Archive for the ‘Mortgage Information’ Category
-->
Mar
29
Posted by danita jolly
Another Record Low Set For Long-Term Mortgage Rates This Week
McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.85 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 26, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.98 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.85 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower in the life of Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, which dates back to 1971 for the 30-year FRM.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.58 percent with an average 0.7 point, downfrom last week when it averaged 4.61 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.34 percent. The 15-year FRM has never been lower in the life of Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, which dates back to 1991 for the 15-year FRM.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 4.96 percent this week, with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.98 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.67 percent. The 5-year ARM has never been lower in the life of Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, which dates back to 2005 for the 5-year ARM.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.85 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.91 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.24 percent.
-->
Mar
14
Posted by danita jolly
The bond market was flat at market’s close and rates were able to hold their position from last Friday. Citibank made a big splash in the financial sector by announcing they did not need anymore TARP money from the government. What’s more, the flagging financial institution is looking to post its first profitable quarter in a long time. This caused quite a bit of excitement in the stock market helping the Dow to close up 54 points and finish the week at 7,224.
We’re still waiting for more information regarding the implementation of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. I’ll keep you posted, but right now I’m just as much in the dark as you are.
Best regards,
Ben
All rates are based on a principal and interest payment and a 1% loan origination fee. Please note that interest rates for condos are slightly higher than what’s show below.
Ben Lenderman
Home Mortgage Consultant
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
P6447-140
10900 NE 8th St
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-468-8613 Tel
425-301-1897 Cell
866-636-7738 Fax
ben.lenderman@wellsfargo.com
http://www.wfhm.com/ben-lenderman
-->
Mar
07
Posted by danita jolly
We were able to pick up some pricing this week from where we left off last Friday. Continued stock market and unemployment woes led investors to the safe haven that is the bond market. The Dow closed at 6,626 and employment figures released today showed an additional loss of 651,000 jobs in February – bringing the unemployment rate up to 8.1%. One (unfortunately) interesting note in today’s trading was GM. The automaker giant traded at its lowest level since May 1933. Yikes!
We’re hoping to have more information soon on the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. We know what the plan has in mind but we don’t yet know how it will be implemented. There are many requirements that a homeowner must meet in order to be eligible for the plan, but the Obama administration is forecasting a potential benefit to 5 million Americans through loan refinances or loan modifications. Hopefully we’ll have more information on this by next Friday.
All rates are based on a principal and interest payment and a 1% loan origination fee. Please note that interest rates for condos are slightly higher than what’s show below.
Ben Lenderman, Home Mortgage Consultant
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
P6447-140
10900 NE 8th St
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-468-8613 Tel
425-301-1897 Cell
866-636-7738 Fax
ben.lenderman@wellsfargo.com
http://www.wfhm.com/ben-lenderman
-->
Feb
14
Posted by danita jolly
The House passed the $787 billion stimulus plan today. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this evening. The markets had a lackluster day as the stimulus bill was being mulled over all day in Congress. Mortgage-backed securities closed down -28 bps on the day. The stock market didn’t fare much better with the Dow losing 82 points to close at 7,850. Year-to-date the Fed has purchased $115 billion in mortgage-backed securities. $115 billion down – another $400-$700 billion to go. It will be interesting to see how the markets open on Tuesday after the dust has settled (or maybe not settled) on the stimulus bill.
All rates are based on a principal and interest payment and a 1% loan origination fee.
Ben Lenderman
Home Mortgage Consultant
Office: (425) 468-8613
Fax: (425) 468-8676
Mobile: (425) 301-1897
Toll Free: (800) 643-0528
Contact Me
10900 NE 8TH ST
BELLEVUE, WA 98004
Directions
-->
Feb
07
Posted by danita jolly
Mortgage-backed securities continued their flat-to-negative slide this week. The Jobs Report was released yesterday with a reported loss of 598,000 jobs for the month of January. This took the unemployment rate from 7.2% to 7.6%. High unemployment numbers typically send investors retreating from stocks and into the safe haven of bonds (thereby improving interest rates). But by now bond traders are used to seeing poor unemployment data and it didn’t cause a major shift in yesterday’s trading. President Obama’s stimulus package—almost $1 trillion—will have a large impact on the markets. My gut tells me that bonds may suffer at the expense of stocks if the bill is passed. It could be good for all markets, though, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Please note that I’ve removed the Jumbo Super Credit program. As of last week that program was discontinued. The good news is that jumbo rates have come down a lot, so we really didn’t lose out on too much.
Best regards, Ben
Home Mortgage Consultant
Office: (425) 468-8613
Fax: (425) 468-8676
Mobile: (425) 301-1897
Toll Free: (800) 643-0528
Contact Me
10900 NE 8TH ST
BELLEVUE, WA 98004
Directions
-->
Jan
24
Posted by danita jolly
Bonds still struggled a bit this week but there was some silver lining today as mortgage-backed securities closed on the upside. With few economic reports released this week, bonds took most of their direction from the stock market. Traders hammered companies whose earnings reports came in below expectations and rewarded those whose reports came inline or above expectations. The Fed is scheduled to meet next Wednesday (Jan 28). It will be interesting to see what comes out of this meeting. Some Fed members have been recently hinting about concerns of inflation. As I’ve said many times before inflation is the archenemy of interest rates. Hopefully inflation won’t be brought up and rates will remain steady or better yet improve. *For Jumbo Super Credit . . . this loan program rewards our best bank customers with incredibly low rates on non-conforming loan amounts (jumbo). In order to qualify for Tier 2, a customer must have between $50,000 and $250,000 in aggregate balances with the bank. For Tier 2, aggregate balances must be greater than $250,000. Loan amounts for this program are capped at $2,000,000.
