Rates Hold Steady After Weeks of Declines

According to the National Mortgage News says,

The average rate for a 30-year FRM inched up one basis point to 4.5% after eight weeks of consecutive declines, according to Freddie Mac's closely watched survey.

In general, rates across most product types remained stable for the period ending June 16.

"After two months of fixed mortgage rate declines, and hitting new year-to-date lows along the way, rates held mostly steady this week," a Freddie Mac spokesperson told National Mortgage News.

On average, 15-year FRMs continued to inch downward, ending the week at 3.67%, a decline of one basis point. Treasury-indexed hybrid ARMs were at 3.27%, with one-year Treasury ARMs ending at 2.97%, up two basis points from the previous week.

Freddie chief economist and vice president Frank Nothaft said the mixed rates reflect slight increases in inflation indicators that were close to consensus, specifically a 0.2% increase in the core producer price index and a 0.3% jump in the producer price index. These increases were mostly "shrugged off" by the market, Freddie said.

In general, all rates remained lower than year ago levels.

Read more visit - http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/dailybriefing/2010_369/freddie-mac-rates-1025263-1.html?ET=nationalmortgage:e1402:92746a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NMN_Daily_Briefing_061611

Housing at a 'Tipping Point' just take a look.

Home price expert Robert Shiller says,

The nation should not have been surprised by the recent “double-dip” in home values, but said he’s uncertain whether it is the start of a longer term slide in prices.

Shiller told attendees at a Standard & Poor’s housing conference in New York there has been “too much attention” on the double dip, noting that he had said for several months the market was on the verge of one.

He predicted there could be another dip in the S&P’s Case-Shiller 10-city index going forward, but also suggested that the market could turn up again in the summer months.

In terms of whether there is another definitive downtrend trend coming, Shiller said he considers the market at a “tipping point” and “not quite there yet.” Another month of data will make it clearer as to whether there are more recessionary pressures, he said.

During a question and answer session, when asked about future trends in home prices, he reiterated a past assertion that there could be another 10%-25% decline in real home prices over the next five years.

Read more just visit - http://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/dailybriefing/2010_364/housing-tipping-point-1025142-1.html?ET=nationalmortgage:e1373:92746a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NMN_Daily_Briefing_060911

Questions to Expect From Mortgage Lenders, Know what to expect before you apply.

According to a report in realtor,

Your mortgage lender will want to know a lot about you before approving your loan application, and justifiably so; they and their underwriters want to be assured that you meet their minimum level of creditworthiness before lending you money.

Areas of questioning : -

Here are the general areas of questioning you can expect from a lender:
1. Employment and income
2. Outstanding debts
3. Cash reserves and assets
4. Down payment
5. Loan purpose
6. Property use
7. Property type

Employment and income : -

Where do you work?
How much do you make?
How long have you been at your job?
How is your income derived -- steady salary or irregular income? If it's the latter, you may need to provide more details to obtain a favorable interest rate.

Outstanding debts : -

What recurring debts do you have?
How much do you pay a month for auto loans?
Credit cards? How much of your monthly pretax income do these debts consume?
Cash reserves and assets
How much money do you have in the bank?
How much will be left after you pay your down payment and closing costs?

Down payment : -

How much money are you putting down?
Is this your own money?
If not, is it a gift from your parents?
A nonprofit agency grant?

Loan purpose : -

Is this mortgage for a home buy or refinance?
If it's a refinance, do you want to take cash out at closing to pay off other debts? If so, how much?

Property use : -

Do you plan to live in the house?
Is it investment property?

Property type : -

A condominium?
A duplex?

The following responses tend to work in your favor:

Steady employment (two or more years) with the same employer or in same line of work.
Low debt: no recent major buys (such as automobiles) and a debt-to-income ratio of 36 percent or less.
Loan is for straight home purchase (or rate-and-term refinance).
Property is detached single-family home to be used as primary residence.
Down payment of at least 5 percent of sales price with your own money.
You'll have at least two months' worth of mortgage payments in the bank after closing.

