Today’s Bloomberg BusinessWeek article reported that, for the fifth consecutive week, the number of mortgage applications increased. This streak could be attributed to more people refinancing their loans as mortgage rates hit record lows.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index was up 2.7% in the week ending August 27, according to the Bloomberg BusinessWeek article. Refinancing increased by 2.8% to the highest level since May 2009 and home purchases saw a gain of 1.8%.
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.43% last week — the lowest rate going back to 1990 — from 4.55% the previous week. The average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate loan fell from 3.91% to 3.88%. With the record-low mortgage rates, more people are looking to refinancing to reduce their monthly payments. The share of applicants who refinanced rose to 82.9% — the highest since January 2009 — from 82.4% the prior week.
Despite record-low mortgage rates, home sales have fallen sharply and people are still losing their homes to foreclosure. The Obama administration is looking to propose a program offering $1 billion in zero-interest loans to help homeowners who have lost their income avoid foreclosure as part of $3 billion in additional aid targeting economically distressed areas.
Zimonet.com posted two articles over the past two days on how more homeowners are switching to a 15-year mortgage as a way to pay off their house and get out of debt more quickly. The articles also point out that, although it is an attractive option, it isn’t for everyone.
According to information from CoreLogic, a …
Continue reading 15-Year Mortgage Becoming Attractive to More Homeowners
Today’s issue of REALTORMag posted an article on the decrease in foreclosures but there are more people who are missing their payments.
Citing data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey, the article says that, in the second quarter of 2010, foreclosure action was started on 1.11% of loans, down 12 basis points from the …
Continue reading Fewer Foreclosures, But More People Falling Behind on Payments
Today’s Associated Press article reported that the amount consumers owed on their credit cards fell to its lowest level in eight years. According to TransUnion, the average combined debt for bank-issued credit cards — either with a MasterCard or Visa logo — was $4,951 in the second quarter of this year, down 13% from $5,719 …
Continue reading Credit Card Debt at Eight-Year Low
REALTORMag.com’s recent article reported on a study performed by PMI Mortgage Insurance Company which showed that, of the 50 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States, Long Island was one of the top 20 housing markets that would see a further decline in housing prices.
Long Island was 19th overall as being the nation’s riskiest …
Continue reading Long Island Named One of Riskiest Housing Markets
If finding a job in the current economic climate wasn’t difficult enough, job seekers have one more potential roadblock on the way to securing a new position: their credit file.
Based on a recent survey, up to half of employers eliminate potential job candidates with low credit scores. Though some 20 states have introduced recent legislation …
Continue reading Credit Scores May Affect Prospective Employment
Why is someone declined for credit when their credit score is just as high, if not higher, than others who were recently approved? With so much potential loss for credit card companies, insiders say that a credit score alone is not sufficient to determine approval. So, what other factors are used to determine who will …
Continue reading It’s Not Just Your Credit Score That Determines Loan Approval
With mortgage rates at record lows, some homeowners are still not taking advantage of them, but through no fault of their own. Today’s CNNMoney article reports how the new lending requirements are turning away borrowers who, under the old lending rules, would have been eligible for a loan.
Last week, mortgage rates fell for the eighth …
Continue reading Some Homeowners Unable to Take Advantage of Record-Low Interest Rates
Despite mortgage rates falling to their lowest levels in decades, applications for home loans remained stagnant, the Associated Press reported today.
The Mortgage Bankers Association says that overall applications rose 0.6% from the previous week, according to the AP. Applications for refinancing and home purchases increased by seasonally adjusted rates of 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively. The …
Continue reading Record-Low Interest Rates Do Nothing for Mortgage Applications
In order to cover their losses on the bad loans they took in the past quarter, Freddie Mac is asking for $1.8 billion in additional federal aid, the Associated Press reported today. Between April and June, Freddie Mac lost $6 billion which could be attributed to the $1.3 billion in dividends paid to the Treasury …
Continue reading Freddie Mac Asks for $1.8 Billion More To Cover Losses
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