Mortgage Update

MORTGAGE RATES CONTINUE TO SET RECORDS

Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 10:53am. 46 Views, 0 Comments.

One wonders how long the mortgage rates will continue to stay low, as last week they again set record lows.

In a recent speech, Fed chairmam Ben Bernanke restated his position that the Fed is prepared for implementing emergency measures should the economy worsen. Mr. Bernanke does not see that happening and stated that the economic recovery is taking longer than anticipated, but we are not at the end of the world. One reason for the slow recovery is that joblessness remains high and that is having a direct effect.

One thing that we are absolutely sure of is that mortgage rates will soon rise. So the time is ripe to either refinance your present mortgage or finance that new purchase assuming that you can meet the industry's rigid qualifications.

BANKRATE CLOSING COST COMPARISON

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 at 7:06am. 58 Views, 0 Comments.

Every year bankrate.com publishes its annual national Closing Rate Comparison study. The way that they gather information for the study is to anonymously solit lenders in each of the largest city of each state to provide them a Good Faith Estimate based upon the identical criteria, a $250,000 primary purchase with a 20% down payment ($250k loan) and excellent credit.

The only fees that are counted are lender origination and other third-party fees. Both doc stamps and title insurance are excluded. One of our senior mortgage consultants from Summitt Home Mortgage at Downing-Frye Realty, Inc., Will Dukes, has reviewed it over the past few years and believes that it is good information.

'The big news is BankRate assertion that closing costs have increased by…

MORTGAGE RATES LOWEST SINCE RECORD KEEPING

Friday, August 13th, 2010 at 7:11pm. 72 Views, 0 Comments.

Mortgage rates are now at the lowest point since Fannie May began tracking them with a 30-year fixed below 4.5%.

The rates have basically been following the stock market trend for the past month, and although the coming week offers no reports that will trigger anything sensational, should the Dow close above 10600 look for rates to go fractionally higher. Of course all bets are off if the Dow closes below 10200.

What is most amazing is the fact that despite the very volitile stock market, the mortgage rates remained almost unchanged from the week prior.

Here are the current rates for today: Conforming $147,000 and below

15-Year Fixed               3.875%            APR           3.954%

30-Year Fixed               4.375%            APR           4.461%

FHA…

MORTGAGE RATES HIT RECORD LOWS

Saturday, June 26th, 2010 at 7:55am. 103 Views, 0 Comments.

Mortgage rates have certainly bottomed out, witness the fact that this week the 30-fixed rate hit a 50-year low of 4.69. Not since tracking of rates began have we seen the rate that low.

The real question is whether the people wanting a new mortgage or wanting to re-fi will be able to qualify with the new tighter Fed restrictions. In many cases, the answer is that they most probably will not qualify and that is rather distressing. The situation will remain the same until the Fed loosens restrictions.

 It really doesn't matter how low the rate goes if few qualify the economy doesn't get stimulated. There is no homebuying honeymoon going on to help stimulate the economy as people remain concerned about their jobs and the overall state of the economy.

Yet having…

MORTGAGE RATES FALL TO NEAR RECORD LOWS

Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 8:01pm. 136 Views, 0 Comments.

Being on the backside of the tax credit the credit markets are weakening and thus mortgage rate are again nearing historical lows. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stands at 4.72% which is down from last week when it stood at 4.79%.    

People who refinanced are all set, while there are many others who would like to but can't because they are well underwater with their current mortgages and their property now is not worth what is owed on the mortgage. As a matter of fact, nearly 24% of the people with a mortgage on their homes find themselves in that position.

What's even more interesting is the fact that new mortgage applications hit a 13-year low, despite the highly attractive rates. 

It will be interesting to see where it goes from here!…

HOUSING TAX CREDIT EXTENSION

Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 11:43am. 637 Views, 0 Comments.

A very popular program, the Extended Homebuyer Tax Credit of 2009/2010 was most likely responsible for a great number of new housing contracts which were signed in the past year. The program, signed on November 6, 2009, allowed first- time homebuyers to claim an $8000 tax credit (repeat homebuyers were qualified for $6500) for any home purchase which was the result of a contract signed on or before April 30, 2010 and closed before June 30, 2010.

However, if you’re an active duty member of US Armed Forces on overseas duty or a spouse of an active duty member, you still have time to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity. Qualified military service personnel have an extra year to qualify for the tax credit, which means that they have until April 30,…

MORTGAGE RATES HIGHEST IN 8 MONTHS

Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at 10:41am. 153 Views, 0 Comments.

Mortgage rates seem to have begun a slow rise which will certainly help the economy, as well as get the real estate fence-sitter a bit more motivated. One of the reasons for the rise is the fact that the government is no longer pushing to keep them low to stimulate the economy.

The rates for a 30-year fixed home loan rose dramatically to their highest level in 8 months. The average rate was 5.21% compared to the record low in December of 4.21%.  The rates do not include add-on fees which are also known as'points'. (One point is equal to 1% of the loan amount.)

The mortgage rates have been following the bond yields higher, one factor that can be attributed to the improving job market reports. March figures showed the largest monthly gain…

MORTGAGE RATES REMAIN RELATIVELY FLAT

Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 3:30pm. 167 Views, 0 Comments.

It is certainly refreshing to see the mortgage rates remaining below the 5% threshold for the third straight week. It is especially enlightening since we are still in the throws of high season and there are plenty of buyers around and for those with the ability to qualify, the rates are great!

The average 30-year fixed rate did inch up a bit last week, but still remained under that 5% mark, and remembering interest rates at 18% back 25 years ago, it all sounds quite inexpensive to me. If one is capable of handling a 15-year fixed rate mortgage, the rate is 4.333% up a shde from 4.32 the week prior.

With the advent of the $8,000 tax credit for first times home buyers expiring at the end of April and knowing that the Feds will most likely raise rates once…

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY ARM IS ADJUSTING?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 1:14pm. 739 Views, 0 Comments.

Will Dukes, from Summit Mortgage an affiliate of Downing-Frye Realty, Inc., just put out an interesting article dealing with the ARMs (Adjustible Rate Mortgages) that are ready to adjust. An adjustable rate mortgage is a mortgage loan where the interest rate on the note is periodically adjusted based on a variety of indices.

For those who have an ARM, it is worth the read. 

The 5/1 ARM that my wife and I took out in May of 2005 is now getting ready to adjust according to the terms of the loan. Sound familiar??? Don’t panic yet!

Like a lot of folks, the original equity we put into our home at closing is temporarily depleted leaving us with slightly less than enough to allow a refinance into a 30 year fixed without mortgage insurance. Our alternatives are to…

HUGE SPREAD BETWEEN 15-YEAR AND 30-YEAR FIXED RATE MORTGAGES.

Saturday, February 13th, 2010 at 8:26am. 203 Views, 0 Comments.

Will Dukes from Summit Mortgage at Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. wrote a recent article about the spread between the 15-year and 30-year fixed rate mortgages and I found his comments quite interesting.

Will basicallty stated that it may well be time to consider a 15-year fixed rate mortgage because the relative discount for reducing the repayment period compared to a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is enormous. Investors are now giving the borrowers a big advantage if they are willing to lock in to a shorter period of time. The discount can run between 1/2 to 3/4 of a point, which again is quite significant. Spreads like this have not been seen since 2004.

One of the keys is not to formulate a strategy until you are absolutely ready to purchase a home because the…