The rush to meet the April 30 deadline for the first time homebuyer’s tax credit has created a surge in the housing industry the last few months. In a time when home sales and mortgage loan applications were slumping, the last couple months has shown that people are still buying homes across the country. Here are some recent facts and figures from the last couple months to show a sort of mini-resurgence in the housing industry.

• The yearly rate for new home sales went up by nearly 27 percent from February 2010 to March 2010. That marks the second month of increase according to HUD and the Commerce Department Census Bureau.

• According to monthly reports, about 411,000 new single-family homes were sold in March of this year. There were about 324,000 new homes sold the previous month.

• In March, the median sales price for new homes in the United States was about $214,000. The average sales price for homes was about $258,600.

• The South experienced that largest increase in home sales in March with about 213,000 sales. That was nearly a 19 percent increase over last year’s figures for the same month in which only about 195,000 homes were sold.

• In the Northeast, there was a 35.7 percent increase of sales over the last couple months. However, when comparing time periods, there was a 100 percent increase in home sales. There were about 38,000 homes sold in the Northeast in March 2010 which is double the 19,000 homes that were sold in the region in March 2009.

• For the West, home sales increased by about 5.7 percent from February 2010. With 93,000 home sales in March 2010, there was an increase of 25.7 percent from the 74,000 home sales in March 2009.

• The Midwest region also saw an increase in home sales for the last couple months. In March 2009, there were only about 44,000 homes sold in that region. Compare that to the 49,000 home sales in the Midwest in March 2010, which is an 11.4 percent increase.

• The first time homeowner’s tax credit offered buyers up to an $8,000 credit for entering into a contract to purchase a home before April 30. Other home buyers could receive up to $6,500 for buying a home before the deadline as well.

• As a result of the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program, about 170,000 troubled homeowners received mortgage modifications as of March 2010 to help them make their payments each month. About 15.5 percent of them received long-term adjustments in March, which was an 11.5 percent increase over February. About another 91,800 modifications have been approved.

With the first time homebuyer’s tax credit ending last week, loan applications for mortgages were up by nearly 10 percent over the last couple months. This shows that home buyers were hoping to hurry and beat the deadline so they could take advantage of the credit as well as the low mortgage rates by purchasing a new home. But did some of the buyers rush into something that they did not really want? Are they going to look at their new home and wonder what they got themselves into simply because they rushed to make it happen? If this sounds like you either today or in a few months, here are some tips to help you beat buyer’s remorse.

1. Make your home your own. This might sound like a no-brainer, but one way to beat buyer’s remorse is to decorate your new home the way you want to decorate it. Don’t worry about how it’s “supposed” to look, just make it unique in such a way that it fits your personality and your lifestyle. It’s your home and you can do what you want to with it as long as it fits within the confines of your particular housing association (assuming that you bought a home in a housing association).

2. Stop dwelling on it. If you have bought a home and you are unsure if you made the right decision, just move on. Whether you made the right decision or not is a moot point because now you own the home. Stop dwelling on what you should have done and make the best of your new investment.

3. Have a housewarming party. By inviting your family and friends to your new home, you will feel like you accomplished a great task. You now have a beautiful home where you can entertain all of those people who are close to you. Planning for a housewarming party will also motivate you to clean up your new house and make any repairs beforehand. When you see your home’s full potential, you will be excited about being the new owner of it.

4. Mingle with your neighbors. The more friends you make in the neighborhood, the better you will feel about living in your new home. Invite them to your housewarming party so you can introduce yourself and your family. Wave to them when you see them outside. Bake some cookies and go door-to-door when you first move in to introduce yourself. Bring the family along and introduce them as well. There simply isn’t enough of that in today’s society and once your neighbors get over the initial shock, you will probably become great friends with them.

5. Think of the positives. There are many great things about owning a home. It is a sense of accomplishment. Owning your home allows you more freedom. Owning your home gives you more space. It also makes you feel more grown-up. Focus on these attributes and your buyer’s remorse will soon disappear.

