Arizona Real Estate Notebook

“October’s consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since October 2005 as mortgage rates continued to decline this week to their lowest level in almost six months,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Continued market concerns about weaker economic growth and further declines in the housing market have kept mortgage rates [...]

“Market concerns about slower economic growth over the next few months allowed mortgage rates to drift lower from last week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “How much of a drag the housing slump will be on the economy remains unknown. Additionally, recent reports suggest some regional manufacturing weakness in October. [...]

“Both economic indicators and mortgage rates came in mixed this week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “While retail sales were stronger in September, consumer confidence fell below market expectations in October. Moreover, both the core consumer price index and producer prices for September remained contained. “In his October 15th speech, [...]

“Mortgage rates eased slightly this week following three weeks of increases. The initial effects of the credit market turmoil that began in August are starting to emerge in housing statistics,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “New home sales in August fell to the slowest pace in more than seven years [...]

I’ve been fascinated by mortgage fraud and what’s going on in the mortgage industry. I found the blog Blown Mortgage last night and really liked the insiders angle.

How can that be when the Federal Reserve Bank lowered interest rates? It is a good time to reflect on what drives mortgage rates. Mortgage Backed Securities are the key to mortgage interest rates. Obviously the rates are affected by many different factors and this last week despite the lowering of interest rates, the stock [...]

Don’t believe everything you read. Despite all the “sub-prime meltdown” excitement, interest rates have fallen almost a half a percentage point since mid-July! If you have good credit you can now buy a house and get the best interest rate in several months. “Interest rates on prime conforming loans fell across the board in the [...]

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending September 6, 2007. “In other news, the most recent Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (CMHPI) release issued by Freddie Mac reported that on average, national house prices grew by 0.1 percent in the second quarter, the slowest quarterly house price growth since the fourth quarter [...]

I wondered what these “mortgage accelerator” loans that advertise on the radio all the time were all about. It turns out a Peoria Realtor, Chris Butterworth, has done all the leg work for us on mortage accelerator loans. The ads say they are big in Australia but here is a note from an Australian! The [...]

[With all the catastrophizing about the mortgage market, I asked Robyn Robertson of Suburban Mortgage if she could explain what it means to real people looking to buy a home. Below is her excellent, cut-to-the-chase response. Call Robyn if you have other questions. John] This mortgage market has seen a lot of volatility in the [...]

So the mortgage problems on Wall Street haven’t slopped over onto mortgages interest rates.

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending August 16, 2007. “Interest rates on prime conforming fixed-rate mortgages ticked up a little in the past week, in line with 10-year Treasury rates movements and retracing part of last week’s decline,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Problems in the [...]

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending July 19, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 7/9/2007. “”Interest rates on prime conforming fixed-rate mortgages eased further in the past week, according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey, even though other sources such as HSH Associates reported that jumbo fixed rates increased [...]

Lou Barnes “One perversely pleasant sign in this deepening credit panic: on Friday, frightened investors began to buy top-quality mortgages as fast as Treasurys, and the lowest-fee 30-year loans fell toward 6.5 percent.” A welcome flight to quality.

Most companies charge a certain percentage of the loan, often 1 percent or 2 percent, or the equivalent of six months of interest if the mortgage is paid off early — generally within two to five years. Local loan experts say they’ve seen prepayment penalties range from $5,000 to as high as $30,000. A prepayment [...]

Here’s a cool little graph from the Arizona Mortgage Guru on What Makes Up the FICO Score? Hat tip to the Phoenix Real Estate Guy.

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending July 19, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 7/9/2007. “In a week marked by stock indexes reaching new highs on Wall Street, mortgage rates lingered near the previous week’s level as the latest economic indicators did not affect inflation expectations significantly,” said Frank [...]

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending June 28, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 6/7/2007. “Mortgage rates edged down slightly for the second week in a row after having risen over the previous month and a half, and as financial markets prepared for the June 28th Federal Open Market [...]

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending June 21, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 6/7/2007. “Mortgage rates eased this week due to market concerns that the housing market will be a longer drag on the economy,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “May’s housing starts [...]

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending June 14, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 6/7/2007. “Mortgage rates moved sharply upward this week, with rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages jumping more than 20 basis points, the largest upward movement in over three years,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president [...]