Fri, Mar 2 2007, 8:00 AM
Reports on January sales of both new and existing houses were released
this week. Conclusions were, to say the least, mixed.
The National Associat...
Wed, Feb 28 2007, 8:00 AM
Concern over the slowing housing market may be impacting
mortgage rates according to Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice
president and chief economist...
Tue, Feb 27 2007, 8:00 AM
In the wake of a tough couple of weeks that have rattled the sub-prime
lending industry, Freddie Mac announced on Tuesday that it was
cracking down...
Mon, Feb 26 2007, 8:00 AM
Two bits of news reported last week are worth a mention.
Fannie Mae announced on Tuesday that it would not be
paying over $44.4 million in bonuse...
Fri, Feb 23 2007, 8:00 AM
The mortgage industry and those who regulate it appear well on their
way to dramatically changing the mortgage
licensing system .
On Tuesday t...
Wed, Feb 21 2007, 8:00 AM
After a single week of declining rates, mortgage interest
rates returned to the pattern of small incremental increases that
has prevailed since mid-...
Tue, Feb 20 2007, 8:00 AM
Fri, Feb 16 2007, 8:00 AM
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) took a stab at
envisioning the home of the future at its recently
concluded annual convention in ...
Wed, Feb 14 2007, 8:00 AM
Mortgage rates ratcheted down last week according to
the results of Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Rates have
generally been on an upw...
Tue, Feb 13 2007, 8:00 AM
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) just adjourned its
annual International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida and
the press releases ha...
Mon, Feb 12 2007, 8:00 AM
There were lots of little nuggets of information in the February
Economic Outlook issued by Freddie Mac on February 8.
It addition to the usual for...
Fri, Feb 9 2007, 8:00 AM
Americans are continuing to treat their homes as cash cows according to
a report released this week by Freddie Mac.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice...
Wed, Feb 7 2007, 8:00 AM
Mortgage rates assumed a split personality again this
past week with Freddie Mac showing moderate increases and the Mortgage
Bankers Association repo...
Tue, Feb 6 2007, 8:00 AM
Homeowners might not have realized it, but the news last Thursday and
Friday carried a double whammy that may be more worrisome
than the housing bub...
Mon, Feb 5 2007, 8:00 AM
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) recently made a preemptive strike
against what it obviously perceives as the next threat against the mortgage
i...
Thu, Feb 1 2007, 8:00 AM
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the
week ended January 25 indicated that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
averaged 6.25 percent co...
Tue, Jan 30 2007, 8:00 AM
Escalating home prices have pushed homeownership
toward un-affordability in many parts of the country. Homelessness is an
ever increasing problem ...
Mon, Jan 29 2007, 8:00 AM
In December we published an article about a provision in the Tax
Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 which was passed in the waning days of
the 109th...
Fri, Jan 26 2007, 8:00 AM
First read the press release issued on Tuesday by the National
Association of Realtors regarding data on the sale of existing
homes in December an...
Wed, Jan 24 2007, 8:00 AM
Longer term mortgage rates were up again, albeit only
slightly, during the week ending January 18 according to Freddie Mac's
Primary Mortgage Mark...
Tue, Jan 23 2007, 8:00 AM
Well honestly, there are no truths, only opinions. And there are few
real estate issues where opinions are more numerous and more nuanced than
the ...
Mon, Jan 22 2007, 8:00 AM
Home builders are growing increasingly more confident
about the economy and the real estate market and that was reflected in
the most recent report...
Thu, Jan 18 2007, 8:00 AM
Both long and short term interest rates were up again
during the week ended January 11 according to Freddie Mac's Primary
Mortgage Market Survey. ...
Wed, Jan 17 2007, 8:00 AM
The housing market is in a bit of a funk and home prices are not
rising as fast as they did a year or so ago, but the outrageously
expensive home ...
