Major Changes Ahead For Mortgage System

Fundamental changes are probably ahead for the American mortgage system as the federal government pushes to unwind its unprecedented involvement in the housing market.

These changes could significantly raise the down payments demanded by lenders, curtail the availability of long-term mortgages with fixed interest rates, and increase the cost of borrowing in general.

The government's effort to scale back its role in housing could show up in small ways soon. In April, the Federal Housing Administration plans to raise the annual premium it charges borrowers by a quarter of a percentage point. In October, the maximum size of loans that the federal government backs is scheduled to drop to $625,500 from $729,750. The most dramatic proposal - eliminating mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - could take five to seven years.

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How Rising Mortgage Rates Could Boost Home Sales

If you're in the market for a home, you're probably feeling pretty calm: Prices are falling, interest rates are low, and there are few other buyers to compete with. You can probably just hang out for awhile and wait for prices to fall some more.

But how long will the buyer's market last? Conventional wisdom holds that prices will fall another 5 to 10 percent, most likely bottoming out sometime in 2011. As the housing market stabilizes, sales will slowly pick up, while the huge backlog of foreclosed and bank-owned homes gets worked off. In healthier markets—like many in the Midwest, where there was never much of a bubble to start with—the housing market might even start to feel normal again in 2011 or 2012.

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5 Ways to Take Advantage of Low Interest Rates

Interest rates have never been lower. It seems that just about every week mortgage rates set a new low. And this week the Fed is expected to undertake a second round of quantitative easing, QE2 for short, by buying up more government debt. As a result, incredibly low interest rates may go even lower.

But low rates don’t do us any good if we fail to take advantage of them. So we’ve put together a list of five ways that you may be able to enjoy the benefits of low interest rates.

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Top Five Reasons To Purchase A Home Now

Buyers still waiting for home prices to scrape rock bottom (hint: they will never return to1953 levels) or interest rates to hit zero (I know, it feels like they're headed there) might want to consider that conditions for buying a home are better today than at any time in recent memory.

The following are five reasons to consider a home purchase now:

1. Bargains are abundant, and buyers hold the cards. Home prices have dropped 30% since the peak, and in some states, such as Arizona and Florida, we're looking at the steepest price drops in recent history. The median price nationally for an existing home was $178,600 in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. With the expiration of the federal tax credits for home purchases, competition for low-cost homes has eased considerably.

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The Housing Market: Is It Time to Rent or to Buy?

The stalled economy, expiration of homebuyer tax credits, marked-down home prices, stubbornly high unemployment and concerns about a double-dip recession all leave prospective homebuyers wondering if now is the time. Is it time for renters to convert to buyers and for existing owners to grab that dream home on the cheap? Or will housing get even cheaper?

Home prices have plunged about 30% from their mid-2006 peak on average, with some areas, like Las Vegas, seeing prices plummet in excess of 60%. At the same time, foreclosures have continued to rise in 2010 from their 2009 historic highs and have pressured prices further.

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Homeowning Rarely Has Been More Affordable Than Now

Buying a home can be a life-changing decision and one many people take seriously, especially in this market.

Part of becoming a responsible homeowner is weighing every aspect of the decision before buying, including lifestyle preferences, job and financial situation and affordability.

Fortunately, for anyone who is considering buying a home, current housing affordability conditions can benefit today’s buyers for years to come.

 According to economists at the National Association of Realtors, NAR’s housing affordability index could reach an all-time high of near 200 in the second half of this year.

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Fed Adopts New Mortgage Rules to Protect Consumers

The Federal Reserve adopted new standards that ban yield spread premiums on mortgages, a practice that critics say led to homebuyers being saddled with unfairly high mortgage rates.

The premiums involve lenders paying a bonus to mortgage brokers who brought them customers willing to pay high-interest rates on loans, The New York Times reported. Critics say this practice led to brokers forcing high-interest loans on borrowers, telling them it was the best deal they could get.

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Mortgages: How to Pay Less

The interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are in free fall, averaging just 4.44% on Aug. 12, according to Freddie Mac. Not only was that down from 5.07% in January, it was the lowest since Freddie began keeping records in 1970.

But even better deals can be found at smaller banks and credit unions.

"I've found that my clients can get routinely better rates by heading to a more regional lender and forgoing the bigger lenders," says Sean Satkus, a real-estate agent in the Washington, D.C., area.

The differences can be stark. On average, the three biggest banks—Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.—offer rates of 4.66% on 30-year fixed mortgages for home purchases, according to Bankrate.com. By contrast, St. Louis's Heartland Bank is offering a rate of 4.50%. Acacia Federal Savings Bank comes in at 4.25%. And Rockland Trust Co. in Boston is offering just 4.13%. (None of these offers include "points," or extra fees to secure lower rates.)

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Home Prices Falling Despite Low Mortgage Rates

The fine bloggers over at Calculated Risk have a good article today about the future of housing prices. In essence the article asserts that there have been declines in home values in both May and June that have yet to fully show up in many measures of home prices.

This premise is based upon data from Campbell Surveys that shows prices for short sales fell 6.3%, move-in ready foreclosures fell 6.8 percent, and non-distressed properties dropped 4.6 percent.

