freddie mac: Mortgage Rates Fall Again - 02/02/12 04:53 PM
According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), mortgage rates have fallen to historic lows yet again.
Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, attributes the falling rates to an economy that's growing slower than experts had hoped for:
"Most mortgage rates eased to all-time record lows this week as fourth quarter growth in the economy fell short of market predictions," Nothaft writes. "The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 2.8 percent in the final three months of 2011, below the market consensus forecase of 3.0 percent, while consumer spending in December was flat."
"One bright spot, … (2 comments)
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freddie mac: Is Freddie Mac Betting Against Homeowners? - 01/30/12 03:33 PM
According to an investigation by NPR and ProPublica, Freddie Mac may be profiting off homeowners' high-rate mortgages. The report suggests that at the same time the agency was profiting, it was also making it more difficult for those locked in high-rate mortgages to refinance.
Freddie and its cousin, Fannie Mae, have imposed new rules and regulations, and introduced new fees, thereby narrowing the number of borrowers who qualify for a Freddie-insured mortgage.
Scott Simon, managing director of the mortgage-backed securities team at bond trading investment firm PIMCO, says this puts the government-sponsored entity (GSE) "squarely on the opposite side of the … (5 comments)
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freddie mac: Freddie Mac Gives Unemployed Homeowners a Break - 01/10/12 10:52 AM
Last Friday, Freddie Mac announced unemployed homeowners will be allowed to reduce to suspend mortgage payments for up to a year under a new policy announced by the mortgage finance firm. The new rules will take effect on February 1, 2012.
According to the news release, Freddie Mac will give mortgage lenders the authority to extend forbearance without prior approval for six months, and the agency can extend approval for up to an additional six months after that.
Homeowners are still responsible for paying off their full mortgage plus interest after the forbearance period ends.
Previously, Freddie allowed lenders to grant … (2 comments)
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freddie mac: BREAKING NEWS Obama Administration Calls For Housing Overhaul, Winding Down of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - 02/11/11 11:35 AM
It’s no secret the role of government-controlled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has grown out of control.
The fate of the mortgage giants has been discussed for a while now, but today action has been proposed.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced his recommendation for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and it involves a lot less involvement for the government-controlled mortgage finance companies.
The Obama administration supports this proposal to “wind down" the market share currently held by the government mortgage buyers, but says we should continue to count on Fannie and Freddie as a … (3 comments)
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freddie mac: File A Complaint Against A Bank For Loan Modification Problems - 08/04/10 04:24 PM
So many people are in loan modification hell right now, and it's not always the borrowers fault.
The banks are backed up and overwhelmed with loan modification problems, and borrowers should be able to file a complaint against a bank. If you file a complaint against a bank you might have a better chance of getting the bank to pay attention to your loan modification problems.
This is the story of a Think Glink reader, and it's an all-too common one right now:
Question: You've spent a lot of time in print and on the radio talking about loan modifications. I … (2 comments)
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freddie mac: Renter Nation - Is The Tide Turning Against Home Buyers and Homeowners? - 07/30/10 11:37 AM
Will the U.S. turn into a nation of renters?
Several writers and economists are arguing that the current economic malaise is turning the tide against home buyers and homeowners.
In last week’s Barron’s (dated July 24th), Gene Epstein argues that the recession and shifting demographics will swell the ranks of renters and curtail those of home buyers.
“Already, in the wake of the housing bust that brought on the Great Recession, the share of U.S. households owning homes has slid steadily—from 69% at its peak in 2004 to 67.2% in this year’s first quarter. And the rate is likely to fall … (1 comments)
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freddie mac: Mortgage Interest Rates Rise To Highest Level In 8 Months - 04/21/10 11:22 AM
Freddie Mac announced this morning that mortgage interest rates rose to the highest level in 8 months. If you’re looking for a loan, here’s what you’ll find, assuming you have a top credit score, no blemishes in your credit history, plenty of cash and equity (if you’re refinancing your home):
30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 5.21 percent plus 0.6 point. That’s up from 5.08 percent last week, and 4.87 percent a year ago. 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: 4.52 percent plus 0.6 point. That’s up from 4.39 percent last week. A year ago, the average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rate was 4.54 percent. 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid … (0 comments)
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freddie mac: New Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA Mortgage Loan Requirements for Condominiums - 04/13/10 12:58 PM
The new rules and regulations from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA, have sent condominium associations scrambling to make sure that owners and prospective buyers can get financing for units in those developments. Before you consider buying or selling a condominium make sure that you know the new rules and regulations.
When you shop around for a new home, you might want to talk to your mortgage lender or mortgage broker before buying a condominium to see what issues you might face in your area. With that knowledge, you might avoid certain condominiums with known problems and target … (0 comments)
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freddie mac: Problems Refinancing Condo With New Lending Guidelines - 02/23/10 05:51 PM
Lending guidelines and requirements for condominiums are changing fast. Due to the large number of foreclosures and loan problems with condominium projects and buildings, lenders have become overly cautious in their loan practices.
These guidelines could make your hopes of refinancing your condo problematic.
Some lending regulations get even worse if you are in an area that has been particularly hard hit by falling home prices. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have set up guidelines for condominium projects and not all projects can or will qualify under their guidelines. If the condo project is not approved under the required guidelines, a … (0 comments)
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freddie mac: Have We Really Hit The Bottom Of The Real Estate Housing Market? - 11/03/09 11:06 AM
Everyone’s so anxious to call the “bottom” of the real estate housing crisis.
