Tag Archives: European Union

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slumped back to a new, record-breaking low, as manufacturing fell behind and more investors turned to the safe haven of Treasury debt. Zillow found that interest rates for the loan fell to 3.43 percent, beating a previous low of 3.48 percent for the real estate Web site and setting a new record since it started reporting interest rates in 2008. Interest rates for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.87 percent, while those for 5- and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages hovered at 2.43 percent.

Mortgage rates remained somewhat flat for the week ending June 28, according to Freddie Mac├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Average fixed mortgage rates remained largely unchanged, helping to keep affordability high for buyers in the market to purchase a home or looking for a refinance. The 30-year fixed averaged 3.66 percent (0.7 point), staying level with the all-time low that was achieved the previous week. At this time in 2011, the 30-year fixed averaged 4.51 percent. The 15-year fixed averaged 2.94 percent (0.7 point), down slightly from 2.95 percent the previous week.

Count another major downgrade against the global financial community. On Thursday Moody├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Investors Service slashed credit ratings for 15 major financial institutions, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, among others. The reason for Moody├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós actions: The biggest banks face too much risk from debt-saddled Europe, earnings volatility, and still-faulty mortgages stateside. The ratings agency grouped the downgraded institutions into three groups. Stocks slid for many of the banks.

Renters and first-time homebuyers want more amenities in their first homes and generally feel a sense of optimism that outpaces the reality in a slowly recovering housing market ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô a disconnect that could set the stage for the next housing crisis. Those are the findings that real estate company Trulia unveiled in an American Dream survey it released Wednesday. Of 86 markets in the 100 largest metro areas, 61 percent, or nearly two-thirds, of Americans believe that home prices will rise over the next year, according to the company.

The revised figures for economic growth in the year's first quarter were disappointing, but Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group is still forecasting moderate growth for the remainder of 2012. A report released by the group Tuesday projected 2.2 percent growth for all of 2012. Several factors presented risks to the economic outlook, including a slowing trend in job growth and potential contagion in the euro zone from Greece's financial issues. Consumer attitudes also influence the economic outlook.

Despite the deteriorating situation in Europe, the United States housing market's recent gains should drive up stocks valuations for building products companies in the near future, Barclays said in a report Tuesday. Barclays├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó U.S. Building Products & Homebuilding report shows that valuations for building products stocks under the institution's coverage are in the lower half of their historical trading ranges, largely due to "fairly lackluster" first-quarter earnings caused by lag between home purchases and building products sales. Financial crises in the euro zone are also driving down building products stocks.

The crisis of confidence in Europe once again drove mortgage rates to record lows this week, with real estate Web site Zillow reporting that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slammed into 3.56 percent, the lowest it has recorded since it started surveying rates. Zillow said that the 30-year loan initially rose to 3.62 percent this week after euro zone authorities decided to bail out Spain with favorable terms. The rate for a 15-year loan hovered at 2.95 percent, while interest rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.68 percent.

As the debt crisis in Europe continues to worsen and investors look to Treasury bonds for security, fixed mortgage rates fell to all-time record lows in the last week of May. According to the results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed averaged 3.75 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending May 31. This is down from 3.88 percent the previous week and 4.55 percent at the same time last year. The 15-year fixed rate mortgage also fell, bringing three of the four benchmark mortgage rates under 3 percent.

A surge in refinance applications could propel mortgage originations by more than $200 billion in 2012, increasing to $1.28 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group attributed estimates ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô upwardly revised from $1.26 trillion in 2011 ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô to account for a refinance boom sparked by the crises in debt-saddled Europe. The MBA said that it expected refinance originations would amount to $870 billion this year, an amount nearly identical to forecasts from last year, when HARP led the way in estimates.

Investors fleeing Europe once more helped drive mortgage refinance applications to 3.8 percent this week, up from the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA's Refinance Index climbed 5.6 percent from the week before, signaling a rise for the third consecutive week and helping reach highs not seen since February earlier this year. The four-week moving average ticked up by 4.83 for the index. The refinance share of mortgage activity leapt to 76.6 percent of total application volume.