Phillies Phind a Way to Survive!

Image by reeltor99 via FlickrIts not easy being a Phillies Phan. (No that's not a missspelling  - that's just how we roll in the city of brotherly love!)

After sweeping their series with the Cincinnati Reds , it phelt like the Phillies triumph in the championship series and another World Series appearance was a phoregone conclusion.   But when the Phillies split the home games and lost the phirst two games in San Phrancisco it seemed like we were once again doomed to be a city living with phailure.

Last night the Phillies managed to pull victory phrom the jaws of depheat and phound a way  to phoil the Giants and phorce game six. I'll be at Citizens Park to watch, and I hope that they can prevail and have a threepeat of the world series. And maybe, just maybe be the phinal victor. There's always hope - as Phillies Phans, that's just what we do!

Go Phillies!

Happy Day! Phillies Win & The Senate Moves Towards a Tax Credit Extension

Image by reeltor99 via Flickr

Its hard to decide what to write about this morning. Last night the Phillies faced the Yankees in the World Series for the first time since 1950 (when the Whiz Kids took on the New York Team) and they won - even though the game was in New York. That's really exciting for a city where sports are such an important part of our history and our culture, not to mention that it was an auspicious start for a historic series, the first World Series repeat in the team's history.

If that weren't enough, there was news yesterday that the Senate had reached agreement on extending the $8,000 first time homebuyer's credit until June of 2010 - with a potential $6500 tax credit for people that had bought and owned homes for 5 years or more. In our city, where prices are moderate, first time home buyers are a major part of the real estate market, and those amounts are significant to home buyers that news is incredibly good.

We have already seen the real estate market improve every quarter of this year to date, stimulated by the tax credit, great mortgage rates, and moderate prices. Though the lack of mortgage liquidity negatively impacted the attempts of some buyers to gain entry to home ownership, on the whole , the true worry was whether the gains in the market would be sustainable - with the extension of the tax credit through the spring, that question would be answered.

Now the next question for buyers is whether they will be smart enough to act early and avoid the inevitable upward pressure on price that such activity should create, and whether the mortgage market will increase credit liquidity amid the signs of economic recovery.

Of course for this week in Philadelphia,more people may be worrying about whether the Phillies can sustain their early lead this evening in New York, and then Saturday and Sunday night when they return to Philadelphia ;-)

Everybody Thinks the Real Estate Market has Recovered

Image by reeltor99 via Flickr

Well maybe not everybody, and maybe not quite recovered yet, However a consensus of several major real estate groups says that 2010 is the time for the expansion of the real estate market. According to several studies, the market of 2009 will mark the end of the real estate "contraction" and next year will mark an expected increase of almost 10% with a projected total of 5.403 million units closed in 2010 compared to an estimated 4.929 million units registered in 2009.

The compilation of housing forecasts released was released earlier this week on Real Estate Economy Watch.com. The Web site , operated by former NAR economist David Lereah presented the September housing forecasts of the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Homebuilders, the Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and then calculated the consensus (mean) prediction for each major housing measure for the group as a whole.

Of course the impact of foreclosures on the market, and the renewed activity of investors and home buyers looking to take advantage of the well priced inventory, combined with the $8,000 tax credit have positively impacted the market this year. Local tracking indicates that each quarter this year so far has seen increases in sales activity. However the tax credit is currently due to end in November, and if it is not extended, the impact on the marketplace will have to be seen to be judged.

The article goes on to say "At present, the housing sector is experiencing a recovery in home sales and housing starts. Both measures are meaningfully above their January cyclical lows. Home price movements are also improving. Home price declines on a year over year basis have decelerated in monthly reporting, while home prices have increased in recent months on a monthly basis." In our local market area, where prices were not reduced as drastically as some parts of the country, this impact is good news for homeowners and a caution for home buyers that want to take advantage of the current combination of low rates and attractive prices.

In the meantime, as things seem to get brighter, we can't forget that miracles do sometimes happen. After all the Phillies are in the World Series for the 2nd year in a row!

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The Phillies Make History!

I'm not a real baseball fan.

I lost my taste for baseball in 1964 during the Phillies famous meltdown and never really recovered. But last year the Phillies captured my imagination and when they won the world series in game 5 I was there (for both parts of the game on both nights)

It was an interesting experience. I had been at an NBA final in 2001 when the Sixers played the Lakers, and at the Superbowl in Jacksonville when the Eagles played the Patriots, so last year wasn't the first time I saw a Philadelphia team try for a championship. It was however the first time I actually saw them win one. It was exactly like the other two times, except that last year, in the world series there wasn't a sense of sickening loss at the end of the game. It just felt good!

Now, for the first time I can remember, the Phillies have won the National League championship for a second year in a row. In fact, according to Wikipedia, its the first time in the team's history that they ever won two pennants in a row!

I've been a fan in Philadelphia too long to be too excited, but their success does lead me to be an optimist. I guess we'll wait and see what happens, but at least I know I'l be watching and hoping that they break another record