Mortgage Rates 05-14-2012  continued a recent trend of moderate improvement fueled indirectly by political turmoil in Europe.  The gains bring rates in line with all-time lows with some lenders priced slightly better and some priced slightly worse than than February’s record offerings.  The current rate environment is causing the longstanding “wall” at 3.875% to begin to cra … Continue reading →

  For certain FHA-backed homeowners, refinancing via the FHA Streamline Refinance program is about to get a lot less expensive. Beginning June 11, 2012, the FHA implements a new policy for its mortgage insurance rates.   Millions Of FHA Homeowners Now Eligible FHA mortgage rates have been steadily falling. Unfortunately, the FHA mortgage insurance rates have not. Today’s FHA homeow … Continue reading →

  May 12, 2012 Earlier this week, Freddie Mac released the results of its weekly mortgage survey, showing average fixed mortgage rates hitting new all-time record lows for the second consecutive week. Record Low Mortgage Rates The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has averaged below 4 percent all but one week since Dec. 8, 2011, helping to keep homebuyer affordability high. The 30-year fixed-r … Continue reading →

President Barack Obama on Friday pushed Republicans to back housing policies the White House says would help shore up struggling homeowners and prevent foreclosures. Against the backdrop of a middle-class neighborhood in economically hard-hit Nevada, Obama touted steps his administration has already taken to help homeowners refinance their mortgages. But the president said he needed help from lawm … Continue reading →

Mortgage Rates improved moderately today as European turmoil continues to benefit domestic interest rates.  Yesterday’s late news of a $2 bln trading loss at JP Morgan also contributed to the overnight gains in broader bond markets, but it has beenlingering uncertainty about the European situation that allows rates markets to hold steady at lower levels.   Many lenders are back in line … Continue reading →

Where Mortgage Rates “Come From” For every type of U.S. mortgage, there’s a different basis for assigning a mortgage rate. For example, mortgage rates for portfolio loans (e.g.; jumbo mortgage, super jumbo mortgage, non-warrantable condo) are often based on some cost of funds-type index such as COFI, plus a spread. HELOCs are based on Prime Rate. Other mortgage rates, though, are … Continue reading →

The government announced changes to its HARP program November 15, 2011. This post is accurate and up-to-date. If you’re underwater on your conforming, conventional mortgage, you may be eligible to refinance without paying down principal and without having to pay mortgage insurance. Here are the details of the government’s new 2011 HARP refinance program. HARP 2.0 Loan Program  HARP … Continue reading →

Mortgage Rates were generally unchanged today, keeping them near their recent and all-time lows.  Lately, mortgage rates have been holding increasingly steady despite fluctuations in US Treasuries.  That’s mostly been a frustration for rate watchers who’ve seen Treasuries creep lower while mortgage rates have not.  But the tables turned today as Treasuries moved back in the other … Continue reading →

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shawn Donovan testified before a hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on the current implementation and efficacy of HARP 2.0 and on several bills that have been introduced to expand it or remedy some of its flaws.  This is a summary of the transcript of that hearing and will be covered in two parts. Committee Chairman … Continue reading →

05-10-2012 Cheap mortgage rates today have made home-buying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on 30-year loans ticked down to 3.83%. That’s the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. And it’s below the previous record rate of 3.84% reached last week. The 15-year mortgage, a … Continue reading →