Monthly Archives: March 2009

With mortgage rates are hovering near all-time lows, lots of Americans are taking advantage of refinance and home buying opportunities. The downside of today’s unexpectedly-low rates, though, is that mortgage lenders are ill-equipped for the rush of new business. As … Continue reading →

The stock markets made strong gains last week but the mortgage markets barely moved in the wake of the Treasury’s “toxic asset” plan. After carving out wide trading ranges on most days, mortgage pricing ended the week slightly worse overall. … Continue reading →

If you’re in want of a cash out refinance, the most liberal cash-out program in town is about to make qualification more difficult. Effective April 1, 2009, the FHA is reducing the maximum loan-to-value on cash-out refinances by 10 percent, … Continue reading →

The national housing market got its third piece of good news in 3 days: Monday: Existing Home Sales up Tuesday: Home values appear higher nationally Wednesday: New Home Sales up And although national real estate statistics are irrelevant to the … Continue reading →

Don’t look now but oil prices are climbing. This should worry today’s home buyers and would-be refinancers because some of the same forces that helped to push crude past $50 for the first time in 4 months also cause mortgage … Continue reading →

Each month, the National Association of REALTORS

Mortgage markets scored big gains last week, sparked by the Federal Reserve’s pledge to buy $750 billion more mortgage-backed bonds in 2009. Conforming mortgage rates fell on the week, overall. But Federal Reserve intervention wasn’t the only good news for … Continue reading →

For the fifth time in a year, rate shoppers learned an important lesson this week: When mortgage rates plummet unexpectedly, they often recover just as fast. Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s newest $750 billion mortgage market pledge helped to push conforming … Continue reading →

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today, within the target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. This doesn’t mean the Fed stood pat, however. On plan to resurrect the economy using “all available tools”, today, … Continue reading →

There’s a mixed message in February’s Housing Starts data and it may be a good sign for home sellers in the near-term. As reported by the government, new home construction rose by 22 percent last month. The press is running … Continue reading →