24 Feb 10 Home Purchase Loan Demand Drops

According to Reuters, U.S. home loan applications fell for a third straight week, with demand for home purchase loans sinking to the lowest level in 13 years as inclement weather weighed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. The current mortgage rates remain the lowest interest rates in decades and high affordability helped the hard-hit U.S. housing market find some footing in 2009 after a three-year slump.

More key insight into the state of the housing market will emerge on Wednesday when the U.S. Commerce Department releases January new U.S. single-family home sales data.

18 Feb 10 Fed Hikes Discount Rate and Mortgage Rates Rise

Mortgage Rates Pulse announced that the Federal Reserve increased the discount rate today and mortgage rates rose almost immediately.  This is the rate at which banks lend to each other.   When banks stopped lending to each other overnight altogether in the fall of 2008, discount window for home mortgage loans became even more crucial. The Fed even narrowed the penalty banks paid for using discount window money, moving the discount rate closer to the Federal funds rate during the crisis. 

According to mortgage executive, Bryan Dornan, “Clearly, the Fed is signaling a change in direction for interest rates.”  Dornan continued, “Now that the Fed is raising rates, expect mortgage rates to begin retreating upwards.” Now that the crisis has blown over, the Federal Reserve wants things to get back to normal.

Late Thursday afternoon, it surprised the markets by raising the discount rate it charges though its emergency window to 0.75% from 0.50% while keeping its targeted Federal funds rate at between zero and 0.25%. The change will take effect on Friday. Meanwhile, the duration of the mortgage loans will revert to the normal overnight period from 30 days come mid-March. Though many thought the Fed was headed in this direction, most everyone thought it wouldn’t act until its next Open Market Committee meeting next month.  See the original post online at > Fed Reserve Raises Interest Rates.

27 Jan 10 Mortgage Loan Applications Decreased 11% Last Week

According to Bloomberg, the number of mortgage loan applications in the U.S. dropped last week for the first time in a month, led by a slump in home refinancing.   The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of home loan applications fell 11% to 513 in the week ended Jan. 22 from 575.9 a week earlier. The group’s refinancing gauge decreased 15%, while the purchase gauge fell 3.3%.  

Mortgage refinance applications dropped significantly over the period.  The mortgage bankers group’s home refinance gauge decreased to 2,260.4 from 2663.8 the prior week. The purchase index fell to 215.6 from 223 the prior week.   The group’s refinancing index often turns volatile near year-end, making it difficult to determine the underlying trend. The measure plunged 38% in the last three weeks of 2009 then rose 35% in the first two weeks of January. FHA and VA loan applications followed the trend as well.

Nationwide Mortgage Loans announces discounted mortgage refinancing for all 50 states!

FHA on board with 1st Time Home Buyers Tax Credit.  See more on FHA Loans.

The looming end of the government’s first-time homebuyer tax credit in November caused sales to slump at the end of last year. According to Russell Price, a senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc, “We’re seeing some stabilization in the housing market.”  Price continued, “The spring selling season should be fairly positive, especially if we do start to see some positive employment growth and mortgage rates remain fairly low.”

17 Dec 09 Mortgage Rates Up but Stay Below 5 Percent

Mortgage interest rates crept up for the 2nd consecutive week, but borrowers who applied for mortgage refinancing remained strong.  Refinance applications continued to rise, as homeowners are making a last ditch effort to lower their monthly home loan payment before the rates rise.

Freddie Mac reported the average fixed rate on a thirty-year home loan was 4.94% this week, up from 4.81 % last week.  Mortgage rates are closely tied to yields on long-term government debt, which have risen since the average fixed rate on thirty-year mortgages hit a record low of 4.7% the week of Dec. 3.

A Federal Reserve program to buy $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities has kept rates on thirty-year mortgages under 5% this year. The government mortgage programs, like FHA and VA were created to make home buying more affordable, is set to end next spring.

The low rates resulted in a wave of refinancing activity: The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that nearly 3 out of 4 home loan applications were for home refinancing during the first few weeks of December, Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates each week from lenders around the country. Home mortgage rates often fluctuate, even within a given day.

The average rate on a fifteen-year fixed mortgage rose to 4.38% from 4.32% last week. Mortgage rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.37%, up from 4.26% last week. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 4.34% from 4.24%.

17 Nov 09 Mortgage Rates Decline

Mortgage refinance rates moved down a bit last week. Freddie Mac announced that for the week ending November 5, thirty-year fixed rates averaged 4.98%, down from 5.03% the week before.  In response to the rate reductions, FHA refinance activity rose slightly as homeowners made moves to lock in their mortgages to a fixed rate to maximize the affordability.

