conforming mortgage

Looking Back And Looking Ahead : June 2, 2008

June 2, 2008

Mortgage rates rocketed higher last week, stunning active home buyers and mortgage rate shoppers. Some conforming mortgage rates rose by as much as three-quarters of a percent before Friday’s closing. Even in a year in which mortgage rates have been extremely volatile, last week’s spike was a large one. The main driver of last week’s […]

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The Counties In Which Home Prices Are Rising

May 8, 2008

When real estate news is reported on television or in the papers, it’s usually told as a national story.  Unfortunately, stories like these aren’t helpful for everyday Americans because real estate is not a national market. Real estate is local. The graph above was used by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech to Columbia […]

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What 98 Percent Of Traders Think About The Fed’s Next Move

April 9, 2008

In three weeks, the Federal Open Market Committee will meet again and markets anticipate another cut to the Fed Funds Rate. Based on data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland at the close of business yesterday, traders put the probabilities of the Fed’s next move at: 62 percent chance that the Fed Funds Rate falls to […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : March 24, 2008

March 24, 2008

Conforming mortgage rates edged slightly lower for the second week in a row. Mortgage rates fell for two main reasons: The Federal Reserve offered fiscal support for troubled mortgage-backed securities A government group gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac permission to lend more of money to American homeowners These two actions combined to make mortgage-backed securities safer […]

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Mortgage Rates Are Going Up — But Not For The Reason You’d Expect

December 13, 2007

Conforming mortgages are getting more expensive — but not because of mortgage rates. To protect against further weakness in the housing sector, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are instituting “delivery fees” on all conforming mortgages, effective March 2008. Fannie Mae’s Adverse Market Delivery Charge and Freddie Mac’s Market Condition Delivery Fee will add a one-time, quarter-percent […]

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