Mortgage News
« Previous EntriesExisting Home Sales Drop Again
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Despite the steadily dropping sales throughout the year, 2007 ended up
with the fifth highest sales of existing homes on record. 5,652,000
existing homes sold during the year but this was 12.8 percent fewer units
than the 6,478,000 sold in 2006.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, “Home sales
remain weak despite improved affordability conditions in many parts of
the country, but we…
Increased Loan Limts May Be Included In House Bill
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Reuter’s news agency was announcing late Thursday morning that the
U.S. economic stimulus package being hammered out in Congress
would include a temporary up tick in the size of loans
that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would be allowed to purchase.
Republicans on the Hill have agreed to raise the current loan
limit of $417,000 for a single family home for one year although
there is not yet agreement on how high the limit should go…
Mortgage Rates at 2.5 Year Low
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Mortgage rates continued to fall during the week
ended January 17 according to the results of the Primary Mortgage Market
Survey released by Freddie Mac and, in the case of 30 and 15-year fixed
rate mortgages (FRMs) reached the lowest level since July 2005.
“Refinance applications are up 92% since the
beginning of November and purchase applications are…
Can Saving PMI Also Save the Economy? Cramer Thinks So
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008Wall Street has been gyrating as it considers the Bush
Administration’s proposed economic stimulus plan and the Democrat
controlled Congress’s response to it. The plan is largely based on tax
cuts for businesses and small cash rebates to individuals and families
which Washington apparently hopes will be quickly spent rather than saved
or used to pay down debt.
What is clearly missing in the current
proposals is any mention of the terrible state of
housing which started the current economic slide.
There
are a dozen places that the government could plug in and
stimulate the housing/lending industry…
Fed Slashes Interest Rates
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008In a nearly unprecedented move the Federal Reserve
early Tuesday cut the Federal discount rate by .75 of a point, the
largest single rate cut in 20 years…
NAR Chimes in With an Economic Stimulus Wishlist
Friday, January 18th, 2008Now it begins. The President and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve
admitted on Thursday (whether belatedly or not is for others to
determine) that the U.S. economy is taking a header, and yes something
needs to be done about it but, no, we aren’t quite ready yet to announce
exactly what.
Bernanke’s words were hardly out of his mouth before the
National Association of Realtors® (NAR) posted its list
of suggestions.
“We believe that any stimulus package must address housing
issues and increasing the
rming loan limits for these two GSEs…”
MBA Touts Role in Helping Mortgage Borrowers
Friday, January 18th, 2008The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released
information Thursday on the role the mortgage industry
is playing in the current drive to help homeowners who are delinquent on
or struggling with their mortgages.
According to MBA’s data, during the third quarter of 2007 the mortgage
industry worked with borrowers to modify approximately
54,000 loans and established formal repayment plans with an additional
183,000 borrowers. However, foreclosure actions were started on an
estimated 384,000 loans.
Across the board investor-owned homes represented a
significant part of the problem…
Merrill Lynch Losses Near Top of Analysts Estimates
Thursday, January 17th, 2008As expected, Merrill Lynch became the umpteenth
financial institution to take record write-downs linked to the sub-prime
mortgage fiasco. The U.S. investment bank’s announced $14.1
billion in adjustments in the fourth quarter came in…
Housing Permits and Starts Drop Sharply In December
Thursday, January 17th, 2008Housing starts took another nose-dive in December
according to a joint release from the U.S. Census Bureau and the
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
According to Wall Street Journal OnLine, the magnitude of the decline
surprised Wall Street. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow
Jones Newswires was…
Survey Shows ARMs Diminishing in Appeal
Thursday, January 17th, 2008Freddie Mac has just released the results of its 24th Annual
adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) Survey.
The survey, a snapshot of the market taken during the week of December
17 to December 21 based on data from 112 ARM lenders, found that starting
rates for ARMs had changed little since the 2006 survey
even though the Federal Reserve had lowered its federal funds target a
full point to 4.25 percent during that time period. In contrast, fully-
indexed rates had fallen to their lowest levels in three
years.
The survey also found that:
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