interest (54)

New Mortgage Program Will Help Millions

By some authorities, An estimated 5.5 million homeowners facing imminent foreclosure. The Obama Administration has provided some immediate relief with the HEMA program. HEMA will use up to $3 billion TARP to make funds available for unemployed homeowners and those suffering financial distress. Eligibility is designed to help those who have lost their jobs or are in great financial distress for 24 months. The program will offer up to $50,000 at 0% interest for 24 months to help homeowners through difficult situations.

Requirements

1.Borrowers must have a track record of making mortgage payments on time.
2.It must be the primary residence and at risk of foreclosure.
3. Combined household income must not exceed 120% of the median income in the area.
If eligible, a homeowner makes a fractional payment to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) instead of the lender. Provided the homeowner has a reasonable probability of resuming mortgage payments, HUD will assume full payment to the lender. Once the homeowners immediate financial problems are resolved, they re-assume full responsibility for the mortgage and pay back the HUD for the temporary loan.

Funding is not available in all states, only the hardest hit and the program is funded with 1 billion now and hopefully more later, depending on the success of the program. HUD counts 32 states and Puerto Rico as recipients of the HEMA program. Borrowers must meet with their local NeighborWorks. HUD hopes to begin accepting applications by the end of the year.

REsourced from www.yourpropertypath.com
You may republish this article, as long as you do not edit and you
agree to preserve all links to the author and
www.yourpropertypath.com

Related Articles

FHA Financing Now Available For REO Properties

Good News! MBAA New Forebearance Program

The Rental Sector Is Looking Up



Read more…

Lately, more than ever, I have been getting calls from agents who are all asking the same question and, that is, “are you working any offers on 666 Money Pitt Lane”

Well, before I tell you my typical response, I would like to share some insight and see if you agree.

Per Realtor.com,

“An agent is bound by certain legal obligations. Traditionally, these common-law obligations are to: Put the client's interests above anyone else's; Keep the client's information confidential; Obey the client's lawful instructions; Report to the client anything that would be useful; and Account to the client for any money involved.”

So, here are my questions.

1. Is it in your clients interest to reveal to other agents that you are or are not working other offers?

My argument is NO, it is not in your client’s interest to reveal that you are or are not working other offers.

Simply put, when answering the question, you don’t know the motivation behind the person who asked it. We can get into a bunch of “what if” questions but, ultimately if by answering the question the agent decides not to show the home or not put in an offer then, you just hurt your own client. Ultimately my job is to get as much for my client as possible in the shortest amount of time and that means, getting as many offers in the door as possible. I could be wrong but, I suspect that the main reason Realtors ask this question is because they want to avoid being in a multiple offer situation or they want to be in better negotiating position. I guess that’s all fine and good but, it’s not my job to make that so for another agent and their buyer.

Now, let’s flip the script a little here.

Do you think my argument is valid for bank owned properties? What about Fannie Mae properties? HUD properties?

I won’t answer that question for you, I would love to get your responses.

Read more…
30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.32 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending September 30, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.37 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.94 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged a record low of 3.75 percent with an average 0.7 point , down from last week when it averaged 3.82 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.36 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.52 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point , down from last week when it averaged 3.54 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.42 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.48 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.46 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.49 percent.

Freddie Sayz

Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

Confidence in the state of the economy fell among consumers and businesses, which led to a decline in long term bond yields and brought many mortgage rates to record lows this week. The September Consumer Confidence Index by the Conference Board fell to the lowest level since February of this year, while the Business Roundtable CEO Business Outlook for the third quarter was the weakest in the past four quarters. Consequently, rates for the 15 year fixed mortgage and the 5 year hybrid ARM reached new all-time lows and rates for 30-year fixed mortgages tied its record set just four weeks ago.

Homeowners have regained $1.0 trillion in home equity as of the second quarter of 2010 after losing more than $7.5 trillion over the three year period ending in the first quarter of 2009, the Federal Reserve Board reported. This, in part, strengthened household balance sheets and reduced serious mortgage delinquencies. For instance, first mortgages 90 days delinquent or worse fell to 3.16% in August from 4.76% a year prior and was the lowest rate since June 2008, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices .

