Wednesday's bond market has opened in negative territory as stocks continue yesterday's late rally. The stock markets are posting another round of gains during early trading with the Dow up 86 points and the Nasdaq up 19 points. The bond market is currently down 19/32, but due to strength in mortgage-related bonds late yesterday, we have seen an improvement in this morning's mortgage rates of approximately .375 of a discount point from yesterday's morning rates.
The Labor Department said this morning that August's Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.1% and that the core data rose 0.2%. The overall reading was slightly lower than forecasts, but since the more important core reading met forecasts this release has not had much of an impact on bond trading or mortgage pricing this morning.
Also posted this morning was August's Housing Starts report that showed starts of new homes fell to a 12-year low last month. Analysts were expecting to see a decline in new starts, but not as low as it showed. Unfortunately for mortgage rates, this data is not considered to be of high importance to the markets and has not affected mortgage rates.
The only relevant data scheduled for release tomorrow is the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) for August. This index attempts to measure economic activity over the next three to six months. If it estimates an increase in activity, the bond market will probably fall and mortgage rates will rise slightly. If it shows weaker than expected readings, the bond market may rally and mortgage rates should fall. Current forecasts are calling for no change from July's reading.
We will also get weekly unemployment claims from the Labor Department, but unless it shows a significant variance from the expected 320,000 this information will likely have little influence on mortgage rates tomorrow.
Washington, DC - The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed H.R. 1852, the "Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007," which will revitalize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a federally insured loan program that for over 60 years has been a reliable source of affordable fixed rate mortgage loans, especially for first-time homebuyers. The measure, originally introduced by Representative Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, and Barney Frank, Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, will enable FHA to serve more subprime borrowers at affordable rates and terms, recapture borrowers that have turned to predatory loans in recent years, and offer refinancing loan opportunities to borrowers struggling to meet their mortgage payments in the midst of the current turbulent mortgage markets.
"There is an affordable housing crisis in America. In recent months, that crisis has exploded beyond the poorest renters and homeowners, to threaten the domestic economy. H.R. 1852 is a necessary step in walking us back from the brink and in the direction of meeting the housing needs of all Americans," said Chairwoman Waters.
"A revitalized FHA program will help future homeowners realize the dream of home ownership, and will prevent many first time and inexperienced home buyers from being pushed into loans that are unaffordable or difficult to understand," said Chairman Frank. "The bill we passed today will help people all across America because we have enacted provisions to allow the FHA to insure loans in high cost areas."
Specifically, the bill includes the following important provisions:
Lower Down Payments. Authorizes zero and lower down payment loans for borrowers that can afford mortgage payments, but lack the cash for a required down payment.
Housing Counseling. Authorizes more than double the current funding level for housing counseling, to help subprime homebuyers and borrowers late on mortgage loan payments.
Subprime borrowers. Directs FHA to provide mortgage loans to higher risk (but qualified) borrowers, without authorizing unnecessary fee hikes on such borrowers. Reverse Mortgages. Enhances the FHA reverse mortgage loan program to help seniors pay for health and other expenses, by removing the loan cap to avoid program shutdowns, raising loan limits, and by reducing the maximum fee lenders can charge for these loans.
Multifamily Loans. Raises FHA multifamily loan limits, so these loans can fully fund construction costs in high cost areas, and enhances sale of foreclosed FHA rental housing loans to localities, so that affordable housing can be maintained in local communities.
Affordable Housing Fund. Authorizes up to $300 million a year from the bill's excess profits for affordable housing, instead of returning such funds to the General Treasury.
Higher Loan Limits. Adopts the Frank/Miller/Cardoza amendment that would raise FHA single family loan limits, which now bar loans above 95% of the median home price in each local area and shut FHA out of higher cost home markets. The amendment raises the FHA loan limit in each area to the lower of (a) 125% of the local area median home price or (b) 175% of the national GSE conforming loan limit. The amendment also retains the bill's provision for a nationwide FHA loan floor of 65% of the GSE conforming loan limit, and gives HUD authority to raise these loan limit amounts by up to $100,000 "if market conditions warrant."
