take advantage of a soft market.

~Kori

Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac – how can you tell?

Check out the new government website that aims to assist people through the maze of modifying or refinancing their current home mortgage.

Click here to go to the government site.

This is a trustworthy site packed with good information and excellent links that answer the following and other questions.

Is your loan Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac?

Where can I find a counsellor to get me through this difficult time?

How to avoid being scammed?

 - Maria

The History of St. Patrick by Dan O’Donnell

We may all be a little bit Irish today, but how many of us know how St. Patrick’s Day began? How many of us know who the real St. Patrick really was?

“Well he was not a leprechaun who drank green beer or had a blarney stone or a pot of gold,” explains historian William Federer, who wrote St. Patrick: The Real History of His Life, From Tragedy to Triumph. “He was actually a missionary and he converted 120,000 druids from paganism to Christianity.”

In fact, Federer contends that in the fifth century A.D., Patrick did more than perhaps anyone in history to spread this new religion through Europe.

“He started over 300 churches and used the three-leafed clover to teach the [Holy] Trinity,” Federer says, noting that this teaching tool is now the symbol of St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland itself.

Patrick himself, though, was actually born in nearby Wales.

“Different Viking tribes began attacking and carrying away slaves, and Patrick was one of those carried away as a slave to Ireland,” says Federer. “He was there from 16 years old to 22 years old, when he had a dream in which he heard the Lord tell him to escape. So he did.”

“He went to the shore and, sure enough, there was a boat. He hopped aboard and hitchhiked his way across Europe and made his way back to Britain. His life was pretty uneventful until he was 40 years old, when he had another dream. That’s when things started to get interesting.”

That was when Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary.

“His style was evangelism was to walk right into the smoky dens of these chieftans. The druids knew that this new religion was going to displace them, and so they tried killing him at least a dozen times. Once he was held for two weeks, and [the druid ruler] was holding him to kill him.”

But the chieftan instead spared Patrick and even gave him money to build his first church. For the rest of his life, Patrick preached about Jesus Christ, spread Christianity across the British Isles, and spoke out against slavery. Some historians even call him the world’s first abolitionist!

The Roman Catholic Church made him a saint in 664 A.D.

“It wasn’t until 1846, when there was a potato famine in Ireland, and millions of Irish Catholics came to America,” Federer says. “The Irish population went from two percent to 20 percent in just a decade. Half of New York City was now Roman Catholic Irish! The same thing happened in Boston, and there was an anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, anti-Irish backlash.”

“When they had their first parade, it was more of a political statement. In Ireland, it didn’t matter how many of them there were, they didn’t have a voice in Parliament. But in America, when they had their first parade and 15,000 of them showed up, politicians in New York City said, ‘wait a minute, they haven’t decided who to vote for yet,’ so they decided to march with them.”

From those early parades, St. Patrick’s Day gained popularity as the Irish immigrants who celebrated it gained acceptance until finally both became the indispensible parts of American culture that they are today.

For more on St. Patrick’s Day and the “Wearing of the Green” click here.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

~Kori

Dust to Dust – Earth to Earth

Pushing Up Daisies - Naturally

If you were listening to OPB’s Think Out Loud program on Friday the 13th, your interest may have been picqued on the subject of more eco-friendly ways to deal with your own dead body.

Click here for link to NPR show

According to the Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board, “caskets and other funeral merchandise are NOT required by law.”

The discussion on the radio began with a “Death Midwife”, who acts as a guide for families who wish to perform some of the services usually associated with mortuaries themselves. 

Click here to link to tips for moving towards a more earth friendly process

- Maria

RMLS Market Action Stats – February 2009

The RMLS Portland Area Market Action Stats were released today – although it’s not AMAZING news, it’s good news.  We saw an increase in business from January ‘09 to February ‘09 – although we are still seeing a decline year-over-year.  Closed business in Feburary increased 17.1%, pending sales were up 3.3% and new listings dropped 17.3% (also a positive stat – the more inventory, the softer the prices - so less is more) from the previous month.  Sales prices remain soft, which I believe is a direct coralation to our increased foreclosure rating in January but will hopefully be remedied more rapidedly than other states since Oregon was one of the last states really affected by the foreclosure crisis and just in time for the stimulous package to go into effect.  Click here for the complete Portland Area RMLS Market Action Report for February 2009.

It’s a great time to buy – we are already seeing the twinkling of an upswing so if you’re on the fence it’s time to jump off.

~Kori

Unbelievable Friends – A Friday Fun Clip

Click the image to read more about Tarra & Bella's wonderful friendship.

This clip is amazing – it was so sweet, I cried (the good tears).  At the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, two unusual friends have found each other – Tarra, a female Asian elephant born in Burma; and Bella, a stray dog who’s also found a home at the sanctuary.  Take a look at this clip, it will put a smile on your face.

~Kori

Northeast Portland Tool Library

Tuesday night, I finally attended the monthly “Vernon Neighborhood Association” meeting.  I’ve been getting their monthly newsletter via email, which always has a ton of information about the neighborhood and our surrounding communities, but I had not been to a gathering of the minds behind this publication.  What a great event – positive, inspirational and pro-active!  I was amazed by some of the activities this group had spearheaded – some I had known about from reading the newsletter and others were news to me.

One great resource I learned about last night was the Northeast Portland Tool Library – a grassroots, volunteer-run organization.  The NE Portland Tool Library is dedicated to helping homeowners, renters, and business owners of Northeast Portland (west of 82nd) build a vibrant and sustainable community by providing the FREE use of home-repair and gardening tools and the knowledge to use them.

Hours of Operation:
Open Saturdays from 9 am – 2 pm
5431 NE 20th Avenue (behind the Redeemer Lutheran Church on Killingsworth)

Interested in Helping:
Contact Tom Thompson by email or 503-539-1756 

The tool library is always looking for donations of tools, time and talents.  Cash and tool donations are tax-deductible through their sponsoring agency, the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods.  In addition to tools and time, I’ve also been told the tool library is starting to out grow its current location so they are looking for a generous donation of space – again, a tax-deductible event (think about it, if you have a building in Northeast Portland (it doesn’t have to be pretty) that’s just sitting empty – why not get a tax write off).  

~Kori

Next Page »