We have made it to Facebook. Eversley Capital Mortgage has its own fan page. The official page is http://www.facebook.com/eversleycapital

As always we strive to offer Connecticut residents the best and lowest mortgage rates and fees. We offer conventional fixed and arm loans as well as jumbo, conventional jumbo, USDA and VA loans as well as second mortgages both fixed and adjustable. We are located at 3 Everlsey Ave in Norwalk CT.

For the remainder of 2010 if you are purchasing or refinancing and read this blog or come across Everley Capital via Facebook mention either this blog or become a fan on Facebook and at the closing of your loan we will credit you back the cost of your appraisal a value up to $500 dollars. So become a fan today!

No LoanClassroom has not been forgotten about, we do need to originate loans at Eversley Capital Mortgage LLC Norwalk, CT to pay the bills and July has been great.

Not that awesome for consumer sentiment though. In July it continued to head down. In fact consumer confidence in July dipped from an index level of 49.3 in June to 46.6 in July. Keep in mind a rating of 90 is a number that suggests the economy is humming along.

Hey, just because the stock market is up does not mean consumer spending is back. In fact the Dow is now is positive territory for the year and up a staggering 38 percent from the March low of 6,500. Just because there was some positive housing news in July does not mean we are heading up from here. A gain in housing starts or existing home sales is pale in a comparison. When you are saying home figures have increased you are starting at historic lows to compare the increase from so in reality it really is not much to hang your hat on.

The number to watch is the job report. If you have religiously read my blog here you would know I have preached jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. They are the key to any recovery. Forget the equity market, forget existing home sales or permits. If the job market picture is looking better then consumer confidence is going to be better. Once we get some stabilization where job losses are concerned and have several consecutive strong months then we can start yelling turnaround.

The sub -prime mortgage crisis that the media spun as the end of mortgages and home values as we know it is extremely pale in comparison to the current number coming in on borrowers whom had excellent credit ratings. In the 1^st quarter of 2009 a record 12 percent of homeowners were either behind or in foreclosure. As unemployment continues to rise so will the number of delinquent and in foreclosure homeowners.

            It certainly does not take an economist to figure out that the figures that represent sub-prime loans still on the books are going to reflect extremely high default rates. The majority of these loans are adjustable mortgages and have since re-set at higher rates. Not that the borrowers who qualified for these loans have nowhere to turn seeing as sub-prime loans catered to borrowers with dinged credit. There is zero and I mean no market at all for poor credit borrowers. Not even in FHA land, for the most part credit score minimums are 620 across the board. That leaves one option and that is a loan modification. Not very assuring if you are still in your sub-prime mortgage, the default rate on these loans in some states are over 50 percent.

            The onslaught of delinquent mortgages is directly fueled from the labor market. Unemployment is continuing to gain momentum toward 10 percent. So now the A credit quality loans are leading the delinquency rise. Loss of work is the major factor at this point that is fueling the foreclosure figures. The same troubled states are leading the way. California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona account for almost half of new foreclosures in the country.

            It is baffling to me how some economists have recently said that the worst may be over for the economy and that the recession could end in 2009. I find that hard to believe seeing as unemployment is not expected to peak until mid 2010 and if that is the case then the foreclosure pace will continue its course and not subside until around six months after the job market improves. If you are going to call bottom on this market it may be prudent to look first at the job market before making a bold call. But hey that is just my humble opinion

The number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment rose to nearly 6.7 million. The jobless numbers released last week was a 16^th straight record. The national unemployment rate is presently 8.9 percent.

In April Connecticut shed another 11,800. That marked the eighth straight month of job losses. The states unemployment rate has crept to 7.9 percent in April up from 7.5 percent in March.

The state is heavily entrenched in the financial and construction industries. Both have led as the leading sectors for unemployment. According to John Tirinzonie a state Labor Department economist was quoted as saying in The Connecticut Post the hardest hit section has been construction. Presently 22 percent of the workforce is unemployed. He remained hopeful for a recovery but did note that in the 1990’s construction losses did not subside until the industry had a 40 percent unemployment rate.

The financial sector for the state of CT is skewed where job loss is concerned. There are a vast amount of residents that commute to New York and any job losses that are reported do not show up on Connecticut’s radar or jobless figures

In this day and age Americans crave info and we head to the internet to find it. For those that read this blog I hope it is informative for you. LoanClassroom is among many other things a place for people to go and find info on Connecticut, its real estate and mortgage news and its economy. If you are reading this and are moving to the state when you are done reading my article, contact me at Eversley Capital Mortgage LLC and I will be happy to help you with a mortgage for your home purchase.

Now on to the state, Connecticut is comprised up of eight counties. The median home price for the entire state is $236,559 dropping it in the top 10 in the U.S. and the annual family or household median income brings Connecticut in at # 2 in the country. The unemployment rate for the state is presently at 7.3% as of February 2009.

When looking at specific figures on homes in the state I want to point out several that I feel are of importance to know. Just over 70% of the homes in the state are owner occupied. So other than apartment buildings which would be more common in the urban areas of the state such as Waterbury, New Haven, Hartford, Stamford, Bridgeport or Danbury there is not a huge amount of rental opportunity in the suburban or rural areas of the state. A small percentage of homes built before 1939 are still standing, roughly 24%. The main heating source of the homes in Connecticut is oil heat, just over 50% and gas stands at 33% as a main heating source.

Education is important to anyone with children who are re-locating. Connecticut as a whole is the second best educated state in the U.S. it also ranks high with an elementary & secondary school pupil to teacher ratio for grades K-8 of 13.6 pupils for every teacher.  There are 105 private schools in the state grades K-8 and there are 46 colleges and universities.