In addition, the House adopted an amendment to the bill to direct FHA to make available refinancing loans to existing qualified homeowners who are in default or at risk of default due to rate resets or mortgage market conditions, and to authorize lower down payments for such purpose. The amendment also includes provisions to address problems arising from inflated appraisals.
Homebuyers need to jump off the fence and into homes and loans! The following exerpts should convince any of your clients that nowis the time to buy or refi. Our housing market is among the most robust in the nation. Interest rates are great, but that may not be the case next year! WASHINGTON - Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan predicts in an interview and in a new book out Monday that the Fed will have to raise rates to double-digit levels in coming years to thwart inflation.
LOS ANGELES -- While once supercharged housing markets such as those in California, Nevada and Florida have witnessed declines in both housing sales and prices, and now rank in the top 10 markets for foreclosure activity according to the latest statistics from RealtyTrac, the Pacific Northwest housing market has been declared among the most robust in the nation. Both Washington Sate and Oregon rank 27th and 29th respectively on the RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Statistics for August 2007. And according to the report, "The Pacific Northwest is Among the Healthiest Housing Markets in the Nation," by Union Bank of California Economist Keitaro Matsuda, the Pacific Northwest region's residential markets have greater momentum than the rest of the country.
My parents had in the late 70's had 14% fixed rate mortgages! The only thing that was good during that time..... you could make 12% or more on CDs. I Tell my clients, if rates hit double digits, it would be nice to be sitting on a 6.25 rate for 30 years or even 40 years while making 10-12% in a safe and secure CD. All that in "one of the most robust housing markets in the nation" Remember, Money is like a commodity. It is bought and sold. You want to buy cheap. With a strong housing market and low rates.......Now is the time to buy or refi.Put "money" to work for you.
Working at the speed of business has always been my goal! www.topmortgage.com
Friday's bond market has opened sharply higher following quite favorable results from August's Employment report. The stock markets are not reacting well to the news with the Dow down 193 points and the Nasdaq down 45 points. The bond market is currently up 27/32, which should improve this morning's mortgage rates by approximately .375 of a discount point.
The Labor Department reported this morning that the unemployment rate remained at 4.6% last month and that average earnings rose 0.3%, both as expected. The shock came in the number of new payrolls during the month. What was expected to be 110,000 new jobs turned out to be a decline of 4,000 jobs. In addition, June and July's payroll numbers were revised significantly lower. This gives a strong indication of a possible economic slowdown, which is very good news for the bond market and mortgage rates.
Today's news has led to further speculation that the Fed will cut key short-term interest rates at their next FOMC meeting on September 18th. There was somewhat of a division amongst analysts before today's data on whether the rate cut would come at this next meeting or later in the year. The only debate by most of them now is whether we will see a quarter or half-point cut this month. I suspect we will see plenty of speculation and volatility in the markets as we get closer to the date.
Next week brings us the release of a couple of important pieces of data to watch. However, all of them are scheduled for release Friday morning. This will leave the bond market to be influenced by stock market fluctuations the first part of the week. I suspect that we will see continued weakness in stocks as investors now become more concerned about next quarter's earning results. This could lead to further gains in bonds as investors seek safe-haven from the volatility. But, if stocks rebound, we may see bonds move higher quickly, so be prepared to react.
I'm a big believer in a "bird in hand being worth more than the bird in the bush". If your like the rate.. lock it. Although the above report looks good for bonds early next week, I just don't like the volitility in the market.
Durable Goods Orders soared in July, rising by a far greater than expected rate of 5.9% and scoring their largest gain in about a year. Transportation goods such as airplanes, autos, and trucks led the surge, but other long-lasting goods like machinery, computers, and steel products also showed strong demand. When excluding vehicles, Durable Goods increased by a still-strong 3.7%. This report is volatile from month to month, so Bonds didn't react much on the strong economic news.
Sub-prime news abroad - The Bank of China (BOC) revealed a far greater exposure to US sub-prime mortgage investments than expected. The BOC disclosed about 10% of their US Dollar denominated assets consisted of sub-prime mortgage investments valued at $10 billion. This story will continue to develop.
