Tag Archives: Mortgage Rates

For the first time in two years, national home values registered a decline for two straight months, according to the Zillow Real Estate Market Reports released Tuesday. Furthermore, while annual gains continue, they are cooling, according to Zillow. "The months-long period of annual home value appreciation rates in the 6 and 7 percent range was great while it lasted, but we knew it would not continue indefinitely," said Zillow's chief economist, Stan Humphries.

Last week saw another drop in mortgage application volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its Weekly Applications Survey. MBA's Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent the week ending November 22, the group reported. It was the fourth straight week of decreases in loan application activity. On an unadjusted basis, the index declined 9 percent week-over-week.

Having risen for the previous four months, mortgage interest rates stumbled in October, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Steady gains in home prices and rising mortgage rates across the United States contributed to weakening housing affordability in the year's third quarter, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Thursday. According to the association's Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), 64.5 percent of new and existing homes from the start of July through the end of September were considered affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,400. That share is down from 69.3 percent in the second quarter.

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows the average interest rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) climbing to 4.35 percent (0.7 point) for the week ending November 14.

Mortgage applications continued to dip last week as November got under way, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. The survey's Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume, fell 1.8 percent for the week ending November 8. Volume data for the week ending November 1 was revised upward to reflect a 2.8 percent drop (compared to the originally reported 7 percent decrease). On an unadjusted basis, last week's index was down 3 percent.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it has issued a proposed consent order in its enforcement action against Castle & Cooke Mortgage, LLC. Under the terms of the order, Castle & Cooke has agreed to pay more than $9.2 million in restitution to consumers and $4 million in civil penalties to settle allegations that two of its officers--president Matthew Pineda and SVP of capital markets Buck Hawkins--paid illegal bonuses to loan officers based on the interest rates of loans offered to borrowers.

Speaking at the 2013 Realtors Conference & Expo Friday, National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun predicted steadiness in existing-home sales over the next year as prices continue to ascend. Looking over the past year, Yun said he expects existing-home sales to be up about 10 percent in 2013 to 5.13 million. Sales in 2014 are expected to hold fairly even at about 5.12 million. Reviewing price movements, he said the median existing-home price should end 2013 about 11 percent higher than 2012.

The University of Michigan's preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment report shows a drop in confidence for November--and Capital Economics' Amna Asaf is at a loss to explain why.

Mortgage application volume increased throughout October, but a substantial decline recorded in the month's final days has experts at Capital Economics doubting that the trend will continue for the time being. Using application numbers released by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Capital Economics calculated a 7.5 percent increase in applications in October, pulling activity up from a five-month streak of declines. However, for the week ending November 1, MBA reported a 7.0 percent drop.