I’ve described the 2008 Housing Bill to many associates and colleagues as “market neutral”. Although the politicians in Washington have touted themselves as real estate market heroes with the passage of the new law the bottom line is that many of the provisions in the bill won’t do much to spur a recovery anytime soon. […]
In order to make the pre-approval process as smooth as possible as well as to prevent last minute surprises from occurring it is important that we take a thorough application and collect the proper income and asset documents at the outset of the application process. MSN published this article this morning on how to WOW […]
Rates are slightly higher this morning following a significant sell-off in mortgage-backed bonds yesterday. As we had mentioned in yesterday’s rate update in the absence of significant economic data mortgage rates would react to oil prices, the stock market, and technical trading patterns. It was the latter two factors which pressured rates higher yesterday. Today […]
If the Fed’s latest opinion survey is any indication we may not get any relief from continued credit tightening on the part of lenders for some time. The Federal Reserve Board publishes a periodic report called the, “Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices.” This report addresses various aspects of residential, commercial, and […]
Rates are essentially unchanged this morning (5/1 ARMs are slightly higher). In the absence of any significant economic data today mortgage rates will take direction from oil prices (lower oil prices→lower mortgage rates), the stock market (lower stock markets→lower mortgage rates), and technical trading patterns. Currently the technical trading pattern is not too encouraging. Later […]
Jack Guttentag wrote a good article in the Washington Post over the weekend designed to help homeowners who are having trouble making their payments. Unfortunately there is not much a person can do as far as refinancing goes but based on Guttentag’s advice these homeowners may be able to convince their lender to reduce their principal […]
As I’ve written about multiple times in this blog the 700-page 2008 housing bill has many differnet provisions embedded in the law. Although I don’t do a lot of reverse mortgage business I wanted to at least provide a link to an article which summarizes how these loan products were impacted by the 2008 housing […]
History In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was formed as a part of the National Housing Act. The objective of the FHA was to increase home construction, reduce unemployment, and operate various loan insurance programs. (It’s important to note here that the FHA DOES NOT directly lend money for FHA loans. They only provide […]
Rates are lower this morning. As we had suspected, weakness in the stock market yesterday helped mortgage-backed bonds rally which is why mortgage rates are improved this morning. However, this improvement may be short lived. We see two major themes working against mortgage rates today. First, the stock market is back at it. The Dow […]
Rates are modestly higher this morning following. After four straight days of sell-off in the mortgage-backed bond market, which has caused mortgage rates to rise by approximately .25%, we may begin to see a reversal. Potentially helping rates is a weaker stock market (to understand dynamic between stocks and mortgage rates click here). The Dow […]