The average for fifteen-year fixed mortgage rates dropped to 4.40%. Adjustable rate mortgages were also lower with the average for one-year adjustable rates declining to 4.47% and five-year adjustable rates dropping to 4.35%. A year ago 30-year fixed rates were at 6.20%. “Rates fell back this week pulling interest rates on 30-year fixed loans under 5 percent,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Lower FHA mortgage rates should help homeowners reduce their monthly loan payments and feed the ongoing recovery in the housing sector. 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have financed more than 3.5 million refinance loans during the first nine months of 2009. Freddie Mac estimates that borrowers who redid their conventional loan during the third quarter reduced their rate by a median of 1.1 percentage points, which will save these borrowers an aggregate of $3 billion in payments over the next year.

03 Nov 09 Home Mortgage Rates Climb 3 Weeks in a Row

Home mortgage rates for 30-year home loans rose to 5.03 % this week, the third consecutive weekly increase. The average home loan rates rose from 5% a week earlier, mortgage giant Freddie Mac said last week. The last time the average was higher was the week of September 24th, when rates averaged 5.04%.   The average rate on a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage loans rose to 4.46% from 4.4 % last week, Freddie Mac said.   Home mortgage rates on five-year, adjustable-rate home loans averaged 4.42%, up from last week’s 4.4%. Mortgage rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 4.57% from 4.54%.

Home buyers can reduce their payments and mortgage rates by buying points, which amount to 1 % of the loan total. The average for home loans in Freddie Mac’s survey was 0.7 points for 30-year home mortgages and 0.6 points for 15-year, five-year and one-year loans.  “It’s still a very low rate by longer-term historical standards,” said George Mokrzan, senior economist at Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio. “It’s still very supportive of the housing market and recovery.”

The Federal Reserve last year pledged to buy bonds backed by home loans in order to encourage lower mortgage rates. It increased the size of that program to $1.25 trillion in March.   The bond purchases from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae brought down yields on mortgage-backed securities and allowed lenders to reduce rates on new loans while still selling the securities backed by them at a profit. The plan helped drive mortgage rates to a record low of 4.78 % twice in April.   The central bank’s purchasing program is scheduled to end in the first quarter next year, the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement September 23rd.

Rising borrowing costs and uncertainty over whether Congress will extend a government tax credit for first-time home buyers may have contributed to a drop in mortgage applications last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to purchase a home or refinance fell 12%, and sales of new homes declined in September, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, home loan applications dipped 5.2% in the week ended October 23rd and mortgage refinancing volumes declined 16%.  New-home purchases in September dropped 3% to a 402,000 annual pace, lower than even the most pessimistic economist’s forecast. It was the first month-to-month decline in sales since March.

08 Oct 09 Low Rates Driving Refinance Boom

More than 16 million homeowners owe more on their mortgage than their properties would be valued at.  To many distresses homeowners, mortgage refinancing represents lower loan payments and more money in their pockets. Many phone calls mortgage brokers received last week came from borrowers who couldn’t qualify for a refinance loan because of lower incomes, stricter credit standards or declining home values.  Les Berman of EB Financial said the new guidelines were designed to reduce the conflicts of interest for home appraisals but the stricter guidelines have hindered refinance loan approvals applications because appraisals are coming in too low.  The FHA streamline refinance requires at least six months of payments before a borrower can take advantage of the program, and verification of assets, job and income.

Mortgage brokers say a refinancing is worthwhile if you can shave off at least $100 from your monthly payment or get a full percentage point rate reduction.  That’s why mortgage rates below 5% are so appealing. Refinance rates hit a record low of 4.75% in the spring.    Read the rest of the article online> Mortgage Refinance Boom

01 Oct 09 Low Mortgage Rates Stablizing Home Values

In a recent article, Freddie Mac chief economist, Frank Nothaft said, “Low mortgage rates are helping to stabilize home sales.” “New home sales in August spiked to the highest annualized pace since September 2008 and the inventory of unsold homes fell to the lowest level since February 1983.”

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.94% for the week ending Oct. 1, down from 5.04% last week and 6.10% a year ago. The mortgage interest rates haven’t been below 5% since the week ending May 28, when it averaged 4.91%.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.36% this week, down from last week’s 4.46% average. The home loans averaged 5.78% a year ago. It hasn’t been lower since Freddie Mac started tracking it in 1991.

To obtain these low mortgage rates, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages require a payment with a cost of 0.7 point, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage and the 5-year ARM required an average 0.6 point and the 1-year ARM required an average 0.5 point. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.

Bad credit mortgage rates may be possible with the obama loan relief or the new FHA loan modification that enables borrowers with delinquent loan payments refinance their home if there is a documented hardship.

