Consumer Mortgage News Made Simple
The “Great Recession” is over!? Just the other day the Federal Reserve announced the economy “shows widespread signs of slowing”, particularly along the East Coast and Mid Western regions. These announcements come as mortgage rates are at record lows, a glimmer of light for some homeowners looking to refinance or attain a mortgage. Yes, people are buying! Factor in the low interest rates, prices and you’ll find many active homebuyers pursuing new loans. Whether it’s … [Read more...]
5 Reasons Why Home Prices May Have Hit Bottom Over the past three years across the country, we have witnessed historic drops in housing market. Property values in Florida, Michigan, Arizona, and California have plummeted. Foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies have skyrocketed while interest rates are now at all time lows. Many analysts believe the home prices have bottomed out and great deals are there for the taking. Despite some critics, a growing number of market watchers see signs … [Read more...]
Mortgage Rates Rise as US Market Soars We get a big, even historic, upward bounce in the US stock market. Meanwhile mortgage rates are taking a negative bounce. The interesting part is that one of the stated US government bailout objectives was to preserve or even increase mortgage affordability. However, these same interventions into markets are causing precisely the opposite (possibly short-term) effect: With so much government debt guarantees in the bond market yield spreads between mortgage … [Read more...]
Yields Spread and Mortgage Rates Rise Fannie, Freddie, and Ginnie mortgage bonds continue to pull away from US Treasuries. The difference between yields on Washington-based Fannie's current-coupon 30-year fixed-rate bonds and 10-year U.S. Treasuries rose about 21 basis points to 224 basis points as of 4:30 p.m. in New York, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That's up from 162 basis points, or 1.62 percentage point, on Oct. 20. "It is the deleveraging,'' Mohamed El-Erian, the co-chief executive … [Read more...]
Mortgage rates: Volatile, Lock Short, Float Long MBA reports mortgage applications up despite historic climb in mortgage rates. Overnight foreign markets take the same tumble that US markets felt yesterday. Look for another messy trading day. Here comes the run on hedge funds--$43 billion in September. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, State Street--report profits, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch show losses. Bernanke says long recovery ahead. Consumers skeptical of bailouts' effectiveness. Bottom line … [Read more...]
WSJ: Greenspan Reflects on the Bottom of the Housing Market, Fannie/Freddie Bailout, and Immigration? Former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan tries again to call the bottom of the housing market in an interview timed around the release of the paperback version (equipped with a new chapter defending his record) of his recent book. He give sound rationale and methodology on how to guesstimate the bottom, using housing supply and spread between owing and renting. However, he gets a little … [Read more...]
