Posted by Howard Bell on December 19, 2009 at 8:12am
Mortgage Rates Follow Bond Yields Higher30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.94 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 17, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.81 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.19 percent.The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.38 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.32 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.92 percent.Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 4.37 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.26 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.60 percent.One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 4.34 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.24 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.94 percent.Freddie SayzMortgage rates followed bond yields higher once again this week amid signs of an improving economy, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. On the consumer side, retail sales jumped 1.3 percent in November and consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan, rose above the market consensus forecast to the highest reading since September. Industrial production also showed large gains in November.Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have remained below five percent over the past seven weeks and are contributing to a wave of refinance activity. Roughly three out of four mortgage applications were for refinancing during the first two weeks of December, according the Mortgage Bankers Association .Thanks for Readingwww.yourpropertypath.comRelated ArticlesShould You Stop Paying Your MortgageStock Market Views On The Housing RecoveryThe Coming Mortgage Debt Reduction ProgramsRead more…
Posted by Howard Bell on November 22, 2009 at 10:16am
30 Year Fixed Rate Falls Below 5 Percent30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.83 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending November 19, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.91 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.04 percent.The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.32 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.36 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.73 percent.Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 4.25 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.29 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.87 percent.One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 4.35 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.46 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.29 percent.Freddie SayzInterest rate on 30 year fixed-rate mortgage loans fell for the third consecutive week to the lowest since the week ending May 21st, while 15 year fixed rates were the lowest since our records began in 1991, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. Low fixed rates throughout the third quarter prompted an estimated $1.1 trillion in refinancing activity, saving homeowners about $10 billion in aggregate monthly payments over the first 12 months of their new loan. Moreover, for the fourth consecutive quarter, more than 95 percent of prime borrowers who originally had an ARM selected a conventional fixed rate mortgage in the third quarter of this year.Meanwhile, new home building showed some weakness in recent months. Residential construction eased 10.6 percent (annualized) between September and October, largely driven by a 33.3 percent decline in new condominium and apartment buildings and represented the slowest pace since records began in 1959. And homebuilder confidence in November remained a relatively low level, according to the National Association of Home Builders .Thanks for Readingwww.yourpropertypath.comRelated ArticlesReverse MortgagesARM's - How Do They Work?EEMRead more…
Freddie Mac has launched an aggressive, proactive campaign to help troubled borrowers modify their home loans under the federal government’s mortgage relief program.The GSE said Tuesday that it has hired Titanium Solutions, Inc., a homeowner contacting and counseling firm based in Salt Lake City, Utah, to knock on the doors of delinquent borrowers and obtain missing documentation and complete applications needed to begin their three-month trial payment periods for Home Affordable Modifications under President Obama’s Making Home Affordable program.Titanium Solutions will target late-paying borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages who have not returned letters or phone calls sent by their servicers, or who need to provide additional information to take advantage of the federal program. Titanium will also help those borrowers who have started their trial periods complete the documentation process to enable them to be converted into final modifications, Freddie Mac explained in a corporate statement.“By meeting with our borrowers, one on one, in their homes, Titanium Solutions can help them overcome the roadblocks keeping them from starting their Home Affordable Modification trial periods,” said Ingrid Beckles, SVP of default asset management at Freddie Mac.To minimize potential fraud, Beckles said Titanium Solutions representatives will not accept mortgage payments or any other money from borrowers. Representatives will also carry a copy of their servicers’ solicitation letter the borrower initially received, which includes unique information about the mortgage loan.Titanium Solutions, Inc. is the newest piece of Freddie Mac’s multi-pronged effort to help borrowers take advantage of the administration’s Making Home Affordable program.The GSE has also placed program experts at servicers across the country, works one-on-one with borrowers at local events organized by the Treasury Department, and recently hired Home Retention Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Lender Services, Inc., to ease backlogs at several servicers by processing applications from delinquent borrowers with Freddie Mac mortgages.
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