The Consumer Price Index came in higher than expected this morning, registering a 0.371% increase. Excluding volatile gas and food prices, CPI grew by 0.241%. The latter figure is called “Core CPI”. CPI is sometimes referred to as the “Cost of Living Index” because it measures how consumers are impacting by changing prices of energy, [...]

Home shoppers know to consider the impact that a new home will have on their household budget and that is called keeping your eye on the ball. Unfortunately, most shoppers are keeping their eye on the wrong ball. The proper way to answer the “How Much Home Can I Afford” question is to think in [...]

The Mortgage Bankers Association released a report yesterday detailing how mortgage-holding homeowners are meeting their obligations. The statistics were a major factor in the Wall Street sell-off yesterday as investors increasingly grow nervous that sub-prime mortgage defaults will spill over into other credit markets and take the economy with it. The report stated that fourth [...]

For the budget-aware, buying a new home involves calculating how new PITI payments will impact the household budget. For in-town moves, the math is fairly simple — consider your existing budget and replace your old housing cost with your new housing cost. For non-local moves, however, the budgeting grows more complicated because each city has [...]

The mounting pressure on sub-prime lenders sparked talk of a recession as economists wonder how the housing market will be impacted. Many sub-prime lenders discontinued 100% financing programs this past week and a few of the biggest names — New Century and Fremont — stopped taking applications altogether. These changes pushed mortgage rates lower through [...]

Mortgage rates are moving higher this morning after the 8:30 EST release of February’s jobs report. The 97,000 new jobs created was in-line with the 95,000 expectation, but January’s numbers were revised higher by 35,000 to 146,000. In addition, the report showed a slight drop in unemployment and an increase in average hourly earnings. If [...]

The snowballing in sub-prime lending is becoming an avalanche. Effective today, many lenders have discontinued 100% financing programs and other “piggyback” scenarios. These types of loans represented the widest doors to homeownership for Americans in recent years. There are several reasons why a home loan applicant may be considered “sub-prime”, but the most common reason [...]

Turbulence in the sub-prime lending market forced several big name lenders to shut their doors to business in recent weeks. In a healthy sub-prime environment, institutional investors buy mortgages in large bundles called “pools” from sub-prime lenders. The current environment is not healthy, however. Loans are defaulting more quickly than in the past and investors [...]

Many of us are knee-deep in paperwork from our banks, our advisors and lenders as we prepare for the April 17, 2007 tax deadline. Yes, I said April 17, 2007. April 15 is a Sunday and April 16 is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. So, this year, we all have [...]

Two weeks ago, the tone on Wall Street was overwhelmingly positive and the glass was half-full. Last week, however, that all changed. The week began with former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s remarking that a 2007 recession may be looming, and it ended with Dow posting its worst one week loss in more than four years. [...]