Friday, January 31, 2014

Bet on the market, or bet on the Super Bowl?


Market predictions can be a risky gamble, even riskier than betting on a tight Super Bowl spread (GO BRONCOS). The Federal Reserve decided this week to continue reducing its monthly purchase of bonds another $10 billion to $65 billion a month. This was expected to cause a slight spike in interest rates, but it's actually done the opposite due to stock market woes, which proves that predicting how markets will behave is sometimes anyone's guess.

With interest rates remaining low and home values as high as they have been in several years, this is a prime time to lock in a loan. The year 2013 was a great year for a rebounding of the housing market in nearly every major metro area. As shown in this story and interactive graph, 20 of the biggest metro markets in the country all experienced strong overall growth, despite a light dip late in the year. Combine high property values with low interest rates, and you could save a lot by refinancing your home loan at this time.

Whether property values will continue increasing in 2014 (and interest rates will keep dropping) is probably more difficult than prognosticating the outcome of Super Bowl XLVIII. There are too many factors at stake to successfully predict what will happen next. But like they say, there's no time like the present...to take advantage of opportunities right at your fingertips.
 

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