Tag Archives: Mortgages
Downgrade helping rates?
If the United States loses its triple-A credit rating, mortgage rates will spike — or so you were told.
Economists repeatedly warned Congress of a supposed catastrophe for interest rates in the event of a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. But guess… Continue reading
Is your landlord a hedge fund?
There’s a new type of landlord in town. Instead of the typical mom or pop next-door who will come over to fix the leaking toilet at a moment’s notice, your rent collector could be someone you never meet: a faceless investment company in a town far, fa… Continue reading
Jobs report bad for rates
The situation isn’t as bad as you thought. That’s the message today’s jobs report sends to investors who had braced for more bad news this morning.
The employment report turned out better than economists expected. The U.S. economy added about 117,000 n… Continue reading
Where are the refinancers?
Mortgage brokers say since rates plummeted this week, they have been swamped with calls from borrowers who want to refinance. But many of these calls don’t have a happy ending.
Why? Because millions of borrowers can’t refinance. Nearly one in four home… Continue reading
Can low rates last?
Now that President Barack Obama has averted the first-ever U.S. default by signing off on a higher U.S. debt ceiling, the country is returning its focus to the sluggish economic and housing recovery. A consequence of plummeting Treasury yields surround… Continue reading
Foreclosures for rent
The sluggish housing recovery is prompting President Barack Obama to consider ways to take foreclosed properties off the market and rent them until prices stabilize. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, home prices nationally were 7.4 p… Continue reading
Second wave of foreclosures?
While we continue to closely monitor the toll that residential foreclosures are taking on our home values, the long-feared second wave of economic trouble from all those deserted strip malls, office parks and industrial complexes across the land has so… Continue reading
USDA loans get more expensive
If you plan to buy a home or refinance your mortgage with a U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, loan, you had better act soon.
These loans, which are one of the few options for low-cost, no down payment mortgages, are about to get more expensiv… Continue reading
Jumbo loans going fast
Average jumbo mortgage rates are lower than they have been in years, driving high-end home sales. But the deals won’t last long.
“Jumbo mortgage rates, currently averaging 5.17 percent, are near record lows and the spread between jumbo and conforming m… Continue reading
Mortgage tax break ‘in play’
Tick. Tick. Ticktickticktickticktickticktick.
That might be the sound of the fast-approaching deadline for the federal government to raise the national debt ceiling prior to a default on the government’s obligations.
Homeowners, homebuyers and home sel… Continue reading