bad news

Plunging Housing Starts Is Bad News For Spring 2009 Home Buyers

November 20, 2008

When it comes to housing data, there are always two questions to consider: How does this impact buyers? How does this impact sellers? This is why housing data is rarely positive or negative on a universal level — one group of Americans is going to see benefit. Today, it’s home sellers. From the government, we […]

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4 States Account For 51 Percent Of The Nation’s October 2008 Foreclosures

November 15, 2008

Foreclosure is a hot topic among the press lately. It’s hard to turn on the television or open up a newspaper without seeing a story about it. But what’s most interesting about foreclosures is that they appear to be concentrated in certain areas of the country. According to the foreclosure-tracking service RealtyTrac, 4 states accounted […]

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The Rising Cost Of A Small Downpayment

October 17, 2008

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is a mortgage lender’s insurance policy against highly-leveraged homeowners.  It’s typically required when homeowner equity is less than 20 percent at the time of closing. With PMI defaults up 40 percent over last year, though, private mortgage insurers are taking big losses. They’re also taking outsized steps to prevent additional claims going forward […]

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Falling Home Supplies Are Bad News For Home Buyers (But Good News For Home Sellers)

September 25, 2008

The August Existing Home Sales report was released Wednesday, showing a decline in the number of homes sold nationwide, and a reduction in the median sales price. Not surprisingly, the media singled these two statistics out, playing them as a big negative. They’re not. The decline in sales wasn’t good, but it wasn’t terrible, either — sales […]

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Mortgage Rates Fall As The Unemployment Rate Rises

September 5, 2008

On the first Friday of every month, the government releases its Non-Farm Payrolls report. More commonly called the “jobs report”, the two-page analysis examines the nooks and crannies of the U.S. economy to see which industries are hiring and which are firing. The August jobs report was released this morning and it shows that the […]

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Mortgage Insurance Rates Skyrocket (For Homeowners That Still Qualify)

August 21, 2008

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is an insurance policy paid to a lender in the event that a homeowner defaults on his home loan. With the growing number of mortgage defaults nationwide, mortgage insurers are finding their balance sheets under attack and their revenues in the red. So far this year, mortgage insurers have paid out $6 […]

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Mortgage Rates Spike On Highest Cost Of Living Index Since 1991

July 17, 2008

Another day, another piece of inflationary data. June’s Consumer Price Index showed a 5 percent year-over-year increase in what is now the largest annual Cost of Living increase for Americans in 17 years. This is bad news for both home buyers and homeowners in want of a new mortgage because rising costs are inflationary and […]

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How Is The Economy Doing? It Depends Who You Ask.

July 11, 2008

“Economic uncertainty” is turning into a 2008 buzzword and there’s good reasons why. On the one hand, there are precursors to inflation in the economy: Rising oil costs Rising food prices Higher Cost of Living On the other hand, there are precursors to recession in the economy, too: Mounting job losses Less access to credit […]

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How We Know That Prime Rate Will Likely Rise Before It Falls

May 22, 2008

Three weeks after adjourning, Federal Reserve officials release detailed minutes of their most recent meeting. The April 30, 2008 minutes were released Wednesday and it affirmed traders’ beliefs that the Federal Reserve will not be in a hurry to lower the Fed Funds Rate again. This is bad news for two groups of people whose […]

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The Small Statistic Within Consumer Confidence That Didn’t Show Up On The News

March 26, 2008

Consumer Confidence fell to its lowest point in three years and anybody who watches the evening news can understand why. Each day, news programs barrage Americans with tales of economic woe and American Opinion is largely shaped by the media. After enough time, the reporting becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But, in the Consumer Confidence report, there […]

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How Economic Stimulus Impacts Home Financing

February 13, 2008

President Bush is expected to sign the economic stimulus package today. The package includes tax rebates and incentives for business and its purpose is to jumpstart a stalling U.S. economy. If the package is deemed “effective” by Wall Street investors, we should expect the stock market to rally on the prospects of business growth. The […]

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Homeowners Rejoice! New Homes Sales Data Is Weak.

January 29, 2008

If you only read headlines this past week, you may have missed two very important points. The first story relates to Housing Starts.  Housing Starts measure the number of new homes entering the construction phase.  The headline blared “Housing starts plunge to 16-year low“. If you are a homeowner, this is terrific news. Because home […]

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Why Making A Less-Than-20-Percent Downpayment Is Getting More Costly

January 10, 2008

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is an insurance policy paid to a lender in the event that a homeowner defaults on his home loan. These defaults are up 35 percent over last year, according to an industry group — bad news for all homeowners requiring PMI with their mortgage. Much like home insurers adjust premiums after a […]

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The Cost Of Living Includes The Cost Of Gas And Food (And May Get More Expensive Through The Winter)

November 16, 2007

October’s Consumer Price Index was released Thursday and showed a 3.5 percent increase in the cost of living since October 2006. The report also showed a core inflation rate of 2.2 percent. The “core CPI” is a smaller part of the overall CPI. The math is the same, but it specifically excludes cost changes in […]

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Is A Fed Funds Rate Cut Good News Or Bad News? It Depends On Your Perspective.

October 26, 2007

The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to lower the Fed Funds Rate next week. For holders of credit cards and home equity lines of credit, this is good news. Both of these financial products feature interest rates tied to Prime Rate. Prime Rate is tied to the Fed Funds Rate. When the Fed […]

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How Today’s Employment Data Is Hurting Mortgage Rates

October 5, 2007

On the first Friday of each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its employment report for the United States. Last month, the jobs report showed that the economy actually lost jobs for the first time since 2003.  The total loss of jobs equaled 4,000 and contributed to the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower the […]

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Why Bad News For Stocks Can Be Good News For Mortgage Rates

August 1, 2007

Money leaving the stock market helped mortgage rates move lower yesterday.  As the Dow swung from a 140-point gain to a 140-point loss in a matter of hours, dollars were looking for a place to “park”. Mortgage bonds were one beneficiary. When investors sell stocks in a portfolio, they don’t always want to keep the […]

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Why Alerting Your Mortgage Lender About Bad News In Advance Is Better Than Surprising Them

July 31, 2007

Having trouble paying your mortgage?  You aren’t alone.  According to RealtyTrac, 1 out of every 134 homes filed for foreclosure in the first half of 2007. More and more, though, mortgage companies are doing their best to work things out with delinquent homeowners. Loss of a job or a sudden medical emergency are just some […]

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How 2007 Gas Prices Are Pacing With 2006 Gas Prices

April 20, 2007

Gas prices are entering a very similar pattern to 2006 across the United States and — while it’s bad news for motorists — it could be bad news for mortgage rate shoppers, too. Last summer, gas prices averaged more than $3.00 per gallon for three main reasons: Fear of supply reduction from the Middle East Fear […]

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The Market Sees What It Wants To See

January 24, 2007

With the Federal Open Market Committee scheduled to meet for two days beginning January 30, the Fed has entered “blackout mode” and no Fed speakers are slated for the next week.  Combine Fed Silence with lack of economic data, and market are moving on emotion and gut feel. That’s bad news for rate shoppers because […]

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