Mortgage Applications Surge as 30-Year Hits Record Low
Mortgage application volume surged during the week ending March 20 as the Fed made a pledge to buy up more mortgage-backed securities and treasuries, sending rates sharply lower, the MBA said today.
Home loans apps jumped 32.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to one week earlier, 31.4 percent unadjusted, and were up 18 percent compared to the same week a year ago.
It was all about the refinances, Read more
Yahoo! Finance: Mortgage Rates at 38-Year Low
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From Yahoo! News and the AP:
Rates on 30-year mortgages fell this week to the lowest level on record after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to assist the staggering U.S. housing market.
Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 4.85 percent this week, from 4.98 percent last week. It was the lowest in the history of Freddie Mac's survey, Read more
Home Price Bottom Predicted by Year End
The good news is that a home price bottom is expected by year-end, according to one of the nation’s most respected economists.
The bad news, at least for current homeowners, is that prices are set to fall another 11 percent before stabilizing.
Since their peak in 2006, home prices have fallen about 25 percent, per a Moody’s Economy.com report issued today, but the end may be near.
“Notwithstanding Read more
Tarp Money Used to Fund 3.5 Percent 30-Year Fixed Loan Program
North Carolina-based Citizens South Bank announced yesterday that it will use the entire $20.5 million in TARP money it received to fund a 30-year fixed loan program with a 3.5 percent start rate.
The loan program will carry a teaser rate of 3.5 percent for the first 24 months, and then adjust into a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage set at 5.5 percent for the remaining duration.
“CPP funds issued as part Read more
Cash Out Refis Sink to Eight Year Low
During the fourth quarter, U.S. homeowners cashed out a dismal $17.5 billion in home equity via the refinancing of prime first-lien mortgages, according to mortgage financier Freddie Mac.
That’s down from a revised $28 billion in the third quarter and $38 billion in the second quarter, well below year-ago levels.
The share of refinance loans resulting in new loan amounts at least five percent higher Read more
New Year, Great Mortgage Rates
As a new year dawns, we already have great news to report: Mortgage rates are at historic lows. The news on the economic front may continue to be dismal, but this is actually great news for homebuyers and homeowners looking to refinance.
The big financial headline for the first business day of the year was the release of the ISM Manufacturing index, a key economic indicator.
Numbers released today showed that the performance Read more
Tracker mortgage holders ‘£9bn better off next year’
New research has suggested that homeowners with tracker mortgages could collectively be up to £9 billion better off by next Christmas.
The study by price comparison site Uswitch.com has said that over half a million tracker mortgage customers have taken advantage of the recent Bank of Englandbase rate cuts by overpaying on their mortgages by up to £260 per month.
The site claims that this could reduce the mortgage duration Read more
Many California Sellers Sold Properties at a Loss This Year
Annual home sales are expected to rise 12 percent in California this year and another 12.5 percent in 2009, but much of the increase can be attributed to distressed sales, according to the “State of the California Housing Market 2008-2009” report released this week by CAR.
Nearly one in five (19.8 percent) sellers sold their homes at a loss this year because the property was in default, foreclosure, or short Read more
Mortgage Rates Near Five Year Low
Mortgage rates on the highly popular 30-year fixed dropped to their lowest point in nearly five years, according to the latest report from government-sponsored entity Freddie Mac.
The average rate on the product fell to 5.47 percent during the week ending December 11, down from 5.53 percent a week earlier and 6.11 percent this time last year.
It’s now at its lowest point since March 25, 2004, when it Read more
Mortgage Ad Spending Down 62 Percent This Year
As the mortgage market continues to unravel, related ad spending is taking a big hit, according to the latest Nielsen data.
Through the first three quarters of 2008, mortgage and loan companies, including web-based companies, spent $778 million less (62 percent less) on advertising compared to the same period a year earlier.
Hopefully that equates to fewer dancing alien ads and other annoying campaigns Read more