By Kevin Chiu As Hurricane Irene moved over the border into Canada, after having unleashed its mighty torrent on the Atlantic coast over a dozen states, flooding became its dominant issue as forecasters predicted. Torrential rains in more than a half a dozen states are expected to bring upwards of a million home insurance claims.… Continue reading Hurricane Irene Flooding Leaves Homeowners Out of Luck
Category: Statistics
Mortgage Rates Likely to Hit 4%
By Mike Colpitts The 30-year fixed rate mortgage is likely to drop to 4% as banks and mortgage lenders aggressively work to attract more business in the midst of the foreclosure crisis, which has resulted in the failures of many banks and jeopardized other lenders’ businesses, according to Housing Predictor analysts. The bench mark fixed… Continue reading Mortgage Rates Likely to Hit 4%
Mortgage Rate Deal of A Lifetime
By Mike Colpitts In a major effort to help its ailing real estate market, one state is offering lower-income residents a way to purchase homes through federally backed mortgages at mortgage rates below the lowest available elsewhere, and they’re also putting up down payments to make the home purchases. The mortgage rate is a deal… Continue reading Mortgage Rate Deal of A Lifetime
Refinances Drop Two Straight Weeks
By Kevin Chiu Homeowners applying to refinance mortgages dropped for the second week in a row, despite interest rates falling to the lowest level of the year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The drop, however, in refinancing applications was buffered by a slight increase in new home purchases. The seasonally adjusted purchase index rose… Continue reading Refinances Drop Two Straight Weeks
Hurricane Irene May Hit $35 Billion in Damages
By Mike Colpitts The economic damages caused by Hurricane Irene as it barrels in on the Atlantic coastline forecast to make landfall in North Carolina could hit as high as $35 billion, according to insurance estimates made prior to the storm even making landfall. However, as scientific modelers race to come up with a dollar… Continue reading Hurricane Irene May Hit $35 Billion in Damages
Mortgage Insurance Giant Shutdown
By Mike Colpitts Mortgage insurance giant PMI Group has been ordered to stop writing mortgage insurance policies by state regulators. Technically, PMI Inc’s two Arizona subsidiaries were placed under regulatory supervision by the Arizona Department of Insurance, where its main operations are headquartered. Then Fannie Mae announced it will no longer purchase home mortgages from… Continue reading Mortgage Insurance Giant Shutdown
Lending Rises as Mortgage Rates Drop
Boosted by a surge in refinancing, lending applications rose for the week as mortgage rates hit a new low for the year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to an average 4.32% from 4.37% last week, setting a new low for 2011 on fully executed mortgage contracts.… Continue reading Lending Rises as Mortgage Rates Drop
Investors Buying Fewer Homes
Investor purchases of homes and other residential properties fell for the third month in a row in July, according to the Campbell Inside Mortgage Finance Housing Pulse Tracking Survey. The survey said investors accounted for just 19.6% of U.S. home purchases during the month, down from 23% in April. Despite higher sales of existing homes… Continue reading Investors Buying Fewer Homes
Mortgage Rates Near Record Lows
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage remained near its record low level, while the shorter fixed rate loan and adjustable rate mortgages fell for the week as mortgage rates remain exceptionally low, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey. The 5-year ARM also set a new all-time record low falling for eight straight weeks. The 5-year mortgage… Continue reading Mortgage Rates Near Record Lows
Short Sales Rise to Aid Real Estate
By Kevin Chiu At least two of the U.S. largest commercial banks are increasing the volume of short sales in efforts to increase their profit margins even as more homes bloat the inventory of properties that aren’t producing profits for the lenders. The transition hasn’t been an easy one for lenders in these wild days… Continue reading Short Sales Rise to Aid Real Estate