Tue, Jan 16 2007, 8:00 AM
The January 2007 Economic Outlook which is published last week by the
Office of the Chief Economist at Freddie Mac was headlined " The
Remodeled Hou...
Fri, Jan 12 2007, 8:00 AM
The National Association of Realtors is not sitting back and waiting
for the housing downturn to end. The association, one of
if not the largest p...
Thu, Jan 11 2007, 8:00 AM
Freddie Mac 23rd Annual Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)
Survey released last week contained few surprises. The three
major findings were:
Wed, Jan 10 2007, 8:00 AM
Mortgage interest rates were virtually unchanged
during the first week of 2007 according to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary
Mortgage Market Survey. Ac...
Mon, Jan 8 2007, 8:00 AM
The Web is truly getting crowded with real estate web sites, each
trying to carve out its own niche. Reply.com has taken a
different approach. Rat...
Fri, Jan 5 2007, 8:00 AM
The main reason we ventured to Washington D.C. and the
National Bu...
Wed, Jan 3 2007, 8:00 AM
Inflation jitters caused mortgages rates to increase
a bit during the last full week of 2006 according to the Primary Mortgage
Market Survey relea...
Tue, Jan 2 2007, 8:00 AM
The Federal Reserve Board seldom giveth, but they did send home buyers
and owners as well as real estate professionals a bit of a holiday
present la...
Fri, Dec 29 2006, 8:00 AM
Is it the end of the end of the housing bubble ? The
National Association of Realtors (NAR) seemed to think so as it issued
its November report on ...
Thu, Dec 28 2006, 8:00 AM
The widely reported purchase of Realogy by Apollo
Management LP last week may just be the opening move in a wild and wooly
auction for the company...
Wed, Dec 27 2006, 8:00 AM
While mortgage activity was down sharply - and expectedly - during the
pre-Christmas week at least one mortgage expert saw reason to hope for a
busy...
Tue, Dec 26 2006, 8:00 AM
Housing permits and starts in
November were mixed when compared to October levels according to figures
released this week by the U.S. Census Bure...
Fri, Dec 22 2006, 8:00 AM
Thu, Dec 21 2006, 8:00 AM
Mortgage rates were fairly stagnant during the week
ended December 14 according to the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released
by Freddie Mac.
Fra...
Wed, Dec 20 2006, 8:00 AM
In a press release earlier this month, the Zillow folks announced a
" major upgrade ; homeowners and agents can now post homes
for sale, for free." Th...
Tue, Dec 19 2006, 8:00 AM
And just when things were starting to look up for Fannie
Mae ! Then Monday the other shoe fell. Actually it was more
like an axe. The Office of Fed...
Mon, Dec 18 2006, 8:00 AM
December is starting off with a bang for Fannie Mae .
On December 6 the mortgage giant announced that it had (finally)
finished a restatement of ...
Thu, Dec 14 2006, 8:00 AM
"Continued signs of slowing in the housing market and weakness in the
manufacturing sector helped keep mortgage rates down this week," said
Frank No...
Wed, Dec 13 2006, 8:00 AM
It has not been widely reported, but late in the closing session of the
109th Congress which adjourned this past weekend may have been a bit of
good n...
Tue, Dec 12 2006, 8:00 AM
On one's first, second, and third visits to Washington, DC, one must
concentrate on the memorials - Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Vietnam, the
new W...
Mon, Dec 11 2006, 8:00 AM
Probably the big news in the December 2006 Economic
Outlook published by Freddie Mac's Office of the Chief Economist last
Friday was that the offi...
Thu, Dec 7 2006, 8:00 AM
As explained earlier, the two are not married nor do
they intend to be, at least in the near future...
This is not an isolated issue. It is estim...
Wed, Dec 6 2006, 8:00 AM
Refinancing as a share of all mortgage activity increased to 50.1
percent from 46.9 percent the previous week. This is the highest market
share that ...
Tue, Dec 5 2006, 8:00 AM
A young relative called over the long weekend. He had just made an
