According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates have gone down to 6.26%, which is still high. Last year at this time, rates were 6.9% on a 30-year mortgage. Rates have been higher than that low all year.
For most, renting is cheaper than buying.
Got Mums?
Crysanthemums come in a few varieties and colors. They will continue to bloom until they freeze. They can be brought into the house or planted in the garden for blooms next year. You will find them at the nursery, home improvement store, hardware store, and some grocery stores. Go get some.
It never gets dark in St. Paul
Light pollution is the excessive or misdirected use of artificial light at night, which harms humans and wildlife, obscures the night sky, wastes energy, and disrupts ecosystems. It includes problems like glare (excessive brightness), clutter (excessive groupings of light), light trespass (unwanted light entering properties), and skyglow (the brightening of the night sky).
Solutions involve using shielded lights, timers, motion sensors, warmer light colors, and reducing the use of light
There are lights on outside all day. There are poorly aimed floodlights that do not illuminate the area that needs light for security reasons, but instead illuminate neighboring houses. When I look out a second-floor window at night, a light shines in my face.
Is everyone afraid of the dark?
What would a housing emergency look like
President Trump is considering declaring a national housing emergency, primarily because housing has become unaffordable. Since most housing is owned by “we the people,” the idea makes me a little nervous. Will my home be seized by the National Guard and given to a Trump supporter?
You may think this is hyperbolic, but if we look at the powers given to the president when he declares an emergency, and how he uses them, we should be worried.
A national emergency gives the president the power to take over domestic communications, seize Americans’ bank accounts, and deploy U.S. troops to any foreign country. Apparently, he can use powers that formerly belonged to Congress, like the power to fund or defund a program and the power to levy tariffs.
None of this sounds good to me. I know my home would become more affordable if it were seized by the government and then sold for less than its value.
It doesn’t seem likely that the government will give people money to pay for houses. Under the Trump regime, funds for food, housing, and medical care is being taken away from the poor.
When predicting what could happen under a national housing emergency, we need to consider how such a move might help the wealthy. It doesn’t seem likely that the Trump regime would suddenly start helping the poor.
What exactly is mortgage fraud?
Mortgage fraud is in the news, with politicians and political appointees being accused of having multiple primary residences on loan applications. Interest rates are generally lower on primary residences.
This isn’t meant to be a how-to to but here are some common forms of mortgage fraud:
Mortgage Fraud
Mortgage transactions provide ample opportunities for fraud. They do so because they involve multiple parties and large sums of money. These transactions are part of the lending process for buying a home. Some such schemes are sophisticated and unique, but the following types are the most common:
- Fraudulent Supporting Loan Documentation: A loan applicant submits forged or altered paycheck stubs. They might submit other fraudulent documentation.
- Property Flipping: A piece of real estate is purchased, appraised at a falsely inflated value, and then quickly resold. The fraudulent appraisal makes this practice illegal, as “flipping” during a housing boom is not necessarily illegal.
- Straw Buyers: The borrower’s identity is concealed through the use of a nominee, whose name is used for credit history on the loan application.
- Silent Second: The buyer takes out a second mortgage to cover the down payment on the initial loan. It is illegal because the second, smaller loan is taken out without the initial lender’s knowledge.
- Stolen Identity: A mortgage loan applicant uses a fictitious or stolen identity. If stolen, the true person’s name, personal information, and credit history are used without their knowledge. This variety of mortgage fraud involves identity theft.
- Equity Skimming: An investor uses a straw buyer, false credit reports, and false income documents to get a mortgage in the straw buyer’s name. The straw buyer signs the property over to the investor after closing, relinquishing all property rights. The investor makes no payments but rents the property until it is foreclosed.
- Inflated Appraisal: The appraiser, colluding with the mortgage broker and/or loan officer, provides unrealistically high appraisal value to match the buyer’s offer and complete the deal.
Mortgage fraud is illegal, and there are various penalties at the state and federal level, up to and including large fines and prison sentences. The specific penalties depend on the federal or state laws violated, the amount of money involved, the defendant’s criminal history, and the sophistication of the scheme.
August 2025 Home Sales in St. Paul
The month of August was pretty unspectacular. The number of homes for sale is up slightly, as are home prices. homes sit on the market longer than they did in July, but the average is around 30 days. We all remember when it took six months or more to sell a house.
Sale prices, on average, were higher than asking prices in August, indicating that prices are still rising and demand remains high, despite higher interest rates.
The trend of fewer homeowners wanting to sell continues and will likely ease up when interest rates go down. People who bought houses when interest rates were below 4% do not want to pay today’s much higher rates.
Downtown St. Paul condos continue to become more affordable as demand is lower and supply is higher than in the rest of the city.
Looking ahead to the fall and winter, we can expect the market to be similar to what it was last year or maybe a bit slower due to uncertainty about tariffs and general economic uncertainty.