26 Aug 09 US Mortgage Rates Remain Low

Mortgage interest rates fell in the latest week to their lowest levels since the end of May, following a drop in Treasury yields on concerns over the pace of economic recovery, Freddie Mac said on Thursday.  In a recent article, mortgage executive, Scott Deal reported that “The Fed and US government were doing everything in their efforts to ensure American consumers had access to low mortgage rates.

FHA mortgage rates remianed at 5.25% for thirty year home mortgages and jumbo mortgage loans continued to see higher interest rates as the insurance companies continue to voice concerns over delinquencies and loan modifications plans.

The average 30-year fixed home loan rate fell to 5.12 percent from 5.29 percent in the prior week. The 30-year rate was 6.47 percent a year ago.  15-year mortgage loans averaged 4.56 percent, down from 4.68 percent in the previous week and 6.00 percent a year earlier.

12 Aug 09 Mortgage Loan Application Activity Slowing

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association home loan rates hopped last week and the response was less mortgage applications. The volume of mortgage loan applications declined 3.5% compared with the previous week.  Home loan applications filed were still up an unadjusted 16.1% for the week ended Aug. 7 from the same week in 2008, according to the MBA’s weekly survey. The survey covers about half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.   FHA mortgage applications filed last week to purchase homes rose 1.1% from the week before. Volumes for conventional, VA and FHA loan applications were all lower than expected.

Mortgage refinancing applications to refinance existing mortgages decreased 7.2%, on a week-to-week basis, reversing the 7.2% increase during the week ended July 31, according to the Washington-based MBA. The four-week moving average for all mortgages was down 0.7%. Home refinancing applications made up 52.3% of all applications last week, down from 54.2% the previous week. ARM mortgage loans accounted for 5.8%, up from 5.4%.

According to the MBA survey, thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage loans carried an average interest rate last week of 5.38%, up from 5.17% the week before. As for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, the average rose to 4.71% last week, up from 4.60% the week before. And 1-year ARMs averaged 6.71% last week, up from 6.67% the week before.

To obtain mortgage interest rates this low, borrowers are charged of an average 1.125 points when locking a thirty-year fixed-rate home loan.  Loan officers typically refer to these lending costs as “points.” A point is 1% of the entire mortgage amount and it is considered prepaid interest for disclosure purposes.  Sign up and have the latest mortgage news emailed to you with mortgage rate alerts and special lending offers when they arise.

Tags: FHA mortgage, home loan, loan application, mortgage loan, Mortgage News, mortgage rates, mortgage refinancing, thirty-year mortgage

23 Jul 09 Fed Chief Talks Mortgage Rates and More

Today on Capitol Hill, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke continued his testimony before Congress and is taking a lot of heart from many of the Senators are questioning some of his past action and future plans.  The Fed chief reiterated his stance that mortgage rates would remain low for the near future in an effort to stimulate the struggling housing sectors across the nation.

Many Senators, both Democrats and Republicans alike are questioning his prior handling of the subprime mortgage debacle, the financial crisis and his failure to act in a timely manner to avert this crisis, his balking at independent audits of his actions and his apparent belief that the Feds should have even more power than they have now.  Congress and the Obama Administration are not subject to home foreclosures, charge offs or bankruptcies.

When Wall Street gets nervous, mortgage interest rates tend to benefit and that is the case today. As investors sell off stocks and buy bonds, mortgage rates do well. There is very little change from the close of business, as regards mortgage rates today, but no news is good news. We saw rates drop substantially yesterday, close to the lows we saw earlier this year. 

Tags: fed chief, foreclosure crisis, mortgage interest rates, mortgage rates, subprime mortgage

20 Jul 09 Current Mortgage Rates

Current mortgage interest rates are up this past week brought on by higher Treasury rates, 10-year U.S. Treasury rates rose from about 3.30 % to 3.65 % this week. Today’s mortgage interest rates remain historically low.  The low rates home mortgages are slowly starting to resurect the home purchase market.  Home-buyers are being lured back to the housing market slowly, but surly with the Federal Reserve looking to end the nationwide housing crisis. Low rate mortgage loans are also igniting home refinancing activity. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the Refinance Index rose 17.7% from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Another index released this past week further supports the fading of housing and subprime mortgage crisis. The National Association of Realtors released their Pending Home Sales Index which showed a slight increase in May 2009. The increase was only 0.1% but it was the fourth consecutive monthly increase which hasn’t happened since October 2004.  Mortgage Related News continues to refer visitors to mortgage brokers and lenders offering free mortgage rate tables based on your state and neighborhood lending postings.

