News

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : May 18, 2009

May 18, 2009

After a dreadful start to the month of May, mortgage markets improved last week, pushing mortgage rates lower overall. It was the first week since late-April in which mortgage rates fell. The biggest reason rates improved last week was because the economic optimism that was responsible for the stock market’s 30% gain since March faded somewhat

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For The Second Month In A Row, Foreclosures Are Concentrated In 3 States

May 13, 2009

For the second month in a row, the country’s foreclosure activity was dominated by a small number of states. As shown by the latest stats from RealtyTrac.com , more than half of the country’s foreclosure actions from April were concentrated in just 3 states: California Florida Nevada Those 3 states are home to but 19 percent of the U.S. population

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Mortgage Rates Higher On April’s 539,000 Jobs Lost

May 8, 2009

The economy shed 539,000 jobs in April , raising the 6-month total to nearly 4 million jobs lost. And while the April data may look bad, it’s actually 10% better than what was expected.

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Your Local Gas Station May Have Clues About Tomorrow’s Mortgage Rates

May 7, 2009

The retail price of gasoline is rising nationwide, now up 30 percent since the New Year . It’s a similar run-up to what we’ve seen for retail gas prices in each of the last 5 Spring Seasons.

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Pending Home Sales Rise In March — Another Sign That Housing Is Recovering

May 5, 2009

For the second consecutive month, the number of homes under contract to sell increased — further evidence that housing markets may have already bottomed.

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Finding Yourself In A Multiple-Offer Situation? You’re Not Alone.

April 27, 2009

The days of rock-bottom housing prices may be reaching an end. According to the National Association of REALTORS, the number of Existing Home Sales fell by a modest 140,000 units last month. It’s the fifth straight month in which home sales straddled the 4.5 million mark.

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How Improving Home Values May Lead To Easier Mortgage Approvals

April 23, 2009

If falling home values is what prompted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to tighten mortgage guidelines in 2007 and 2008, America’s mortgage applicants may get their long-awaiting loosening within the next 18 months. According to a government report, the values of homes financed with conforming mortgages rose for the third straight month in February. This is an important piece of data because as values rise on the homes against which conforming mortgages are made, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s respective loan portfolios get less risky.

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National Real Estate Data Lumps 128,203,000 Homes In America Into 1 Data Set

April 23, 2009

National real estate data helps economists identify trends in the housing market. It shapes policy and influences markets. For active home buyers and home sellers, though, national real estate data is irrevelant

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Why Home Buyers Should Worry About Falling Housing Starts And Why Sellers Should Cheer Them

April 19, 2009

With respect to housing data, news is rarely positive or negative on a universal level. There’s always two perspectives to consider, after all.

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The 3 States That Accounted For 50% Of The March 2009 Foreclosures

April 17, 2009

Since 2007, foreclosures have dominated real estate news. You can’t turn on the news or open a paper without some foreclosure-related story. But for all of the discussion, foreclosures continue to be geographically concentrated.

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Current Mortgage Rates and the Week Ahead: April 13, 2009

April 13, 2009

For the second week in a row, mortgage markets started the week strong and then ended with a fizzle. In the holiday-shortened week, rates were exactly flat overall. There wasn’t much economic data to move rates last week, incidentally.

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April 15 Is 1 Week Away And 27 Million Taxpayers Have Yet To File. If You’re One Of Them, Here’s Some Tax Tips.

April 8, 2009

There are 138 million taxpayers in the United States and, according to the IRS, 20 percent of them file their taxes within 7 days of April 15. In a holiday-shortened week, that means that 27 million people had better get a move on

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Current Mortgage Rates for the week of April 6 2009

April 6, 2009

Mortgage markets were up-and-down last week as rates fell Monday and Tuesday before surging higher from Wednesday through Friday. In some case, after touching all-time lows, conforming mortgage rates added a half-percent in the second half of the week, ruining some homeowners’ chance to refinance

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By The Time You Read About Low Mortgage Rates, It Was Already Too Late To Get Them

April 3, 2009

Thursday morning, homeowners in different parts of the country awoke to find similar-sounding newspaper headlines: Rates on 30-year mortgages sink to 4.78%, a new low ( LA Times ) Mortgage rates at record low for 2nd week ( Miami Herald ) Mortgages hit another record low ( San Francisco ) The underlying story was that Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed the lowest, average 30-year fixed rate mortgage in its 38-year, rate-tracking history. Once again, however, the headlines came too late for homeowners.

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Another Positive Housing Signal : The Number Of Homes Under Contract Increase

April 2, 2009

The number of homes under contract to sell is rising, another signal that the housing market may be regaining its footing. As reported by an industry trade group, the Pending Home Sales Index gained 2 percent in February . The report measures MLS-listed homes in “pending” status — sold but not yet closed.

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Are Home Values Rising Or Falling? The Answer Depends On Who You Ask.

April 2, 2009

A report published Tuesday showed that home values fell nearly 3 percent in January 2009 versus the month prior and by 19 percent from last year. On the surface, data from the study looks like more bad news for housing

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New Home Sales Figures Show Unexpected Improvement

March 26, 2009

The national housing market got its third piece of good news in 3 days: Monday: Existing Home Sales up Tuesday: Home values appear higher nationally Wednesday: New Home Sales up And although national real estate statistics are irrelevant to the local markets in which real estate transactions happen, to a country of would-be and wanna-be home buyers, repeated positive news on housing can be a strong signal that it’s time to get off the sidelines. At least, that’s what the data is showing us. According to an industry trade group, first-time home buyers accounted for half of all sales of previously-owned homes.

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Watch Out For Mortgage Rates When Gas Prices Rise

March 25, 2009

Don’t look now but oil prices are climbing. This should worry today’s home buyers and would-be refinancers because some of the same forces that helped to push crude past $50 for the first time in 4 months also cause mortgage rates to rise

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Monthly Home Sales Rise 230,000 In February 2009

March 24, 2009

Each month, the National Association of REALTORS ® releases a study called the Existing Home Sales report. It’s a detailed look at “used” home sale data from all four regions of the country

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Current Mortgage Rates Lower on Positive Economic News

March 23, 2009

Mortgage markets scored big gains last week, sparked by the Federal Reserve’s pledge to buy $750 billion more mortgage-backed bonds in 2009. Conforming mortgage rates fell on the week, overall

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