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mortgages: Week in Review - Application Numbers and Interest Rates - 01/29/10 03:54 PM
Here is some great information regarding applications received and interest rates for purchase and refinance transactions.
Below is excerpt from the Mortgage Bankers Association
"Refinance activity fell substantially last week," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics. "Although rates remain low, there appears to be a smaller pool of borrowers who are willing and able to refinance at today's rates."
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.02 percent from 5.00 percent, with points decreasing to 1 from 1.05 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.
The average … (1 comments)
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mortgages: Fed to potentially buy more Treasuries - Keep interest rates low - 05/11/09 10:02 AM
Rates have been trending upward over the last several weeks. Though they haven't jumped dramatically, it has been a steady uptick that is seeing rates over the 5% mark. As this begins to happen, it could lessen the urge for many consumers to refinance and/or buy a new home. If we don't keep the real estate market on the correction that has been occurring over the last couple of months, it may keep us in this financial funk the country has endured over the last year and a half.
Critics are saying that the Fed will potentially buy more treasuries, in order to keep rate low. Apparently back on April 29th, they … (0 comments)
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mortgages: Week-in Review April 27 - May 1 - 05/01/09 04:19 PM
Rates were higher today than they were for the majority of the week. The market is looking up though. There are bidding wars in the price range of homes under $100K due to the 2.2 months of inventory supply. There still remains over a 13 month supply on homes in the Scottsdale area and this is mostly attributed to the difficulty in affordability of those homes. Remember that Jumbo loans or loan amounts over $417K require anywhere from 20-30% down to secure financing. That is a far cry from the 3.5% required for FHA financing up to $346,250.
Week in Review:
… (2 comments)
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mortgages: Week in Review 3/16/2009 - 3/20/2009 - 03/20/09 07:12 PM
Rates this week dropped a bit on Wednesday when the government announced their plan to buy even more mortgage backed securities, but we've steadily seen increases since then so we ended right back where we started.
$15,000 for Down Payment and Closing Costs in City of Phoenix - Our "Government Stimulus and Local Incentive Programs" continued to grow. The City of Phoenix released information about a program that loans homebuyers $15,000 for down payment, closing costs, and pre-paids when purchasing bank owned properties in Phoenix.
Fannie Mae Home Affordable Refinance - More information regarding the Fannie Mae Home Affordable Refinance … (1 comments)
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mortgages: Week In Review, March 2-6th - 03/06/09 05:25 PM
"Good news travels fast, bad news travels faster." That principle alone makes it difficult to decide what to write in my weekly review. I think it's easier to write the bad news. Seemingly it's everywhere. (8.1% unemployment rate, Dow at lowest levels in over 12 years, and the tragic story of the three young men who died in the Gulf of Mexico). But today is different...for starters, it's a Friday, the 6th of March and I have seen some funny and interesting things this week. (See: Jon Stewart bash CNBC and/or Woman Calling 911 of Chicken McNuggets).
I can't say for … (3 comments)
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mortgages: Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan - 03/02/09 05:10 PM
On March 4, 2009 - both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are to unveil how they will handle the plan laid out by President Obama almost two weeks ago. While the financial markets continuing to reel, (see AIG losses, the DOW falling, and GE closing at its lowest point since 1993) the housing market isn't faring much better.
It is time! Panic seemingly begets more panic in this market. Here is the "plan" in its simplest form.
The plan supposedly will "...help up to 7 to 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages to avoid foreclosure."
1. Affordability: Provide access … (2 comments)
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mortgages: Where's my 4.5% rate? - 02/10/09 03:58 PM
The President of the company that I currently work for, 1st Advantage Mortgage, will sometimes make short videos explaining interesting items in the market, from how MBS work to why rates are the way they are. Case in point, last Saturday we received the following video regarding rates in the mid 4's. I thought and still think it is a great explanation for all those people that are on the fence when it comes to rates. Sometimes, it is better to get the best deal now, then to wait for the perfect deal and find it never comes.
Either way the … (3 comments)
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mortgages: Phoenix - Seen its fair share of pricing fluctuations! - 12/30/08 03:34 PM
According to an article on bloomberg.com, Phoenix led the nation in home price decline.
Quick points to consider from the article.
40% increase in price from 4th quarter of 2004 to 4th quarter of 2005. From 4th quarter of 2005 until the most recent quarter home prices have dropped by 40%. Median Price of a home in Phoenix is $185,100, 28% lower than last year. Home Sales rose 49% from last year in Phoenix. Overall US Sales down 7.7% from last year. What's the most important statistic from the article listed above? It all depends on how you look at it. … (3 comments)
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mortgages: Spread Christmas Cheer Now! - 12/12/08 05:55 PM
Want to spread Holiday cheer? - Make sure you ..."sing loud for all to hear!!!" Or you could pass on the news regarding rates!!!
Not only are homes on sale - in some cases 40-50% off, but rates are making homes even more affordable. It is like Christy Walker with Remax told me this week. "If you went shopping and things were on sale for 40% you wouldn't hesitate." So what are we waiting for???
Spread the good news that rates are low and for those that are really savvy, get it done in the next week and you could skip … (1 comments)
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mortgages: New GFE unveiled last Month - 12/11/08 01:35 PM
A little slow in coming - but I needed to chew on it for a while and decide what, if any of it makes sense.
You can see the new GFE that is to be implemented on January 1, 2010 - here.