Related Articles
FHA Financing Now Available For REO Properties
FHA Offers Short Refi Program For Underwater Homeowners
Maximizing The Rent


Read more…
Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 09/22/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) decreased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 0.3 percent compared with the previous week

Refinance Index: decreased 2.5 percent from the previous week. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 9.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 34.7 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

Purchase Index: decreased to 78.9 percent of total applications from 80.7 percent the previous week.

Refinance Share of Mortgage Activity: decreased to 78.9 percent of total applications from 80.7 percent the previous week.
increased to 6.1 percent from 6.0 percent of total applications from the previous week.

Arm Share: decreased to 5.9 percent from 6.2 percent of total applications from the previous week.

MBA outlook: (Excerpted from mbaa.org)

We predict that mortgage originations will decrease to $1.4 trillion in 2010 from an estimated $2.1 trillion in 2009. Purchase activity continues to be weak, although it was given a brief boost in the spring by the tax credit program, while refinance activity is being propped up by mortgage rates that remain close to historical lows, although there is less refinancing going on now than in previous periods of comparably low mortgage rates. Purchase originations will fall to $539 billion from $740 billion in 2009 and refinance originations will decrease to about $910 billion in 2010 from $1.4 trillion in 2009. This months originations estimates for 2010 forward were revised downwards to reflect the weaker July data for home sales and housing starts.

Related Articles
Deficiency Judgments: Did You Know?
Federal HomeBuyers Tax Credit Extension
Read more…

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.36 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 26, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.42 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.14 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged a record low of 3.86 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.90 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.58 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.56 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, unchanged from last week when it also averaged 3.56 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.67 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.52 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down slightly from last week when it also averaged 3.53 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.69 percent.

Freddie Sayz
Attributed to Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

Existing home sales plunged 27 percent in July, while new homes fell 12% to a new all-time record low, which led to some market concerns that the housing market may slow the economic recovery. As a result, long-term bond yields fell to the lowest levels since January 2009, allowing fixed mortgage rates to ease to new record lows this week.

Much of the slowdown in sales, however, was expected due to the recently expired homebuyer tax programs, which pulled through future home purchases into the first half of the year. For instance, average existing home sales over the first seven months of 2010 were nearly 8 percent higher than over the same period a year ago.
Moreover, house prices still appear to be stabilizing. Nationally, house prices rose 0.9 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis during the second quarter of this year this year after 11 consecutive quarterly declines,

Read more…
Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 08/25/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) increased 4.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4.5 percent compared with the previous week.

Refinance Index: increased 5.7 percent from the previous week and is at its highest level since May 1, 2009. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.6 percent from one week earlier.

Purchase Index: decreased 1.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 38.8 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

Refinance Share of Mortgage Activity: increased to 82.4 percent of total applications from 81.4 percent the previous week, which is the highest share observed since January 2009.
Arm Share: increased to 5.8 percent from 5.7 percent of total applications from the previous week.

MBA outlook: (Excerpted from mbaa.org)

Existing home sales in June declined 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.37 million units from 5.66 million in May, and are 9.8 percent higher than in June of last year. Single family home sales fell 5.6 percent to 4.70 million units in June from 4.98 million units in May, and are 8.5 percent above the pace in June 2009. For both total existing home sales and single family home sales, the monthly decrease was the largest since January this year. We predict that mortgage originations will decrease to $1.5 trillion in 2010 from an estimated $2.1 trillion in 2009. Purchase activity continues to be weak, while refinance activity is being propped up by mortgage rates that are close to historical lows, although there is much less refinancing going on now than in previous periods of comparably low mortgage rates. Purchase originations will fall to $576 billion from $750 billion in 2009 and refinance originations will decrease to about $900 billion in 2010 from $1.2 trillion in 2009.

Related Articles

Good News! MBAA New Forebearance Program

Short Sellers And The Forclosed Catch A Break

The longer term outlook for apartments remains good.
Read more…
30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.44 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 12, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.49 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.29 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged a record low of 3.92 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.95 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.68 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.56 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.63 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.75 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.55 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.64 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.78 percent

Freddie Sayz

Interest rates for fixed mortgages and 5 year hybrid ARMs again broke record lows this week following reports of a sluggish job market. Private payrolls increased by 71,000 jobs in July, below the market consensus forecast, and revisions shaved June's growth by 34,000 workers.

