Today Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey,showing average mortgage rates have dropped to new all-time record lows! [...]
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 | Until recently,home ownership was no bargain compared to renting,according to Paul Diggle,a housing economist at Capital Economics. Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau and published statistics from Thomson Datastream indicate that rising rents and falling mortgages are tipping the scales towards home ownership. The median monthly mortgage payment has fallen to about the same as a median monthly rent check. [...] Mortgage delinquencies in December increased to 2.24 percent of all mortgages,a slight increase from the month before when delinquencies were at 2.22 percent but a decrease of over 25 percent from a year ago when the rate was 3.01 percent. The mortgage delinquency rate is something I pay close attention to because it is the “leading indicator”of foreclosures and foreclosures and REO’s are one of the major hurdles to a recovery in the housing market. Declining delinquency rates are our first clue that the housing market is headed to a recovery. [...] This morning,Freddie Mac released the results of it’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey revealing that the interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.91 percent,matching the all-time low! Makes me want to go out and borrow some money!:) At this time last year,the interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.77 percent. [...] The National Association of Realtors’research staff recently released its comprehensive annual report:Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers for 2011. Market researcher,Paul C. Bishop,Ph. D.,Vice President and Jessica Lautz,Manager of Consumer Survey Research state that they’ve identified “trends that have not been seen in the last 10 years,”which will affect the housing market as we enter 2012. [...] Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®(PMMS),showing average fixed mortgage rates finishing the year near their all-time historic lows. Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 3.95 percent and have been at or below 4.0 percent for the past nine consecutive weeks keeping homebuyer affordability at a near all-time high. [...] An extraordinary 18 percent of Realtors have experienced contract failures in the last few months according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is double the levels of a year earlier. One of the top reasons that cause these contract cancellations is credit issues. In many cases,understanding how the credit system works [...] Over the past few years many people that had never faced financial trouble found themselves in foreclosure,doing a short-sale or deed in lieu or filing bankruptcy as a result of the burst of the housing bubble,record unemployment and a weak economy in general. People in this situation,many of whom were homeowners for years,were forced to lived with relatives or friends,or rent until they were able to get through their financial crisis. Now,many of these folks have been able to get back on their feet and want to buy a home again but don’t know when,or if they will be able to get a home loan again due to their past. [...] This morning,Trans Union released a report showing the national mortgage delinquency rate (the rate of borrowers 60 or more days past due) increased to 5.88 percent (from 5.82 percent in the 2nd quarter) during the third quarter of 2011,after falling in the previous quarter by the largest rate in two years. This is the first time mortgage delinquency rates have increased since the end of 2009. [...] The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced it eased the requirements as well as extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to December 31,2013 from the current expiration date for the program of June 30,2012. According to FHFA,as of August 31,2011,nearly 894,000 borrowers have been refinanced through HARP and they (FHFA) feel easing the requirements will make it possible for many additional borrowers to refinance as well. [...] The “first-look”report from Lender Processing Services,one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data,shows mortgage delinquencies decreased 0.5 percent in September from the month before and decreased 12.7 percent from the year before. On the other hand,and perhaps part of the reason for the decline in the delinquency rate,the foreclosure rate increased in September by 1.7 percent from the prior month and was up 8.9 percent from the year before. [...] Mortgage interest rates hit an all time low in the past month with 30 year fixed rate mortgages dropping below 4 percent for the first time ever! Over the past couple of weeks,rates have ticked up slightly but are still dirt cheap! So what can you do to make sure you are getting the lowest mortgage rates possible? According to Doug Lebda,Chariman and CEO of LendingTree.com,if borrowers follow the guidelines listed below they can increase their chances of being approved for a mortgage loan at the most desirable interest rate:[...] Robo-signing is one of those terms I never heard until the news of improper foreclosure practices by some of the nation’s largest lenders started hitting the news in the past year and now the word has become synonymous with bad foreclosure practices. As a result,in April of this year the Office of the Comptroller [...] I keep saying that,until the foreclosure rate gets back down closer to a “normal”rate and the REO inventory is absorbed to the point where they are no longer putting such immense downward pressure on home prices,we are not going to see any sort of sustainable recovery in the housing market. It [...] Fannie Mae’s Economics &Mortgage Market Analysis Group says that we are not out of the woods yet and that the economy is “flirting with another economic downturn”now after more than two years since the worst recession since the World War II era. Fannie Mae Chief Economist,Doug Duncan,said “the weakening economic backdrop,[...] A report released today by CoreLogic shows that 22.5 percent (10.9 million) of all homeowners in the U.S. with a mortgage were in a negative equity position in the second quarter of 2011,down slightly from 22.7 percent the prior quarter. Negative equity is also referred to as being “underwater”or “upside down”and [...] Minnesota has emerged as the state with the highest amount of mortgage fraud (in total dollar amount) according to the second-quarter 2011 Mortgage Fraud Index from MortgageDaily.com. With $184,715,000 of mortgage fraud activity in the 2nd quarter Minnesota inched out the first place spot from Florida which had $184,009,434 in loans with mortgage fraud involved. [...] Mortgage interest rates have hit a new low for the year,dipping to an average of 4.29% (4.54% APR) for 30-year fixed mortgages,3.53% (3.90% APR) for 15-year fixed mortgages and 3.38% (3.63% APR) for 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) earlier this week according to the LendingTree Weekly Mortgage Rate Pulse. The report also [...] Four Florida men were arrested on charges that they defrauded homeowners in Massachusetts and elsewhere in connection with a home loan modification scam. Earlier this month,a 20-count indictment was unsealed in federal court in Boston,charging Christopher S. Godfrey,42,of Delray Beach,Fla.;Dennis Fischer,40,of Highland Beach,Fla.;Vernell Burris [...] HOUSTON—Two Houston businessmen,a mortgage company loan officer,and a title company attorney and escrow officer have been indicted for their alleged involvement in a scheme to defraud residential mortgage lenders of more than $22 million in loans. [...] HomeSteps,the home-sale division of Freddie Mac,announced “Condo Cash”,a special limited-time offer to pay up to $1,500 in future condo fees for eligible buyers purchasing a condominium being sold through the Freddie Mac HomeSteps program. [...] A report released this morning by Standard &Poor’s and Experian show a decrease in monthly default rates on first mortgages from 2.02 percent to 1.93 percent and a decrease in default rates on second mortgages from 1.40 percent to 1.25 percent in July. A continuing decline in mortgage delinquencies is one of the things [...] The FBI released it’s Mortgage Fraud Report for 2010 showing that mortgage fraud continued at elevated levels in 2010 and was consistent with levels seen in 2009. The top states for mortgage fraud activity in 2010 were Florida,California,Arizona,Nevada,Illinois,Michigan,New York,Georgia,New Jersey,and Maryland. [...] Last week,The Washington Post published an article by Kenneth Harney which said “if you take mortgage interest tax deductions,the next 100 days could have significant financial implications for you,thanks to Congress’s new federal debt ceiling plan……the compromise legislation created an unusual mechanism — an evenly split,12-member bipartisan supercommittee — that could [...] | ||||
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