Adjustable Mortgage Rates
Adjustable mortgage rates were mixed this week. The average rate for a one-year conforming ARM decreased to 4.51 % from 4.55 % the prior week. Jumbo one-year ARMs increased to 5.24%, up from the prior week’s average rate of 5.20 %.

Three-year ARM mortgage rates (conforming) decreased to 4.64% this week, down from last week’s average rate of 4.66%. The average mortgage loan rate for a jumbo three-year ARM is at 5.32%, up from the prior week’s average home mortgage loan rate of 5.30%.

Five-year Adjustable Rate Home Loans (conforming) were all over the map this week from several lending sources like Freddie Mac, MBA, Bank Rate and Bloomberg. Five-year ARMs are averaging 4.53%, down from last week’s rate of 4.57%. The average (jumbo) 5-year mortgage rate rose to 5.42% from the previous week’s average rate of 5.34%.

The average interest rate on a seven-year adjustable rate mortgages rose. Conforming seven-year ARMs are averaging 5.14 %, up from 5.00% the prior week. Jumbo seven-year adjustable mortgage rates increased to 5.95, up from last week’s rate of 5.90%.

10-year adjustable rate home mortgages were mixed. Conforming 10-year ARMs are at 5.47 % this week, up from the prior week’s average mortgage rate of 5.30%. Jumbo 10-year ARMs averaged 6.26%, down slightly from 6.28%.

Smart Home Equity reported interest rates for home equity loans and home equity lines of credit remain unchanged.  Slight increases and decreases were reported from Lenders offering HELOC’s and fixed rate equity mortgages.

Tags: adjustable rate mortgages, ARM, current mortgage rates, fixed rate equity mortgages, HELOC, home equity lines of credit, home equity loans, housing crisis, mortgage interest rates, mortgage rates

02 Jul 09 Trend Upward for Mortgage Rates

The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage dropped to 4.81 % from 4.93 % the prior week. The rate on a one-year adjustable mortgage loans decreased to 6.52 % last week from 6.54 %, according to the mortgage bankers.  Home loan rates tracked by McLean, Virginia-based mortgage buyer Freddie Mac climbed along with Treasury yields through late May and early June on investor concern that a greater supply of government debt being sold to fund federal spending would fuel inflation.

This year the Federal Reserve purchases of mortgage bonds guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae brought down the yields on those securities, allowing lenders to reduce rates on new home loans and still sell them at a profit.  Still, rising foreclosures that sell at discounted prices are flooding the market and depressing home values, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Chicago-based Realtors’ group. This year the number of foreclosures may rise to 2.5 million, the highest on record, Yun said.

Tags: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, mortgage bonds, mortgage loans, mortgage rates, new home loans

23 Jun 09 Thirty Year Mortgage Rates Continue to Rise

Mortgage interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.57 % a few days after hovering around 5.47% earlier in the week.  According to Zillow Mortgage the rate are down sharply from the previous week when mortgage rates were reported nationally with an average of 5.76% on home loans that were fixed for thirty years.

Conventional and FHA mortgage rates have remained historically low in 2009 and most industry insiders believe that interest rates will maintain low levels for the remainder of the year and into 2010 before climbing with the forecasted inflation. The higher mortgage rates reflect a rise in yields on U.S. government bonds, which are linked to the mortgage market.  The mortgage rate, however, is sharply higher than the roughly 5.00% level seen at the end of May and at the beginning of this year, Zillow said. 

Home loan refinancing activity has dropped precipitously in recent weeks. A move higher in FHA mortgage rates should further dampen demand.  According to Lawrence J. White, professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business, “Higher mortgage rates are certainly an impediment to a U.S. housing market recovery, but other factors are also suppressing demand.  “People are worried about the overall economy, how secure their jobs are as well as their overall financial status,” he said.  “So, while higher mortgage rates matter, they are not the sole driver of housing demand,” he said. 

The applications for mortgage refinance loans dropped as expected, but loan modification requests rose significantly as bad credit mortgages are beginning to reset to the higher adjustable interest rates that have homeowners around the nation fighting to keep their home from foreclosure.  The battered U.S. housing market, which is in the midst of its worst downturn since the Great Depression, is both the source of and a major casualty of the credit crisis.  A setback for the market could hamper a turnaround of the U.S. economy.

