Mortgage News

U.S. mortgage rates fall to 5.12%
Bloomberg News
August 20, 2009

Aug. 20 -- Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed loans fell this week to the lowest level since May, reducing borrowing costs for hesitant buyers as signs show the recession- plagued U.S. housing market may be bottoming.

The average 30-year rate fell to 5.12 percent from 5.29 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, said today in a statement. The 15-year rate was 4.56 percent.

7 simple steps to a dirt-cheap mortgage
By Luke Mullins
U.S. News & World Report

With the national housing bust still rippling through the economy, the battered real-estate market is offering up tempting incentives for consumers to jump in.

Home prices at the national level have plummeted more than 32% since 2006, presenting shoppers with some outstanding bargains. What's more, President Obama's stimulus package included a tax credit worth up to $8,000 for qualified first-time homebuyers and those who have not owned a home in the past three years.

Mortgage demand drops as loan rates rise
Refinancings retreat, but applications for loans to buy homes rose slightly
Reuters
August 12, 2009

NEW YORK - U.S. mortgage applications fell last week, reflecting a drop in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates soared to their highest levels since June, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

Applications for loans to buy homes, an early indicator of sales, rose slightly. Tepid interest in purchase loans does not bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which has been showing signs of stabilization.

Fed: Economy is steadying, rates unchanged
Says economy is ‘leveling out,’ signals end of debt buying programs
The Associated Press
August 12, 2009

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve delivered a vote of confidence in the U.S. economy Wednesday, saying it would slow the pace of an emergency rescue program as the recession appears to be ending.

The central bank also held a key banking lending rate at a record low near zero and again pledged to keep it there for "an extended period."

Banks: Complex Problems, Simple Solutions
Consumers' complex financial issues are best solved with simple bank products. Financial services firms focused on selling complex solutions may be missing the mark, as well as the largest sales opportunity of the recession
By The Staff of the Corporate Executive Board
Business Week
August 7, 2009

Taylor Bean Suspended From Making FHA Loans
Move Follows Raid at Lender's Headquarters as Agency Probes Business Practices, Disclosures Amid 'Concerns of Fraud'
By JAMES R. HAGERTY and LINGLING WEI
Wall Street Journal
August 5, 2009

The Federal Housing Administration suspended Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. from making loans insured by the federal agency, and raised questions about the company's business practices and financial disclosures.

U.S. mulls ‘bad bank’ to aid mortgage giants
'Bad Bank' would wipe slate clean for Fannie, Freddie by taking toxic loans
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and David Cho
The Washington Post
Thursday, Augugust 6, 2009

The Obama administration is considering an overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would strip the mortgage finance giants of hundreds of billions of dollars in troubled loans and create a new structure to support the home-loan market, government officials said.

Charting interest rates' next move
7/27/09
By Dian Hymer
Inman News

On May 26, 2009, shock waves hit the mortgage market as interest rates shot up after dipping into the 4 percent range for 30-year fixed-rate conforming loans. On May 29, the bond market rallied, lowering mortgage rates by about half of the previous days' increase.

This was followed by another rate hike as investors demanded higher interest rates on long-term government debt. Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate home mortgages are tied to the 10-year Treasury rate.

Mortgage rates rise for second-straight week
National average on 30-year-fixed home loans now at 5.25 percent
The Associated Press
Thurs., July 30, 2009

Rates for 30-year mortgages rose for the second-straight week, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 5.25 percent this week, up from 5.2 percent last week. Last year at this time, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.52 percent, Freddie Mac said.

On May 8, 2009 the Federal Reserve Board (Board) issued a final rule implementing changes to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) made by the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act of 2008 (MDIA). The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was passed last year and signed by President Bush on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 and the HERA‐MDIA rules will go into effect on Thursday, July 30th 2009.