Although some analysts believe that the expiration of the FED program will cause the rates to rise once again, the FED is optimistic that once the program expires the mortgage rates will stand on their own.  The FED has kept the door open on the expiration of the program, if the economy weakens.

Rates are collected by Freddie Mac on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders across the country.  As the rates are closely tied in with Treasury bonds, they tend to fluctuate significantly, even on a daily basis.

One of the main concerns is the foreclosure prevention programs. While lenders are determining whether or not the distressed home owner qualifies for the mortgage modification program, the home owner is not put into default at that time, temporarily affecting the status of the foreclosure.  Which would mean the report by Realty Trac could be “artificially depressed.”  Due to this fact, it is possible that the numbers of foreclosures in March could be higher than would be expected.

Six of the states across the nation accounted for 60% of all of the foreclosures filings, those state were Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Texas.

A $35 rise in cost is scheduled to be added to permits such as lawn sprinklers, boat lifts and swimming pools. Although, home building has slowed down, home improvements have been considered the “bulk” of the building departments business.  The update to the permit costs has been coming for some time, as the last changes to permit fees were over five years ago.

The Hernando County building department is considered an “enterprise fund” that is to say that it is a self-supporting entity that provides goods or services to the public.  Therefore, in order to be self-supporting the department needs to at least break even to function the way that we need them to.

According to Michael McHugh, the business development director in Hernando County, “We’ve been operating in fiscal distress, the objective here is to break even.”

Mortgage giant, Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates Monday through Wednesday each week, from national lenders.  As rates are closely tied in with treasury bonds, it is not uncommon for them to fluctuate significantly even from day to day.

The FED has pumped $1.25 trillion into mortgage backed securities in an effort to keep the mortgage rates at or around 5%.  This program is set to expire at the end of this month; however there has been talk about extending the program, if the economy weakens.

Event begins at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night!  For more information feel free to call 352-628-5222 or 352-628-4047!  See you there!

For the 2010-11 school year, nearly 846 students are expected to enroll at the new high school, which could take quite the load of Central High and Springstead High. Although, Springstead High will still be operating at 101% capacity, next year, that percentage should decline over the next few years.

Board member, Sandra Nicholson does not agree with the boundaries, “It’s probably the only way they could do it to download those schools. It’s just the principal of the thing,” Nicholson said. “The purpose of the school is to download Springstead and Central. It works well for Central, but it’s too far away for Springstead kids. I’m not happy with the site to begin with, and I’m just frustrated.”

Forms allowing students an option to attend a different school needed to be signed by parents and turned in by Friday.  Within the next few weeks letters will be sent out to parents informing them of where their child will attend school for the upcoming year, so keep your eyes peeled!

Smith believes that the growth of Florida will be slow during the “early years of the new decade”, with the high unemployment rate;  however there are many signs that the real estate market is beginning to pick up across the state.  The population growth of Florida relies strongly on the economy as many people migrate to Florida for a number of different reasons; some are looking for employment, some are looking to retire and many are foreign immigrants. There are also a number of visitors from other states who flood to Florida during the winter months in an effort to escape the cold winters.  According to Smith, “Even retirees are affected by economic conditions because of the housing market,” he says. “If it’s difficult for them to sell their homes, they may have to delay a retirement move to Florida even if that is what they had been planning to do.”

The increase in population in the Sunshine State is just one more sign of economic recovery for the state.  With the low home prices, tax credits and low interest rates, there is no time like the present to purchase your Florida dream home!

In Citrus County, Florida the model homes that will be on display during the parade are from Sugarmill Woods Home Builders, Crystal River Home Builders, Lecanto Home Builders, and Beverly Hills Home Builders, just to name a few.  In Hernando County, Florida model homes will be from Spring Hill Home Builders and Brooksville Home Builders.

For more information on this free event feel free to visit the website or call 352-746-9028.

The FED has been pumping $1.25 trillion into mortgage backed securities in an effort to maintain the mortgage rates at around 5%. This program is scheduled to expire at the end of March, however the FED has mentioned being open to extending the program if the economy begins weakening.

Mortgage rates do not include add-on fees, also known as points, each point is the equivalent of 1% of the total loan amount.