Christmas holidays out as Britons opt to stay at home
New research has shown that more Britons are choosing to stay at home over the Christmas period due to the financial crisis.
The study by the AA found that nearly a fifth of those who travelled last Christmas have decided to stay at home this year.
As well as the economic crisis putting pressure on British consumers, the falling value of the pound has meant that travelling abroad is more expensive compared with last year, Read more
Due to Low Mortgage Interest Rates Homeowners Continue to Apply for Mortgages in Record Numbers
Undaunted by the holiday season, consumers continued to apply for mortgages in record numbers last week, according to the latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, released today by The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The MBA reports that its Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage loan application volume, shows the number of people applying to refinance their mortgage”:/refinance dipped only 0.4 percent while the purchase Read more
Low Interest Rates, Low Housing Prices and Lower Down Payments. The Home Buying Stars Have Aligned.
Want to start off the New Year with some good news? (We thought so.) If your New Year’s resolution centers around buying a home, there are THREE big things going on that you should know about.
The home buying stars have aligned, and they’re telling you to take advantage.
#1 Mortgage interest rates have dropped to the lowest they’ve been in 50 years. With mortage interest rates at historic lows, the number of people Read more
Utah is Fastest Growing State in 2007-2008
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/013049.html
Press release which reports that Utah with a population growth of 2.5% was the fastest growing state in the period from July 1, 2007 to June 30 2008. Arizona, Texas, North Carolina and Colorado were also among the five fastest growing states. Texas gained the most people, 484,000, while Michigan and Rhode Island were the only two states whose population Read more
Simplified IVA plans withdrawn
Anyone with an interest in IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements) will probably have heard about the fate of the SIVA (Simplified IVA).
The Insolvency Service has announced that plans to introduce SIVAs have been withdrawn, stating that the ‘successful operation of the IVA Protocol has resulted in many of the desired improvements in the IVA marketplace being implemented without the need for further legislation’.
Simplified Read more
Mortgage Applications Up Another 50 Percent
Mortgage application volume surged 48 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending December 19, the MBA said today.
On an unadjusted basis, the home loan application index increased 50.2 percent compared to one week earlier, and was up 124.6 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
The exceptional increase was led by a 62.6 percent jump in refinance applications and double-digit gains Read more
Survey Shows Fewer Inclined to Purchase a Foreclosed Home
The percentage of U.S. adults who would consider buying a foreclosed home has dropped below 50 percent, according to a survey conducted by Trulia and RealtyTrac.
In a previous survey completed in April, 54 percent of adults said they would consider the purchase of a foreclosed home, but that number has since dropped to 47 percent.
Not only that, but negative sentiment with regard to the purchase of a foreclosed Read more
Mortgage Re-Default Rates Going from Bad to Worse
The percentage of current and performing mortgages fell from 93.33 percent at the end of the first quarter to 91.47 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to the OCC and OTS Mortgage Metrics report released today.
Meanwhile, efforts to get bad mortgages back on track seem to be failing at a rather high clip, with 55 percent of loans modified in the first quarter 30 days late and nearly 37 percent 60 days Read more
Happy Holidays
This picture really says it all. Discounted Christmas trees. I drove by this tree lot the other day and couldn’t believe they actually printed a banner like this.
Sure it may be a gimmick, but it certainly speaks volumes of the unprecedented crisis we’ve put ourselves into.
It’s been a very tough year as far as mortgage and housing are concerned, and obviously that has spilled over to the broader Read more
Refinance Share of Mortgage Apps Climbs Above 75 Percent
Refinance loan application volume increased another 6.5 percent last week, boosting its share of total activity to a whopping 76.9 percent from 74.3 percent a week earlier, the MBA said today.
The refinance share of total activity was as low as a third of application volume just a few months ago when interest rates were about two percentage points higher.
While home loan applications increased a marginal Read more