supply

What It Means When More Than Half Of The Delinquent Homeowners Go Delinquent Again

December 9, 2008

Earlier this year and under pressure from the government, mortgage lenders made more than 200,000 loan modifications to delinquent homeowners. The modifications came in one of three forms, or a combination: Interest rate reduction Loan term extension Principal forgiveness But despite the modifications, as of October 1, more than half of the homeowners that received assistance were already two months behind on their modified monthly payments.

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The Truth About Those "4.500 Percent Mortgage Rates" You Keep Hearing About

December 4, 2008

Business television is abuzz this morning with talk of “four-point-five percent mortgage rates”; the clip above ran on NBC Today. The news stems from a leaked story that the U.S. Treasury will intervene in the mortgage market, lowering rates a full percentage point below their current levels

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Mortgage Rates Fell But Be Careful Of History Repeating Itself

November 26, 2008

Like everything else on Wall Street, mortgage markets are based on supply and demand. When demand outweighs supply, mortgage rates fall. So, Tuesday, when the government unexpectedly announced a $500 billion budget for buying mortgage debt from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the demand side of the mortgage market ballooned. The surprise demand helped push […]

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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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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : November 3, 2008

November 3, 2008

As global credit markets deteriorated in October, mortgage markets displayed an unnerving amount of volatility. Last week was no different. But, unlike in previous weeks in which rates improved on some days and worsened on others, mortgage rates were mostly higher last week, finishing the month on a surge. The biggest reason why mortgage rates […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : October 27, 2008

October 27, 2008

Mortgage markets followed the recurring trading pattern of 2008 last week — volatility, volatility, and more volatility. After opening with a strong performance that drove rates down, late-week fears of a global recession reversed that path.  Mortgage rates ended the week unchanged. This was an unexpected outcome for the week considering that: The dollar gained […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : October 27, 2008

October 27, 2008

Mortgage markets followed the recurring trading pattern of 2008 last week — volatility, volatility, and more volatility. After opening with a strong performance that drove rates down, late-week fears of a global recession reversed that path. Mortgage rates ended the week unchanged. This was an unexpected outcome for the week considering that: The dollar gained […]

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Home Sales Are Up, Home Supply Is Down — This Is What A Recovering Market Looks Like

October 27, 2008

Statistics are what you make of them, but sometimes, they can provide good perspective. For example, from its peak in 2005 to its trough in late-2007, the number of “used” homes sold nationwide plunged. In 2005: Roughly 7 million homes sold annually In 2007: Roughly 5 million homes sold annually Through all of 2008, though, […]

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Home Sales Are Up, Home Supply Is Down — This Is What A Recovering Market Looks Like

October 24, 2008

Statistics are what you make of them, but sometimes, they can provide good perspective. For example, from its peak in 2005 to its trough in late-2007, the number of “used” homes sold nationwide plunged. In 2005: Roughly 7 million homes sold annually In 2007: Roughly 5 million homes sold annually Through all of 2008, though, […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : October 20, 2008

October 20, 2008

Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded both its largest one-day point gain and second-largest one-day point loss in history. Mortgage markets got whipsawed, too. From day to day, huge rate swings made mortgage rate shopping difficult.  It wasn’t uncommon for lenders to change pricing 3 times per day. When the week closed, though, […]

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How Terrible Housing Data Can Actually Help Push Home Values Higher

October 18, 2008

Once again, the headlines may be misleading you.  It’s a good thing that Housing Starts dropped last month — despite what the papers say. A “housing start” is a new residence on which construction has started.  Yesterday, the government released September 2007’s Housing Starts data for the country. There was a 10.2% drop in Housing […]

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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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What’s Good For Home Sellers Is Bad For Home Buyers : Builders Are Dialing It Back

September 18, 2008

In August, home builders broke ground on the fewest number of homes since January 1991. It was the 16th straight month in which Housing Starts declined. But, although the press labels these statistics indicative of a recession, home sellers nationwide quietly applaud them. With fewer new homes coming on the market, home sellers are finding that there’s […]

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The Strength In New Home Sales Shows That Banks And Builders Have Figured Out The Market

September 17, 2008

Despite turmoil on Wall Street, the housing sector continues to deliver good news. Last month, led by a 22 percent surge from the West Region, New Home Sales rose 2.7 percent over August. A “new home” is a newly-built residence, never before lived in. New homes are usually built and sold by real estate development […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : September 2, 2008

September 2, 2008

For the first time in 4 weeks, mortgage rates closing a week lower than where they opened it Markets shrugged off uncertainty about Hurricane Gustav and chose to rally on the backs of strong economic data. Overall, rates were down by about 0.125 percent, or $96 per year per $100,000 borrowed. Markets were influenced by […]

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To See Where Mortgage Rates May Go This Week, Keep An Eye On The Weather Channel

August 28, 2008

Three years to the week after Hurricane Katrina caused $81.2 million in damages, Tropical Storm Gustav is charting a similar Gulf of Mexico path. Memories of Katrina are making oil traders nervous.  The 2005 storm shut down 30 platforms and 9 refineries.  And, this week, oil prices are up nearly 4 percent on fears that the […]

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Good News For Homeowners : Housing Starts Tumble In July

August 19, 2008

Housing Starts measure the number of new housing “units” on which construction has started and in July, Housing Starts fell to its lowest levels since March 1991. For homeowners, this is a welcome bit of good news because as fewer homes are built, there is less inventory from which home buyers can choose. With fewer homes […]

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How Russia Invading Georgia Can Change Your Mortgage Rates

August 14, 2008

The connection between the world’s political events and mortgage rates here at home is not always clear, but Russia’s invasion of Georgia provides a strong working lesson. Georgia is a former Soviet republic on the eastern shores of the Black Sea.  Oil pipelines within its territory supply about 1 percent of the world’s daily oil […]

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Changing Mortgage Guidelines Impact Buyers Of Second Homes And Investment Properties

August 1, 2008

Conforming mortgage guidelines are the Home Loan Rule Book, delineating between applicants that approved for a mortgage and those that do not. Effective today, the rule book just got a little bit tougher. According to Fannie Mae, homeowners converting their primary residence into a second home or investment property will be subject to additional underwriting […]

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