Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for the ‘Mortgages’ Category

Mortgage Volume Unchanged Amid Lower Rates

Long-term U.S. mortgage interest rates fell in the latest week, but it was not enticing enough to bring borrowers to the mortgage table, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s mortgage application index fell 0.1% during the week ended November 6, 2019, with a 2% increase in refinance requests being offset by […]

Fed Makes 3rd Rate Cut in 4 Months

The Federal Reserve cut its target interest rate again Wednesday, the fourth decrease since July. The move was likely a hedge against mounting international financial trouble and brewing domestic slowing. The new federal funds rate range is 1.5% to 1.75%, representing a cut of 0.25%. Even though the U.S. economy is still in the midst […]

Low Mortgage Rates Squeeze Housing Inventory

Lower mortgage interest rates have increased demand for housing, pushing current market inventory down 2.5% in September, according to Realtor.com. That’s a significantly bigger decline than August’s 1.8% decrease. And the housing supply could drop even farther in coming months. Long-term mortgage interest rates have dropped to 3.5% from 5% just a year ago. That […]

Lower Mortgage Rates Pushed August New Home Sales Up

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes jumped 7.1% in August, according to the Commerce Department, bolstered by lower mortgage interest rates. Sales outpaced predictions by economists surveyed by Reuters, who had forecast they would grow by just 3.5% last month. New home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 713,000 in August, up […]

Mortgage Applications Decline Again Amidst Lower Rates

Even though long-term mortgage interest rates fell last week, demand for home mortgage loans continued to drop, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s mortgage application volume index decreased a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in the latest week. On a yearly basis though, application demand is up 62%. The drop was led by […]

Majority of Millennials Have Faced Credit Rejection

Millennials are reporting higher rates of rejection for loans than older generations, according to a study by YouGov for Bankrate.com. The study that polled 2,500 Americans found that roughly 6 out of 10 millennials (aged 23 to 38) say they have experienced a rejected application for car loans, credit cards, or mortgage loans. Most of […]

Refinances Take Off as Mortgage Rates Tank

In the wake of the plummeting interest rates, U.S. mortgage borrowers rushed to refinance in the latest week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted mortgage volume index rose 21.7% this week from the week before and 81% from the year before. Most of that growth came from an explosion in refinance […]

Fed Makes First Rate Cut in a Decade

The Federal Reserve voted today to lower its target interest rate by 25 basis point to a range of 2% to 2.25%, the first rate cut in 11 years. The Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) found that “the [U.S.] labor market remains strong and that economic activity has been rising at a moderate rate,” […]

Only Half of Borrowers Make Regular Student Loan Payments

Only 54% of all U.S. borrowers with student loan debt make consistent monthly payments, according to a study from the JPMorgan Chase Institute, with the rest falling delinquent or making larger, less-frequent payments. Student loan debt has skyrocketed over the past 10 years, with outstanding loan balances doubling in that period. The Federal Reserve Bank […]

Mortgage Delinquency Rate Drops to 20-year Low

American homeowners are staying current on their mortgage loans better today than they have for the past 20 years, according to data from CoreLogic. The national delinquency rate – the percentage of home loans that are past due by 30 days or more – fell to 3.6% in April. That is down 4.3% from one […]