Mortgage rates continue to defy expectations, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate barely budging for the fourth consecutive week.Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Feb. 23: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.16 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 4.15 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.62 percent. 15-year fixed-rate mortga
Is now a good time for FHA to reduce hurdles to homeownership with a lower mortgage insurance premium? NAR says yes, but the Trump administration and some members of Congress aren’t so sure. On Inauguration Day, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended a planned reduction in the FHA premium saying in a letter to mortgage lenders that “more analysis and research are deemed necessary.”The quarter-point reduction had been
In 2016, 15.5 percent of home purchases were completed using Federal Housing Administration loans, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. For many borrowers, the FHA requires a down payment of just 3.5 percent of the purchase price of a home.The following are the eight metros with populations of more than 200,000 that had the largest percentage of purchases using FHA-insured loans in 2016.1. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas FHA sales: 35%2. Ogden-Clea
Forty-three million American homeowners aged 55 and older say they plan to live out the rest of their years in their current home. But adding the necessary features they'll need to age in place could prove costly—and possibly financially impossible for some—according to a new analysis by mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac.About 1.5 million existing homes require retrofitting, such as widened doorways and hallways, adding levered handles, or
As real estate heads into its busy spring season, consumers aren't showing typically large demand for mortgage loans just yet. Total mortgage application volume, which includes refinances and home purchases, dropped 2 percent week over week for the week ending Feb. 17, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. Total mortgage volume has plunged nearly 21 percent from a year ago.Refinancing applications has shouldered most of the blame for the decr
Home buyers at many income levels likely will see an inadequate amount of homes for sale in their price range in the coming months, according to a new housing affordability model created by the National Association of REALTORS® and realtor.com®.The new Affordability Distribution Curve—which culls data from mortgages, state-level income, and listings on realtor.com®—examines how many listings are affordable to those in a particular income p
Loans that have been modified since 2014 are redefaulting at faster rates than those that were modified in prior years, according to a new report.Seventy-five percent of the loans that redefaulted did so within the first two years after receiving a loan modification, according to analysis of Fannie Mae loan data.“Relative to prior years, recent trends indicate more modifications made to borrowers that have prior failed loan modifications, lower
Home affordability is more than the price a buyer agrees to pay a seller. In a new study, SmartAsset factored in closing costs, real estate taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and mortgage rates for every county and city in the U.S. with a population of more than 5,000.SmartAsset pinpointed the most affordable cities and counties in its analysis by considering the total housing costs on an average house that accounted for the smallest proportion of t
Refinancing volume dipped to its lowest level since June 2009 and prompted overall mortgage application volume to drop 3.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Total mortgage application volume – which also includes applications for home purchases – is now nearly 31 percent lower than the same week a year ago.As mortgage rates have inched up, refinance applications have continued to fal
Bigger isn’t necessarily better when it comes to appreciation. In fact, a new study shows that smaller homes likely will offer a bigger percentage return on a home shopper’s investment.A new study conducted by NerdWallet culled three years of listing data from realtor.com® of the 20 of the largest U.S. metro areas and shows that smaller homes, in general, appreciate at a faster rate than larger homes.Markets can vary greatly, however. In 17
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