The decline can likely be traced to several factors. First is the collapse in demand for homes following the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit at the end of April (the overall weakness of the economy also plays a part in the lack of demand). The next factor is the massive overhang of houses on the market and in the hands of banks and lenders. Finally, the sheer volume of foreclosed and distressed homes negatively affects the price of homes.

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Mortgages After Financial Reform: 5 Ways They’ll Change

The financial reform law includes tough new mortgage regulations, to stop the deceptions (and self-deceptions) that have driven millions of homeowners into foreclosure. Here’s how the market will change in 12 to 18 months, when the new rules start to take effect:

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How Financial Reform Could Affect You

Once signed into law by President Barack Obama, how will the new financial reforms of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act affect consumers?

One of the most prominent features of the bill is the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the Federal Reserve. Its mission will be to oversee consumer financial products offered by banks, mortgage companies, credit cards, debt-settlement firms, loan providers and payday lenders. It will have the authority to craft regulations, launch investigations and act on consumer complaints. The following is a sample of other ways the bill may—or may not—act on average Americans.

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Mortgage Rates Scream Buy! Buy! Buy! -- But Is Anyone Listening?

Mortgage rates have sunk to levels not seen in more than a half-century -- a seductive 4.58 percent for an average 30-year fixed loan. Yet brokers and lenders report not a flood but a trickle of customers. So what's going on?

Call it a tale of the haves and have-nots.

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Mortgage Applications Rise 7 Points As Rates Fall

Applications for home loans rose last week as consumers raced to refinance at the lowest rates in decades.

The Mortgage Bankers Associations said Wednesday that overall applications increased nearly 7 percent from a week earlier. While they have been increasing in recent weeks, they remain below early 2009 levels.

Applications to refinance home loans were up 9 percent to the highest level since May 2009. But new mortgages taken out to purchase homes fell 2 percent.

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Can I Get A Mortgage After A Short Sale?

My husband and I have been trying to get a loan modification for the past year and a half and have exhausted all of our resources just to stay out of foreclosure. At this time we feel our best option may be to short sale our home and move elsewhere. However, we cannot decide whether or not we want to rent or buy a new home right away after the sale occurs, or if we will even be allowed to do so.

Our question to you is, “Can we get a mortgage after a short sale?”

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How Your Credit Score Affects Getting a Mortgage

As the economy has steadily declined and jobs continue to be lost, more and more Americans find themselves in need of serious loan modification help. A large number of families are struggling to stay up-to-date on their mortgage payments, and as many as six million families are likely to face foreclosure in the next few years. Even the fortunate families who are able to shell out monthly payments on time have become victims of this economic crisis due to decreasing property values.

However, there are a number of options for homeowners who are struggling financially. The most common is employing the help of one of the highly successful loan modification companies who specialize in assisting homeowners in permanently changing the terms of their loan. This will result in lower monthly payments, reduced interest rates, and often a waiving of delinquent payments, making the mortgage more affordable for the payer. It is a highly recommended option that can often result in interest rates being unfathomably reduced and eventually caped.

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US Mortgage Rates Steady At Or Near Record Lows

U.S. mortgage rates stayed at or near record lows in the past week, with the 30-year fixed rate 1/2 percentage point lower than a year ago, home funding company Freddie Mac (FRE.N)(FRE.P) said on Thursday.

In the midst of volatile bond markets, home loan rates continued to keep affordability high.

Demand for loans to buy homes tumbled to 13-year lows in May after spiking in prior weeks, when buyers raced to sign contracts before a homebuyer tax credit expired on April 30. The buyer retreat is seen as temporary, with spring sales pulled into earlier months because of the credit.

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Translating Mortgages Into Monthly Payments

Q: If I buy a house in Maine for $320,000 with a 7% interest rate for 30 years, what will my monthly payment be? What about at 8% interest for 15 years?

A: To start with direct answers to your questions, a $320,000 mortgage at 7% over 30 years would yield a monthly payment of $2,128.97. A $320,000 mortgage at 8% over 15 years would yield a monthly payment of $3,058.09.

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How to Buy a Foreclosure

You want to buy a foreclosure? Remember, there are both great opportunities and great pressures and pitfalls in this market.

First, you have to decide at what stage of foreclosure you want to buy. There are three options: 1. pre-foreclosure; 2. sheriff's auction; 3. repossession, called REO (for real estate owned by the bank).

"The safest and best way to buy is when it's a bank-owned property," said Rick Sharga, a spokesman for RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosure properties.

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House Financial Services Committee Approves FHA Reform Act

The House Financial Services Committee this week approved three pieces of legislation tied to mortgage markets, including the FHA Reform Act of 2010, which allows the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to adjust its premium structure for new borrowers.

The committee also voted to approve the Homeowners' Defense Act and reauthorized the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for five years.

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Education Key When Considering Home Ownership

Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions and commitments one will ever make, yet many people are not nearly as familiar with the ins and outs of the mortgage process as they are with their favorite TV show or sports team. Taking time to become educated on the subject will go a long way in easing the stress of buying a home and preparing for the responsibilities of home ownership.

"Low rates, combined with stabilizing home prices, are creating buying opportunities for those who qualify," says Michael Copley, retail lending senior vice president of TD Bank. "But before you buy, do as much research as possible - research lenders, know the products and make sure you understand the costs associated with home ownership."

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