The economy’s improving but lending standards are not. Nationally, banks are making mortgage approvals harder to come by. Underwriting guidelines are tightening.
Mortgage markets improved last week on domestic jobs data and international banking concerns. The news triggered buying in the bond market and, as a result, conventional, FHA and VA mortgage rates improved for the 4th consecutive week.
Credit scores not only make the difference between a mortgage approval and mortgage turn-down, but they also play a large role in determining your actual mortgage note rate. In the 3-minute piece, the NBC Today Show talks about 7 ways that homebuyers ruin their credit — often by accident.
On the first Friday of every month, the U.S. government releases its Non-Farm Payrolls data from the month prior. The data is more commonly known as “the jobs report” and it swings a big stick on Wall Street. Especially now — many analysts believe job growth is tightly linked to the future of the U.S. economy.
A Pending Home Sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but not yet sold. It’s a figure compiled by an industry group using sales data from over 100 regional listing services and more than 60 large brokerages around the country.
A “Short Sale” is when a home seller sells his home for a lesser amount than what is owed on his mortgage, and the mortgage lender agrees to accept the lesser amount in lieu of a full payoff.
In a news-heavy week, mortgage markets improved last week, adding to a 3-week rally. But, given last week’s data and domestic story lines, it’s surprising that rates actually fell.
Reporting on a two-month lag, the government said home values rose 0.7 percent in November. National home prices are at their highest point since February 2009. But before we look too much into the FHFA’s Home Price Index, it’s important that we’re cognizant of its shortcomings; the most important of which is its lack of real-time reporting.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy âhas continued to strengthenâ, that the jobs markets is getting better, and that financial markets are supportive of growth.
The Federal Open Market Committee ends a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in Washington. It’s the first of 8 scheduled meetings for the policy-setting group in 2010. The group adjourns at 2:15 PM ET. Here is a rate-locking strategy for you.