Interest Rates

Mortgage rates lowest since 1971

Mortgages

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Mortgage rates set new record lows this week, per a report by mortgage giant Freddie Mac (the Primary Mortgage Market Survey), hitting rates not seen since 1971. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.12 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending September 8th, 2011. Despite the fact that it’s been 40 years [...]

8 September 2011 Read the full article →

Metro Phoenix: cheaper to buy than rent

First Time Buyers

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Trulia regularly tracks the buy vs. rent equation and reports again that it’s cheaper to buy a home than to rent in metro Phoenix. See full story here: http://explore.trulia.com/datavis/rentvsbuy/Q2-2011/ Meanwhile, mortgage rates are in free-fall, according to an Inman.com interpretation of Freddie Mac’s rate survey… Rates on fixed-rate mortgages declined for a seventh week in [...]

3 June 2011 Read the full article →

Mortgage Rates Headed Toward 6%

Mortgages

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Mortgage rates ended 2010 with a steep ascent but we have to keep the figures in perspective. Rates were higher then the year started versus when it ended. And, historically, we remain well below the average. That’s why mortgage rates should rise in 2011. Momentum is drawing rates up, and the market is moving towards [...]

5 January 2011 Read the full article →

Jumbo mortgages

In The News

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A jumbo mortgage is a home loan that’s too big (in dollars) to be sold to government backed agencies (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac). The upper dollar limit for jumbos varies geographically but the general rule of thumb is a loan larger than $417,000 is a jumbo. It seems to me that people who have money [...]

17 November 2010 Read the full article →

Mortgage rates hit the mid-4’s!

Glossary Posts

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A snippet of an article from CNN’s Money section: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Mortgage rates continued to decline this week, plunging to the lowest level in decades, according to surveys from Freddie Mac and Bankrate. Freddie Mac’s weekly report said the 30-year fixed rate slipped to 4.44% for the week ended Thursday, the lowest since [...]

21 August 2010 Read the full article →

FHA.com is not the FHA

Buyer Help

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File this in the category of Stuff You Should Know. The website at FHA.com is not run by the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) or by HUD (Housing and Urban Development) or by any other governmental agency. It’s run by a (presumably for-profit) group that collects information from users including their social security number, credit information, [...]

8 May 2010 Read the full article →

The 40 Year Mortgage. Why Not?

Mortgages

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I don’t understand why lenders don’t offer 40 year mortgages more often. Anyone? I also don’t understand why lenders won’t talk about extending homeowners’ 30-year mortgages for 40-year mortgages, when the homeowners get behind and face foreclosure. So many metro Phoenix-area homeowners are underwater but aren’t eligible for federal Making Home Affordable money because those [...]

30 August 2009 Read the full article →