Average 30-year mortgage rates dropped for the sixth week in a row to 5.02% according to BestCashCow/Informa data. That's down from the high of 5.20% in early April. The drop in 10 year Treasury rates helped to drive mortgage rates down along with softening demand from homebuyers. Europe's problems have undoubtedly been a boon to homebuyers and those looking to refinance.

What Does This Mean for Homebuyers?

I've been following actual rates, not just averages for a 30-year fixed rate loan in Massachusetts with 0 points ($200,000 loan) for the past four months. Three weeks ago, the rate shot up to 5.125%. Last week it was 4.875%. This week the rate is 4.750%. Rates have definitely come down.

Other Mortgage Rates

Other rates varied slightly. The average 15-year fixed rate mortgage dropped from 4.42% to 4.35% and is now near its 2010 low of 4.34% in March. The 5 year ARM rose slightly from 3.82% to 3.86% this week. The 1-year ARM, one of the most volatile didn't live up to its billing this week moving from 4.15% to 4.14%.

View mortgage rates by state and zip code.

When you get ready to buy a home, it is up to you to do the homework and research to ensure that you are getting a quality property that is worth your money. You cannot depend or rely on the seller’s word because they often misrepresent the home in various ways and once you sign that bottom line, you are stuck with the building regardless of what the seller told you about it. Here are some common misrepresentations and outright falsehoods that you should watch out for as a home buyer.

The House Does Not Have Pests
The seller might say that the house does not have pests, but you cannot know for sure until you have a home inspection. Most inspections do not include looking for pests and other critters inside the walls so you may have to ask for the inspector to include this as part of the service. It will probably cost a little more, but it may be worth it if there are pests and bugs living inside your walls. Termites, mold, mice and other problems could be living in the home and the seller may not even know about it.

Maintenance Costs and Taxes are Inexpensive
A seller will say many things to entice a buyer into buying their home. As a result, they may try to downplay the cost of the utilities, taxes and maintenance costs of the home. One way to get around this is to ask the seller to see their last few bills so you can at least get an idea of how much extra you will be paying each month. Does it cost hundreds of dollars a month to heat the home? Are the property taxes reasonable or outrageous? These are just a few of the extra costs to consider when buying a new home.

Developers are Adding Golf Course and More
When considering buying a home in a new development, the seller might tell you about the builder’s plans to build a community pool, a golf course and many other features that are attractive to today’s home buyer. However, you should always ask neighbors and possibly even the builders if those plans are still on track. As a result of the economic downturn, many builders have run out of money and have abandoned their original plans to build many of these features in their developments. Many states have disclosure laws that state sellers must inform buyers of these abandoned plans, but that does not mean it always happens.

Remember, when you are buying a home, it is up to you to find out the information about it. The seller wants to make the home look like a better deal so they are going to dress it up and make it sound great. But you are the one that will be paying on a mortgage for the next 30 years so take it upon yourself to educate yourself so you can make the best financial decision possible.

There were some fears a few weeks ago that the mortgage rates might skyrocket once the Feds removed its support of mortgage-backed securities and once the first-time homebuyers tax credit expired. Both of those events have now occurred and today’s mortgage rates are still hovering around record lows.

Of course, the homebuyer’s tax credit just expired this past weekend so it is still too early to say what is going to happen with rates. As of right now, however, they are still around five percent.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, interest rates for mortgages increased by about .04 percent last week. That’s a small increase compared to some of the predictions that were being propagated by those in and outside of the industry. A study of ten major housing markets across the nation shows that very little has changed in terms of mortgage rates and other housing market factors in the last month. That’s about the time when the government removed support of mortgage-backed securities. Earlier this week, the Feds promised to keep the mortgage rates around what they are right now for awhile in order to make a positive impact on the struggling American economy.

The two day meeting with the federal open market committee came to the conclusion that keeping the main interest rates between zero and 0.25 percent (which they have been at since December) would help the American economy stabilize. This decision comes as the housing industry is getting ready to enter its busiest buying season of the year.

