By Mike Colpitts Shaken by troubled financial markets and weaker than expected employment growth, mortgage rates fell for the third straight week, with the 15-year fixed rate mortgage hitting a new all-time record low, according to Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged slightly above its record low, reaching 3.88% with an average 0.7… Continue reading Mortgage Rates Fall Three Straight Weeks
Category: Mortgage
Mortgage Slowdown Resumes Despite Low Rates
By Kevin Chiu Led by a slowdown in mortgage refinancing activity, mortgage applications slowed for the sixth time in seven weeks this past week to keep the housing market at a snails pace, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The disappointing news came after an increase in mortgage applications the prior week. The slowdown was… Continue reading Mortgage Slowdown Resumes Despite Low Rates
Short Sales Double Leap
By Ryan Jackson Bank assisted short sales or mortgage holders who are approved to sell their homes for less than what is owed on a mortgage leaped to double the number of short sales approved in 2009 last year. There were 227,570 short sales approved in 2011 accounting for a 12% increase from the previous… Continue reading Short Sales Double Leap
Court Orders $4 Million Mortgage Scam Fine
By Ryan Jackson A federal judge has ordered the ring-leader of a group and six defendants accused of defrauding homeowners to pay nearly $4-million for running a mortgage modification scam that promised to provide homeowners at risk of losing their homes foreclosure relief. The order was issued in U.S. District Court in the Central District… Continue reading Court Orders $4 Million Mortgage Scam Fine
Mortgage Rates Drip Lower
By Ryan Jackson Borrowing rates for consumers shopping to refinance homes or buy another property just saw a small drop lower to reach 3.98% on a fixed 30-year loan, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates on most other leading categories also fell modestly. The fixed 15-year mortgage averaged 3.21%, a decline of just two basis… Continue reading Mortgage Rates Drip Lower
Mortgage Reductions May Help All Homeowners
By Mike Colpitts A progressive Washington based group is lobbying to reduce mortgage principal in an effort to help all homeowners, and Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee are urging the reductions. The Center for American Progress is pushing for mortgage reductions on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae held mortgages and is expected to… Continue reading Mortgage Reductions May Help All Homeowners
Mortgage Slowdown Resumes Despite Low Rates
By Kevin Chiu Led by a slowdown in mortgage refinancing activity, mortgage applications slowed for the sixth time in seven weeks this past week to keep the housing market at a snails pace, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The disappointing news came after an increase in mortgage applications the prior week. The slowdown was… Continue reading Mortgage Slowdown Resumes Despite Low Rates
Bank CEO Admits to Robo-Signing Scandal
By Mike Colpitts Rising pressure on banks and mortgage firms are forcing lenders to merge, go out of business and make massive cuts to trim their bottom lines. The U.S. foreclosure crisis is making an ugly display of many banks balance sheets, and at least one major bank CEO is admitting to errors made during… Continue reading Bank CEO Admits to Robo-Signing Scandal
California Real Estate Bust Offers U.S. Hope
By Mike Colpitts The boom bust cycle of California real estate holds historic lessons that every where else in the U.S. can learn from as the nation sustains the housing crisis driven by the sharpest foreclosure epidemic on record. California has seen home values drop an average of 43.7% since the housing crisis started in… Continue reading California Real Estate Bust Offers U.S. Hope
Housing Czar Delays Decision on Underwater Mortgages
By Mike Colpitts The chief administrator of the U.S. agency overseeing the nation’s giant mortgage lenders stopped short of offering aid to underwater mortgage holders with principal reductions in a speech in Washington D.C., Tuesday morning, delaying any decision on the matter for the time being. Acting Federal Housing Finance Agency director Edward DeMarco, who… Continue reading Housing Czar Delays Decision on Underwater Mortgages