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Housing News

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: Freddie Mac Report Partially Frosty

Tue, Sep 12 2006, 7:00 AM

" A Cooling Trend " was the title given to Freddie Mac's September 2006 Economic Outlook released recently. In keeping with the seasonal theme, the re...

NEW Option ARMs At The Center of Rate Shock Fears

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 7:00 AM

The concept of rate shock is getting a lot of press and a portion of it is pretty s...

NEW Home Price Increases Seen Slowing In OFHEO Report

Thu, Sep 7 2006, 7:00 AM

We have often said that the quarterly Office of Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) Home Price Index (HPI) report is one of the most interesting of t...

NEW Mortgage Rates Down Nearly 40 Basis Points From Year High

Wed, Sep 6 2006, 7:00 AM

Once again Freddie Mac is reporting that mortgage rates are down from the preceding week and have now reached levels not seen since late March and e...

NEW Candidate For Rate Shock? Some Suggestions, Maybe Some Comfort

Tue, Sep 5 2006, 7:00 AM

Now that the housing bubble has officially started to deflate we can turn our worries to t...

NEW You Might Be Surprised By What Triggers Credit Bureau Actions

Fri, Sep 1 2006, 7:00 AM

Have you ever had a credit card company suddenly lower your credit line in spite of your sterling payment record? Have you wondered how every mortg...

NEW Mortgage Rates Continue Five Week Slide

Wed, Aug 30 2006, 7:00 AM

For the fifth straight week Freddie Mac reported that mortgage rates fell from the previous week's level. During the past week which ended August 24...

NEW House Real Estate Hearings - Prosecution Rests And Defense Steps Up

Tue, Aug 29 2006, 7:00 AM

After a parade of seven witnesses (plus Full Committee Chair Michael Oxley) who appeared before the House Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Communit...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: New and Existing Home Sales Tumble

Fri, Aug 25 2006, 7:00 AM

The National Association of Realtors issued its monthly report on sales of existing houses on Wednesday, August 23 and one would think they were revie...

NEW Mortgage Rates Reset Shock Is The Latest Worry In Mortgage Markets

Thu, Aug 24 2006, 7:00 AM

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has just issued the results or a large scale study of the potential impact of upcomi...

NEW Mortgage Rates Return To April Levels

Wed, Aug 23 2006, 7:00 AM

Most interest rates were down again during the week ended August 17 and 18, but the changes were not nearly as aggressive as immediately after the F...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: Housing Permits, Starts, Builder Confidence Fall

Tue, Aug 22 2006, 7:00 AM

It's that time again. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Census Department have released their monthly reports on the state of t...

NEW NAR Takes A Lickin From Competitors At Oxley Hearings

Thu, Aug 17 2006, 7:00 AM

In addition to the three witnesses from government agencies, Department of Justice, Government Accountability Office, and Federal Trade Commission who...

NEW Mortgage Rates Move In Opposite Directions

Wed, Aug 16 2006, 7:00 AM

It is hard to imagine how two organizations could deviate more on the direction of mortgage rates than Freddie Mac and The Mortgage Bankers Associat...

NEW Fannie Mae Slips Another Deadline, Freddie Mac Reform and OFHEO Wants Greater Power

Tue, Aug 15 2006, 7:00 AM

Several things have occurred over the last week or so in the ongoing saga of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and their financial improprieties which date back...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: Housing Sector No Longer Fueling The Economy

Fri, Aug 11 2006, 7:00 AM

Slower economic growth and rising inflationary pressures are cited as competing trends in the U.S. economy by Freddie Mac in its monthly Economic Ou...

NEW Oxley Hearings Investigate Real Estate Competitiveness

Thu, Aug 10 2006, 7:00 AM

As promised, we are continuing an account of a hearing conducted recently by the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the House Bankin...

NEW Mortgage Rates Down Even Before The Fed Halts Rate Increases

Wed, Aug 9 2006, 7:00 AM

Mortgage rates dropped again during the week ended August 3 and August 4, and with the announcement on August 8 that the Federal Reserve has, for the...

NEW The Changing Real Estate Market - Oxley Holds Hearings

Tue, Aug 8 2006, 7:00 AM

Remember our old friend Michael G. Oxley? Recently the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity held hearings entitled " The Changin...

NEW Mortgage Rates Continue Up and Down Pattern

Thu, Aug 3 2006, 7:00 AM

And this week, they are down. Mortgage rates , that is. The one week up, two weeks down, two weeks up pattern continues as the markets try to ou...

NEW Peer-To-Peer Lending: A Prototype For The Future Of Mortgage Lending

Wed, Aug 2 2006, 7:00 AM

Newsweek Magazine's Tip Sheet section last week featured two Web sites that have nothing to do with real estate or mortgage financing but may illu...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: NAR Announces the Return of the Buyers Market

Mon, Jul 31 2006, 7:00 AM

Home buyers have waited for years but perhaps the agony is over. It is official; the National Association of Realtors has confirmed that we are now in...

NEW Mortgage Rates Rise Taking Back Last Weeks Gains

Thu, Jul 27 2006, 7:00 AM

It was nice while it lasted - one full week to be exact - but, according to Freddie Mac the mortgage market last week took back most of the rate decre...

NEW Texas Murder Raises Concerns For Real Estate Agent Safety

Wed, Jul 26 2006, 7:00 AM

The brutal murder of Sarah Ann Walker in McKinney, Texas early this month has again spotlighted a perennial topic - violence against real estate agent...

NEW Single Women Employ Different Strategies In Buying and Financing A Home

Tue, Jul 25 2006, 7:00 AM

As the recent report, Buying For Themselves: An Analysis of Unmarried Female Home Buyers by Rachel Bogardus Drew for the Joint Center for Housing St...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: Building Stats Slip As Does Builder Confidence

Fri, Jul 21 2006, 7:00 AM

The two monthly reports that measure the health of the home construction industry were released this week. The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Departmen...

