DFW Relocation

Here's what you need to know about the Fed's surprise attack on the housing crisis. And you thought 5 percent was a good rate? After already bringing mortgage rates down near 50-year lows, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke unleashed a surprise attack on the housing slump Wednesday by announcing aggressive steps that should make home loans even more attractive. Lower rates, of course, can help push timid buyers off the sidelines so they can mop up the excess inventory that's been driving down home prices. "This is a huge step forward," Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics, wrote in a report shortly after the announcement. Here's what you need to know about the development: 1. What is the Fed doing? With the federal funds target rate--which is the Fed's conventional monetary policy weapon--already down to as low as zero percent, Bernanke has been forced to get more creative in his efforts to resolve the economic mess. To that end, the Fed announced two key st...

09:45 PM CST on Thursday, January 29, 2009 By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News Don't expect any quick deals in Dallas-Fort Worth's stalled real estate market. Oh, investors are out there, but they're waiting for the right time to strike. "There has been a huge amount of money lost by getting in too early," said Herbert Weitzman, who recently formed an acquisition partnership with Dallas investor Craig Hall. Weitzman - who's also chief executive of Dallas-based retail broker Weitzman Group - was on a panel of industry veterans who spoke Wednesday evening at a meeting of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. "Things are not going to get better very soon," he said. "The deals that are going to happen are going to be later in the year. "There is going to be a huge amount of retail REO [foreclosed property] coming on the market later this year." Property sales in North Texas have slowed to a trickle because of the lack of cred...