Articles in Market Trends & Mortgage Updates
June’s New Home Sales data is a major improvement over May, but gains are relative. It’s possible that the true “new home market” may be softer than the statistics suggest.
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ShareWest Portal, SF Market Trends as of July 23, 2010
If you have a West Portal home that you are thinking about selling now may be the perfect time. There is solid buyer demand, the …
At 7,333 words, the June Fed Minutes is the unabridged version of the more well-known, post-meeting press release. The corresponding press release was just 360 words. It turns out, the Fed’s words are doing wonders for mortgage rates.
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ShareAction Alert – Condo Bypass for TIC owners in S.F.
Here’s the scoop for S.F. homeowners as provided by Plan C:
We have good news to report regarding the proposed one time “condo bypass” for TIC owners, …
In a near-unanimous vote, the House of Representatives gave the FHA power to raise the monthly mortgage insurance premiums it charges to its borrowers.
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April marks the third straight month that pending home sales are up and today’s buyers should take note. This is because, according to the National Association of Realtors®, 80% of homes under contract close within 60 days.
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As lenders tighten mortgage guidelines, minimum downpayment requirements are increasing. It’s leading to an increase in the number of buyers accepting cash gifts from family. There’s a right and wrong way to accept a gift.
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WEEKLY HOT RATES for the week ending 5/18/2010 as provided by Guarantee Mortgage
30 Yr Fixed Conforming to $417K 4.625%
“1.000″ POINTS APR = 4.820%
30 Yr Fixed Jumbo to $729,750 4.750%
“1.000″ POINTS APR= 5.080%
30 Year …
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Why hiring a mortgage broker vs. working with a direct lender makes sense in today’s market!
As provided by the fine folks at Guarantee Mortgage (my comments are in red):
1. Mortgage Brokers are trained to …
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On March 25, 2010 California approved a new $10,000 First-Time Homebuyer tax credit for purchases that close escrow on or after May 1, 2010. (Cal. Rev. & Tax Code § 17059.1)
For full details …
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CAR-Sponsored Bill to Protect Borrowers from Lenders—Call Your State Senator Today
As shared by SFAR:
The California Association of REALTORS® (CAR) is sponsoring SB 1178 (Corbett) to extend anti-deficiency protection to homeowners who had refinanced from “purchase …
ShareMedian Sales Price Continues Its Upward Trend
In San Francisco’s Housing Market
Here’s the scoop as provided by SFAR:
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, May 17, 2010 – Healthy sales activity, driven by low mortgage rates, tax incentives, and attractive …
ShareWhen I’m working with buyers or sellers, I run market trend reports for both the city/community and the specific neighborhood (if there is enough data) in addition to checking comps. It’s important to keep in …
A mortgage approval is never final until it’s funded. A host of things can “go wrong” while your home loan is underway. Some are in your control, many more are not. And just being aware of some potential pitfalls could help save your loan down the road, and your peace of mind today.
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ShareI’ve been pulled out from my temporary blogging hiatus by a post which has been brought on by the incredibly poor communication and service that buyers who are in contract on a property are encountering …
The Federal Reserve says that financial markets “remain supportive of economic growth”. Residential mortgage guidelines, however, continue to tighten. If you’ve applied for a home loan recently, you probably felt it; extra scrutiny on income, assets and credit scores, among other things. The hard proof of the changes, however, can be found in the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of its member banks.
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Shopping for mortgage rates takes more than good research skills. It takes a little bit of luck, too.
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More than 60 percent of U.S. homes are “over-assessed”, says an industry trade group. It causes homeowners to pay more in property taxes than they otherwise should have to. You might be one of them. Have you considered fighting it?
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Volcanic eruptions and like natural disasters remind us: mortgage rates change for all sorts of reasons. Some we can predict, most we cannot. There’s literally thousands of influences on the U.S. mortgage market. If you’ve been shopping for a home or floating a mortgage rate, luck’s been on your side.
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Not all home improvements are created equal. Especially if you’re looking for “resale value” back from your work. An article from the Wall Street Journal lays it out cleanly. Function beats flash these days so be wary of where you spend.
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Taxes are due April 15 and if you’re among the millions of Americans who wait until the last week to file, watch this video interview. It could help you reduce your federal tax liability.
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There’s just 30 days remaining to use the federal home buyer tax credit. The credit ranges up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers, and up to $6,500 for existing homeworkers who have lived in their main home for 5 of the last 8 years.
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Starting Monday, April 5, 2010, getting an FHA mortgage will be more expensive. That means you’ll want to give a full mortgage application before the weekend so your lender can register your loan in time for the deadline.
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If you’re among the Americans expecting a tax refund this year, this 4-minute piece from NBC’s The Today Show may be helpful. It’s a talk about how to receive a refund and what to do with it.
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CNNMoney.com recently published its 2010 forecast and projections for home prices in the country’s largest metro markets. Listed as “Top 25″ and also comprehensively by state, CNNMoney.com’s home price forecasts puts Santa Rosa, California at the top of 2010′s home appreciation list and Hanford, California at its bottom.
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If you’re trying to gauge whether rates will be rising or falling, one keyword for which to listen is “inflation”. Mortgage rates are highly responsive to inflation.
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The Federal Housing Finance Agency has extended the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program by 12 months. HARP’s new end date is June 30, 2011.
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According to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings topped 300,000 for the 12th straight month last month as 1 in every 418 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing.
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The relationship between your lender and agent is extremely important when purchasing a home. The new market environment has many more regulations, hoops and sharp turns and everything relating to your home purchase should be correct and accurate up front.
The lender doesn’t want any surprises, like a seller credit the day before the lender [...]
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Publishing on a 2-month lag, the Federal Home Finance Agency said home prices fell by 1.6 percent nationally in December. And that’s an average, of course. Some regions performed well in December as compared to November, others didn’t.
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