NEW Single Female Homebuyers - Who, Where and What

Thu, Jul 20 2006, 7:00 AM

Who are these millions of unmarried women who have plunged into the housing market in the last few years and what makes them different from married co...

NEW Mortgage Rates Ease While Freddie Mac Thinks Pressure May Be Off

Wed, Jul 19 2006, 7:00 AM

Mortgage rates backed off during the week ending July 13 and 14th, declining in every category tracked by both Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers A...

NEW Single Women Home Buyers Finding A Home Of Their Own

Mon, Jul 17 2006, 7:00 AM

Have you noticed how many television ads for real estate and mortgage firms feature women as the decision maker, the person who is buying or refinan...

NEW Study Measures Mortgage Interest and Real Estate Tax Deduction Benefits

Fri, Jul 14 2006, 7:00 AM

Back in November we reported that The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform had submitted recommendations to then Treasury Secretary John S...

NEW MLS and Commissions Under Attack Again

Thu, Jul 13 2006, 7:00 AM

This space generally reports on what is going on in the real estate and mortgage industry; rates, suggestions on buying or selling, news about Fannie ...

NEW Mortgage Rates Continue To Bounce Around Gently

Wed, Jul 12 2006, 7:00 AM

Mortgage rates barely budged during the week ended July 6 and July 7. While the average contract rate of most products moved up, changes were virtual...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: Freddie Mac Sees Orderly Cooling

Tue, Jul 11 2006, 7:00 AM

Freddie Mac issued its monthly "outlook" for the month of July as well as a round-up of the first half of 2006 . While the report still projects a ...

NEW Green Building Is Now A Trend, Maybe One Near A Tipping Point

Mon, Jul 10 2006, 7:00 AM

If there are bright spots amidst the recent gloomy energy forecasts the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and McGraw-Hill Construction may ...

NEW Survey Finds Monthly Costs Outweigh Purchase Price of Home Ownership

Fri, Jul 7 2006, 7:00 AM

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released a very interesting report on housing affordability; one that runs counter to most of th...

NEW Mortgage Rates Diverge On Surveys

Thu, Jul 6 2006, 7:00 AM

Once again Freddie Mac and The Mortgage Bankers Association have come up with very different results when they surveyed mortgage lenders about rates. ...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: Reports Paint Confusing Picture

Wed, Jul 5 2006, 7:00 AM

The usual spate of monthly reports on new home sales, existing home sales, housing starts, and builder confidence were all released recently. Taken to...

NEW Mortgage Delinquency and Foreclosure Rates Remain Low

Thu, Jun 29 2006, 7:00 AM

So far homeowners seem to be keeping their heads above foreclosure in spite of fears that mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures might begin to mou...

NEW Mortgage Rates Up Substantially On Inflation Fears

Wed, Jun 28 2006, 7:00 AM

Freddie Mac's Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported that mortgage rates took a real leap during the week ended June 22. Average rates for 3...

NEW Housing Bubble: Market Secure But Affordability Diminishing

Tue, Jun 27 2006, 7:00 AM

As it does periodically, the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies has issued a report that is well worth the paper it takes to print ...

NEW Older Homes Versus New Homes - The Debate Continues

Thu, Jun 22 2006, 7:00 AM

While a new house probably wins the functionality contest hands down over most older homes, the latter can put up a tough fight in other areas that ma...

NEW Freddie Mac Predicts Mortgage Rate Boredom - It Could Be A Good Thing

Wed, Jun 21 2006, 7:00 AM

In spite of the Dog Days of Summer, mortgage activity held up fairly well for the week ended June16, down only a tiny bit from that reported for the p...

NEW Three Houses And You Are Out

Tue, Jun 20 2006, 7:00 AM

You have probably seen an ad in a current series being run on behalf of the Century 21 franchise. The series is promoting how hard their agents work f...

NEW Housing Bubble Watch: Report Names 71 Metro Areas Significantly Over-Valued

Mon, Jun 19 2006, 7:00 AM

A study released last week by Global Insight and National City Corporation titled House Prices in America concludes that in 71 metropolitan areas re...

NEW Hedge Against A Housing Bubble With Housing Futures

Fri, Jun 16 2006, 7:00 AM

Hedge funds have been a big buzzword over the last decade as investors seek to "hedge their bets" in financial markets. The Chicago Mercantile Exc...

NEW OFHEO Wants Fannie Mae Bonus Money Returned

Thu, Jun 15 2006, 7:00 AM

Remember Franklin Raines? In December 2004 he and Timothy Howard were very much in the news as they "retired" or "resigned" or were fired, depending o...

NEW Mortgage Rates Softened By Job Growth

Wed, Jun 14 2006, 7:00 AM

Borrowers caught a bit of a break during the weeks ended June 7 and 8. Freddie Mac, in its Weekly Primary Mortgage Survey reported that average mortg...

NEW Report Attempts To Soothe Housing Bubble Fears

Tue, Jun 13 2006, 7:00 AM

Freddie Mac's monthly Economic Outlook for June was released last week. In what has become a mantra, the corporations Office of the Chief Economist, q...

NEW Home Prices Still Seen Rising According To Recent Survey

Thu, Jun 8 2006, 7:00 AM

The problem with the majority of real estate surveys and reports is that they are by definition lagging indicators. So while some "experts" are predic...

NEW Inflation Fears Fuel Higher Mortgage Rates

Wed, Jun 7 2006, 7:00 AM

Rising inflation fears led to an increase in mortgage rates across the board according to Freddie Mac's Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey for th...