McGraw Realtors is #1 all over Green Country!

Stats are out for the month of April…and McGraw Realtors is #1 in sales volume in the following areas:

#1 in Tulsa MLS
#1 in Tulsa County
#1 in Midtown
#1 in Jenks
#1 in Bixby
#1 in Vinita
#1 in Grove
#1 in Eucha

 

 

To my McGraw family,

Many of you do not know, but in 2011, I coordinated a relief effort of 14 trucks of supplies that went to Joplin tornado victims. Over 300 Realtors donated and now….I want to help again and we have a real need in our Oklahoma community. My heart really feels such sadness for everyone in Moore and throughout the tornado revenged areas, and I know we all really want to help in some way. I learned a lot about what is really needed when I went to Joplin.

I will be assembling men’s and women’s toiletry bags on Wednesday, May 22nd. These will be necessities that can be used right away….and I need your donations. The following are needed:
Shampoo
Deodorant
Hand sanitizer
Toothpaste
Tooth brushes
Hair brushes
Combs
Feminine hygiene items
Soap
Wash cloths
Large zip lock bags
Band aids
Tylenol or ibuprofen

These items can be full size or hotel size, we will assemble them into bags. I encourage you do look at your unopened supplies at home OT stop at Walmart or the dollar store today and drop your donations to my office at in Broken Arrow. I’m sure Denny would bring supplies from your office to mine.

I assembled over 500 of these for Joplin and they were distributed in just about an hour, my goal is to do at least 1000. Other items I know they need immediately are work gloves, trash bags, shoes, shovels, flashlights and batteries, small snacks, and bottled water. I will be happy to accept these donations and get these to my Realtor connections there also.

Feel free to email me or call with questions. I will need help assembling these as well.

Bonnie Baker, McGraw Realtors

“OML” Mortgage Market Update

Mortgage rates have been highly sensitive to the economic data in recent weeks. Daily volatility has been high even from reports which usually produce a limited reaction. The balance of the data released last week was stronger than expected, which caused mortgage rates to end a little higher. 

Following a much improved Employment report on May 3, mortgage rates have been in an upward trend for most of this month. The trend continued to start the week when the April Retail Sales report was stronger than expected. While the consensus was for a small decline, a slight increase was reported. Mortgage rates finally received some relief on Thursday, primarily due to the Jobless Claims report. Weekly Jobless Claims jumped to 360K, far above the consensus of 330K. After three weeks with readings below 350K, investors were disappointed by the results, which called into question the recent strength in the labor market.

The housing market data released last week was mostly positive. While April Housing Starts declined from the multi-year highs seen in March, mostly due to multi-family units, Building Permits jumped to the highest level since June 2008. Building Permits are a leading indicator of future building activity. In another positive sign, the May NAHB Home Builders confidence index increased significantly.

The big story this week will be Wednesday’s release of the FOMC Minutes from the May 1 Fed meeting. These detailed Minutes provide additional insight into the debate between Fed officials. Investors will be looking for hints about when the Fed will begin to scale back its bond buying program. The first economic data this week will be the Existing Home Sales report on Wednesday. New Home Sales will come out on Thursday. Durable Orders, an important indicator of economic growth, will be released on Friday. Mortgage markets will close early on Friday ahead of the Memorial Day holiday.

Give Donna, Pete, Cody or Drew a call today to discuss rates & get your buyer “Pre-Approved”.

You can reach any/all of us at 918-592-6000.

Thank You For Your Partnership.

Make It A Great Week & Have A Wonderful Memorial Weekend!

“OML” Mortgage Market Update

Two weeks ago things were busy with “Market Developments”. There were central bank meetings and a variety of major economic data released. Last week however; there was very little significant economic news. The small amount of data that was released last week reinforced the view that the labor market is improving. This is great for the economy, but bad for mortgage rates, and rates ended the week higher. 

The latest reading for Weekly Jobless Claims showed a decline to 323K, the lowest level since January 2008. This marked the third straight week that Jobless Claims were below the 350K level. Weekly Jobless Claims measure the number of new claims for unemployment benefits. There will always be some number of job changes each week, so there will always be new claims. In the years prior to 2008, Jobless Claims mostly held steady between 300K and 350K. The financial crisis then caused Jobless Claims to spike to levels above 600K during the first half of 2009. The labor market has been slowly improving since then, and it appears that Jobless Claims have finally returned to the levels seen before the financial crisis. 

Jobless Claims are only one half of the story. The other big factor in the strength of the labor market is the number of people being hired. During a recession, companies often reduce the size of their workforce. In a typical economic recovery, companies first slow the pace of layoffs and then begin to retain their existing employees as business picks up. Eventually, companies reach the point where they need to add employees to meet growing demand. The stronger than expected Employment Report of two weeks ago and the recent Jobless Claims Data provide positive indications that the economy may be significantly improved at this point. Increased job gains will be great news for the economy and for the housing market. 

The most significant economic data this week will be the monthly inflation reports. The Producer Price Index (PPI) focuses on the increase in prices of “Intermediate” goods used by companies to produce finished products and will come out on Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most closely watched monthly inflation report, will come out on Thursday. CPI looks at the price change for those finished goods which are sold to consumers. In addition, Retail Sales were released on Monday, (yesterday). Retail Sales account for about 70% of economic activity. Industrial Production will come out on Wednesday. Housing Starts will be released on Thursday. Empire State, Philly Fed, Consumer Sentiment, Leading Indicators and Import Prices will round out the schedule.

Give Donna, Pete, Cody or Drew a call today to discuss rates & get your buyer “Pre-Approved”.

You can reach any/all of us at 918-592-6000.

Thank You For Your Partnership.

Make It A Great Week!

Market Info

Home values in the Tulsa Metro area have increased 20% since March 2010.  So, if you purchased a $200,000 home in 2009 or 2010, that means your home today may possible be worth between $235,000 and $240,000.  This trend is very likely to continue.

Interest rates in the spring of 2010 averaged 5.1%.  Today an average interest rate is 3.5%.  This is a savings of $198 per month on a $200,000 loan.

In 2013, 2.09% of the sales are foreclosures; in 2010, over 4% of all sales were foreclosures.  In some cases foreclosures are still affecting the value of certain neighborhoods, but having half the number of foreclosures on the market is a great thing for our local economy.