The Federal Reserve also noted in its August 10th policy statement that the pace of recovery in output and employment slowed since its last meeting in June. Low rates are helping to heal many battered local housing markets by increasing home purchase activity. The National Association of Realtors reported that 65 percent of the 155 metropolitan areas they track experienced yearly increases in the second quarter of this year. This compares to 60 percent of areas in the first quarter and only 44 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009

Related
RealEstate in an IRA
Section 8 : An Owners Guide
How Are Property Managers Using Technology?


Read more…
Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 07/28/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) increased 1.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Refinance Index: increased 1.3 percent from the previous week

Purchase Index: increased 1.5 percent from one week earlier. This third straight weekly increase in the Purchase Index was driven by government purchase applications which increased 3.4 percent from last week, while conventional purchase applications were essentially flat.

Refinance Share of Mortgage Activity: increased 1.3 percent from the previous week.

Arm Share: decreased to 5.4 percent from 5.7 percent of total applications from the previous week.

MBA outlook: (Excerpted from mbaa.org)

We predict that mortgage originations will fall to $1.48 trillion in 2010 from an estimated $2.1 trillion in 2009. Purchase originations will decrease 7 percent to $686 billion, as home prices continue to fall and the boost from the homebuyer tax credits wane. Refinance originations will fall by about 42 percent to $797 billion in 2010. We continue to mark up our refinance origination forecast given that mortgage rates have continued to remain close to historical lows.

Related Articles
The Politics of Housing
Maximizing The Rent
Section8 : An Owners Guide

Read more…

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.49 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 5, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.54 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.22 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged a record low of 3.95 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.00 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.63 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.63 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.76 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.73 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.55 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.64 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.78 percent

Freddie Sayz

And yet again, interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages and now the hybrid 5-year ARM fell to all-time record lows this week following the second quarter GDP release . Annual revisions cut the cumulative GDP growth in half over the past three years ending in the first quarter of 2010 from 1.4 percent to 0.6 percent. This reduces inflationary pressures and allows longer-term rates room to ease.

More recently, housing investment picked up in the second quarter of this year as the homebuyer tax credit spurred new and existing sales and low mortgage rates encouraged remodeling. Fixed residential investment added 0.6 percentage points to second quarter real GDP growth following two quarters of decline

Related Articles
Thelonger term outlook for apartments remains good.

TenantScreening Tips and Tricks

Howto Hire an Home Insurance Agent
Read more…
30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.54 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 29, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.56 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.25 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged a record low of 4.00 percent with an average 0.7 point , down from last week when it averaged 4.03 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.69 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.76 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.79 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.75 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.64 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.70 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.80 percent

Freddie Sayz

For the sixth week in a row, interest rates on fixed rate mortgages eased to all time record lows during a week of mixed housing data reports. The number of local markets experiencing annual increases in home prices appears to be growing. For instance, 13 metropolitan areas in the S&P/Case-Shiller 20 city index experienced price appreciation over the 12-months ending in May, compared to 11 in April and 10 in March.
However, existing home sales in June slowed to an annualized pace of 4.37 million units, the fewest since March. Moreover, although new home sales jumped by almost 24 percent to 330,000 dwellings, it represented the second slowest rate since 1963

Related Articles
Good News! MBAA New Forebearance Program
FHA Financing Now Available For REO Properties
Green Landlording
Read more…
Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 07/28/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) decreased 4.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier

Refinance Index: decreased 5.9 percent from the previous week.

Purchase Index: increased 2.0 percent from one week earlier and is the highest Purchase Index observed in the survey since the end of June

Refinance Share of Mortgage Activity: decreased to 78.0 percent of total applications from 79.4 percent the previous week.

Arm Share: increased to 5.7 percent from 5.2 percent of total applications from the previous week.