The end of the homebuyer tax credit also played a role in increasing home sales in March. Purchase applications increased by about 9 percent for the month of March as homebuyers were rushing to meet the deadline and take advantage of the significant tax advantages of buying a new home before April 1. In addition to that, government applications for buying a new home accounted for nearly half of all purchase applications during the last week of April.

According to policymakers, the American economy is gaining momentum and beginning to make a comeback. Consumer spending is going up and more people are applying for home loans. However, there are still millions of homeowners who are unable to pay their mortgage loans lately which still points to a very troubled housing market. The falling prices of homes are contributing to the problem as well as increasing unemployment levels across the nation. We are starting to make a turnaround in some aspects of the economy, but we still have a long way to go to get back to where we were five or ten years ago.

After surging to 5.20% four weeks ago, the 30-year average mortgage rate has drifted down. Today's average rate is 5.06% versus 5.11% last week according to BestCashCow/Informa data. The end of the Fed's MBS buying program has been met by a shrug of indifference by the market. Part of the drop is also due to the decline in Treasury bond yields, which hit a six week low today. 10-year Treasury bonds are used to set 30-year mortgages. With no inflation in sight and Europe looking like it's going to fall to pieces, it's not unreasonable to expect we might see rates below 5% soon. A large increase to the 5.50% range looks unlikely at the moment.

What Does This Mean for Homebuyers?

I've been following actual rates, not just averages for a 30-year fixed rate loan in Massachusetts for the past four months. Until three weeks ago, a homebuyer could get a $200,000 loan at 0 points for 4.5%. Three weeks ago, the rate shot up to 5.125%. This week it's at 4.875%.

Other Mortgage Rates

Other rates varied slightly. The average 15-year fixed rate mortgage dropped slightly from 4.45% to 4.42%, up from a low of 4.34% in March. As the chart shows, the 5-year ARM has dropped significantly in recent weeks from 4.03% to 3.82% this week. The 1-year ARM, one of the most volatile swung wildly this week moving from 4.87% to 4.15%.

View mortgage rates by state and zip code.

There is a new TARP program that is designed to help troubled homeowners with their mortgage payments in ten states. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding this new program.

Some people, like Florida’s Anna Aquino, are calling the new program a “government handout.” Aquino is a homeowner in Kissimmee, Florida, one of the states that is participating in the new program. She is afraid that they new program is going to further spoil Americans to always expect the federal government to help them out of their financial problems. She believes it is not up to the federal government to bail out every person who is going through financial difficulties. However, the new program is scheduled to take effect later this year.

On the other hand, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation says the new TARP program is not about bailing out those who have simply made bad choices with their investments. Instead, it is designed to help those distressed homeowners who were “caught off-guard” by the recent economic crisis that the country has found itself in. As such, only the homeowners who are able to prove their hardship will be able to qualify for the financial help. Their proof of hardship must include losing their job through no fault of their own or losing the government benefits. That is one way the program will weed out the ones who simply made bad financial investments.

The top five states for receiving part of this $2.1 billion of federal money are Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada. Those are five of the hardest hit states in terms of foreclosures, job loss and overall economic problems. The other five states include South Carolina, Rhode Island, Oregon, North Carolina and Ohio.

Some states have already submitted their ideas for using the money to help trouble homeowners. Florida, for example, has proposed making nine months of a distressed homeowner’s mortgage payments in exchange for the lenders agreeing to forgive nine more months of payments. Arizona has proposed to match the lender’s amount of loan forgiveness up to $50,000. In Florida alone, the allotted $418 million for the state is likely going to help about 12,000 homeowners in the state get back on their feet by helping them with their mortgage payments for a period of time.

Still, critics are annoyed that the tax dollars of responsible Americans and hard-working homeowners are being used to help those who made a bad decision to purchase a home with a mortgage that they could not afford.

How do you feel about this new program? Are you like the critics who say that the responsible Americans are always bailing out the irresponsible ones lately? Or do you think it is something that can truly help the economy while helping individuals keep their home? Let us know your thoughts!