Tags: bad creditmortgages, FHA mortgage rates, home loans, loan modification, mortgage rates, mortgage refinance loans, thirty year mortgage rates

01 Jun 09 Mortgage Rates Spike

A significant rise in mortgage rates is threatening to undermine the already shaky real estate market and toss sand into the gears of the Government’s plans to rescue the economy. Beginning last fall, the Federal Reserve rolled out a series of initiatives–such as the purchase of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities and long-term treasury bonds–that worked to drive mortgage rates down to all-time lows. Federal officials hoped that by pushing the cost of purchasing a home artificially lower, they could lure more buyers into the market to gobble up the massive supply of unsold homes. Meanwhile, lower mortgage rates could also enable scores of homeowners to lower their monthly payments by refinancing. That, in turn, would free up cash to be pumped back into the economy. For some time, the mortgage market acted accordingly, with rates of less than 5 percent triggering a flood of refinancing applications. But last week, rates surged, a development that could create all sorts of headaches for federal officials, consumers, and the economy as a whole.

Here are five things you need to know about the surge in FHA mortgage rates:

1. The jump: Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates had been holding in the 5 percent range since mid March, averaging 5.03 percent on Tuesday, May 26. But rates jumped in the following days, hitting an average of 5.44 percent on Thursday, May 28. By midday Monday, rates had fallen back a bit, to 5.36 percent, according to HSH.com.

2. Key Factors: Fixed mortgage rates have been pushed higher by a surge in 10-year Treasury note yields, which climbed to 3.67 percent on June 1 from 2.68 percent on April 1, according to Bloomberg news. (Fixed mortgage rates typically track the yields on 10-year Treasury notes.) A number of factors have worked to increase Treasury yields. Nascent optimism about the economy has made ultra-safe investments like Treasuries less appealing. “If you look at the broad aggregate of economic data, it’s not great but it’s better on balance,” says Keith Gumbinger of HSH.com. “So the Treasury market especially is going to be moving away from those emergency and panic modes we’ve been in now for 6 months.” In addition, concerns about deflation are giving way to worries about inflation, he says. However, the bulk of the pressure is coming from concerns about the massive amount of government debt needed to finance the Obama administration’s huge bailout and stimulus programs that encouraged lenders to offer loan modification plans to qualified borrowers..

3. Home purchase impact: It’s important to remember that thirty-year, fixed rate for bad credit mortgage loans of 5.36%, 5.5% are still incredibly low by historic standards. Still, higher rates have the potential to force home prices lower to compensate for the higher purchasing costs. “If [the higher rates are] in place for a while it could have the effect of putting some additional pressure on home prices,” Gumbinger says.

4. Mortgage refinancing impact: But the impact on the mortgage refinancing market could be more significant. Rates in the 5.5% range would evaporate roughly 65% of home refinancing demand because the higher rates don’t offer enough savings to make the transaction worthwhile for many consumers, says Mark Hanson, a managing director who handles real estate and finance research at the Field Check Group. “Why would you want to pay $5,000 to close a loan when you are saving $20 or $30 a month,” he says. “It’s just not enough.” Even more concerning, many consumers have already filled out mortgage applications without locking in their mortgage rates because they expected rates to drift lower before closing. The recent spike in FHA mortgage rates, however, has made many of these yet-to-be-closed, non-locked loans unsalvageable without a sharp drop in rates. “Of all the applications in, 60 to 70% are [not locked],” Hanson says. “Out of those, 75% are dead.”

5. Federal response: Given how aggressively the federal government has moved to bring mortgage rates lower, it’s possible that Uncle Sam will step in to the market again. “I expect some sort of intervention,” Hanson says. Federal intervention could take any number of forms, including plans to beef up its already expansive mortgage-backed security or Treasury bond purchase program.

6. Rate outlook: Gumbinger says the recent spike reflects uncertainty about the broader economy. “We are at the portion of the economic game where you are going to get this kind of fits and starts arrangement,” he says. “Things are rosy one minute, and then somebody is going to catch wind or something and we could run the other way.” He says rates may revisit the 5 percent range in the coming months. “And if we do, know that that may be temporary as well,” he says. “If you really want a 5% number or a high 4% number on your mortgage, you need to be prepared in this market to take advantage of it.

Tags: bad credit mortgage loans, FHA mortgage rates, loans, mortgage rates, mortgage refinancing

22 May 09 30-Year Mortgage Rates Creep Up

According to CNN Money, mortgage loan rates were mixed this week, with the average 30-year ticking higher, according to a report released Thursday. FHA rates remain low as new homebuyers are reconsidering their renting options as people know the mortgage rates won’t be this low forever.  With the tax deductibility incentives, many Americans renting are finally seeing some advantages to becoming a homeowner and making a mortgage payment.

The average thirty-year fixed mortgage rate jumped to 5.24%, up from 5.21% the previous week, according to Bank Rate’s weekly national survey. Even with the increase, mortgage rates remain at historic lows, the report said. Mortgage interest rates have plunged since late October, when thirty-year fixed home mortgage rates averaged 6.77%.