MBA outlook: (Excerpted from mbaa.org)

Federal Reserve policymakers have been increasingly clear that they will keep their target rate at exceptionally low levels for an extended period. They have also made no moves to this point in terms of asset sales from their trillion dollar portfolio of mortgage backed securities. Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs large buyouts of delinquent loans from MBS have substantially been completed by this point, so there are no longer large-scale purchases of MBS by unconventional buyers artificially constraining mortgage rates .

Purchase application data from MBAs Weekly Application Survey show no rebound in activity to date, with apps remaining at 13 year lows (15-year lows for conventional purchase mortgages). As the pending home sales and housing starts numbers showed, this drop in applications clearly predicts similar sized drops in home sales over the next couple of months.

Related Articles

Jobs Recovery and Rent
Federal HomeBuyers Tax Credit Extension
How to Avoid Tenant Landlord Disputes

Read more…


30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.57 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 8, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.58 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.20 percent. This rate is yet another all-time low in Freddie Mac’s 39-year survey.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.07 percent with an average 0.7 point , up from last week when it averaged 4.04 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.69 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.75 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.79 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.82 percent. This rate is also an all-time low since Freddie Mac began tracking it in 2005.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.75 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.80 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.82 percent.

Freddie Sayz

With mortgage rates falling to historic lows, refinance activity has been strong over the past three months, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the effective mortgage rate of all loans outstanding was just below six percent in the first quarter of 2010, the lowest since the series began in 1977. Since the start of the second quarter, two out of three mortgage applications on average were for refinancing, according the Mortgage Bankers Association .

Household balance sheets also improved in other ways over the first three months of the year. The Federal Reserve reported household net worth rose by almost $1.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2010. The share of credit card loans that were 30-days or more past due fell to the lowest since first quarter of 2002, according to the American Bankers Association . Finally, the aggregate household debt burdens were at a level not seen since the third quarter of 2000.

Related Articles

Reverse Mortages Can Help You Buy A New Home

Maximizing The Rent

How to Rent Your Property Faster


Read more…
Mortgage Bankers Association for the week of 07/07/2010

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) increased 6.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 6.5 percent compared with the previous week.

Refinance Index: increased 9.2 percent from the previous week and is the highest Refinance Index observed in the survey since the week ending May 15, 2009

Purchase Index: has decreased eight of the last nine weeks

Refinance Share of Mortgage Activity: increased to 78.7 percent of total applications from 76.8 percent the previous week, which is the highest refinance share observed in the survey since April 2009.

Arm Share: increased to 5.4 percent from 4.7 percent of total applications from the previous week.

MBA outlook: (Excerpted from mbaa.org)

Mortgage rates remained near record lows last week, as incoming data on the job and housing markets were weaker than anticipated. As more homeowners locked in to these low rates, the level of refinance applications increased to a new 13-month high, said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. For the month of June, purchase applications declined almost 15% relative to the prior month, and were down more than 30% compared to April, the last month in which buyers were eligible for the tax credit.

We predict that mortgage originations will fall to $1.4 trillion in 2010 from an estimated $2.1 trillion in 2009. Purchase originations will fall slightly to $725 billion, as home prices continue to fall and the effect from the homebuyer tax credits wane. Refinance originations will fall to $717 billion in 2010 from $1.4 trillion in 2009, but we continue to mark up our refinance origination forecast given the sharp drop in mortgage rates.

Related Articles
FHAFinancing Now Available For REO
StrategicDefaults: A strategic Option
ProbateFor Property: How To Avoid It

Read more…

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.58 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 1, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.69 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.32 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.04 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.13 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.77 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.79 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.84 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.88 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.77 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.94 percent.

