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Archive for the ‘Mortgage Rates’ Category

Obama Commits $75 Billion to Fight Foreclosure Crisis

U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled his plan Wednesday to heal prop up the drooping national housing market, pledging $75 billion of government funds to fight high foreclosure rates. In a speech at high school just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, the President laid out a four-point plan for restoring the health of the mortgage sector. He said that his administration will: 1.Allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Modify Mortgages Currently, the government-sponsored mortgage companies, that own or guarantee a large portion of the nation’s home loans, are restricted from modifying “upside-down” mortgages and those that are more than 80 percent... more »

Geithner Reveals Obama Bailout Plan

The Obama administration laid out its new bailout plan Tuesday, projecting a total cost of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion, including the second half of the original $700 billion bailout program funding. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner held a press conference, giving out details of the Financial Stability Plan and defending the high price tag. “As costly as this effort may be, we know that the cost of a complete collapse of our financial system would be incalculable for families, for businesses and for our nation,” he said. “We will make mistakes. We will go through periods in which things... more »

Low Rates Spur Major Refinancing, But Not Home Buying

The demand for mortgage money shot up in the latest week, led heavily by an increase in refinance requests, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Wednesday. The MBA’ weekly Market Composite Index, a measure of the number mortgage applications filed, grew by 8.6 percent in the week ended January 30, 2009, to 795.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 732.1 the previous week. By far, the majority of the applications during the last week were for refinance loans rather than home purchase loans. The refinance share of all applications rose to 73.2 percent from 72.8  percent the week before. The... more »

Fed Keeps Target Interest Rate in Zero Range

The Federal Open Market Committee  released its decision Wednesday to  leave its target interest rate unchanged in the range of zero to 0.25 percent. “The Committee continues to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for some time,” the Fed said in its statement, citing examples of recent weakness in housing starts, industrial production, and employment conditions. Although the Fed is constantly trying to find the right balance between inflation and enough market liquidity, because of the dim forecasts for energy prices and other economic factors, the Committee “expects that inflation... more »

Foreclosure Activity Up 81 Percent in 2008

The number of foreclosure filings during 2008 shot up 81 percent over the previous year, according to foreclosure data company RealtyTrac Thursday. That growth accounts for at least one foreclosure filing notice for one out of every 54 American households. Filings include default notices, auction sales, and bank repossession notices. “Clearly the foreclosure prevention programs implemented to date have not had any real success in slowing down this foreclosure tsunami,” James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in the report. State legislation that slowed down the onset of new foreclosure activity clearly had an effect on fourth-quarter numbers... more »

Mortgage Applications Fall Even As Rates Hit Record Lows

The demand for home loans decreased in the latest week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association Wednesday, as borrowers wait for interest rates to fall even farther in coming weeks. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted weekly mortgage application index fell 8.2 percent to 1,143.8 during the week ended January 2, 2008, the first drop in four weeks. The number of home purchase requests actually increased with the purchase index rising 7.3 percent from the previous week but homeowners held back from refinancing causing the refinance index to sink 12.3 percent. Most analysts, including those from the MBA, attribute the... more »

Fed Moves Forward with MBS Purchases

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve named four investment companies it has appointed to start buying up billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) during the coming months, in an effort to stabilize the national economy and mortgage market. The enlisted companies are BlackRock Inc, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, PIMCO, and Wellington Management Co. These parties will assist the Fed in purchasing between $80 and $100 billion of mortgage-backed securities every month in order to meet the goal of $500 billion of MBS by the middle of 2009. The Fed had announced plans in November to buy up MBS starting... more »

Existing Home Sales and Prices Decline in November

As the economy continued to weaken, sales of existing U.S. homes fell in the latest month, as did the median home price, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors.  Existing home sales, which include single-family, town homes, condominiums, and co-ops, dropped to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.49 million units in November, down 8.6 percent  from the previous month. The latest sales figures represent a 10.6 percent decrease from the November 2007 pace.  Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, blamed the decline on the broader economic turmoil. “The quickly deteriorating conditions in the job market, stock market,... more »

Federal Reserve Makes Historic Rate Cut Decision

The Federal Reserve made an unprecedented move Tuesday by resetting its target interest rate to a range of zero to 0.25 percent, down from 1.0 percent, citing continued weakness in the U.S. markets as the impetus for the dramatic decision. “Since the Committee’s last meeting, labor market conditions have deteriorated, and the available data indicate that consumer spending, business investment, and industrial production have declined,” said the Federal Open Market Committee in a statement. “Financial markets remain quite strained and credit conditions tight.  Overall, the outlook for economic activity has weakened further.” The Fed has consistently lowered its rate from... more »

NAR Predicts Lower Mortgage Rates as Pending Home Sales Stabilize

The National Association of Realtors is forecasting lower mortgage interest rates into 2009 even though  its index of pending home sales has been relatively stable. According to a release Tuesday, the NAR Pending Home Sales Index slid down just 0.7 percent in October from the previous month and down 1.0 percent from October 2007. The index is based on signed sales contracts and is an indicator of future sales. “Despite the turmoil in the economy, the overall level of pending home sales has been remarkably stable over the past year, holding in a generally narrow range,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR... more »