In my last post, Good News for Home Buyers, I talked about how the Fed continuously lowering rates was something to get excited about. I didn’t mean to leave out home owners and home sellers. I believe it’s reason to celebrate for everyone in Dallas Fort Worth!

It’s true that we haven’t seen the pain in Dallas Fort Worth like the rest of the U.S. has but still, the news headlines can scare anyone into remission. With the latest fed cut, real estate analysts are expecting improvements in home sales across the U.S. I have already seen a sizable increase in home buyers visiting the home search feature on our real estate website.

For home sellers, this is great news for multiple obvious reasons. First, lower interest rates means more home buyers that can get approved to buy your home. More home buyers mean competition which equals increased sales prices (hint for home buyers, if you wait, prices will be going up, not down so act now). That is great news for anyone that has their home on the market.

Even for home owners not interested in selling, this is great news for you too! With mortgage rates at a low, this is a great time to refinance and get out of a high interest rate loan or an adjustable rate mortgage. You can easily get approved with our preferred lender Texas Mortgage Team.

Like lowering taxes, lowering interest rates will boost the economy. More money in the consumer’s pocket equals greater consumer confidence which equals more spending that in turn improves the economy. Don’t you just love economics?

Best of luck in selling your home… but in case you want more than luck in selling your home in DFW and are looking for an agent that will market your home the right way, please contact me at 800.326.9011 or email me here. Thank you.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Federal Reserve slashed two key interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point Tuesday following an unscheduled meeting, citing continued concerns about a weakening economy and turmoil in the financial markets. The Fed lowered its federal funds rate, which impacts how much consumers pay on credit card debt, home equity lines of credit and auto loans, to 3.5 percent from 4.25 percent. The rate cut came more than a week before the Fed’s next regularly scheduled meeting, a two day session that concludes on Jan. 30. Some market observers think the Fed will cut rates again at this meeting.

The Fed also lowered its discount rate, which is what it costs banks to borrow directly from the central bank, by three-quarters of a point, to 4 percent. This was the biggest rate cut by the Fed since October 1984. And it was the first cut between regularly scheduled meetings since a half-point cut on the day the market reopened following the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

In response to these cuts lenders have rolled out some aggressive pricing on conforming 15 and 30 year fixed rate loans. The 30 year rate has dropped into the lower 5% range and the 15 year fixed has been flirting with the upper 4’s. I believe that, if the Fed does indeed cut rates again at their next meeting, which has been introduced as a possibility, then we could see another refinance boom. It may not be on the magnitude of the one in 2003 and 2004, simply because there are fewer lenders and tighter guidelines. But it would be an opportunity for anyone who missed out on refinancing then, or for people who have bought since then, to take advantage of the lower rates.

As an example, we just locked in a 15 year fixed rate mortgage for a client here in Flower Mound that we did a 30 year fixed loan for 2 years ago-his payment will basically stay the same because of the difference in the rate but he will be cutting 13 YEARS off of his note! In this Dallas real estate market, which, though stable, has been a bit flat, these rate reductions should help spur the purchase market as well.

Craig Pollard is a mortgage professional and owner of Texas Mortgage Team. He specializes in the Dallas Fort Worth area and is a frequent voice on Texas Home Central’s blog. Craig can be reached at CPollard@Texasmt.com or 972-317-9900