Mortgage Applications Increase Due to Great Bargains on Homes and Low Rates
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Last week, the number of Americans applying for mortgages decreased from the previous week, according to a report released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, which measures and compares mortgage loan application volume from week to week, showed that for the week ending March 27, mortgage activity increased 3 percent from the previous week’s numbers. The number of consumers looking Read more
New Home Sales Fall Due to Low Mortgage Interest Rates and Low Prices of Existing Homes
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that sales of new, single-family homes fell in the month of January, decreasing 10.2 percent from December’s numbers.
“Today’s new home sales report is reflective of what we saw yesterday on the existing home sales front. The silver lining is that homes are priced at affordable levels and long-term interest rates remain attractive,” Read more
Large Inventories of Foreclosed Homes Leading to Bulk Sales
As the number of foreclosed homes continues to rise, some of the banks and investors that own them are beginning to fiddle with bulk sales in an effort to clear their inventories more quickly, the WSJ reported.
Per the article, banks and investors owned 871,000 foreclosed homes as of November 1, up from 414,000 a year earlier, according to Barclays Capital data.
And that number is expected to rise to roughly Read more
Existing Home Sales Decline Despite Homes Becoming More Affordable
The National Association of Realtors announced today that existing home sales in October were down 3.1 percent as compared to September 2008. However, while home sales were down, the inventory of unsold homes slipped 0.9 percent to 4.23 million units, representing a 10.2 month supply.
Quicken Loans Chief Economist Bob Walters says he’s not surprised by the findings as consumers are still facing tough credit guidelines and uncertainty Read more