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What does 2010 hold in store for the Housing Market?

Dennis Norman

In a just a few days we will say goodbye to 2009; a year that has been brutal to the housing market.  So as the new year comes in, what will 2010 hold in store for the housing market?

To answer this question I turned to the housing forecast just released by Fannie Mae to see [...]

Interest Rates drop to lowest level in three months

Dennis Norman

According to Freddie Macs weekly mortgage market survey the interest rate on home mortgages dropped to a new three-month low.  The survey shows the interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaging 5.12 percent with 0.7 percent  in fees and points this week, down from 5.29 percent last week. Last year at this [...]

Mortgage rates ease downward this week

Dennis Norman

According to Freddie Macs weekly mortgage market survey mortgage rates decreased slightly for the week ending August 6, 2009 from the prior week. The survey shows 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaging 5.22% with 0.6% in fees and points, down from 5.25% the week before. Last year at this time, the 30 year rate averaged 6.52%.

Rates on [...]

Mortgage rates rise slightly again this week

Dennis Norman

According to Freddie Macs weekly mortgage market survey mortgage rates increased slightly this week from the prior week. The survey shows 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaging 5.25% with 0.7% in fees and points, up from 5.20% the week before. Last year at this time, the 30 year rate averaged 6.52%.

Rates on 15 [...]

Mortgage interest rates rise this week

Dennis Norman

According to Freddie Macs weekly mortgage market survey mortgage rates increased slightly this week from the prior week. The survey shows 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaging 5.20% with 0.7% in fees and points, up from 5.14% the week before. Last year at this time, the 30 year rate averaged 6.63%.

Rates on 15 year fixed-rate mortgages increased slightly [...]

Mortgage interest rates drop this week; lowest since May

Dennis Norman

According to Freddie Macs weekly mortgage market survey mortgage rates dropped this past week slightly from the prior week.  The survey shows 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaging 5.14% with 0.7% in fees and points, down from 5.20% the week before.  This is the lowest rate reported in Freddie Mac’s survey for a 30 year [...]

After almost hitting 6% interest rates retreat

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 [...]

Mortgage Interest Rates Increase Again this Week

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 [...]

Mortgage rates jump this week

By: Dennis Norman

 Yesterday, Bankrate, Inc. issued their weekly mortgage interest rate report showing that mortgage rates jumped this week with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 5.45%, up from 5.24% last week, with an average of 0.41% in discount and origination fees.

The report shows 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were also higher this week at an average of 4.86%, up from 4.74% last [...]

U.S. House passes Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

This past Thursday the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1728, the “Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act.”

The bill, introduced by Rep. Bradley Miller (N.C.) sets out to “amend the Truth in Lending Act to reform consumer mortgage practice and provide accountability for such practices, to provide certain minimum standards for [...]

Interest rates on home mortgages hold steady

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

According to a release by Bankrate today, mortgage rates did not change much this week from last week. 

Interest rates for 30 year fixed-rate mortages averaged 5.23 percent this week with an average of cost of less than 1/2% for discount and origination fees.

The average rate for 15-year fixed-rate morgages dropped to [...]

Home Mortgages: The market, sub-prime, jumbos, the internet and more. First post in a series

Dennis Norman

By: Dennis Norman

It seems home mortgages are in the news daily lately: record-low interest rates, record-high foreclosure rates, the sub-prime mortgage mess, lack of jumbo loans and so on.  It’s confusing at best and causing much concern for many people wishing to buy a home or refinance their existing home mortgage.

H. John [...]

Making Home Affordable Plan

Dennis Norman

On the same day Congress pass the Economic Recovery Plan in February Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner introduced the
Financial Stability Plan.  Included in this plan is the Making Home Affordable Program in an effort to stabilize the housing market and help 7 to 9 million Americans reduce their mortgage payments to more affordable levels.

There are two [...]

When it comes to homes…The Price is Right!

By: Dennis Norman

Last week I wrote a post about housing affordability being at a record low.  Two weeks ago, for a blog for real estate investors, www.RealEstateInvestorDaily.com, I did a blog about a study by a professor at the University of Virginia School of Architecture  indicating that price declines and foreclosures were not as bad [...]

Lower interest rates are not the answer…the market is proving this to be true

By: Dennis Norman

Four days ago I wrote a post stating I did not think low interest rates will prove to be long-term fix to the housing market and in fact nothing more than short-term “life support”.  Today CNNMoney.Com published an article which stated “Unfortunately, the low interest rates have not spurred much of an increase [...]

Home mortgage interest rates continue to fall….Life support for the ailing real estate market but not the cure

By: Dennis Norman

For the eighth week in a row, the interest on fixed-rate home loans has fallen according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released this week by Freddie Mac.  The survey shows interest rates for a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage have dropped to an average of 5.14% nationwide, down from 5.19% the week before.  [...]

New and Existing Homes sales plummet for November

By: Dennis Norman

This morning the National Association of REALTORS(R) released data for existing home sales for November.   The numbers show sales of existing homes down 8.6% nationwide versus October and down 10.6% versus last year.  The Northeast saw the biggest decline in sales being down 12.0% versus last month and 18.0% versus last year.  The west region only [...]

Mortgage interest rates DROP!

By: Dennis Norman

Last week the average interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 5.53% from 5.97%, making it the biggest one-week fall in 27 years! The Mortgage Bankers Associaiton also reported that mortgage loan applications were up over  100% during the week of November 24th after news that the Fed’s plan to buy mortgages. 

In addition, as I [...]

Pending home sales remain stable…

By: Dennis Norman

The National Association of REALTORS(R) announced that pending home sales for October, which were just released, show housing sales may be stabilizing which is good news.  Even though the index showed a .7% decline from September and a 1% decrease from October 2007, Laurence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of [...]