Tag Archives: Fixed-Rate Mortgage

As House Republicans shifted their focus to a balanced budget amendment Friday in order to push through a debt-ceiling raise bill, two analytics companies posted upticks in mortgage rates - a sign that some say the markets feel increasingly unsure about whether the nation will be able to pay its debts come August 2. A Bankrate, Inc. survey reflected a 6-basis point surge to 4.74 percent, with mortgages totaling 0.35 discount and origination points, with Freddie Mac reporting a similar jump.

As splintering debt-ceiling negotiations unnerved analysts and ratings agencies, Treasury yields and mortgage rates remained relatively stable over the weekend, reflecting a widespread consensus among investors and market watchers that partisan divisions would soon give way to a grand bargain between policymakers. CNN reported Sunday that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) refused to agree to a set of conditions at the White House, ending dramatic four-month-long negotiations.

On Thursday Bankrate and Freddie Mac released reports with varying conclusions about mortgage rates for this week, with the former posting a slight dip in 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and the GSE reporting few changes from last week. Publishing its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Freddie Mac yielded a 4.52 percent with an average 0.7 percent for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, a nominal increase from last week when the same rates lingered at 4.51 percent.

Freddie Mac released a southerly primary mortgage market survey Thursday, revealing downward trends for mortgage rates across the board against a backdrop of anemic job growth and steadily increasing unemployment figures. According to the GSE, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 4.51 percent falling from 4.60 percent last week and staying just under the 4.57 percent average it struck last year. The data for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages yielded a fall from 3.75 percent last week to 3.65 percent this week.

On Friday lending giant Prudential Mortgage Capital Company announced a joint venture with Perella Weinberg Partners that will allow the two companies to store and originate future commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). Participation in the re-emerging CMBS market is critical to maintaining our leadership position in the commercial mortgage arena, David Twardock, president of Prudential Mortgage, said in a statement.

Representing a nudge in the right direction for the origination market, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 13 percent swell in home loan applications submitted last week, up from the record low reported just one week earlier. It was the biggest gain recorded in three months. Michael Fratantoni, MBA's VP of research and economics, says low rates are driving consumers back to loans. Rates have dropped over eight of the last nine weeks - a primary driver for homeowners looking to refinance. MBA's Refinance Index jumped 16.5 percent.

MountainView Servicing Group, a subsidiary of MountainView Capital Holdings, announced Monday that it will serve as the exclusive advisor for a $188 million Ginnie Mae servicing portfolio. The portfolio is comprised entirely of fixed-rate mortgage loans, 98.1 percent of which are Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, with 99.9 percent retail origination and a weighted average interest rate of 5.95 percent.

Mortgage lenders across the country have reported layoffs and substantial downsizing, a consequence of heightened regulatory scrutiny, weak job growth, and brittle markets slumbering in the wake of diminishing consumer confidence. Despite a small spurt in refinancing measures and a drop in lending rates to their lowest ebb since the turn of the century, origination loan volume remains low, and lenders are coming to terms with the fact that they will be financing fewer mortgages over a longer-than-expected period.

Surveys released by Bankrate and Freddie Mac on Thursday confirm a continuing slide in fixed and adjustable mortgage rates, with analysts attributing the declines to news about weak job growth. Figures in Freddie Mac's report trended alongside those in Bankrate's weekly survey to reveal a decline for 30-year fixed-rate averages to 4.49 percent and 4.65 percent, respectively. Bankrate says its findings reflect a straight nine-week fall for mortgage rates, made more unstable by restive housing markets and long-term government debt.

Homebuyers can now review the latest mortgage loan quotes right from their phone for loan shopping on the go. On Tuesday, Zillow released a statement publicizing the launch of its newest innovation: a mobile app that allows iPhone users to navigate the mortgage market and receive the latest custom quotes from lenders and mortgage bankers, with tools to determine the amount of their monthly payments and decide whether refinancing packages would make sense for their homes.