Rural Areas to Stay Rural — for Now

Rural Areas to Stay Rural — for Now

The National Association of REALTORS® and other housing groups have been urging Congress for years to grandfather eligibility of some 900 rural communities into federal rural housing programs, including the popular Sec. 502 direct-loan program that enables home buyers who can’t get financing elsewhere to get no-down mortgage loans. Congressional intervention is needed because the definition of rural hasn’t changed since 1974, and hundreds of rural communities, including many near growing metropolitan areas, are at risk of losing their designation even though they remain for all intents and purposes rural. Read more...

Home Sales, Prices Both Up in August

Home Sales, Prices Both Up in August

Existing-home sales last month were up almost 8 percent from July and home prices were up 9.5 percent from a year ago, to $187,400.

“More buyers are taking advantage of excellent housing affordability conditions,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in his national press conference today in Washington in which he released the latest home sales figures. “Inventories in many parts of the country are broadly balanced, favoring neither sellers nor buyers. However, the West and Florida markets are experiencing inventory shortages, which are placing pressure on prices.” Read and Hear more...

How High Will Housing Prices Be in 2016?

How High Will Housing Prices Be in 2016?

A quarterly survey of more than 100 economists shows growing optimism for the real estate market when it comes to housing prices. The majority of the economists surveyed say they expect home prices to steadily increase for the next four years. 

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Fixed Mortgage Rates Find New Lows

Fixed Mortgage Rates Find New Lows
                              In Wake of QE3 Announcement

The Federal Reserve’s announcement confirming a third round of quantitative easing sent long-term mortgage rates tumbling to all-new record lows this week.

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed a drop in both the 30-year and 15-year fixed. According to the survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.49 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending September 20, down from 3.55 percent the week before.

The 15-year FRM also fell this week, averaging 2.77 percent (0.6 point). The previous survey showed an average of 2.85 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) saw so slippage, however. The 1-year ARM saw no change from last week, averaging 2.61 percent (0.4 point). The 5-year ARMactually increased, rising to 2.76 percent (0.6 point) from 2.72 percent before. Read more

Basel III Will Increase Mortgage Costs

Basel III Will Increase Mortgage Costs

Limit Riskier Lending: Fitch

Proposals found in Basel III to raise capital requirements for mortgage loans would increase borrower costs for traditional mortgages and make nontraditional mortgages less available at regulated banks, according to a commentary from Fitch Ratings.

“U.S. regulators’ ‘notice of proposed rulemaking’ (NPR) addressing capital requirements and risk-weighted asset (RWA) calculation criteria would, if adopted, ultimately push banks away from all but the most conventional and low risk forms of mortgage lending,” Fitch stated.

Nontraditional loans that carry higher risks fall under Category 2, while traditional loans are in Category 1. Under the NRP, Category 2 loans, such as negative amortization mortgages, loans with a balloon payment, loans lacking verification of a borrower’s ability to repay, loans that take more than 30 years to mature, require banks to hold two to three times more capital, Fitch explained. Read more

A Good Week for Housing

A Good Week for Housing

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

The housing recovery showed signs of strengthening this week, as two new reports showed home sales and prices on the upswing. 
Existing-home sales have soared nearly 8 percent from a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported this week. Meanwhile, the new-home market also is showing signs of recovery, with starts rising 29.1 percent over year-ago levels, according to the Census Bureau. 
What’s more, home builders are getting more confident about the market with recent sales, future sales, and buyer traffic. Homebuilder confidence reached its highest level since the housing-boom time of June 2006, according to this month’s index of homebuilder sentiment. 
Also this week, fixed-rate mortgages this week were at all-time record lows or near it, helping to keep home buyer affordability high, Freddie Mac reported in its weekly mortgage market survey. Read more:

Fed moves push mortgage back into record territory

Fed moves push mortgage back into record territory

Mortgage rates were at or near record lows this week following the Federal Reserve's announcement that it will buy tens of billions in mortgage bonds every month for an indefinite period in order to reduce the cost of borrowing and stimulate the economy.

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