September 17 2010 (Jeff Alan) With the passing of the Finance Reform Bill and the banning of a variety of fees – including certain overdraft and excessive late charges, banks and credit card companies are increasing existing fees and creatively finding ways to charge existing customers more for their services. Read more...
September 16 2010 (Chris Moore) Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®). While the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate rose, the 15-year fixed-rate dipped slightly; shorter-term rates fell. Read more...
Septermber 15, 2010 (Shirley Allen) Existing-home sales rose in August 2010 following a big correction in July, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 7.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million in August from an upwardly revised [...]
Septermber 14, 2010 (Chris Moore) With a record number of foreclosures in its inventory, mortgage giant Fannie Mae has decided to institute a program it hopes will give home buyers incentive to buy from them. One can only wonder if other mortgage holders will consider similar programs to help reduce their foreclosed properties. Read more...
Septermber 13, 2010 (Chris Moore) Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) for the week ending September 9 2010. While the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate and the 5-year adjustable rose slightly, other rates remained flat or fell lower. Read More...
September 13, 2010 (Jeff Alan) Law enforcement officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and firefighters/emergency medical technicians can contribute to community revitalization while becoming homeowners through HUD's Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program. HUD offers a substantial incentive in the form of a discount of 50% from the list price of the home. In return [...]
Septermber 12, 2010 (Shirley Allen) FHA's Energy Efficient Mortgage program (EEM) helps homebuyers or homeowners save money on utility bills by enabling them to finance the cost of adding energy efficiency features to new or existing housing as part of their FHA insured home purchase or refinancing mortgage. Read more...
July 12, 2010 (Chris Moore) The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a new initiative that gives state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations participating in HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) preference to acquire homes from the Department's inventory of foreclosed properties, commonly known as "HUD homes." The initiative was announced [...]
September 12, 2010 (Shirley Allen) Effective October 4th, FHA loans will see an increase in the monthly mortgage insurance premium. However, perspective borrowers will see a decrease in the Upfront Mortgage Insurance from 2.25 to 1.00 (100 basis points) on most FHA insured loans except Home Equity Conversion (HECM – “reverse mortgage”). Read more...