Freddie Sayz

Interest rates on fixed rate mortgages and the 5 year hybrid ARM fell once again to all time record lows this week in a period where the economy struggles to gain momentum and inflation remains very low, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. Growth estimates for first quarter GDP were revised down by a half percentage point over the past two months to 2.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis . Annual inflation, as measured by the 12 month change in the core CPI, held at 0.9 percent in April and May, which is the slowest pace in over 44 years, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

Meanwhile, house prices are improving due in part to the homebuyer tax credit. The S&P/Case-Shiller® 20-city home price index grew 0.4 percent between March and April and was up 3.9 percent from April 2009, representing the largest annual gain since October 2006. Moreover, 17 of the metropolitan areas experienced monthly gains in April, compared to 10 in March and six in February

Related Articles
Apartment Vacancy Rates Decline In The First Quarter
Interviewing A Property Management Company
TheProperty Management Contract - Taking it Apart


Read more…



30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.69 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 24, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.75 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.42 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.13 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.20 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.87 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.84 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.89 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.99 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.77 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.82 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.93 percent. This is the lowest the 1-year ARM has been since the week ending May 6, 2004 when it averaged 3.76 percent.

Freddie Sayz

Mortgage rates for all but traditional 1-year ARMs hit all time record lows this week in our survey while activity in the housing market slowed in May following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. Freddie Mac began collecting rates for 30 year fixed loans in April 1971, 15-year fixed mortgages in September 1991 and 5-year hybrid ARMs in January 2005.

The record low for traditional 1 year ARMs of 3.36 percent occurred during the week of March 25, 2004. Both new and existing home sales showed unexpected declines in May. Existing sales fell 2.2 percent, compared to the market consensus forecast of a 6.0 percent gain, based on figures published by the National Association of Realtor . Sales of new homes fell 32.7 percent to an annualized rate of 300,000 units, which was the largest monthly drop and slowest pace since records began in 1963, according to the Census Bureau

Related Articles

The longer term outlook for apartments remains good.

Section 8 Housing What is it

Strategic Defaults: A Strategic Option




Read more…
30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.72 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 10, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.79 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.59 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.17 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.20 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.06 percent. The 15-year FRM has not been lower since Freddie Mac started tracking the 15-year FRM in August of 1991 and sets another record low for the fourth straight week.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.92 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.94 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.17 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.91 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.95 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.04 percent. The 1-year ARM has not been lower since the week ending May 27, 2004 when it averaged 3.87 percent.

Freddie Sayz
Following a relatively weak employment report, bond yields fell this week and mortgage rates followed, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. Private payrolls rose by 41,000 jobs in May, less than a quarter of the market forecast consensus of an 180,000 gain. Interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgage hover near the record low set on December 3, 2009 in our survey; the Primary Mortgage Market Survey began in April 1971.

Meanwhile, rates on 15-year fixed mortgages set another record low for the fourth week in a row. Overall, the economy does show signs of improvement. The Federal Reserve reported in its June 9th regional economic review that the economy strengthened in all 12 of its Districts over April and May. It also noted that loan quality was stable or improving in most Districts, but remained an issue for banks with large exposure to real estate

Related Articles

Commercial Property: Money Becoming Available

Good News! MBAA New Forebearance Program

Maximizing The Rent




Read more…

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.79 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending June 3, 2010, up slightly from last week when it averaged 4.78 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.29 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.20 percent with an average 0.7 point, down slightly from last week when it averaged 4.21 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.79 percent. The 15-year FRM has not been lower since Freddie Mac started tracking the 15-year FRM in August of 1991 and breaks last week's record low.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 3.94 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.97 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.85 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Averaged 3.95 percent this week with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week when it averaged 3.95 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.81 percent. The 1-year ARM has not been lower since the week ending May 27, 2004 when it averaged 3.87 percent.

Freddie Sayz

The economy grew at a slower rate than originally reported in the first three months of the year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis , which suggests inflation will remain tame in the near term, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.

As a result, mortgage rates held at historic levels this week. In fact, rates on 15-year fixed rate mortgages set another record low for the third week in a row. There are also signs that credit conditions may be improving. The number of homeowners with private mortgage insurance who became current on their mortgages outnumbered those who defaulted for the third month in a row in April, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America

Related
Real Estate in an IRA
When Hiring a Property Management Company
Strategic Defaults: A Strategic Option
Read more…

Freddie Mac Weekly Update: Rates Stable

Rates Mostly Unchanged This Week

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 5.06 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 29, 2010, down slightly from last week when it averaged 5.07 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.78 percent.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Averaged 4.39 percent with an average 0.7 point, unchanged from last week when it averaged 4.39 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.48 percent.

