For the third consecutive month, loans that originated for purchasing homes have increased. According to Ellie Mae’s Organization Insight Report for April, these loans made up for 42% of total loan originations, compared to 38% in March and 27% in January. Of these loan originations, 68% were conventional loans and 22% were Federal Housing Association […]
There has been some good news in the housing market, particularly the mortgage market. Based on economic indicators, more people filed mortgage application forms to buy a house or to refinance their loan. Meanwhile, fewer mortgage holders are finding themselves behind on their payments. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the total number of mortgage […]
This year has seen a stronger housing market. Most of the recovery can be attributed to record-low interest rates but one of the reasons for this improvement is the number of distressed homes being bought. Homeowners, who saw rising home prices as more houses were coming off the market, turned to foreclosure and short sales […]
Freddie Mac announced today that homeowners who refinanced their mortgages during the fourth quarter of 2012 were able to reduce their interest rates by an average of 1.8 percentage points. That works out to a 33% reduction of their interest rates, which is the largest reduction ever recorded by Freddie Mac. As an example, a […]
Economists at Fannie Mae recently released their first economic forecast of 2013. The survey, titled “Transition to Normal,” describes where the direction the housing market is going will be affected by economic policy decisions being made and yet to be made by the federal government. The forecast states that the Federal Reserve will not raise […]
The number of foreclosed loans in the third quarter of this year has declined by 20 basis points (bps) from the second quarter and 36 bps from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey. The delinquency rate for one- to four-family homes dropped to 7.4% in the third quarter, 18 […]
Homeowners have taken advantage of record-low interest rates to refinance their homes. According to Lender Processing Services Inc., mortgage prepayment rates in August were up to its highest levels in seven years. The Florida-based mortgage data provider also showed that home loans were repaid in August at a pace that would erase 25% of the […]
The Commerce Department reported this week that housing starts fell 22.5% in February to 479,000 units, from an upwardly revised January figure of 618,000 units. It was the biggest decline in 27 years and finished just above a record low set in April 2009. Building permits — a hint of future construction demand — fell […]
The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales in December jumped 12.3% from the previous month. The NAR recently reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.28 million units in December, compared to the upwardly revised figure of 4.70 million units in November. However, the December 2010 figures are 2.9% below the December 2009 figure […]
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently reported that the national average contract mortgage rate for the purchase of previously occupied homes by combined lenders was 4.42% for November. That figure is down from October’s rate of 4.47%. The FHFA also reported that the average interest rate on conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loans of $417,000 […]