“NO GREAT DISCOVERY WAS EVER MADE WITHOUT A BOLD GUESS.” Isaac Newton But even the great mind of Isaac Newton might not have guessed that Bonds and home loan rates would continue on such a volatile course. But let’s get bold, and discover what caused the latest rock and roll action in the financial markets, and take a look at what the coming week might have in store.

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We may all have different reasons why we love Santa Barbara and one of mine is the excellent theatre that this town provides.  The moving performance this evening, at the Ensemble Theatre Company, was extraordinary.

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The media may be broadcasting that the “sky is falling” in the real estate industry but the savvy GenXers are not letting the media stop them from taking full advantage of the current market.

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The last time I ran the market data regarding the number of months of inventory available, (approx. September, 2007), the $0-1 million price range had 10.9 months of inventory.

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As a person that bought a new home in 2007, I lied awake last night wondering if I made a mistake.  It’s not hard to second-guess oneself in the wake of all the negative national news, even when real estate is your business.  So this morning I went to my computer to check on the strength and velocity of our local market.  Looking at the key indicators, this is what I found:

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“JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT…THEY PULL ME BACK IN.” Al Pacino in the 1990 film, The Godfather III And if Bonds and home loan rates thought they were out of the days of volatility…they got pulled right back in, as last week brought daily price swings of almost historic proportions. For the week overall, fixed home loan rates improved by about .25%.

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Several years back, “This Old House” came to Santa Barbara and selected my good friend, Jan Winford, as their project. Her Arts & Crafts bungalow at 1616 Grand Avenue has received the Santa Barbara Beautiful Award and has been featured in several architectural books.

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Ever wonder about Montecito’s beginnings? The name means “little mountain,” and a popular story about the city’s birth dates back to 1850.

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“I’M GOING OFF THE RAILS ON A CRAZY TRAIN…” OZZY OSBOURNE And speaking of going off the rails crazy…Bonds and home loan rates just experienced one of the most volatile, crazy weeks ever seen, with fixed home loan rates rising by about .375% by the time the smoke cleared.

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This is GREAT NEWS and a temporary gift to us who are buying real estate and those of us who have 2 loans on our property here in the Santa Barbara area now have a possible opportunity to refinance into one loan.  By raising the conforming loan limit to $729,750.  this allows buyers to obtain the best price available for an owner occupied purchased property all in one loan rather than having a combination of loans, at different interest rates like before.

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