Our Rates are based on the 10% downpayment

30 yers fixed 5.375%, - 5.785% APR

VA Loan 30 years Fix 5.5% - 5.535% APR 

In the news this week, I came across several stories that left me scratching my head.

The first dealt with BOA, and the recent announcement concerning their financial position - "Profit at Bank of America falls 95% for quarter." Last week I talked about how I thought the acquisition of Countrywide by BOA was great for moral - even though it meant the end of the road for a long time industry staple. So when I read that BOA was writing down $5.28 billion, I was certain that the Countrywide deal was off the table. I was wrong! Kenneth Lewis and BOA shocked me by confirming that the deal is still on - and that they feel strongly about it.

Wow! Again I have to applaud their confidence, I truly think it's a shot in the arm for our industry. Plus, I think Lewis' outlook in general will provide a wave of momentum as he stated he was, "cautiously optimistic about 2008, predicting economic growth would be positive, albeit “anemic,” in the first half of the year."

Now, looking at this through a business filter, I honestly don't have the chops to understand how this deal is going to work. By all accounts, it looks like a loser to me. But BOA stated that they had 60 people inside of Countrywide for a month, and that the due-diligence resulting in the $4 million valuation is the best they've ever done. I hope so! I think it's safe to say that all eyes will be following this acquisition.

For now though, I'm going to stick with the positive, that BOA helps to jump-start the industry with this move. And it looks like things are already starting to trend upward. With the recent rate cuts - and possibly more to come - applications rose in January by 8.3%. I'm not sure how many new home sales the rate cuts will eventually bring to the industry - many people will still be stuck trying to come up with the large down payments. But the surge in re-finances could help stave off some of the decline and tide us over. Maybe we have hit the bottom - and if that's the case - there's only one way to go from here, and that's up!