Connecticut from a size comparison is a quaint and small state. There are only three other states that are smaller in the U.S. The biggest city from a population standpoint is the City of Bridgeport with a population of roughly 140,000. For being such a small state you will find it to be extremely diverse, and when I say that it is not a bad thing and it is hard to explain. For being such a small state it takes on so many different characteristics as you travel through it. From suburban to rural to urban and back to rural and then urban again, well you get my drift. You can dress to the nines and head out as if you were in Manhattan or throw on some boots and heard the cows at farm. I think that the state takes on so many different characters because it borders three very different states. Connecticut borders New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The close proximity of the three bordering states I feel adds to the characteristics and persona of the state. Living in Connecticut sort of puts you smack dab in the middle of everything. You can head into Manhattan for an evening on the town, you can take a couple hour drive up to Boston, and you can play on the beach along the shore on Connecticut’s large coastline or trek up to Vermont on a short 3-4 hour excursion and ski. As many sights and attractions that there are just over the border of the state there are as many in the state too.

The climate of the state is typical “New England”. A full four season climate with warm summers and cool winters along with breathtaking fall foliage add to the states seasons and characteristics. I have been a lifelong resident of the state and although I have traveled much of the United Sates and had the privilege to experience other states I still feel and enjoy the State of Connecticut as my home and if you are moving here I hope that you will too.

The foreclosure tour made its way from Hartford, Connecticut down the shore to New Haven and continued on down to Bridgeport CT. Bridgeport is the heart of the foreclosure crisis in CT.

The U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd toured the three cities of Connecticut. The Housing Development Fund is administering $ 6 million in federal funds to help Bridgeport Ct homeowners and the foreclosure crisis in the city.

As I previously wrote on LoanClassroom Bridgeport CT is ground zero for the state and its foreclosure crisis. Bridgeport alone has seen over 1,000 foreclosures. There was an article in yesterday’s Connecticut Post on Sen. Dodd’s tour. Click here to read the Post article.    CT Post Foreclosure Tour

While it is too early for March employment numbers we know already that in February the national unemployment rate hit 8.1 percent and the State of Connecticut hit 7.4 percent, both seasonally adjusted. We now have a window as to where the hardest hit towns or cities in the state are.

In the past six months, nearly 45,000 people in the State of Connecticut have become unemployed. The hardest hit are:

·         Bridgeport –    has a 12.1% current unemployment rate

·         Waterbury-     has a 12.9% current unemployment  rate

·         Hartford-         has a 14% current unemployment rate

·         New Britain-    has a 11.8% current unemployment rate

·         Plainfield-        has a 11.1% current unemployment rate

·         East Hartford- has a 10.3% current unemployment rate

·         Meriden-          has a 10.0% current unemployment rate

·         New Haven-     has a 10.6% current unemployment rate

These towns and cities have the highest unemployment rates in the state. Of the 139,800 that are currently unemployed in the state it is important to note that between Bridgeport, Waterbury, Hartford, New Haven and New Britain these cities account for 31,596 of the 139,800 unemployed in the state.

Connecticut as a state has a heavy concentration of financial jobs both in the state and those that commute to New York.  The alarming figure to look at is the fact that CT residents who commute to New York for employment are not figured in the unemployment date for the State of CT. That certainly puts some emphasis on the Fairfield County number as very large amounts of residents who live in the county are commuters to NYC. New York City’s unemployment rate rose from 6.9% in January to 8.1%.

This map furnished from RealtyTrac highlights the 8 Counties in the State of Connecticut and their respective foreclosure numbers:

The most recent national foreclosure numbers that were released showed a rise of 24% of new filings. Connecticut saw a rise of 34% from the previous month in new foreclosure filings. The two hardest hit counties are Fairfield County which has the highest number of filings statewide and second is New Haven County.

The city of Bridgeport alone saw 375 new foreclosure filings in February alone. The next highest number for a town or city in Fairfield County was Norwalk with 62 and Stamford with 60. The lowest amount of foreclosure properties in the state are in Tolland County with Middlesex County a close second.

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Another  month and another round of numbers, and now at a very alarming and worrisome pace Connecticut is fast on the heels of the national unemployment figure. The national figure rose from 7.6% in January to 8.1% in February and a total job loss of 651,000 for the month. The 0.5% percent jump in unemployment was one of the biggest monthly swings on record.

Since December 2007 the U.S. has lost 4.38 million jobs. That number really kind of puts things in perspective a little. Almost daily you can jump on the internet and find an article somewhere in the country where there was a job opening and 500 people or more applied for it. Connecticut’s unemployment figure jumped to 7.4% a spike from the 6.6% month ago number. Connecticut is fast on the heels of the national average and there is no signal in sight of the jobless claims slowing down.

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In February the U.S. Auto Industry reported a  41% plunge in sales. General Motors alone reported a 53% decline from its February 2008 sales figures. I have written and you have read the stories and my opinions on the Auto Industry and its trials and tribulations.

This time around though a very real trend heavily sweeping across the entire country has hit the “nutmeg state”.  Auto dealerships around the country are closing up in massive numbers. As the economy worsens and the auto industry’s woes continue Westport, Connecticut has lost one of their own. Curran Cadillac which had been in business since 1964 has given way to the pressure of a declining economy and troubled lending environment and closed.

GM has done away with the majority of the lease and finance options that the dealerships had causing even harder times. It is sad but the reason we are seeing these iconic “mom and pop” type businesses closing is merely a lack of available lending. If they cannot provide financing for its customers then they cannot sell cars, plain and simple. The government may be providing bailout money to the auto makers however it is evident that it is not reaching the heart of the problem, the small businesses and working people of Connecticut and the U.S.