New Home Sales was reported at 870,000, which was better than expectations of 825,000. The monthly sales inventory came in at 7.5 months, which is less than last month's reading and well below March's reading of 8.3. And the median sales price rose 0.6% year over year. Overall a pretty good housing report considering the present landscape in the lending industry.
A number of economists believe the economy is moving toward a recession because of the events in the mortgage and housing sector. We believe the Fed will soon begin to cut short-term interest rates in an effort to help the economy avoid this. With inflation on the decline and now inside the Feds target range, and with the Job market showing signs of moderating, the Fed should have a "green light" for a cut on September 18th.
Bonds are trading in a sideways pattern along key support at the 100-day MA, presently at $99.57. We are continuing to advise floating as the Bond remains above this solid floor of support.
If you haven't heard by now there are lenders and banks that CANNOT fund their loans. This may be temporary or for good. If you have such a case for a current transaction, don't take any chances! Call me now to put in an Emergency Rush Closing. We are a licensed mortgage broker in the states of WA, AK, OR, & MN, with access to hundreds of premium sources for funding with competitive low rates and low cost fees. We are waiting for your call to help you close fast!
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There are many different ways to organize business cards and contacts. Today the key word is to be able to sync all of this data seamlessly. We have found a simple and affordable way to doing just this, it is with a Cardscan Digital Rolodex. For around $230 you can purchase this scanner that will scan and organize all your business cards & contacts. It will sync with OUTLOOKS, ACT, LOTUS NOTES, GOLDMINE, HAND SPRING & more. It also syncs with electronic devices such as palmONE handhelds, Pocket PCs, & smart phones. It's easy to use, you simply scan the business card then answer a few key questions to organize it or it will suggest for you. Now you have this electronic Rolodex that is organized and usable in just about any technology device today. We also like it for its label printing abilities for each category we have created. This makes it easy to print only the ones you want. The categories you decide to use should be easy for you to recall, for example: NEW CLIENTS, CLOSED CLIENTS, APPRAISERS, CONTRACTORS, EMPLOYEES, HOME INSPECTORS, ATTORNEY, FRIENDS,and so on. Now labels for Christmas cards, fliers, or invitations are just a few clicks away. This has helped me tons, I hope it can do the same for you.
Commercial lending today is becoming more & more similar to residential lending. In the first quarter of this year we have experienced over a 60% increase from the same time last year of commercial loan applications. We believe this is due in large to the fact of more interest by investors and easier approval matrices that commercial lending now has. It has also adopted many of the same guidelines and programs just like those of residential lending. For example the standard LTV (loan-to-value) for commercial financing is usually 75% or less. Now a days there are Lenders that offer 95% LTV for strong credit borrowers and & high demand properties. Also another program now offered that used to not be are Stated Income Programs just like that of residential programs the borrower may state income for qualification without providing the normal documentation to verify it. Requests for increased loan amounts can now be determined on future finished value and not the normal acquisition or as is value. These simularities have given many new buyers and investors the opportunity to diversify their real estate portfolio & investment.
We specialize in Commercial Financing in all 50 states. We can finance almost any commercial property you would want to acquire or refinance. Anything form car washes to a car dealership lot, or single commercial condo unit to an outlet mall, or a gas station/convenient store all the way to a franchise grocery store. If you need commercial financing we can help. Contact us today if we can be of service to you or your clients fill free to phone us at 800-755-1354. We will make commercial financing a pleasure for you.
I have found that the new rage of Building GREEN is not a fad. I have many contractors & developers who truly want to build more energy efficient homes for many different reasons. A few of those reasons they have shared with me are as follows:
to set them & their product head and shoulders above their competition
doing their share big or small in protecting the environment by using high energy savings and efficient material, appliances, and construction methods
reusing recycled products
better water conservation and reuse systems for irrigation
sometimes less cost to build from recycled or donated materials
better resale value
For those that are serious to have it LEED certified & pay the extra cost, just goes to show us that this is real and not a fad. The future of our world depends on a joint effort by all humans sharing this world and the cost to do so is worth it. As a consumer I support & give building GREEN two thumbs up!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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