News

Mortgage Rates Plummet on New Round of Mortgage Bond Purchases from Fed

March 18, 2009

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today, within the target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. This doesn’t mean the Fed stood pat, however.

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The Federal Reserve Is Meeting And What It Means To Your Mortgage Rate

March 17, 2009

The Federal Open Market Committee begins a scheduled, 2-day meeting today to discuss the country’s monetary policy. As is custom, the group will issue a press release to the markets upon adjournment.

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Current Mortgage Rates Rise Due to Market Optimism

March 16, 2009

Mortgage markets lost a little bit of ground last week, edging mortgage rates higher in a week marked by the largest stock market gains since November. Once again, mortgage rates couldn’t sustain a rally of more than 5 days. Not since late-2008 have mortgage rates managed to fall two weeks in a row.

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Mark-To-Market : How An Obscure Corporate Accounting Rule Might Impact Your Mortgage Rate

March 12, 2009

You know you’re in the middle of an economic crisis when an accounting issue become Front Page News, and that’s exactly where we’re at today. Mark-to-market accounting is having its day in the sun and people in need of mortgage sometime soon would do well to pay attention. If you’ve never heard of mark-to-market accounting, don’t worry.

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What High Unemployment Numbers Mean to your Mortgage Rates

March 9, 2009

Mortgage markets improved last week with investors’ renewed aversion to risk. To the benefit of home buyers, as major stock indices touch 12-year lows , investors are moving investible cash to the bond market.

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Can You Guess What Percentage Of Mortgages Are Still Paid On-Time?

March 3, 2009

Mortgage delinquencies are on the rise nationwide, but the news may not be as bad as it appears at first glance. Using anonymous data from its national credit database, TransUnion reports that 4.58 percent of American homeowners were at least 60 days past due on mortgage payments last quarter

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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.

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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

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What The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Doesn’t Mean To Homeowners

February 19, 2009

In Mesa, Arizona, Wednesday, the President presented the Homeowner Affordability and Stability plan, a multi-pronged effort to support the housing market. The story made the front page of nearly every newspaper in the country . The president’s plan is sweeping: Incent mortgage servicers to work with at-risk homeowners before delinquency starts Let homeowners with good credit but little equity refinance to today’s low rates Fund Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to support mortgage markets It’s a broad plan with many positive angles, but for now, we can’t forget that it’s just a plan .

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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%.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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