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Tag Archives: Mortgage Rates

Consumers in No Rush to Borrow in Extended Low Rate Environment

The Federal Reserve's recently-announced commitment to keep interest rates low until 2015 isn't doing much to persuade consumers to borrow, according to Bankrate's Financial Security Index for October. Seventy-four percent of consumers said they are not interested in taking on debt, while 23 percent said they are more inclined to borrow. Three percent said they did not know. While the Fed's announcement was intended to stimulate economic activity, it may have had the opposite effect, one expert told Bankrate.

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Fixed Rates Edge Lower as Home Construction Picks Up: Freddie Mac

According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.37 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending October 18, down from the previous week when it was 3.39 percent. The 15-year FRM also fell, averaging 2.66 percent (0.6 point) this week compared with 2.70 percent in the last survey. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac, said the minor adjustments stem from growth in home construction.

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Home Affordability Limited to Half of All Major U.S. Cities: Study

With home prices down so far down from their peak and mortgage rates hovering around record lows, many analysts are saying home affordability could hardly be any higher. However, a study released by Interest.com shows homes are only truly affordable in about half of the nation’s major cities. Rising expenses and stagnant wages are preventing median-income households from being able to afford median-income homes, explained Mike Sante, managing editor for Interest.com.

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HARP on Track to Reach 1M Borrowers This Year

Nearly 99,000 homeowners refinanced their mortgages in August through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said Tuesday. Since the beginning of this year, when a broader group of borrowers were made eligible for the program, the federal government's HARP initiative has put 618,217 homeowners with loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac into new mortgages with lower interest rates. According to FHFA, HARP is on target to reach a million borrowers in 2012.

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Rates Make Slight Increase After Dropping to Record Lows

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) showed surprisingly little life this week following the better-than-expected jobs report for September. While rates did rise for the week ending October 11, most increases were mild. The 30-year fixed average posted the largest growth, rising to 3.39 percent (0.7 point) from 3.36 percent-a record low the week before. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also saw an increase, averaging 2.70 percent (0.6 point), up from 2.69 percent previously.

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Mortgage Rates Find New Bottom for 2nd Straight Week

For the second week in a row, mortgage rates hit new record lows, and for the first time since mid-October 2009, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is lower than the 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM). The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for the week ending October 4 was 3.36 percent, according to Freddie Mac. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also fell from the previous week, dropping to 2.69 percent. Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist at Freddie Mac, attributes the falling rates to ""mortgage securities purchases by the Federal Reserve and indicators of a weakening economy.""

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Refinance Activity Surges Following Dip in Mortgage Rates

Mortgage applications saw increased activity in the last week of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported. Mortgage application volume increased 16.6 percent in the week ending September 28, according to MBA's Mortgage Composite Index. Meanwhile, the Refinance Index increased 20 percent from a week before to its highest recorded level since April 2009.

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Housing Can’t Save the Economy

Both existing and new home sales are on the rise, but no amount of improvement in the housing sector will bring relief to the overall economy, which continues to struggle, according to Capital Economics. Economists at Capital Economics suggest the Fed's launch of QE3 may bring the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate even lower. While this may entice more home buyers, ""the bottom line is that housing is unlikely to become a significant driver of GDP growth,"" Capital Economics states.

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Mortgage Rates Break Low Records Again as QE3 Starts

It's unknown whether or not the Federal Reserve's new stimulus will be able to whip the economy back into shape, but one thing's for sure: It's sent mortgage rates plummeting. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed new record lows in all categories except the 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM).

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Survey: Election Influences Timing for 25% of Potential Homebuyers

After conducting an online survey including 2,570 U.S. adults, MortgageMarvel.com reported 25 percent of Americans said the upcoming presidential election would influence the timing of their decision to buy a home. More specifically, 13 percent said that if they were considering buying a home, they would delay their hold off until after the election because of the uncertainty it creates. Twelve percent said they would take the election into consideration, and it might cause them to postpone on buying a home.

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