Home Loan Focus

Archive for May, 2009

A new road and 25 jobs from stimulus cash

When the first stimulus-funded infrastructure contract from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation went up for bid in February, Michael D’Ambra jumped at the opportunity to score a job for his shrinking company.

Source: A new road and 25 jobs from stimulus cash

Rates Barely Move in Latest Week As Unemployment Rises

After rising last week on news of slowing job loss and Dow Jones gains, mortgage interest rates showed little movement this week. Mixed economic news kept things from changing much.

According to mortgage giant Freddie Mac today, the average rate on a 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage inched up to 4.86 percent, from 4.84 percent the previous week. But to put things in perspective, the current rate is still way below the average 6.01 percent rate from the same time last year.

Freddie Mac’s vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said that rates stayed relatively unchanged on alternating rising unemployment and increased housing affordability.

“The economy lost 539,000 jobs, less than the monthly job loss of the past five months, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent…Relatively low house prices and interest rates are clearly helping first-time homebuyers. Housing affordability for the median first-time buyer reached an all-time record high in the first quarter since the NAR index began in 1981. Consequently, first-time homebuyers accounted for half of existing home sales in the first three months of this year, the NAR reported.”

Looking back over the past two months of mortgage rate averages, rates have only fluctuated within a 0.20 percentage point range, generally slipping down for a few weeks and then jumping back up for a week before sliding downward again. The fact that the range has been so limited tells me that overall not much is happening (yet, at least) in the mortgage market. And I don’t see rates moving much higher than 5 percent before some seriously positive signs come in the form of rising home sales and median price home values. It may happen gradually, it may be dramatic, but whatever it is, it hasn’t happened yet for the U.S. housing market.

Source: Rates Barely Move in Latest Week As Unemployment Rises

Refinance Update

Demand for refinance loans are on the rise and have been for many months now. And for those can qualify to refinance, the savings can be very significant as interest rates are at ultimate rock bottom. In fact according to the Freddie Mac quarterly Refinance Report,  roughly half of all those who refinanced during the first quarter of 2009 saw a decrease in their annual mortgage interest  by 20 percent or more. That works out to be an interest rate reduction of about 1.25 percentage points.

 “Mortgage rates for conventional conforming 30-year fixed-rate loans reached 50-year lows in the first quarter of 2009 in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, and averaged just 5.06 percent over the quarter with 0.7 points. With mortgage rates this low many people were able to make their mortgage payment a lot lower,” noted Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “The payment savings from ‘rate-and-term’ refinancing done during the quarter is about $160 a month on a $200,000 loan and in aggregate this adds up to about $2.5 billion in extra spending cash in the pockets of those homeowners to spend over the coming year. If this pace keeps up for the rest of 2009, that will provide homeowners about $10 billion in mortgage-payment savings during the first year after refinance.”

He added that “we expect refinance activity to be very high in the near term. These programs make it possible for borrowers with current loan-to-value ratios of up to 105 percent to qualify for a refinance that until recently they may not have been able to do.”

And mortgage blog refinancingcondo.com recently spelled out how you can benefit from the new Obama refinance plan if you are looking to cash in on these savings. Here’s how the plan can help you, according to that site:

“-Refinancing or modifying a home mortgage would be easier and more streamlined for all homeowners.

-Help homeowners who have seen their property value drop by 15% or more as a result of this mortgage crisis.

-Help homeowners who are facing foreclosure or defaulting on their mortgage by allowing them to refinance their home mortgage into a fixed rate 4.5% home mortgage.”

Now’s the time to refinance if you can. You are not likely to see rates get any lower any time soon and the savings can be phenomenal!

 

Source: Refinance Update

Facing foreclosure: Now what?

With the bank foreclosing, you have more options than you think. Don’t just give up.

Source: Facing foreclosure: Now what?

Mortgage modification scams

Here are the red flags to look for when applying for a loan modification.

Source: Mortgage modification scams

Dirt-cheap loans on new homes

Homebuilders are offering discounted interest rates to lure buyers back into the market.

Source: Dirt-cheap loans on new homes

Interest Rate Roundup

Here are the latest interest rates and commentary on five common consumer banking products from Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey of large banks and thrifts.

Source: Interest Rate Roundup

Secretaries Geithner, Donovan announce new details of making Home Affordable program, highlight implementation progress

WASHINGTON – With the Making Home Affordable (MHA) program delivering much-needed relief to homeowners and to our economy just over two months after the release of program guidelines, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today provided an update on the program’s impact on stemming the housing crisis and keeping families in their homes and announced new options for homeowners facing foreclosure. The announcement and update came following a meeting with housing counselors from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and with homeowners Nicholas Tekpertey of Reston, VA, and Warren Rohn of Lewiston, CA, who shared their success stories since participating in the Home Affordable Modification program.

Source: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr2009-05-14.cfm

HUD Secretary announces disaster assistance for Mississippi storm victims

WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to 10 storm-ravaged counties in Mississippi and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes following severe storms, flooding, and tornadoes in March.

Source: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-059.cfm

Donovan announces intent to move forward with RESPA reform

WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced his intention to implement the mortgage reforms under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) that are scheduled to take full effect on January 1, 2010. For the first time in more than 30 years, HUD is updating mortgage rules to help consumers shop for the lowest cost mortgage, avoid costly and potentially harmful loan offers, and save an average of $700.

Source: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-058.cfm