Some Good News, Some Bad News. Another (Weak) Week in Real Estate

The National Association of REALTORS sees some light at the end of the tunnel with developments this month in the credit markets, specifically with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Existing-home sales slowed in April, partly because restrictive lending practices hampered home buyers. At the same time, a greater number of areas are showing sales gains from [...]

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The Spin is In- What to Read Between The Lines

Mortgage and Treasury rates have stayed within a tight range for six-straight weeks: 5.875 percent to 6.25 percent and 3.7 percent to 3.92 percent, respectively.
Given the lurching in other markets, the credit market stability may seem other-worldly, but it is not — recent bond trading accurately reflects the current economy. We are still stumbling forward, [...]

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Even Congresswomen Are Walking Away (Say What?!?)

As the real estate market softened in 2007, the new owner of a three-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot house in Sacramento’s Curtis Park neighborhood ran into trouble. The house that was purchased for $535,000 in January had lost equity. The owner fell behind in her payments, and eventually, the bank seized the home.
What makes this story different from [...]

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Okay, what does the Fed’s cut today mean for Mortgages?

US News and World Report just published this article that ties in nicely with my post from earlier today:
Faced with a weak dollar and rising inflation, the Federal Reserve seems done with its aggressive rate-cutting campaign. Here’s how this shift in monetary policy may affect mortgage rates this year:
How have fixed mortgage rates been moving [...]

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Buyers, Start Your Engines!

I read this morning that the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that new mortgage applications fell 11.1% this week. We have seen traffic fall off a little over the same period but there are a few things that anyone who can buy a house today needs to realize:
1. Assuming we get the quarter point rate cut [...]

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Walk away and you will be singing the Blues for a long time

The country’s two largest sources of mortgage money have a blunt warning for anyone thinking about joining the growing “walkaway” trend in which homeowners stop making payments and months later send the house keys back to their lender: You will feel the pain.
“Jingle mail” will most certainly come back to haunt you (”Jingle Mail” is [...]

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Los Angeles Times is Spinning Fear Again

“Southland Home Prices Tumble Fast” was the headline that greeted me today as I picked up my morning paper. The thrust of the story was that home prices have slid an average of 19% in the last year.
For those of you who know me well, this kind of reporting drives me crazy. I realize that [...]

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Okay, HUD announced the new limits. Now what?!?

As many of you know, the new loan limits were announced by HUD on Wednesday. These market-specific loan limits will provide significant opportunity to us in many markets, and we know you are anxious to begin applying for both FHA and GSE (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) loans using these new loan [...]

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What does the mortgage side of the Stimulus Package mean for you?

 
 

For the immediate future, not much. While this is not the answer most of us want to hear, it is the reality we are facing. Higher limits will certainly help both the refinance and purchase areas of real estate but there are still a lot of details to be taken care of.
Below is the best [...]

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Banks tighten lending standards at record pace

More banks tightened standards on residential and commercial real estate loans during the final quarter of 2007 than at any time in the 17-year history of the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of loan officers.A record 55 percent of loan officers at domestic banks surveyed in January said they’d tightened standards on prime residential mortgages [...]

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