In a 409-5 vote, House lawmakers have passed a standalone bill that would extend for three months Wednesday’s deadline for closing on a home purchase in order to claim the federal homebuyer tax credit. The Senate could vote on the bill, HR 5623, as soon as tomorrow, although the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., [...]
There is a buzz in the real estate and mortgage world that says that FHA is moving towards changing how they charge insurance premiums – again! And the proposal I am hearing is going to reduce the number of people who are eligible for the FHA Program, as well as make the program less attractive. [...]
As of May 27, 2010, Fannie Mae will not back or purchase loans made on foreclosed homes still inside the state foreclosure redemption period. That’s the time period in which a homeowner can come back and reclaim their home by paying all past due amounts and costs of foreclosure, as well as for improvements. It’s [...]
The listing presentation of one of the top producers in the country will be exposed on an on-line workshop on Thursday. Put your credit cards away, there will be nothing for you to buy at this On-Line Workshop for Real Estate Agents. Go Here Now to see it: http://bit.ly/Unfairadvantage This class will show you no [...]
Today, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-to-1 to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged, in its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its statement, the Fed confirmed its plan to hold the Fed Funds Rate near zero percent “for an extended period”. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is trying to determine how long to [...]
Remember all the writing I did in the past year about how the Federal Government has been artificially propping up the mortgage markets and keeping interest rates low? It is all coming to an end … in 37 days! *HINT* If you click the graph at left, it will open a new window so you [...]
The chart above is a graphical representation of the foreclosures that have been filed in our state of Oregon by county. At first it doesn’t appear all that bad, however this is for just the month of January. Take a look at the chart below and tell my what you see? From the chart above [...]
Mortgage markets improved last week as pricing followed a roller coaster-like pattern. After touching a 6-week high Tuesday, rates rallied to weekly lows Thursday, and then jumped back higher Friday. Despite the improvement last week overall, mortgage pricing remains significantly worse from the all-time lows set in late-November. Oddly, last week’s most prominent mortgage-related story [...]
Housing Starts jumped last month as builders got back to business. It’s a telling sign for the economy, but bad news for next season’s sellers. With more homes coming online, home prices may be slow to rise nationwide. A “Housing Start” is a privately-owned home on which construction has started. In November, starts rose by [...]
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy “has continued to pick up”, that the jobs markets is getting better, and that housing market has shown “some signs of improvement” lately. It’s the [...]
