The volume of U.S. mortgage applications shot up dramatically in the latest week as borrowers sought to take advantage of low interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Wednesday.
“Many borrowers missed an opportunity to take advantage when rates dropped sharply for a brief period when the GSEs were placed under conservatorship,” said Orawin Velz, associate […]

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Interest rates on long-term U.S. home loans fell in the latest week, a reaction to the newly announced Bush administration’s $800 billion bailout package to provide more liquidity for consumer and mortgage debt markets, according to data from Freddie Mac.
“Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell for the fourth consecutive week as signs the overall […]

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A new government program designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure is not attracting many takers at this point, according to the Federal Housing Administration and lenders around the country.
The program, Hope for Homeowners, is a Bush administration-led effort to help struggling mortgage borrowers refinance  into FHA-backed loans with lower balances and possibly even lower interest […]

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By a unanimous vote, the Federal Open Market Committee, a branch of the Federal Reserve, decided to cut its target rate by 50 basis points Wednesday to 1.0 percent.
The last time the federal funds rate, the interest rate which banks charge each other for overnight transfers, was at 1.0 percent was in 2003 and before […]

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The number of U.S. mortgage applications submitted in the latest week reached an eight year low, according to data released Wednesday from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The MBA’s mortgage application index, fell dramatically by 16.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted 408.1 during the week ended October 17, 2008. That represent the lowest reading since December 2000.
The […]

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Struggling homeowners could get direct help from the government if Republican presidential candidate John McCain is elected. The Arizona senator announced his new $300 billion mortgage aid proposal during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.
The plan, dubbed the American Homeownership Resurgence Plan, would authorize the federal government to buy up failing home loans and refinance them into […]

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The volume of home loan applications dropped significantly in the past week, even as mortgage interest rates remained relatively low, according to figures released Wednesday from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The MBA’s market composite index, an indicator of U.S. loan application volume, fell a seasonally adjusted 23.0 percent to 455.4 during the week ended Sept. […]

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The U.S. mortgage industry saw rising interest rates and declining demand in the latest week, as officials in Washington battled over the Bush administration’s proposed bailout of several major financial companies.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association Wednesday, the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate home loan, excluding points, rose to 6.08 percent from 5.82 […]

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In spite of a slower economy and an ailing mortgage market, the Federal Reserve refrained from changing its key interest rate Tuesday.
The federal funds rate, the fee banks charge each other for overnight transfers, has been held at 2.0 percent since April of this year. The rate has an impact on banking and mortgage interest […]

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While the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the number of mortgage applications increased this week, the National Association of Realtors is forecasting that total home sales will remain at a virtual standstill for the next several months.
The MBA’s data revealed that mortgage demand rose by a seasonally adjusted 9.5 percent from the week before, with […]

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