Tag Archives: Fixed-Rate Mortgage

Debt crises in Europe once more left interest rates for mortgage loans near record lows. Finance Web site Bankrate.com found 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 4.09 percent, down from 4.10 percent last week, alongside a 15-year loan that hit 3.28 percent this week, down from 3.32 percent. Bankrate.com found said that 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages meanwhile fell from 3.05 percent last week to 3.03 percent this week. News out of Britain this week found that the bulwark economy slipped into a double-dip recession during the first quarter.

Talk of reform for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration featured prominently at a hearing convened by the Senate Banking Committee Thursday to address HUD├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós budget for the next fiscal year. The FHA has fallen under scrutiny in recent years over an inability to meet the 2 percent capital ratio buffer required by law. GSE also reform remains a dead issue this election year, despite numerous proposals for reform from lawmakers and public outcry over more than $180 billion in taxpayer funds sunken into conservatorship.

Lawmakers seated on the Senate Banking Committee convened a hearing Wednesday to determine just how radically draft legislation should lift barriers to refinance opportunities for homeowners and lenders. The message from those testifying: More refinance modifications would help, but beware of the impact for investors and lenders. The Obama administration moved on expansions to HARP last fall by working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency to sign off on lower loan-to-value ratio requirements and remove obstacles for lenders and servicers.

Mortgage applications fell 3.8 percent from the week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group found that application volume waned by 3.3 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis from the week before. Purchases went up 2.7 percent from one week earlier, climbing by a seasonally unadjusted 3.6 percent in the same vein. Refinance applications declined on the whole. The Refinance Index dipped by 5.6 percent from the week before, as conventional refis slipped by 6.1 percent and government refis climbed down by 2.1 percent.

A surge in homebuyer traffic and waxing inventory failed to prevent home prices from declining in March, according to one survey. Polling 2,500 agents for their monthly HousingPulse Tracking Survey, Campbell Surveys and Inside Mortgage Finance found Monday that home prices for non-distressed properties slid 5.7 percent year-over-year, alongside 2.5 percent for move-in ready REOs over the same time frame. Prices for short sales plummeted 14.3 percent.

Debt crises in Europe spurred a wave of refinance applications last week, leading mortgage loan applications to tick up by 6.9 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group found that mortgage loan application volume went up 6.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before. The Refinance Index edged up 13.5 percent from the week before, with the refinance share of mortgage activity increasing to 75.2 percent of the share of total activity.

Mortgage rates fell once more as economic worries accelerate on the heels of a disappointing jobs report and debt crises overseas, with rates for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage slamming into new lows. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac found the 15-year loan cresting at 3.11 percent, a new all-time low below 3.13 percent seen in early March. Freddie also said that the 30-year loan yet again averaged 3.88 percent, down from 3.98 percent last week. The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell from 2.86 percent to 2.85 percent, while the 1-year ARM went up to 2.80 percent from 2.78 percent.

For many Americans, 2012 may be the year to own a new home and trade up on the mortgage, if results from Fannie Mae's latest survey say anything. The mortgage giant released results Monday that found 33 percent of respondents with the expectation that home prices will increase over the next year, a 5 percentage point climb from the month before and the highest over the last 12 months. The respondents said that home prices could tick up by 0.9 percent over the next year, just as 39 percent of Americans agreed that mortgage rates will likely ascend in the next year.

The refinance share of originations ran up to 57 percent for independent mortgage banks during the fourth quarter last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group said in a fourth-quarter performance report Thursday that new numbers for refinance share reflected a jump from 45 percent seen in the third quarter. Chartered financial institutions and independent bankers profited by $1,093 from each loan made in the fourth quarter, a decline from $1,263 per loan in the third quarter last year. Average production income hovered around 58 basis points in the fourth quarter.

Mortgage rates changed little from last week, continuing consecutive record lows from previous weeks. Freddie Mac found the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 3.98 percent, down a notch from 3.99 percent, while the 15-year loan hovered near 3.21 percent, down from 3.23 percent last week. The 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage fell from 2.90 percent to 2.86 percent, with the 1-year mortgage unchanged at 2.78 percent. Finance Web site Bankrate.com fielded few changes. The 30-year loan inched forward to 4.25 percent from 4.23 percent.