Five-year indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages ARMs: Averaged 4.00 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.03 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.80 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs: Average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.22 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.77 percent.

Freddie Sayz

Mortgage rates on 30-year fixed loans have averaged about 5 percent over the first four months of this year, staying within a band of roughly a quarter percentage point and virtually matching 2009s annual average, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. These low rates have been helping to moderate house price declines over the course of the year.

Prices on existing homes showed a 12-month increase of 0.7 percent in February, which was the first annual increase since December 2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller® 20-city composite index [PDF]. In addition, nine cities experienced positive growth, matching the number in January. Further, the Census Bureaus Constant Quality price index showed that new home prices rose 2.5 percent in the first quarter on an annual basis.

Related Articles
FHAFinancing Now Available For REO Properties

Expect Mortgage rates To Rise

Increase RentalIncome and Lower Your Vacancies

Read more…

I’m curious how other agents see short sales and REOs mixing.

If you are an REO agent and are assigned a listing, you are happy. If you then find out that one of your associates in your brokerage has had it listed as a short sale within the past 6 months, your happiness might turn into a sense of loss. You need to tell your seller that the property has been listed with your brokerage and let them decide if there is a conflict of interest. In fact, the seller probably is already aware that the property was previously listed with your brokerage, in which case they may not have assigned it to you at all depending on their policies.

Do you, REO agents, consider this scenario potentially damaging to your business? One reason I was motivated to build my own brokerage was I could control what listings we handled and avoid sellers in distress since potentially we have a better chance of selling their home as an REO listing than selling their over-priced, underwater short sale home. When I worked at a franchise brokerage I had to turn down pre-listing bpos because another agent in my office currently had the properties listed. This happened a few times and I decided that it was up to me to solve the problem by leaving.

Now, the whole game is changing and short sales are becoming part of the mix with management companies that previously only managed REOs. I have heard some short sale agents claim that they get REO listings by being the short sale agent for the owner in default but I have yet to see any proof to back up this claim. Usually the short sale agent gets a call from the REO agent instructing them to remove their short sale listing from the MLS because the property has a new owner. These are uncharted waters so my question is:
Will a short sale assigned by a management company be more likely to be kept by a listing agent if it fails to sell and becomes an REO?

Read more…

Market Composite Index: (loan application volume) increased 13.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 13.9 percent compared with the previous week.
Treasury rates fell last week causing a decline in mortgage rates. As a result, refinance applications picked up over the week, as some borrowers took advantage of this recent rate volatility to lock in a low fixed-rate loan said Michael Fratantoni, MBA Vice President of Research and Economics.

Refinance Index: increased 15.8 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 10.1 percent from one week earlier.

Purchase Index: increased 11.0 percent compared with the previous week and was 5.2 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

Refinance Share of Mortgage Activity: increased to 60.0 percent of total applications from 58.9 percent the previous week.

Arm Share: decreased to 6.0 percent from 6.3 percent of total applications from the previous week.

MBA outlook: (Excerpted from mbaa.org)

Economic growth and a recovering job market are good news for housing, but we certainly have not seen any significant improvement in housing activity to date. Existing home sales declined in February, and new home sales actually reached a new record low that month. Additionally, the number of existing homes on the market increased, as sellers began to list their properties in anticipation of the spring. Rising inventories on top of weak demand continues to put pressure on prices, with most measures showing either declines or weak gains over the winter.

Fourth quarter real GDP growth was revised down a bit to a 5.6% annual rate, a revision too small to be significant. Data coming in during the past month suggest a real GDP growth rate of around 3% or a little less in the first quarter of 2010, well below the fourth quarter pace. The outlook for inflation remains unusually favorable. During the past year, both headline and core inflation rates have fallen.

The dramatic turnaround in the economy during the past year, from a 5.4% annual rate of decline in real GDP in the fourth quarter of 2009 to a 5.6% increase a year later, attests to the remarkable resiliency of the U.S. economy to withstand shocks.

Related Articles
ExpectMortgage Rates To Rise
PropertyTaxes: What Happens When Values Decline
FannieLaunches First look Program

Read more…