The Mortgage Reports

Summarizing The (New) First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Program

Dan Green — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:52:56 PST

Congress voted to extend and expand the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit today. The bill is expected to be signed into law Friday.The "First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit" isn't just for first-time home buyers anymore. Under the new rules, homeowners with at least 5 years in their current residence qualify for the tax credit, too. However, instead of the full $8,000 bonus afforded to first-timers, "move-up" buyers get capped at $6,500.

A Mortgage Rate Prediction For The Next 30 Days (November 5, 2009)

Dan Green — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:39:34 PST

Need a mortgage rate prediction? I am a regular participant in the Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Trend survey and this week's survey may point you in the right direction.

How Today’s FOMC Statement Affects Mortgage Rates And Homeowners (November 4, 2009)

Dan Green — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:01:49 PST

A brief recap of the Federal Open Market Committee's November 4, 2009 statement and what it means for mortgage rates, homeowners, and the economy.

Heads-Up Email Subscribers : I’m Moving To MailChimp

Dan Green — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:32:16 PST

Just a quick heads-up to my blog-via-email subscribers. Effective Wednesday, I am switching email services from FeedBurner's free service to MailChimp. It's a new look for the same great mortgage blog content. I use MailChimp to send email newsletters to my mortgage clients and find the company's RSS-to-email product interesting. Y'all are the guinea pigs here. I think it'll work out fine for everyone.

The Housing Market Bottomed 9 Months Ago, Based On The Data

Dan Green — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:31:01 PST

The last two years have been rough on housing in a chain reaction-kind of way. First, mortgage guidelines tightened, preventing some homeowners from ditching onerous ARM products. That sparked a foreclosure boom that led to large losses on Wall Street. In turn, it sank the U.S. economy. Today, as compared to 3 years ago, foreclosures are way up, home values are way down, and mortgage rates are as low as they've ever been. It's wonderful news for home buyers -- there's a plentiful supply of homes and financing is cheap. Home affordability is near all-time highs. But the market is changing.

How Long Do Mortgage Rate Quotes Last, On Average?

Dan Green — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:03:21 PST

Mortgage rates aren't changing as quickly as they did this summer, but they're still changing pretty quickly. Over the last two month, on average, lenders have updated pricing every 4 hours, 11 minutes. Over the last week, it's 3 hours, 20 minutes. It's tough to shop for mortgage rates at a time like this.

Mortgage Rate Predictions (October 29, 2009)

Dan Green — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:28:20 PDT

Need a mortgage rate prediction for the next month? I am a regular participant in the Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Trend survey and this week's survey may point you in the right direction. The Bankrate.com survey is for conventional, conforming mortgages only. It does not apply to FHA mortgages, veterans mortgages, jumbo or super jumbo mortgages. Nor [...]

Looking For The Housing Bottom? These Stats Say It Was Back In February 2009.

Dan Green — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:45:10 PDT

For the 7th consecutive month, the Case-Shiller Index showed a reduction in annual home price declines. That's more than two seasons, folks. Surely, by now, we can say housing is in recovery.

Inflation Is Both Overstated And Understated. Mortgage Rates Lose And Win.

Dan Green — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:45:53 PDT

When the government makes it press releases, it doesn't talk in terms of those raw numbers. Instead, it talks about inflation in terms of change from the month prior, as a percentage. The government rounds this percentage to one decimal. According to the government, consumer inflation fell 0.1% last month. And this is where the problems set in.

Talking Mortgage Rates To 6 Percent, FHA Streamlines, And The First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension

Dan Green — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:15:08 PDT

Earlier, I asked my Twitter followers what mortgage questions they'd like to have answered. I picked 3 of their replies and pushed it to video. The video is a quick 2 minutes.

Mortgage Rate Predictions (October 22, 2009)

Dan Green — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:56:44 PDT

Rising Gas Prices Got You Down? It’s Nothing Compared To How Mortgage Rates Will Rise.

Dan Green — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:02:58 PDT

Oil prices are on the move, crossing $80 per barrel for the first time in a year. The charge can't be coming at a worse time for mortgage rate shoppers. With Wall Street already in debate about inflation, the surge in crude just adds fuel to fire. Meanwhile, you may have that noticed gas prices are up this week. A lot. Use this as a clue -- higher mortgage rates are coming.

Comparing FHA And Conventional Mortgages With Less Than 20% Downpayment

Dan Green — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:31:19 PDT

With foreclosures proliferating, PMI defaults are up 26 percent over last year and double the levels from 2007. Private mortgage insurers are paying out on many more claims than was expected and, as a result, are booking huge losses. Homeowners are about to pay the price. To shore up balance sheets and protect against future losses, mortgage insurers have raised insurance rates and toughened underwriting guidelines.

Summarizing The New, Stricter FHA Streamline Refinance Program (Changes Effective November 17, 2009)

Dan Green — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:56:06 PDT

Want to refinance on the FHA Streamline Refi program? Better get a move on. Beginning in just 4 weeks -- November 17, 2009 -- the FHA changes over to new guidelines for its popular FHA-to-FHA refinance program. Getting approved for a Streamline Refi will be more difficult and more expensive.

Foreclosures Per Household Data Shows The Way To The Homebuying Bargains

Dan Green — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:47:57 PDT

The severity of the "Foreclosure Crisis" depends on where you live, it seems. According to the RealtyTrac.com Q3 foreclosure report, Foreclosures Per Household skews heavy towards just a few states. Nevada leads the nation with 1 foreclosure per 23 households. Its rate is six times the national average of 1 foreclosure per 136 households. Arizona, California, and Florida are a distant 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

Mortgage Rate Predictions (October 15, 2009)

Dan Green — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:39:57 PDT

Lately, mortgage bonds have been trading at unsustainable levels. Despite a growing mound of evidence that the economy is expanding and what looks to be an over-supply of treasury debt, mortgage-backed securities are priced as high as they've been since May. It's unnatural, really; a hedge against a stock market flop. Or something else. But forget about why rates are low -- low rates are about to end.

Trends: Mortgage Rates Fall In The Fall

Dan Green — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:30:14 PDT

If history is an indicator, mortgage rates should ease a bit into 2010. Data from Freddie Mac since 2006 shows that 30-year fixed mortgage rates tend to rise during the summer months, and fall through the fall. So far, 2009 is staying true to form.

Mortgage Rates Are Not As Low As Newspapers Are Reporting

Dan Green — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:15:00 PDT

Thursday, Freddie Mac published its weekly mortgage market survey. The report showed mortgage rates sub-5 percent, trolling near all-time lows. Versus October 2008, 30-year fixed mortgages are down 1.07%. The press was eager to report this story -- mostly because anytime mortgage rates below 5.000 percent, it makes for good copy. But, for rate shoppers in Cincinnati and Chicago, by the time Friday's business section was delivered, the Freddie Mac survey was already out-of-date.

Mortgage Rate Predictions (October 8, 2009 Edition)

Dan Green — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:16:18 PDT

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar has been getting slaughtered. It's at a 2-month low against the Euro and is similarly weak against Asian currencies. But demand for dollar-denominated bonds is offsetting the expected rise in mortgage rates.

5 Things That Don’t Control Mortgage Rates

Dan Green — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:30:44 PDT

When it comes down to it, there's only 1 thing that controls mortgage rates. And it's not the 10-year treasury note.