 Dorie & Gene Dillard, GRI, CRS, ABR "Your Perfect Partners!"  Will be Friday, January 29, at Chaparral Northcross Ice Skate Rink (2525 W. Anderson Lane). Bring your coats, hats and gloves for cool, refreshing fun on the ice during their open skating session from 7:00–10:00 pm. Admission and skate rental is reduced to $8 per skater (usually $10) with no extra charge for hockey skates. Grab your family and friends because $2 from each ticket will be donated to our PTA. Bring along your iPOD, and choose a song to play over the ice. Be sure to complete a waiver for each skater and identify yourself as a CCE participant when you arrive so the PTA will receive the donation. Look for waivers in an upcoming Tuesday folder (Extras will be available at the skate center.) Chaparral Northcross Ice Skate Rink is located on Anderson Lane between Mopac Expressway and Burnet Road, directly behind the Schlotzky's Deli at the former Northcross Mall location. While there is a warm fireplace inside, it is cold. Please dress accordingly, even if you are a spectator. Bring your own hot chocolate, as snacks and drinks are allowed in the seating area. There is no concession stand, but there is a drink and snack machine. Come enjoy the only ice skate night of the school year. ** according to Freddie Mac ** 30-yr Fixed--Slightly Lower This Week: 4.98% Last Week: 4.99% 1yr Ago: 4.80% 15-yr Fixed Slightly Lower This Week: 4.39% Last Week: 4.40% 1yr Ago: 4.65% Jumbo Fixed--(Unchanged) Average 30-yr Fixed: 5.875% Highlight of This Week’s Major Economic Reports Despite the recent uncertainty surrounding the reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman, Congress did vote to keep him on for a second term. Atop his list of to do’s is to determine how much longer the Fed will continue to support the financial markets. The most prominent program in question is the Fed’s purchase of mortgage-backed securities, which has served as a plug that has kept mortgage rates at exceptionally low levels for over a year now. Noting that “economic activity has continued to strengthen and that the deterioration in the labor market is abating,” the Fed is still set on ending its purchases of these securities on March 31st. Some fear the consequential rise in interest rates that is expected to follow the end of this program will further hamper a still shaky housing market, but the Fed appears willing to gamble that the economy will be strong enough to get housing back on its feet without any continued intervention. Speaking of housing, December proved to be less than kind to home sales, with both New Home Sales and Existing Home Sales reporting dreadful figures. This may have been partly due to consumers’ holiday focus and the original November expiration of the tax credit. Nevertheless, there is still a silver lining, and that’s prices seemed to at least have firmed a bit. Additionally, we can expect that home sales will rebound once the economy improves, and the first glimpse at last quarter’s economic growth estimates was certainly a sight for sore eyes! The economy grew an astounding 5.7% in the 4th quarter of 2009 – far surpassing economists’ predictions. What to Look for Next Week As the economy continues to expand, job growth will eventually follow, but it may take awhile before we start seeing noticeable improvement in the unemployment situation. For now, we get to find out the latest labor market conditions with the release of January’s employment report next Friday. Short-Term Rate Outlook Possibly Higher “MovieMaker: Austin 5th Best City for Film” from Austin Business Journal http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/01/25/daily67.html?ed=2010-01-29&ana=e_du_pub “Texas Home Foreclosure Rates Less Than National Average” from Austin Business Journal RealtyTrac’s annual foreclosure report, released yesterday, revealed Texas metro rates to be under the national average of 2.21 percent. Austin and Round Rock area foreclosure rates increased 39.5 percent between 2008 and 2009. About 1.25 percent of all housing units, or one in every 80 homes, foreclosed last year, and 8,002 homeowners filed. This was an increase of 54.6 percent from 2007. Of the 203 metros ranked nationwide for foreclosures, the area was ranked 117th. Dallas–Fort Worth ranked 94th with a 1.5 percent foreclosure rate, and Houston was 111th with 1.3 percent of its area homes foreclosed upon. San Antonio ranked 109th in RealtyTrac’s report, with a 1.31 percent foreclosure rate. “Fed Lays Ground for End to Stimulus With Recovery Declaration” from Bloomberg The Federal Reserve panel in charge of interest rates declared for the first time the U.S. economy is in “recovery” and took several steps to prepare investors for the removal of aggressive monetary stimulus. The Federal Open Market Committee yesterday upgraded its economic outlook, reaffirmed it will end liquidity backstops and a $1.25 trillion program to buy mortgage-backed securities and expressed less confidence inflation will remain “subdued.” “Texas Employment Still Falling” from Texas A&M Real Estate Center The nation’s labor market hit bottom in August 2009, but the Texas labor market has not yet hit that mark. The Texas economy lost 277,400 nonfarm jobs from December 2008 to December 2009, an annual job loss of 2.6 percent. Over the same period, the U.S. economy lost more than four million jobs or 3 percent of its total nonfarm jobs. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.6 percent in December 2008 to 8.3 percent in December 2009, while the U.S. rate rose from 7.4 percent to 10 percent during the year. Only two Texas industries (education and health services, other services) and the government sector had more jobs in December 2009 than in December 2008. Nine other industries experienced net job losses over the 12 months. Only one Texas metro area, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, experienced a positive employment growth rate from December 2008 to December 2009. Twenty-five metro areas experienced net job losses. The state’s actual unemployment rate in December 2009 was 8 percent. Amarillo had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Lubbock, Midland, College Station–Bryan, and Abilene. http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/01/25/daily67.html?ed=2010-01-29&ana=e_du_pub “Texas Home Foreclosure Rates Less Than National Average” from Austin Business Journal RealtyTrac’s annual foreclosure report, released yesterday, revealed Texas metro rates to be under the national average of 2.21 percent. Austin and Round Rock area foreclosure rates increased 39.5 percent between 2008 and 2009. About 1.25 percent of all housing units, or one in every 80 homes, foreclosed last year, and 8,002 homeowners filed. This was an increase of 54.6 percent from 2007. Of the 203 metros ranked nationwide for foreclosures, the area was ranked 117th. Dallas–Fort Worth ranked 94th with a 1.5 percent foreclosure rate, and Houston was 111th with 1.3 percent of its area homes foreclosed upon. San Antonio ranked 109th in RealtyTrac’s report, with a 1.31 percent foreclosure rate. “Fed Lays Ground for End to Stimulus With Recovery Declaration” from Bloomberg The Federal Reserve panel in charge of interest rates declared for the first time the U.S. economy is in “recovery” and took several steps to prepare investors for the removal of aggressive monetary stimulus. The Federal Open Market Committee yesterday upgraded its economic outlook, reaffirmed it will end liquidity backstops and a $1.25 trillion program to buy mortgage-backed securities and expressed less confidence inflation will remain “subdued.” “Texas Employment Still Falling” from Texas A&M Real Estate Center The nation’s labor market hit bottom in August 2009, but the Texas labor market has not yet hit that mark. The Texas economy lost 277,400 nonfarm jobs from December 2008 to December 2009, an annual job loss of 2.6 percent. Over the same period, the U.S. economy lost more than four million jobs or 3 percent of its total nonfarm jobs. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.6 percent in December 2008 to 8.3 percent in December 2009, while the U.S. rate rose from 7.4 percent to 10 percent during the year. Only two Texas industries (education and health services, other services) and the government sector had more jobs in December 2009 than in December 2008. Nine other industries experienced net job losses over the 12 months. Only one Texas metro area, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, experienced a positive employment growth rate from December 2008 to December 2009. Twenty-five metro areas experienced net job losses. The state’s actual unemployment rate in December 2009 was 8 percent. Amarillo had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Lubbock, Midland, College Station–Bryan, and Abilene. 9442 N Capital of Texas Hwy., Suite 1-600 Austin, TX 78759 Fax: (512) 343-1224 marie@AustinMortgageAdvisor.com The FFF is a huge undertaking - we need every able body for one hour's time to make this event a success. We are doing this for the kids so please support them by volunteering and volunteering your neighbor, teens, and family members too! Go to http://www.mysignup.com/search.htm and enter my e-mail address (marisa@sladeks.com) to sign up for the best spots! If you have any questions, please contact Marisa at marisa@sladeks.com. In addition to the volunteer options for the day of the event, we have many opportunities available prior to March 6 in the planning of the FFF. If you or your Company would like to help by sponsoring a booth at the FFF, please contact Liz Green at lgreen69@gmail.com. We will also have a small Silent Auction and would love to accept donations for that as well! Any questions may be directed to Liz Green at lgreen69@gmail.com! Keep looking for more information in the coming weeks. It's going to be FUN! |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 8 | 9 [6:30pm - 8:30pm] 2/9 – PTA Meeting and Gr. 1 Program, 6:30 pm | 10 | 11 | 12 [12:45pm - 3pm] 2/10 – Early Dismissal, 12:45 2/12 – Jump Rope for Heart Lincoln's Birthday | 13 |