Ben Lenderman
Home Mortgage Consultant
Office: (425) 468-8613
Fax: (425) 468-8676
Mobile: (425) 301-1897
Toll Free: (800) 643-0528
Contact Me
10900 NE 8TH ST
BELLEVUE, WA 98004
Directions
-->
Jan
17
Posted by danita jolly
The bond market took a turn for the worse today. Stocks were all over the map and bonds seemed to be directionless. The FNMA 30-year 4.0% security lost 44 bps today and didn’t have much time to try to recover as the bond market had an early close ahead of Monday’s Martin Luther King holiday. The government continued its bailout ways today as it gave BofA an additional $20 billion to help it cope with recent losses. The Dow closed at 8,281 and oil wrapped up at $36.51/barrel. The bond market will be closed on Monday in observance of MLK. No new rates will be available until Tuesday. I’d like to introduce a new rate category below. It’s called the Jumbo Super-Credit. This loan program rewards our best bank customers with incredibly low rates on non-conforming loan amounts (jumbo). In order to qualify for Tier 1, a customer must have between $50,000 and $250,000 in aggregate balances with the bank. For Tier 2, aggregate balances must be greater than $250,000. Loan amounts for this program are capped at $2,000,000. Ben Lenderman, Home Mortgage Consultant
Office: (425) 468-8613
Fax: (425) 468-8676
Mobile: (425) 301-1897
Toll Free: (800) 643-0528
Contact Me 10900 NE 8TH ST BELLEVUE, WA 98004
Directions
-->
Jan
11
Posted by danita jolly
True to its word the government began its 2009 purchasing binge of mortgage-backed securities this week. January 5-7 the Fed bought $10.2 billion in mortgage-backed securities to help spur the bond market and bring interest rates down to their current levels. The government announced in 2008 that it would potentially buy $500-$800 billion in mortgage-backed securities in 2009 to help bring recovery to the flagging housing market. The Fed said it would continue to provide weekly updates about purchases every Thursday. I’ll keep you up to speed.
Ben Lenderman,Home Mortgage Consultant
Office: (425) 468-8613
Fax: (425) 468-8676
Mobile: (425) 301-1897
Toll Free: (800) 643-0528
Contact Me
-->
Jan
03
Posted by danita jolly
Well, 2009 didn’t get off to a great start as far as mortgage-backed securities were concerned. Economic news reported throughout the week made investors pull money out of bonds and put it into stocks instead. The Dow gained 258 points today to get back into the 9,000 territory (it closed at 9,034). I do believe we’ll gain back some of these recent losses. The government’s commitment to purchase billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities in 2009 should help rates stay low. It might be a bit volatile as the new year settles in, but optimism is running pretty high right now in the bond world.
All rates are based on a principal and interest payment and a 1% loan origination fee.
Ben Lenderman
Home Mortgage Consultant
Office: (425) 468-8613
Fax: (425) 468-8676
Mobile: (425) 301-1897
Toll Free: (800) 643-0528
Contact Me
10900 NE 8TH ST
BELLEVUE, WA 98004
Directions
-->
Dec
28
Posted by danita jolly
News from NW Multiple Listing Service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 4, 2008
The existence of real estate microclimates means consumers and agents alike should understand that expertise within a specific market segment is now more important than ever, says Pat Grimm, owner of Windermere Capitol Hill, Inc. “I remind our agents that regional trends don’t always speak for all product types, property locations or price points — the pressures on supply and demand are never evenly distributed.”
Grimm noted new construction activity tends to be understated in Northwest MLS reports, in part because of how pre-sales are handled. For example, he notes multiple high rise condominiums are in various stages of construction in downtown Seattle. Some builders-developers are pre-selling or only listing a sampling of their offerings with NWMLS brokers, he explained.
Grimm estimates around 500 additional sales around downtown Seattle are scheduled to close in the near future, but they are not listed in the MLS database. “When considering all this activity, the reality is actually better than the perception in this situation,” he remarked.
Recent actions by the Federal Reserve have resulted in mortgage rates dropping to their lowest levels since 2003, Scott stated, adding, “What consumers may not understand is that every half-point change in interest rates is equal to a 5 percent drop in the sales price of a home. That means the recent dramatic drop in interest rates is equal to at least a 10 percent reduction in home sales prices.”
Lower rates are providing opportunities for homeowners to significantly reduce their monthly payment by refinancing, Scott emphasized. Contrary to what prospective homeowners may have heard, perfect credit isn’t needed to qualify for a low interest loan, nor is a large down payment or a large amount of equity in an existing home. “Loans still exist for the majority of people looking to purchase or refinance.” Read story here…
For real estate statistics and information on Burien, Normandy Park, and Des Moines, click on the picture below to compare our city and surrounding areas with other King County cities. Yes, things aren’t as great as they used to be, but they are doing well compared to other areas.
