More than 1 million Americans who have taken out mortgages in the past two years now owe more on their loans than their homes are worth, and Federal Housing Administration loans that require only a tiny down payment are partly to blame.
That [...]
Continue Reading... →More than four years into the housing crisis, the powers that be finally have created new rules to make the short sale process easier and speedier.
Starting in June, mortgage servicers will no longer take months or years to respond [...]
Continue Reading... →New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is warning state homeowners to beware of phone solicitations from scammers claiming to provide assistance related to the recent national mortgage servicing settlement.
The AG received reports that there are scammers impersonating [...]
Continue Reading... →Virtually every market traded lower yesterday following the Federal Reserve release of the March 13th Minutes. Bonds lead the way with the 10yr US Treasury jumping to over 2.30%, and the Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) yields losing over 70bps yesterday “minutes after the [...]
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Each quarter, Fannie Mae releases their National Housing Survey. They survey the American public on a multitude of questions concerning today’s housing market. We like to pull out some of the findings we deem most interesting each time it is released. Here they are for the [...]
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It’s not easy being a home seller in this market. It’s even harder for first-time sellers.
Selling a home is one of the biggest financial transactions most people ever do in their lives. And the current real estate market, still plagued with a record number of [...]
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The lion’s share of home sales typically come in the spring and early summer. April, May, June and July account for more than 40% of all housing transactions annually, in large part thanks to weather. Economists, realtors and Wall Streeters have [...]
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Ben Bernanke gave a speech in front of students from George Washington University’s School of Business as part of a four-part lecture series explaining the role of the Federal Reserve in the financial crisis.
This lecture focused on central banking and [...]
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(Reuters) – The White House on Tuesday said it was cutting the costs of some government-insured mortgages in a move that could open the door to cheaper loans for as many as three million borrowers.
The fresh round of changes from the administration affects [...]
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Homebuyers want price, condition, location
Homebuyers in 2012 have some advantages over prospective buyers in other years: low interest rates and low home prices in most markets. Those advantages don’t necessarily translate into confidence about a home purchase. Buyers want to be sure they are buying [...]
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The Department of Justice has released details on a major settlement for homeowners with five of the largest US home lenders.
The $26B deal currently with the 5 key banks: Bank of America, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally could actually rise if state [...]
November Housing Starts
Housing starts for November rose 9.3% to 685,000. The highest annual rate since April 2010. Leading the way was multi-family units, rising 32.2%. Single-family units saw an increase of 2.3%. Over the last [...]
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Prices in the Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index weakened slightly in September, falling 0.6% from August.
Of the 20 cities included in the index, only New York, Portland and Washington DC saw increases from August.
The 1-year change from September 2010 was [...]
Continue Reading... →Because Housing and Jobs are so closely related, it is important to watch for changing trends in the Unemployment level.
The chart below displays current levels of Unemployment by state. This information is updated monthly.
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Building permits rose to 653,000 in October. A 10.9% increase from September and 17.7% higher than October 2010. This is the largest number of permits for 2011 and represents the most since March 2010.
The building permits report is used as a guide to gauge future signs of [...]
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The PRICE Is the Same, But the COST Is Less
There is more and more research coming out showing that it makes great financial sense to purchase a home today. Whether it be rent vs. buy ratios, income-to-price ratios or income-to-mortgage payment ratios, purchasing a [...]
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Below is the press release from Freddie Mac regarding the average weekly mortgage rates as published by their “Primary Mortgage Market Survey”. Click <HERE> to find out more information about the PMMS.
As usual the media is leaving out the details and [...]
Continue Reading... →Popular Posts
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First-Time Homebuyer Education 
Bank of America Suspends New Cash-out Refinance Applications 
White House Cuts FHA Streamlined Refinancing Fees 
CME increases margin requirements on US Treasury futures - How to Calculate Total Monthly Mortgage Payments
