Interpretation of News is Key For Mortgage Rates This Week

October 5, 2009

Rates Rise Much Faster Than They Fall This week, without much economic data set to release, look for market psychology to play an important role in the direction of mortgage rates.  The last two times that mortgage rates fell to these levels, they quickly reversed. All the pieces are in place for that to happen again. […]

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Last Week’s Rates Hit Lowest Point Since Memorial Day

October 5, 2009

Mortgage Rates Fell for 2nd Consecutive Week Mortgage markets rallied for most of last week, but ended Friday on a sour note.After touching their lowest levels since Memorial Day, mortgage rates spiked to close out the week. Despite pricing getting worse by 1/4 percent Friday afternoon, however, mortgage rates still managed to fall for the second […]

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First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit is About to Expire

October 2, 2009

Time is Running Out! The government’s First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program expires November 30, 2009 — a scant 60 days from today. Considering it can take up to 60 days to close on a home, first-time buyers have 2 weeks at most to find a home. Buyers not under contract by October 15 have little chance […]

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What Does This Month’s Case-Shiller Report Say?

September 30, 2009

Home Values Are on the Rise For the second month in a row, 18 of the 20 Case-Shiller real estate markets posted higher home values.  It’s the 6th consecutive strong showing for the benchmark private-sector housing index. Combined with falling home supplies and rising sales figures, this month’s Case-Shiller Index suggests that housing may have bottomed […]

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Getting Approved for a Mortgage is About to Get Harder

September 29, 2009

What Are The New Changes? For the second time in less than 3 months, Fannie Mae announced changes to its mortgage guidelines.  In its official announcement, Fannie Mae details the updates, meant to reduce the mortgage firm’s overall risk. The first major change is with respect to credit scoring.  All Fannie Mae loans — whether underwritten electronically […]

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Mortgage Market and Rate Forecast – Week of September 28th

September 29, 2009

This Week Might See A Rise in Rates This week will be heavy with data so don’t expect rates to stay low for long.  Early in the week we’ll get the Case-Shiller Index, a few consumer confidence surveys, and the Personal Consumption Expenditures report.  Late in the week, it’s the September jobs report. With mortgage rates […]

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Markets Rallied and Rates Improved Last Week

September 29, 2009

Wall Street Could Have Raised the Rates The mortgage market resumed its winning streak last week after a 1-week hiatus.  Markets rallied into the weekend and mortgage rates eased lower overall.  It’s the third week out of four that rates improved and, ironically, rates may have dropped last week because traders were watching the wrong metrics.  With […]

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Existing Home Supply Numbers Are Falling

September 25, 2009

Numbers Don’t Always Tell the Whole Story As reported by the National Association of REALTORS®, the number of Existing Home Sales dipped last month, ending the metric’s 5-month winning streak. Newspaper headlines today are overwhelmingly negative on housing. You’d almost believe this year’s housing recovery had ended.  That’s hardly the case. See, the other side of the Existing Home […]

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What Does the Federal Reserve Statement Really Mean?

September 24, 2009

FOMC is Optimistic About the Economy The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. It also reiterated plans to support the mortgage market to the tune of $1.5 trillion. In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy is “picking up following […]

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Home Prices Are On Their Way Back Up

September 23, 2009

National Stats Don’t Necessarily Reflect Local Changes As reported by the government, home prices are rising nationwide, up 0.3 percent in July. Furthermore, versus November 2008, the Home Price Index has clawed back to unchanged. The housing market appears to be holding its own. However, we have to be careful about putting our full faith in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s […]

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