“The economy remains very weak, and those concerns are balancing out the worries investors have about the amount of government debt issuance,” the report said, because mortgage rates are closely tied to long-term Treasurys.

Six months ago, the average 30-year fixed home loan rate was 6.33%, meaning a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $1,241.86.  With the average rate now at 5.24%, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,103.17, meaning homeowners who refinance now would save $138 per month.

The average fifteen-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 4.74% from 4.76% the week prior.

The average jumbo mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed rate fell to 6.37%.  FHA mortgage rates rose slightly to 5.125% for the weekly average.

Adjustable rate mortgage loans were also mixed, the report said, with the average 1-year ARM falling to 4.94% while the 5-year ARM increased to 4.96%

Tags: FHA, jumbo mortgage rates, mortgage rates

18 May 09 Low Mortgage Rates Continue

Mortgage rates were lowered slightly today for conventional and fixed rate FHA mortgage loans.  Mortgage interest rates continued their trend with 30-year fixed rate home loans being reported under 5%.

Average mortgage rates on 7/1 conforming adjustable rate mortgages is now at 4.84 % down from 4.95 %. The average rate on 7/1 jumbo ARMs is at 6.14 % from 6.17%. Average rates on 5/1 conforming ARMs is now under 4.50% at 4.39%, a big drop from 4.52%. Average interest rates for jumbo 5/1 ARMs is 5.38 % down from 5.43%. Conforming 1-year ARMs averaged 4.82% down from 4.88%. Average jumbo mortgage rates for 1-year ARMs is now at 5.74% up from 5.70%.

Interest only adjustable rate home mortgages were also down this past week. The average rate on 5/1 conforming interest only ARMs is now under 4.50 % at 4.45 %.  Average rates on Jumbo interest only 5/1 ARMs are still a lot higher at 5.70 %. Average rates on 3/1 interest only conforming loans is at 4.81% down from 4.92%. Jumbo 3/1 interest only loans now average 5.64% down from 5.70%.

Watch the Analysis and discussion reported by Bloomberg News with Mahesh Swaminathan of Credit Suisse talking about the mortgage interest rates, home loans, loan modifications and mortgage market in general.

Tags: 30-year fixed rate, adjustable rate mortgages, Conforming 1-year ARMs, conventional, FHA mortgage, jumbo mortgage rates, mortgage interest rates, mortgage rates

19 Mar 09 Mortgage Rates Lowered Based on Fed plan

Variable mortgage rates were also lower, with the average one-year ARM falling to 5.48% and the 5/1 ARM declining to 5.24%. Home mortgage rates fell in response to the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy up to $300 billion in longer-term Treasurys and raise the size of mortgage lending programs already aimed at reducing mortgage rates by another $750 billion.

Federal Reserve Buying Spree Causes Mortgage Rates to Plunge

The average thirty-year fixed rate mortgage loan dropped to 5.29% from 5.37% a week ago, according to Bank Rate’s national survey released every Thursday. The average fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgage also fell to 4.86% from 4.88%, while the average jumbo 30-year fixed rate declined to 6.88%.

17 Mar 09 Mortgage Rates Lowered

According to Web site Zillow.com. the national average interest rate for a thirty-year fixed rate home loans dropped last week, with Georgia remaining the state offering the lowest mortgage rates. For the week ended March 15th, the nationwide average thirty-year rate was 5.21%, down from 5.28% the week prior. In Georgia, the 30-year rate was 5.05% for the week ended March 15, the lowest in the nation.

By Monday night, the average rate on Zillow’s Mortgage Marketplace dropped again, to 5.05 %. Seattle-based Zillow compiles mortgage interest rates quoted by 4,000 participating mortgage lenders to potential borrowers on its site. FHA home loan rates and VA mortgage rates also continued the trend of rate reduction for thirty year home mortgages.

Tags: mortgage lenders, mortgage rates

08 Mar 09 Thirty-Year Mortgage Rates Rise as Economy Falters

The average rate on a thirty-year mortgage increased to 5.15 % this week from 5.07 % last week. A year ago, such home mortgages averaged 6.03 %. “With the federal debt probably widening quite a bit here, that’s going to put some upward pressure on rates,” said George Mokrzan, senior economist at Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio.

 

The U.S. government may need to increase the amount of debt it issues in coming years to pay for federal spending plans, which in turn may boost interest rates, Mokrzan said. Greater supply of U.S. Treasury securities would increase yields and probably push mortgage interest rates higher, cutting housing demand and reducing home affordability. Mortgage refinancing continues to be an important solution for many homeowners to prevent a foreclosure.

