By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2010
Dennis Norman
Over the past couple of years lawsuits have been filed against several lenders over “yield spread premiums” that were paid by the lenders to mortgage brokers originating loans on their behalf. These suits brought a lot of attention to a common practice in the mortgage industry which was to compensate the companies [...]
By Dennis Norman, on April 6th, 2010
Dennis Norman
At the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on March 16th it was suggested that “economic activity expanded at a moderate pace in early 2010″. Unfortunately, when it came to the housing market, the news was not as good and it was noted that “housing activity remained flat and the nonresidential construction section weakened [...]
By Dennis Norman, on March 22nd, 2010
Dennis Norman
The Federal Reserve announced it will stop purchasing mortgage-backed securities by the end of March.
In November, 2008, the Federal Reserve announced, in an effort to help the housing market, it would purchase mortgage-backed securities. Then, in March, 2009, the Fed increased the total amount of money they would invest in such securities to [...]
By Dennis Norman, on August 11th, 2009
The Federal Reserve, in it’s most recent “Beige Book” said Residential real estate markets in most Districts remained weak, but many reported signs of improvement.
The report said that Minneapolis and San Francisco Districts cited large increases in home sales compared with 2008 levels, and other Districts reported rising sales in some sub-markets. Of the [...]
By Dennis Norman, on August 3rd, 2009
Dennis Norman
Late last week the Federal Reserve Board proposed significant changes to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) intended to improve the disclosures consumers receive in connection with home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.
These changes are just proposed at this point and are being offered for public comment for 120 days at which [...]
By Dennis Norman, on July 31st, 2009
Dennis Norman
Buying a home should be a dream come true not a nightmare of worry and stress. A new Federal Reserve Board publication, “5 Tips for Shopping for a Mortgage,” will help consumers avoid potential pitfalls and make well-informed decisions when choosing a home loan.
Financing the purchase of a home is one of the [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 19th, 2009
By: Dennis Norman
Yesterday, Bankrate, Inc. issued their weekly mortgage interest rate report showing that mortgage rates after rising to almost 6% have retreated in this past week with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 5.76%, down from 5.95% last week, with an average of 0.43% in discount and origination fees.
The report shows 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were also lower this week at an average of [...]
By Dennis Norman, on June 4th, 2009
By: Dennis Norman
Today, Bankrate, Inc. issued their weekly mortgage interest rate report showing that mortgage rates jumped this week with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 5.65%, up from 5.45% last week, with an average of 0.44% in discount and origination fees.
The report shows 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were also higher this week at an average of 5.06%, up from 4.86% last [...]
By Dennis Norman, on December 16th, 2008
By: Dennis Norman
Today, as expected, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System slashed the discount rate (the interest rate the Federal Reserve charges on loans to commercial banks) from 1.25% to 1/2%. This action will lower the prime rate charged by most banks to around 3.25% which will be the lowest prime rate has [...]
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