After a weak holiday shopping season, annual retail sales declined in 2008. It marks the first annual Retail Sales decline since the government started tracking the data 40 years ago. It also gives credence to the notion that the U.S. economy is suffering through a deeper recession that previously thought. A pullback in spending — [...]

An oft-touted benefit of homeownership is its tax benefits. However, like most IRS-related items, understanding how the benefits work is not always clear. In general, homeowners are entitled to two home-related tax deductions — one for annual mortgage interest paid, and one for real estate tax bills paid. Not everyone is eligible, though. Some of [...]

Home prices are largely based on Supply and Demand. If demand outweighs supply, home prices rise If supply outweighs demand, home prices fall It’s good news for home sellers, therefore, that “used” homes for sale fell 6 percent nationally last month. Less supply often means higher prices. Of the 29 metropolitan areas tracked in real [...]

In 2009′s first full week of trading, mortgage bond markets traded back-and-forth, eventually closing the week improved overall. Weekly mortgage rates fell for the first time since mid-December. The most anticipated news of last week was Friday’s jobs report. According to government’s press release, the economy shed another 524,000 jobs in December, raising 2008′s total [...]

Even though its effective date is April 1, 2009, mortgage applicants should start seeing Fannie Mae’s new fee structure from lenders beginning this Monday, January 12. The reason why Fannie Mae’s mandatory loan fees are hitting lender pricing so far in advance is because lenders can take up to 30 days to package and sell [...]

When conforming mortgages started defaulting en masse in late-2007, mortgage guarantor Fannie Mae created a loss-offsetting, fee-generating scheme dubbed “loan-level pricing adjustments”. The concept was basic: For mortgage applicants with high-risk profiles, collect up-front payments to offset potential long-term losses. Similar to the auto insurance model in which younger drivers pay higher premiums, the riskier [...]

With respect to mortgage rates, you can’t always believe what you read in the papers. Or what you see. A terrific example is the chart at right. Published by Freddie Mac, it shows the 30-year fixed mortgage’s “going rate” as reported by the nation’s mortgage lenders. On December 30, 2008, that rate was 5.1 percent. [...]

The New Year is not yet one week old but that’s not stopping market “experts” from predicting what’s in store for 2009. The calls on housing and mortgage rates run the gamut: Home prices have farther to fall Home prices have touched bottom Mortgage rates will dip Mortgage rates will rise Put it all together [...]

Like the rest of the country, mortgage markets were on semi-vacation last week. The low trading volume led to wild rate swings. After beginning the week vastly improved, and capped by a terrible late-Friday run, mortgage rates ended the week unchanged for the second week in a row. This week, though, it’s anyone’s guess. Wall [...]

As part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, Congress authorized a conforming loan limit increase in “high-cost” areas around the country. Versus the national conforming loan limit of $417,000, for example, a Manhattan home buyer could secure a 2008 mortgage for $725,000 and still be within “conforming” guidelines. Effective January 1, however, those limits [...]