After much thought the verdict is still out as to if this GFE is better than the current GFE we have. The goal is transparency and consumer satisfaction with the lending process. And while those items aren't bad goals to strive for, I am not sure the new GFE actually accomplishes this task.
Here are the drawbacks (in my opinion):
The … (0 comments)
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mortgages: Mid-Week In Review 11-26-2008 / Top 3 Things I am Thankful for. - 11/26/08 01:58 PM
What a difference $800 Billion can make??? Or at least that is the sentiment when it comes to rates. If you are hesitating, then you might not be paying attention. So, spread the word that rates are in the low to mid-5's and it may be the time for your loved ones to be thankful for the Fed and their desire to print money because this might actually benefit them.
Here is what happened so far this week?
$800 Billion -What does it mean? - Check out my post and my opinion on the many different articles that I read early … (1 comments)
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mortgages: $800 Billion – What does it mean? - 11/26/08 06:08 AM
Yesterday at around 8:15 AM New York time, the Fed announced a plan to pump $800 billion into buying Mortgage Backed Securities. Of that $800 billion, $200 billion is to be used for small business loans, consumer loans, student loans and credit card borrowers, $500 billion to buy mortgage backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae (authority to buy first granted in 1966), and $100 billion to buy the corporate debt of Fannie, Freddie and federal home loan banks.
The above helped initially in regards to interest rates on 30 Year Fixed Loans. This was the biggest … (9 comments)
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mortgages: FHA announces 2009 Loan Limits - 11/13/08 09:57 AM
Just a Reminder: Perhaps you were on vacation and missed the news about the new FHA loan limits for 2009. For Maricopa County the new maximum loan limit will be $271,050.
To read more about it, check out this blog.
What does this change mean for borrowers? Less buying power.
Will it affect those purchasing homes?
Will it hurt those who could have initially done refinances up to 95% at the 2008 limit of $346,250?
If you or anyone you know are can afford and are interested in buying a home in the $300K range but want to take advanatage of … (6 comments)
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mortgages: Rates Improved Today - Election Watch Continues - 11/04/08 07:40 PM
There were 2 re-price's today with regards to rates and both were for rate improvements. Rates improved about 25 bps depending on the lender and broker that you use. So if you know anyone on the fence, now may be the time to get them talking to their lender. That way they can reap the benefits and rewards of better pricing and hopefully help you rest easier when they have locked the deal in.
Watching the election results...no matter how they turn out, I am glad that I am afforded the option to give my opinion on who I think should … (4 comments)
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mortgages: Week in Review - Halloween - 10/31/08 06:42 PM
Happy Halloween:
I wanted something scary and or ghoulish to use as a font for the introduction above and that was literally the best I could come up with...pathetic, I know. (Sometimes I wish I were more creative but that danged analytical side of my brain just won't quit).
I am excited that November is upon us, maybe then I won't work up a sweat walking from my car to the office and vice versa. My goodness, 90 degrees on Halloween is scary in and of itself. Here is the fantastic week in review...
1) The DJIA had a gigantic … (2 comments)
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mortgages: Rates and Week in Review - 10/17/08 01:02 PM
Rates were high at the beginning of the week but have come down a bunch since Wednesday (see rates at www.1amllc.com/murrietta). This should help to motivate a few more buyers in the marketplace. It would be nice to see rates come down by another .50% over the next couple of weeks to make it easier on the buyers. Sometimes great rates can attract and entice someone to pull the trigger.
This week in Review:
•1) SNOW: Not in Phoenix, but on my trip to Salt Lake City last weekend I was a part of the first snow of the winter. It … (0 comments)
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mortgages: Investors being Forced out of the Market - 06/12/08 03:20 PM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released updated policies regarding the number of Investment properties they will fund to a single borrower. The number has been Ten properties for a while but due to the recent trends in foreclosures, the risk for lending to a single borrrower on multiple properties does not outweigh the reward.
This means that investors that are trying to buy now, if they have over four properties with mortgages, will have to pay for the property with CASH. This obviously makes it difficult for many investors who would like to free up the cash for other investments, or … (1 comments)
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mortgages: Delinquencies and Foreclosures continue to Increase - 06/06/08 12:45 PM
A recent article by the Mortgage Bankers Association stated that foreclosures and delinquencies increased from the fourth quarter of 2007.
"The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties stood at 6.35 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2008 on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, up 53 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2007, and up 151 basis points from one year ago, according to MBA's National Delinquency Survey."
(Mortgage Bankers Assoc., http://www.mortgagebankers.org/NewsandMedia/PressCenter/62936.htm)
If you read the remainder of the article it also discusses the percent of delinquencies in … (0 comments)
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mortgages: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are back with 97% LTV loans for Declining Markets - 05/16/08 04:44 PM
Great News...A new lending avenue has reopened for "Distressed Market" areas, including Maricopa County in AZ. Go to www.fanniemae.com and you can read the news release from today.
Highlights
New Changes go into effect June 1, 2008 "Fannie Mae will accept up to 97% LTV ratios for conventional, conforming mortgages processed through its Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) automated underwriting system" 95% LTV on loans underwritten outside of DU Down Payment requirements will be for purhase transactions of Primary Residences DPA will be available through Community Seconds® and MyCommunityMortgage® products Read the article if you are interested in some of the remaining comments … (6 comments)
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Eric Murrietta
Scottsdale,
AZ
More about me…
1st Advantage Mortgage, LLC
Address: 6908 E. Thomas Road, Ste. 202, Scottsdale, AZ, 85251
Office Phone: (480) 707-5603
Cell Phone: (602) 670-3272
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