MND NewsWire : adjustable rate mortgage

Freddie Mac Survey: Rates Take Big Jump

Jann Swanson — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:52:15 GMT

After months of low rates some of which broke long-time records, mortgage interest rates shot up drastically during the week ended June 4. Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market survey this morning, showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) for the week averaged 5.29 percent with 0.7 point. This is the highest rate for the 30-year FRM since the week ended December 18, 2008 when the average was 5.19 percent. The new number is an increase of 37 basis points over last...(read more)

Most Mortgage Rates Increase During Wild Week in Financial Markets

Glenn Setzer — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:00:00 GMT

"Average mortgage rates were up for all loan products reported," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "However, for the first 11 weeks so far this year, the average 30-year fixed rate is still below 5.9 percent, and the average 30-year rate in January was the lowest since July 2005.

"The combination of lower house prices and lower mortgage rates contributed to a more affordable market for homebuyers.

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Mortgage Rates Reclaim Last Week's Declines

Glenn Setzer — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:00:00 GMT

It was nice while it lasted but mortgage rates last week reversed a four week downward trend and made up much of the ground they lost a week earlier. However, they still remained well below where they were at the end of 2007 when the four-week slide began.

The volume of mortgage applications reported by survey respondents continues to be much stronger than...

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Survey Shows ARMs Diminishing in Appeal

Glenn Setzer — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:00:00 GMT

Freddie Mac has just released the results of its 24th Annual adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) Survey.

The survey, a snapshot of the market taken during the week of December 17 to December 21 based on data from 112 ARM lenders, found that starting rates for ARMs had changed little since the 2006 survey even though the Federal Reserve had lowered its federal funds target a full point to 4.25 percent during that time period. In contrast, fully- indexed rates had fallen to their lowest levels in three years.

The survey also found that:

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ARM Freeze Yields Solution To All World Problems

Glenn Setzer — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:00:00 GMT

The breakthrough came with the idea to freeze ARM rates so that borrowers will not be subjected to the terms of the agreements that they voluntarily signed. Combine that innovative thinking with the ongoing efforts to save Wall Street from its own irresponsible actions.

Until we are willing to confront our own financial irresponsibility by facing the consequences of...

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Mortgage Rates Rise While Application Activity Plummets

Glenn Setzer — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:00:00 GMT

Mortgage interest rates took a jump upward during the week ended December 13 and December 14 according to information released by Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association respectively.

Mortgage applications activity was weak; the seasonally adjusted measure of volume was...

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Rate Freeze Program Faces More Hurdles Than Just A Bad Phone Number

Glenn Setzer — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:00:00 GMT

Plenty of people, including Matthew Graham, MortgageNewsDaily's op-ed columnist, are talking about the practical realities of freezing a mortgage rate adjustment under the plan President Bush announced last week. After reflecting I would like to raise some objections of my own and/or reflect comments from others, about this "solution" to the mortgage mess that may ultimately be nicknamed Katrina Two.

First of all is the issue of fairness.

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Bush's Subprime Rescue Plan Coincides With Sobering Delinquency Report

Glenn Setzer — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:00:00 GMT

Several hours before President Bush announced the details of his administrations plans to assist homeowners who are facing foreclosure the Mortgage Bankers Association released its delinquency survey for the third quarter.

The survey showed that the number of loans in the foreclosure process and the number of loans entering that process were at the highest levels since MBA began keeping records 21 years ago.

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Don't Be Afraid of the Big Bad Housing Market

Glenn Setzer — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:00:00 GMT

If you don't have a TV, a radio, or a newspaper, you may have missed all of the negative press surrounding the mortgage and housing markets. The severity of the situation has created a sort of panic that has paralyzed the consumer. Rather than deal with any aspect of the problem, we wait for someone to yell: "it's OK to come out now!" If you are waiting for a "bottom" to the overall crisis, and for all the news to turn positive, don't hold your breath. But where there's tragedy, there's opportunity. Let me show you why it is, in fact, "OK to come out now," and why you might be sorry if you wait too long.

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Treasury Department May Broker A Deal For Subprime Borrowers

Glenn Setzer — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:00:00 GMT

MSNBC, Reuters, and The Wall Street Journal were reporting early Friday that the United States Treasury is about to announce a plan to help some subprime borrowers save their homes from foreclosure.

The plan apparently involves an agreement between the Treasury and leaders of the mortgage industry to hold rates steady on many adjustable rate mortgages that....

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Current State of the Mortgage Market

Glenn Setzer — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:00:00 GMT

What a fascinating and tumultuous time is upon us! Both the housing and the mortgage market are convulsing wildly! There are so many facets to the "big picture" that I would never presume have all the answers, so the following disclaimer is in order: I am a mortgage broker and the following is my opinion based on my experience and my knowledge. You might agree with me, you might not. Away we go...

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Delinquency Rates Climb Mainly In Four States

Glenn Setzer — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Nationally the situation is not as dire as these figures would indicate. The figures are being driven by what is happening in a few large states and by adjustable rate mortgages, both prime and subprime.

"What continues to drive the national numbers, however, is what is happening in the states of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. Were it not for the increases in foreclosure starts in those four states, we would have seen a nationwide drop in the rate of foreclosure filings...

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Mortgage Rates Virtually Unchanged From Previous Week

Glenn Setzer — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:00:00 GMT

In perhaps the only good news in the mortgage and real estate worlds this week, both long and short term interest rates for the week ended July 19 barely budged from their positions a week earlier.

With hedge funds that had heavily invested in residential mortgage-backed securities literally bleeding dry and subprime lenders announcing severely reduced earnings expectations, layoffs, or worse, more or less static interest rates had to be seen as good news.

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Mortgage Rates Move In Opposite Directions on Surveys

Glenn Setzer — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:00:00 GMT

According to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the previous week, long term interest rates were down for the third week in a row. However, the Weekly Mortgage Market Survey released by the Mortgage Bankers Association reported quite the opposite results with rates up sharply from a week earlier.

"Long-term mortgage rates continued to move lower for a third consecutive week, in part reflecting a moderation in core inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "In the statement accompanying their decision to leave the target federal funds rate unchanged, the Fed noted that..."

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Mortgage Rates Curbed By Housing Recession

Glenn Setzer — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Mortgage rates decreased for the second week in a row according to the results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the previous week.

According to Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, "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 Committee's announcement on monetary policy."

"This week we saw further effects of the current housing recession..."

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