Yellen was confirmed last night to be the next Fed chief, which should be calming news for mortgage rates. But they haven't changed much anyway since the Fed announced the $10B taper on December 18th. 30-Year Fixed Rate: December 12: 4.42% January 7: 4.62% Just the...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are too big, and changes are coming. Beginning on January 10th, the new QM rules take effect - limiting the debt-to-income ratios to 43%, and capping points and fees charged by lenders to 3% of the loan amount. Because lenders will be...
The Fed's taper announcment didn't rile the markets, and so far it seems to be well received. How will impact home sales? Here's what Bill McBride said, "Rates will be low for a long long time ..." As far as the "Appropriate timing of policy firming", the...
The Trulia predictions earlier this week included several references to less investor activity in 2014, due to higher prices. In particular was his #2 point: 2) The Home-Buying Process Gets Less Frenzied. Home buyers who can afford to buy won't be as frantic as...
The 2014 Spring Selling Season will be impacted mostly by mortgage rates and the number (and quality) of homes coming to market. The mortgage rates will likely dictate everything, and though thankfully the jumbos are still tracking the conforming rates, it won't take...
Rates have come down nicely, and may break into the 3% range again, which could ignite the market. It may already be happening - I ran into four different bidding wars in the last week! http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/329722.aspx Mortgage rates...
We've heard all the hubbub about higher mortgage rates having a negative effect on the real estate market. But the non-taper has caused rates to come back a bit - we are now down around 4.375% for 30-year conforming rates. For those who had their heart set on having...
Diana: The enormous drop in July new home sales really shocked the market and today the bears are taking on the bulls in force. Let's recap for a second. July new home sales dropped over 13% month to month. existing home sales actually bumped up a healthy 6 .5%. why...
Headlines everywhere are touting how rising rates are slowing down the real estate market. The experts jump to conclusions, and the media loves bad news. One of our favorites is front and center today - Lawrence Yun. From cnbc.com: "The modest decline in sales is...
Mortgage rates were higher again today, extending yesterday's movement following the FOMC Minutes. This morning's Jobless Claims report showed a slightly higher number of initial unemployment filings, but rather than help push back against yesterday's weakness, this...
