By: Reuters
U.S. mortgage rates dipped below 5 percent again, a key level that may boost home loan demand, according to a closely watched mortgage survey on Thursday.
The lowest mortgage rates in decades and high affordability helped the hard-hit housing market find some footing last year...
Demand for U.S. mortgages held last week near six-month lows as the highest long-term borrowing costs since August stifled refinancing, a Mortgage Bankers Association survey showed on Wednesday.
Average 30-year mortgage rates jumped 0.10 percentage point to 5.18 percent in the Jan. 1 week, up...
Applications for U.S. Mortgage’s rose last week to their highest levels since mid-May. Many hope to take advantage of the sub-5% rates being offered. The MBA or Mortgage Bankers Association said rates have dropped for the 3rd straight week, reaching a 4 month low.
The main demand for mortgage applications...
For some time now, there has been an ongoing speculation about the “next shoe to drop” whether it is Commercial Real Estate, or residential homes. A great article lays out why this maybe just a myth to spook investors, and/or residential buyers. The amount of option ARM loans that were originated...
Respected consulting agency John Burns Real Estate Consulting, says the FHA is the main driver for home prices not dropping as much. Today, FHA makes up about 25% of the entire mortgage market. Currently, FHA offers 96.5% financing to borrowers with a 600 FICO score.
FHA has tightened their lending to...
9/1/09- Seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in July has risen to the highest levels in 2 years to 97.6 according to The National Association of Realtors (NAR). This reading is 12% higher than the same month last year. Analysts predict sales will likely drop once the first time home...
8/28/09-This week, the 30yr fxd mortgage rate, climbed slightly to 5.14%. Slightly higher than last week, and still near record lows. Lenders have tightened their standards for consumer loans, since the boom/bust of the industry. Though well qualified home buyers will receive the benefit of clean credit...
Aug. 19, 2009 Construction is up 37% since the lows of last winter, stablizing the housing industry. This is not close to the massive building of 2006, but “housing is no longer a drag, Thats a good thing” said Mark Vitner, a senior economist from Wells Fargo. For each new home built, it...
Several top economists have predicted a “W” shape recovery, well what is a “W” shaped recovery, and how do you navigate it?
We have experienced the leg down…now we are navigating through our first “leg up” in the “W”. The leg up was facilitated by...