Why? There’s no accolade for being right. It’s not as if we’re going to see a 65 percent surge in housing prices over the next six months (and watch out for that kind of momentum in the stock market - it just feels wrong when the real unemployment rate is approaching 16 percent nationally).
All there is at the bottom of the real estate housing market is pain for millions of homeowners who have lost their homes to foreclosure, even as they’ve lost their jobs and whatever few … (2 comments)
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freddie mac: Borrowers Save Billions By Refinancing Their Mortgages - 11/03/09 10:49 AM
According to Freddie Mac’s quarterly Refinance Report, one-half of borrowers who refinanced their conventional loans lowered their annual mortgage interest rate by at least 17 percent, or about 1.1 percentage points below the old interest rate. (See my post on the Refinance Report from 1Q 2009 here.)
In the aggregate, the interest rate reductions add up to about $3 billion that these borrowers will save over the first 12 months of the new loan.
Low interest rates would ordinarily spur a tremendous amount of refinancing activity. But the collapse of home values during the housing crisis meant few homeowners could refinance … (2 comments)
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freddie mac: Refinancing Mortgages With Falling Home Values And The Revised Obama Plan - 07/03/09 08:14 AM
Falling home values have sure hurt homeowners. As interest rates have come down, these same homeowners are trying to refinance their loans but are having trouble due to the lower value of their homes. Recent Obama administration proposals are attempting to help homeowners.
Before, if your loan was up to 105 percent of the value of your home you could take advantage of the Obama Making Home Affordable program, this past week that amount was raised to 125 percent. We'll see if the continued slide in home prices and the new plan can help homeowners.
Question: I have two mortgages on … (0 comments)
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freddie mac: FHFA's James Lockhart On The Role Of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Federal Banks - 06/20/09 06:16 PM
James B. Lockhart, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency spoke before the National Association of Real Estate Editors on "The Roles of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks in Stabilizing the Mortgage Market."
He discussed the current state of the housing market, what the FHFA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing. Lockhart spoke about foreclosures, refinancing and loan modification. Lockhart said the FHFA is considering raising the refinance rate from 105 percent of the current market value to 125 percent.
(Read the full transcript of the speech and see the powerpoint slides that accompanied … (0 comments)
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freddie mac: Understanding the Obama Housing Programs - 04/06/09 08:08 PM
Check out my latest blog from CBS's MoneyWatch.com by going to http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/home-equity/understanding-the-obama-housing-programs/154/
It attempts to explain the Home Affordability and Stability Plan, the Home Affordable Modification Program, and refinancing under these new programs. Check out the government's new housing-recovery site for more information.
… (2 comments)
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freddie mac: Mortgage Interest Rate Average Falls To 4.78 Percent - 04/03/09 09:45 AM
Interest rates for 30-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 4.78 percent this week, according to Freddie Mac. That's down from an average 4.85 percent last week.
That's the lowest rate since 1971, when Freddie Mac began tracking mortgage interest rates on a weekly basis.
Here are some other average rates from Freddie Mac:
* 15-year fixed rate mortgages - 4.52 percent average this week, down from 4.58 percent
* 5-year hybrid Treasury-indexed adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) - 4.92 percent, down from 4.96 percent
* 1-year Treasury-indexed ARMs - 4.75 percent, down from 4.85 percent
All three of these averages are the lowest … (2 comments)
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freddie mac: Freddie Mac CEO Resigns - 03/03/09 04:39 PM
David Moffett, CEO of Freddie Mac, announced his resignation today.
Freddie Mac is one of the two government sponsored entities that buys mortgages from lenders. Lenders rely on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to buy these mortgages to get more money to make additional loans.Moffett said he wants to get back to the financial services sector.In a statement released this morning, Freddie Mac announced:"Management continues to estimate that FHFA, in its capacity as conservator of Freddie Mac, will submit a request to Treasury to draw an additional amount of approximately $30 billion to $35 billion under the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase … (0 comments)
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freddie mac: Short Sale Hurts Home Buying Ability - 02/13/09 02:49 PM
In a tough real estate market, it might seem as though a short sale would make sense. A short sale is when you sell your home for less than what you owe your mortgage lender. Your mortgage lender agrees to write off the difference in a short sale. But a short sale still has a negative effect on your credit and can become an issue if you try to buy another home in the near future.
Question: My daughter in California owns a home that is worth less than her mortgage. Should she see if she can do a short … (5 comments)
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freddie mac: Streamline Loan Modification Update - 01/19/09 03:00 PM
I have spent quite a bit of time this week calling big mortgage lenders to chat about their streamline loan modification program.
Here's what I learned:If you have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan, AND you are 90 days + late on your mortgage, you can call your lender and request a streamline loan modification. That should trigger a 60-minute call in which the loan servicer talk to you about your loan modification options. THERE IS NO COST FOR THIS. In fact, Freddie and Fannie will compensate your loan servicer for assisting you.The loan servicer will attempt to figure out … (0 comments)
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freddie mac: Freddie Mac Doubles Financial Incentives to Servicers Who Help Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure - 08/12/08 10:05 AM
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been paying loan service companies for years to help them help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Now, Freddie Mac is stepping up the payments to give an added incentive to servicers to keep people out of foreclosure. How much are they getting? Starting August 1, 2008, compensation for repayment plans will rise to $500, while doing a loan modification will earn a servicer $800. For short sales, where Freddie Mac agrees to accept less than the full amount owed on a borrower's loan, the compensation rises to $2,200 (because short sales take so much time to work … (0 comments)
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