mortgage rates

How does Consumer Spending Affect Mortgage Rates?

March 2, 2009

Mortgage markets worsened last week, taking interest rates with them. A steady drip of sour economic news plus concerns about the banking system outmuscled Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s congressional testimony in which he said the recession would likely end later this year. Overall, mortgage rates have risen in 9 of the last 12 trading days.

Read the full article →

What Are The Country’s Best Affordable Suburbs?

February 27, 2009

Nationwide, home affordability has received a serious boost from the combination of falling home prices and falling mortgage rates. Today, because of the sagging economy, in most parts of the country, the cost of owning a home versus renting one is now very close to its historical average

Read the full article →

The Key Fact Missing From Today’s Existing Home Sales Headlines

February 26, 2009

In reading the headlines this morning, you’d think that last month’s Existing Home Sales figure signaled more trouble ahead for the housing market. Quite the contrary. Beyond the attention-grabbing headlines is the real story; the one that shows — once again — that housing market fundaments are coming back into balance

Read the full article →

The Relative Cost Of Owning Versus Renting Is Back At Historical Norms

February 25, 2009

One popular housing theory is that — before a bona fide housing recovery can begin — the cost of owning a home versus renting one must return to historical levels. If that belief is a truth, a national return to rising home prices may be in store for 2009

Read the full article →

County-By-County: The 2009 “High-Cost” Conforming Loan Limits

February 24, 2009

As part of the stimulus package passed last week, Congress authorized a temporary increase to conforming loan limits in certain high-cost parts of the country. “High cost” is defined by a regions’ median sales price

Read the full article →

How will the Uncertainty about the Stimulus Package Effect Mortgage Rates?

February 23, 2009

Traders brushed off Tuesday and Wednesday’s passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the President’s mortgage relief plan, respectively. It showed how unsure markets remain about the stimulus package and its probable impact on the economy

Read the full article →

How The Stimulus Bill Indirectly Lowered Mortgage Rates

February 18, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law Tuesday in Denver, Colorado.

Read the full article →

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates after the Stimulus Plan?

February 17, 2009

In anticipation of a strong, government-led stimulus plan, mortgage markets improved with fervor early last week only to fizzle with equal speed as efforts fell short of expectations. Neither the Fed, nor the Treasury nor Congress gave markets what they wanted. Between Monday and Friday, mortgage markets were essentially unchanged, ending a 4-week slide.

Read the full article →

Wouldn’t You Know It? As Consumer Confidence Falls, Home Sales Rise

February 16, 2009

Consumer Confidence fell this month for the first time in three months , reflecting Americans’ concern for the economy, housing, and the financial system. The reading isn’t much of a surprise given our collective exposure to a near-constant stream of negative news

Read the full article →

The Stimulus Package Helps More Than Just First-Time Home Buyers

February 12, 2009

With Congress reaching agreement on a $789 billion stimulus package for Americans and the President expected to sign it into law, the clock may be ticking for this year’s home buyers and homeowners. The package contains two benefits related to housing. The first provision is fairly well-known

Read the full article →

Forget The Dow Jones: How The Treasury’s Economy Revival Outline Helped Mortgage Rates

February 11, 2009

His speech was much anticipated, but it was what Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner didn’t say Tuesday that caused mortgage markets to improve. Mostly it was because of “safe-haven” buying. Safe-haven buying is when investors move cash to the safest investments possible for fear of losing their money elsewhere.

Read the full article →

Fannie Mae Removes Its 4-Financed Property Limit

February 10, 2009

Friday, Fannie Mae rolled-back one of its least popular mortgage guidelines updates of the last 12 months.

Read the full article →

Signs of rebirth in the Economy not Translating to Mortgage Rates

February 9, 2009

Despite a weakening employment outlook for Americans, the economy flashed signs of a rebirth last week. It wasn’t enough to reverse the recent mortgage rate trend, however

Read the full article →

10 Cities For Job Growth In 2009

February 6, 2009

Employment figures released this morning show that the economy has now shed 3.6 million jobs since December 2007, included close to half that in the last 3 months alone. The Unemployment Rate is now 7.6%.

Read the full article →

How Today’s Mortgage Rates Impact Home Affordability

February 5, 2009

Comparing July’s conforming mortgage rates to today’s average rates, there’s a 1.5 percent difference in favor of homeowners.

Read the full article →

Would You Believe That Home Buyers Are Out In Full Force?

February 5, 2009

A real estate trade group reported Tuesday that Pending Home Sales ticked higher in December 2008. A “pending home sale” is a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed

Read the full article →

Mortgage Guidelines Don’t Tighten, But Don’t Loosen, Either

February 3, 2009

If the unfreezing of credit is paramount to an economic rebound, the first signs of a thaw may be here. Monday, the Federal Reserve released its quarterly survey of 84 member banks . In it, the Fed says that fewer than half of its responding banks tightened “prime” mortgage guidelines over the last 3 months

Read the full article →

Did We Miss the Chance for 4.5% Mortgage Rates?

February 2, 2009

Consumer confidence reached an all-time low and 100,000 Americans were issued layoff notices last week, each playing a role in the mortgage market’s relative worsening. For the third consecutive week, mortgage rates rose and average loan fees increased, too. Amid all of the negative economic news, however, there were two bright spots worth identifying and discussing.

Read the full article →

How To Sell Your Home For 17% More, 40% Faster This Spring

January 30, 2009

Super Bowl Weekend traditionally marks the start of the Spring Buying Season in real estate. Anecdotally, real estate agents will tell you that buyer activity tends to tick higher at this time of the year

Read the full article →

Explaining What The Federal Reserve Did In Plain English (January 28, 2009 Edition)

January 29, 2009

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today. It remains within a target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release , the FOMC reiterated most of the key points from its December 2008 statement, including: The U.S

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →