Daily Dose

Houses lose out on big money when they fail to take advantage of low interests and refinance. For example, a household with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage of $200,000 at an interest rate of 6.5 percent that refinances when rates fall to 4.5 percent will save over $80,000 in interest payments over the life of the loan, even after including all the typical refinancing costs. Mortgage rates were around 4.7 percent in December 2010, higher than the current rate of 3.5 percent. Still, many homes fail to refinance.

Research released by Arch Mortgage Insurance Company in its Winter 2015 Edition of Housing and Mortgage Market Review showed an increased risk of lowering home prices in oil-producing states. Midland, Texas ranked highest for risk of lowering home prices at 60 percent. States and cities were examined on the likelihood of home prices being lowered in the next two years, based on recent economic and housing market data.

The strengthening employment sector, declining commodity prices, and rising income prices are some reasons 2015 is set for a pickup, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group.

President and CEO of Genworth Mortgage Insurance and Chair of U.S. Mortgage Insurers Rohit Gupta testified on behalf of the Mortgage Insurance Industry (MI) at the House Financial Services Committee Housing and Insurance Subcommittee today stressing the need for balance between the roles of the Federal Housing Administration and MI when to comes to taxpayers.

Mortgage rates are up for the third straight week of February, according to a report released by Freddie Mac on Thursday. However, fixed mortgage rates still remain near late May 2013 lows and numbers released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday show mortgage rates on a month-to-month basis are down in January. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year FRM rate increased to 3.8 percent from last week’s rate of 3.76 percent.

U.S. home prices rose for the 14th consecutive quarter by 1.4 percent, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's House Price Index released Thursday. The price increase was seen in the purchase-only, seasonally adjusted index in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Bigger is better when it comes to dream homes, according to a report released Thursday by Trulia called “Dreaming Big: Americans Still Yearning for Larger Homes.” According to the report, dreaming of a bigger homes spans all generations with Baby Boomers, Millennials, and GenXers all surveying they want more space.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in her testimony to Congress on Wednesday said the Fed would be using "patience" on deciding when to increase interest rates. Yellen was cautious about citing any particular date for the increase, citing slow productivity growth as one of the reasons for the delay.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro addressed the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Wednesday on the Fiscal Year 2016 budget proposal for HUD, where he emphasized ...

The current 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow mortgages has taken a slight dip down to 3.76 percent after reaching a 13-week high of 3.85 percent on Tuesday.