According to home builders around the country, the housing market is looking good. Each month, the National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index report, a survey meant to “take the pulse of the single-family housing market”. Respondents report on three facets of their business, each series weighted and averaged: How are market [...]

On the 1-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the “recession is very likely over at this point”. His comments were supported by a Retail Sales report for August that was much better-than-expected. Equities improved on the day, mortgage markets worsened, and home affordability suffered. The days of [...]

As downpayment requirements increase, anecdotally, home buyers are tapping 401(k) plans for extra cash. Classified as a “hardship withdrawal”, loans against your retirement funds can be cheap and simple. There’s no credit check or approval process There’s only a small set of paperwork Money can be available in as little as a day But just [...]

Mortgage markets improved last week, briefly touching their best levels in 3 months. However, a rough Friday afternoon took away some of those gains. Mortgage rates touched their lowest levels of the week Friday morning before tacking on an eighth-percent or more over the last 90 minutes of trading. It’s the second straight week in [...]

Since 2007, mortgage lenders have clamped down in many areas of underwriting, but none more so than in the area of credit scoring. Minimum FICO levels are up 120 points or more and conforming mortgage lenders now levy large fees on borrowers whose scores are below 740. Keeping your credit scores high is a worthwhile [...]

Once again, the country’s foreclosures are concentrated in just a few states. As reported by foreclosure-tracking company RealtyTrac.com, more than 50 percent of the country’s foreclosure-related actions in August occurred in just four states: California : 25.76 percent Florida : 17.4 percent Michigan : 5.4 percent Nevada : 5.0 percent The rest of the “Top [...]

By its most common definition, a quitclaim deed is a document by which one person passes legal and financial ownership of a home to another person. It’s also a way for an owner of a home to remove himself from the title to the property. Often misspelled as “quick claim deed” or “quit claim deed”, [...]

Mortgage markets improved slightly last week overall, but closed out the week much worse from the best levels of the week. On Wednesday, briefly, mortgage rates touched an 8-week low. Following that, mortgage rates began to climb and stayed on an upward trajectory clear through Friday’s closing. Rate shoppers suffered, realizing a 0.250 percent rise [...]

Volume figures to be light on Wall Street today as traders get a head start on Labor Day weekend. It could make shopping for a mortgage a bona fide challenge. Expect rate volatility this morning and afternoon and, therefore, by extension, expect wild swings in the Home Affordability Index. As mortgage rates rise and fall, [...]

There are two ways to boost your personal cash flow — increase your income or reduce your spending. The former can be a challenge but the latter doesn’t have to be. The headline of the above video — “Cut Your Spending By $500 Per Month” — is somewhat sensational but the advice given during the [...]