Buy Real Estate Now! Refinance Your Home Loan Now!

News today of an upswing in mortgage applications -- up 7.5% from the week before -- should not be a surprise to readers of this blog. Anticipating higher rates later in the year, because of rising inflation fears, home loan borrowers are trying to lock in the currently low rates (even though they are higher than this Spring). Both refinance loan applications and applications for new home purchases are up.

With home prices falling and the stock market looking grim -- the S&P Index has now fallen more than 20% from its all time high in October 2007 and the Dow Industrials erased its Tuesday gain of 152 points, and more, with a 237 point slide on Wednesday -- it may be time to move those investments to real estate. Certainly, if you don't own your primary residence and you have that down payment invested elsewhere, now is the time to buy.

Early this morning, mortgage bonds traded higher, largely in response to tension in the Middle East. Iran test fired nine medium- to long-range missiles, one of which has the range to reach Israel. This created a slight rebound in crude oil futures prices, which had been dropping in reaction to reduced demand for oil recently. The drop in the stock market would typically shift investors to bonds, driving their price up as well. All of that may temporarily halt the inflation pressure on home loan rates.

Take advantage of it!