These responses tend to work against you:

Self-employed or contract worker.
High debt: credit cards maxed out, total debt-to-income ratio more than 36 percent.
Property is a duplex or condominium, to be used as a vacation home or rental.
No cash left after home buy and closing costs.
Down payment is 3 percent or less of buy price and money is borrowed.

Read more visit : - http://www.realtor.com/home-finance/pre-funding-closing/questions-from-mortgage-lenders.aspx

Home Prices Retreat to Circa 2003 as Foreclosure Pressures Persist: IAS

Integrated Asset Services (IAS) says, its latest market analysis indicates the size and scope of home price declines are accelerating across the nation.

The Denver-based default management and valuation firm’s IAS360 House Price Index (HPI) fell another 2.6 percent over the first three months of 2011.

IAS says with the first-quarter decline, U.S. house prices are now down more than 25 percent from their high-water mark touched four years ago. At the end of March, the IAS360 was standing at a level not seen since the second quarter of 2003.

The company says foreclosures, meanwhile, are expected to rise to 1.2 million this year, adding to an already engorged housing supply and exerting further downward pressure on property values.

“There are simply too many market factors weighing against house prices to correct the supply and demand gap in the near term,” said Paul Sveen, CEO of Integrated Asset Services.

“Even if the economy is normalizing a bit, I just don’t see any of the problems overhanging the housing market going away any time soon,” Sveen said.

IAS reports that virtually every key measure of its home price analysis declined during the first quarter, including all four U.S. census regions, all nine census divisions, and all of the IAS360’s largest metro regions.

The continued slide has pushed both Las Vegas and Miami down more than 50 percent from the top of the market in 2007.

Even the nation’s wealthier areas took a turn for the worse this period, with eight of the IAS benchmark’s ten wealthy counties reporting first-quarter declines. All were positive the previous period.

“We look at the housing market all the way down to the neighborhood,” said Sveen, “and there’s just nothing good to see in this report. I have very real concerns the U.S. housing market is on its way to a new low.”

Leading the way down this period were outsized price declines in the two North Central divisions that comprise the Midwest census region, according to IAS’ study.

With the Chicago metro area dropping 4.6 percent, the overall region fell a stunning 6.9 percent for the quarter — this following a slight gain the previous period.

Similarly, the Northeast and West regions also turned negative, falling 3.2 percent and 3.7 percent respectively. The South slid another 2.0 percent.

The West region, which includes three of the nation’s hardest hit states — California, Arizona, and Nevada — is down nearly 40 percent from its high four years ago, according to IAS.

IAS data includes non-conforming, bank-owned, and conventional sales transactions, in addition to those insured by federal government agencies.


Read more visit-http://www.dsnews.com/articles/home-prices-retreat-to-circa-2003-as-foreclosure-pressures-persist-ias360-2011-05-11

Customers are happier with their banks...?

According to a report in CNN,For the first time in more than three years, consumers say they are happier with their banks.

No, this isn't a joke.

While you can find stories every day about new fees popping up, and credit card interest rates rising as banks squirm under new regulations, consumers have actually become more satisfied with their banking experiences this year, according to research group J.D. Power and Associates' annual survey.

On a 1,000 point scale, customer satisfaction came in at 752 this year, up four index points from last year and the first uptick in sentiment since 2007.
The 8 least evil banks

What caused customers to warm up to their banks? Better in-person branch interactions, improved access to detailed account information and more product offerings that fit their lifestyles -- including online and mobile tools, the report indicated.

Even perceptions of banks' brand reputations have gotten better -- the first positive change since 2008.

But just because sentiment improved doesn't mean customers don't still have major gripes. What upset them most this year were the changes banks have been making to fee structures. While the number of customers reported being charged fees actually declined from 53% in 2010 to 43% this year, consumers were less satisfied with the way banks were choosing to impose charges.

This year, 18% of customers said their fee structures had changed in the last year, compared with 16% in 2010. J.D. Power said that changes in fee structures typically cause a customer's overall satisfaction rating to decrease by an average of 84 index points.

Read more visit-http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/21/pf/banks_customer_satisfaction/index.htm