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Mortgage Markets In Review : December 15, 2008

December 15, 2008

Mortgage markets improved last week, riding a steady stream of negative news into its best levels of the year.

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Mortgage Markets In Review : December 8, 2008

December 8, 2008

In a week in which mortgage markets struggled to find direction, mortgage rates edged higher overall. The weekly increase was the first since mid-November and it may signal higher rates as we head into 2009. The week’s most talked-about story hit the wires Friday.

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How November’s 533,000 Jobs Lost Is Helping Mortgage Rates Improve

December 5, 2008

According to the government, American businesses are cutting staff at an accelerated pace, most recently paring 533,000 jobs this past November. It’s the largest one-month decline since December 1974 and raises the year-to-date job losses to 1.9 million workers. However, there is a silver lining in the data for all Americans — both employed and […]

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1 Penny = 1 Billon Dollars

December 4, 2008

The global recession has caused significant demand destruction of all commodities around the world. Arguably the hardest hit has been crude oil, down significantly from it’s peak. With the fall in crude oil prices, distillate prices have come down as well.

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1 Penny = 1 Billion Dollars

December 4, 2008

The global recession has caused significant demand destruction of all commodities around the world. Arguably the hardest hit has been crude oil, down significantly from it’s peak. With the fall in crude oil prices, distillate prices have come down as well. Most nobably for all of out here in radio land, GASOLINE!! I can’t speak […]

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How 78 Consecutive Days Of Falling Gas Prices Helps Sell Real Estate

December 4, 2008

For the 78th consecutive day, gas prices fell nationwide yesterday. At $1.81 per gallon, the average price at the pump is less than half what it was at its peak in July. And although gas prices vary by locale, the cost of a fill-up is worthy of national news. The main reason why national gas […]

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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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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : December 1, 2008

December 1, 2008

Government action fueled a mortgage market rally last week, leading mortgage rates lower for the second consecutive week. Despite soft housing numbers and evidence of a slowing economy, mortgage rate shoppers found reason to celebrate: Citigroup was “rescued” Wall Street liked the new economic team The government pledged $600 billion to buy investment-grade mortgage bonds […]

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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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Existing Home Sales Are Relatively Unchanged Going On 14 Months Now

November 25, 2008

In real estate, the term existing home refers to a “used” property; one that can’t be classified as new construction. The number of existing homes sold each month is tracked by the National Association of REALTORS. The report is often used as a gauge for the health of the real estate market nationwide. In October, […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : November 24, 2008

November 25, 2008

As the stock market retraced to its 1997 level, mortgage markets improved last week — but not by much. Mortgage rates closed out the week slightly lower, but the week wasn’t without fireworks. Calls of deflation grew louder The automakers left Washington without a bailout Citigroup’s stock price fell to the equivalent of its ATM […]

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Deflation And What It Means To Americans

November 24, 2008

Business television and newspapers have made deflation a hot topic this week and, since Monday, Google has tracked 13,000 mentions of it. Deflation is a recurring cycle in which the prices of goods and services fall. Isolated to one industry or sector, falling prices is the natural result of competition. For example, when DVD players […]

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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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Simple Real Estate Definitions : Amortization

November 18, 2008

In the widest definition possible, amortization (pronounced: am-ohr-tih-ZAY-shun) is the scheduled process by which a loan’s principal balance pays down to $0. The opposite of an amortizing loan is an interest only loan for which there is no scheduled principal repayment schedule. With respect to mortgages, amortization is what determines how much of a monthly […]

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Looking Back And Looking Ahead : November 17, 2008

November 17, 2008

In another week of up-and-down trading, mortgage rates ended the week slightly higher last week. Ping-pong action like this has defined mortgage markets lately. It’s increasingly common for rates to soar one day, and then come crashing down the next. In response to market volatility, mortgage lenders issued as many as 8 distinct rate sheets […]

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Should you Prepay your Mortgage?

November 16, 2008

To pre-pay or not to pre-pay that is the question! Whether ’tis nobler in the mind…okay, I am not a huge Shakespeare guru, but I do fancy myself a bit of a mortgage finance guru. For those of you who like to “really get in there” there was a study released by the Chicago Fed in […]

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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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Weak Employment Data May Boost The Affordability Of Homes

November 15, 2008

On the first Friday of every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Non-Farm Payrolls report. More commonly, it’s called the “jobs report” and the October’s data is trending with the rest of 2008. After shedding another 240,000 jobs last month, the economy has now put 1.2 million Americans out of work this year […]

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As LIBOR Falls, Homeowners With Adjusting ARMs Get Lower Rates

November 15, 2008

The interest rate against which adjustable-rate mortgages change is falling — evidence that the global banking system is starting to stabilize. On any adjustable-rate mortgage, the initial “starter rate” remains fixed for some period of time, and then adjusts according to some pre-determined rules. For a conforming mortgage, an ARM will typically adjust once per […]

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Planning To Buy A Home In 2009? Expect A Tougher Mortgage Road Ahead.

November 15, 2008

The Federal Reserve confirmed what most of us already knew — getting qualified for a “prime mortgage” is increasingly more difficult. In a quarterly survey of 84 banks, 75 percent of respondent banks tightened mortgage guidelines over the last 3 months for the most qualified of home loan applicants. “Prime” is a vague term when […]

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