 

Freddie Mac chief economist Frank E. Nothaft said mortgage interest rates followed a rise in bond yields after the Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product plunged in the fourth quarter of 2008 at an annual rate of 6.2 %, the worst showing in a quarter-century. FHA mortgage rates remain below 5.25% for fixed thirty-year mortgage.

 

Jobless claims hit 670,000 for the week ended February 21, the most since October 1982, when the economy was emerging from a severe downturn. Thursday, the Labor Department said the figure slipped to 639,000 last week.  “The housing market continues to slow, as well,” Nothaft said, noting that new-home sales fell 10.2 % in January to the slowest pace since records began, in January 1963.  Pending existing-home sales slowed by 7.7 %, he added.   A report from First American CoreLogic showed that in the fourth quarter, more than 8.3 million, or one in five, U.S. mortgage holders owed more on their home loans than their property was worth.

 

Average rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages hit a record low of 4.96 % in January, a decline attributed to the Federal Reserve’s move to buy $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities to spur lending by banks.

 

This week’s average rate on a 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.72 % from 4.68 % last week. Last year at this time, the 15-year rate averaged 5.47 %.

 

The average rate on a5-year, adjustable-rate mortgage loans increased to 5.08 % from 5.06 %. The rate on one-year adjustable rate mortgage loans increased to 4.86 % from 4.81 % last week.

 

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The national fee averaged 0.7 point for 30-year and 15-year, fixed rate mortgage loans.  The fee for five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 0.6 point, with 0.5 point for one-year, adjustable rate mortgage loans.

26 Feb 09 Record Low Mortgage Rates Holding

In the news release Nothaft said “Reductions in home prices and affordable interest rate mortgages have yet to spur housing demand.” You can see how new sale prices continued to decline home. “For instance, house prices declined by 8.7% for the twelve months ending in December 2008 and were down 10.9% from their highs set in April of 2007, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s purchase-only monthly home price index. See original article > Low Mortgage Rates Continue

 

Low mortgage interest rates continued this week amid mixed reports about the slowing economy, Freddie Mac’s chief economist said on Thursday.  According to Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft, “Both the core producer price and consumer price indexes ticked up in January, higher than the market consensus, while consumer confidence in February dropped to the lowest reading since records began in January 1967,” said, in a news release.

 

Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.07% for the week ending February 26, up from last week’s 5.04% average but still lower than their 6.24% average a year ago, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conventional rates. Meanwhile, fifteen-year fixed-rate home loans averaged 4.68%, unchanged from last week and down from 5.72% a year ago. To obtain current mortgage rates, the fixed interest mortgage loans and the 5-year ARM required payment of an average 0.7 point, while the 1-year ARM required an average 0.6 point.

16 Jan 09 Mortgage Refinancing Activity Skyrockets

In a recent USA Today article, Stephanie Armour examines the home refinancing rush, as ecord low mortgage rates have spurred a surge in homeowners wanting to refinance. According to a report from Mortgage Bankers Association, over 85% of new mortgage activity involved refinancing applications.

 

Mortgage lenders are swamped by the giant wave of mortgage refinancing requests.  Many have shed staff the past couple of years as the housing market slumped. Now they lack the manpower to quickly process refinancing requests.  “Lenders aren’t prepared for the surge,” says Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com.   Some lenders are even hiring more people to accommodate the growing demand for refinancing.

 

In a normal market, refinance loans take 50% to 60% of its business.  Many anticipate  the refinancing boom to continue at a rapid pace.”The refinancing wave could become very large,” Zandi says. “There are millions of people with some equity and good credit scores who are now saying, ‘Let’s refinance.’ Home refinancing will increase substantially.”  Many people can’t take advantage of the lower rates. Among them are millions whose houses have declined so much in value that the homeowners owe more money than their homes are worth.  Ken Schimpf, 61, a retired carpenter in Lancaster, California, bought his home for $330,000.   With similar homes in his area now going for about $240,000, he can’t refinance to get a lower interest rate.”It’s a lost cause,” Schimpf says. “It’s very frustrating.  Most reports indicate that not many borrowers have qualified for Hope for Homeowner, which is FHA’s new loan program that enables borrowers who have no equity to still qualify for a refinance loan.

 

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Tags: lower interest rate, mortgage lender, mortgage rates, mortgage refinancing, refinance

13 Jan 09 Home Mortgage Lending Guidelines Tighten

Unfortunately with default rates breaking records every month, lenders are tightening guidelines more and more.  Many mortgage lenders start revising guideline requirements with their wholesale mortgage products.  Most lenders start by increasing the home equity requirements for cash out and rate and term refinancing.  Most mortgage lenders will also increase the credit score requirements, especially on the stated income or jumbo mortgage loan products.  Now with cash out FHA loans, lenders are requiring 2 full URAR appraisals to meet HUD product modification requirements.  Get the latest interest rate updates and mortgage news reports as they happen.

