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
Bailout is 2008 Word of the Year
Another year, another word of the year tied to the ongoing housing crisis.
Merriam-Webster unveiled its word of the year for 2008, selecting the term “bailout” because it received the highest intensity of lookups over the shortest period of time.
The online dictionary defines it as “a rescue from financial distress,” though more opinionated readers could perhaps define it more strongly.
FHA Loan Production More Than Doubles in Fiscal Year 2008
FHA lending is popular.
During fiscal year 2008, the FHA endorsed over 1.2 million single-family mortgages, up from 532,000 a year earlier, HUD said in its annual report.
That figure includes 111,661 Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (reverse mortgages), with the grand total representing $177 billion in new mortgage endorsements, up from $60 billion in 2007.
HUD credited the recent rise in FHA Read more