Many California homeowners residing in high cost regions are unhappy with HUD lowering mortgage limits.  The 2009 FHA loan limits are being lowered but HUD assures Mortgage Related News that millions of borrowers will still benefit from these FHA loan programs nationally.  FHA announced the new ceiling in the high cost markets will be $625,500.

Tags: cash out, FHA loans, home equity, jumbo mortgage loan, mortgage lenders, rate and term refinancing

05 Jan 09 Jumb Mortgage Rates Still Too High

The number of people applying for mortgage loans has been increasing in the recent years.  The high interest rates are particularly an issue in Greater Boston, where expensive housing forces many people into jumbo-loan territory, which is currently $465,750 and above. In 2006, more than 10 percent of borrowers in Massachusetts took out jumbo mortgages.  Homeowners in high cost states like California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York have been complaining for years about the mortgage injustice that goes along with paying higher interest rates for jumbo mortgages.

Borrowers with conventional home loans which are at or below $417,000 have been seeing mortgage rates as low as 5 percent, while the national average for a jumbo loan hovers around 7 percent.  There is a new, third category of mortgages between jumbo and conventional loans, created last year by Congress, called conforming jumbos, which now average about 5.6 percent, according to a provider of industry data, HSH Associates.  “I think it is crazy you can’t get as good a rate,” said Julia Blake, 36, who with her husband is looking to refinance the Cape they bought in Wellesley for $695,000 in 2007. “To me, a jumbo mortgage should be a luxury house, and in Wellesley it is not. You can’t get anything less than $600,000.” 

Another Wellesley resident, Paul Barnhill, wants to refinance his jumbo ARM into a fixed-rate loan, but not at current mortgage rates.  “I would refinance in a heartbeat if I could get 5 percent,” said Barnhill, 44.  Jumbo mortgage rates are higher because lenders who initiate the loans are having trouble selling them on the secondary market, where the resale of mortgages provides funds for new loans.

Jumbo Mortgage Rates Hinder Home Sales Price with More Equity and Higher Credti Scores Required! 

The banks and investment groups that buy mortgages are reeling from the credit crisis and the subprime mortgage debacle, and are steering clear of any home mortgage that smack of higher risk. The major players on the secondary market, government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, do not purchase jumbo loans.  Read the complete article >.

Tags: current mortgage rates, jumbo home mortgages, jumbo mortgage loans, jumbo mortgage rates, subprime mortgage debacle

31 Dec 08 Mortgage Rates Decline to Lowest Level

According to Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft, “Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell for the ninth straight week and represented a third consecutive all-time record low since Freddie Mac’s survey began in April 1971.”  FHA rates declined to 5.25% this week and many believe will promote new opportunities in 2009 for first time homebuyers.  Second mortgage rates declined for fixed equity loans and home equity lines of credit.  Home mortgage rates have dropped dramatically ever since the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan last month to buy up to $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. The program also entails buying up to $100 billion of debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks.

Interest rates on U.S. thirty-year mortgage loans with fixed interest rates dropped for a ninth consecutive week, reaching their lowest level in 37 years, according to a survey released on Wednesday by home funding company Freddie Mac.  Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to an average of 5.10 percent for the week ending Wednesday, down from the previous week’s 5.14 percent, Freddie Mac said.  The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has not been lower since Freddie Mac started the Primary Mortgage Market Survey in 1971.

Many industry insiders believe that mortgage interest rates will decline to even lower levels in 2009.   Internet advertising firm, KMG president, Jason Cardiff said in a statement yesterday, “Rates for home mortgages will decline to unimaginable levels in 2009, because the American people need an incentive to start taking risks again in buying real estate.”  Cardiff continued, “the banks need to trust restored as well and the only motivating reason for consumers to start borrowing again will be low mortgage rates.”  Cardiff pointed out that low rate mortgage loans for targeted groups are not enough. “The banks need to expand their lending guidelines so that not only people with high credit scores have the opportunity to refinance into a mortgage they can afford.”

The Federal Reserve continued their aggressive actions with an effort to drive down home loan costs, setting a goal of buying $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities by mid-2009.  The struggling housing market is essential to the U.S. economy.  Many economists believe improving the housing market with low rate incentives will stimulate a recovery for the world’s largest economy, which admitted to being in a recession since last year.  The housing market is in the worst downturn since the Great Depression as a huge supply of unsold homes, tighter mortgage lending guidelines and record foreclosures push down home prices.

Tags: 30 year fixed rate mortgage, equity loans, FHA rates, home equity lines of credit, home mortgage rates, Jason Cardiff, second mortgage rates