The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), conservator of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the Enterprises) has established its final housing goals for the Enterprises in 2010-2011. FHFA is required by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) to set such goals for targeted segments of the mortgage market The new rules establish three goals for single-family, owner-occupied home purchases; one for low-income families, another for very low-income families, and a third for families living in geographical areas with lower-income populations, areas with high concentrations of minority residents, or federal declared disaster areas. The goal for disaster areas contains a sub-goal to ensure that the needs of lower-income and minority areas are addressed. A goal has also been established for...(read more)

United States — Thursday, September 2, 2010

National mortgage rates on 30-year fixed mortgages climbed 1 basis point from 4.25% to 4.26% on September 2, 2010, according to Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. As a comparison, state rates ranged from a low of 4.15% (UT) to a high of 4.50% (NV).

Compared to the week prior to September 2, 2010, the national 30-year mortgage rate is down 1 basis points from 4.27%. Compared to three months ago, the 30-year rate is down 42 basis points from its average rate of 4.68%.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 27, 2010. The MBA's loan application survey covers over 50% of all U.S. residential mortgage loan applications taken by retail mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. The data gives economists a snapshot view of consumer demand for mortgage loans. In a low mortgage rate environment, a trend of increasing refinance applications implies consumers are seeking out a lower monthly payment. If consumers are able to reduce their monthly mortgage payment and increase disposable income through refinancing, it can be a positive for the economy as a whole (creates more consumer spending or allows debtors to pay down personal liabilities like credit cards). A falling trend of...(read more)

The first Conservator's Report on the Enterprises' Financial Performance issued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday makes an argument that the Government Sponsored Enterprises' role in the housing market was and still is vital. It also paints a picture of their fall prior to being placed in federal conservatorship in the fall of 2008. Some observers are already pointing to it as a map for the eventual reorganization of the two government sponsored enterprises. Another way of viewing the report is that is presents a strong argument for leaving the GSEs in charge. According to the report, in 2003, 62 percent of all mortgages originated in the country were conventional/conforming loans. Another 20 percent or so were FHA or jumbo loans; only 8 percent were subprime and...(read more)

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans pointed directly to a major problem with the economic system in a speech before the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership on Wednesday: a serious deficit in the country's financial literacy. His solution, however is aimed less at eliminating that illiteracy than at incentivizing it in appropriate directions. Evans spoke at the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership (INHP) Community Breakfast on the roots of the housing crisis and current plans to end it, but his speech differed a bit form the formulaic presentation given over and over by financial and housing officials. While others have pointed to the use of inappropriate mortgage products as one cause of the crisis, rather than vilify these products such as option...(read more)

The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have released New Residential Home Sales data for July 2010. Surprise! New Home Sales Hit a New Record Low. AGAIN! Excerpts from the Release... Sales of new single-family houses in July 2010 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 276,000. This is 12.4 percent below the revised June rate of 315,000 and is 32.4 percent below the July 2009 estimate of 408,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in July 2010 was $204,000. This is the lowest median price since December 2003. The average sales price was $235,300. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 210,000. This represents a supply of 9.1 months at the current sales rate. Three months after the home buyer tax credit expired...(read more)

The National Association of Realtors today released Existing Home Sales data for July 2010. HERE is the methodology for data collection Excerpts from the release.... Existing-home sales were sharply lower in July following expiration of the home buyer tax credit but home prices continued to gain, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 27.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million units in July from a downwardly revised 5.26 million in June, and are 25.5 percent below the 5.14 million-unit level in July 2009. Total Sales are at the lowest level since the total existing-home sales series launched. Single-family home sales dropped 27...(read more)

There is good news about Americans and their debt in a quarterly report issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Consumer Credit Panel; keeping in mind, of course, that everything is relative. For example, aggregate consumer debt and household delinquency rates, while still in abysmal territory, both declined during the second quarter of 2010. The report uses detailed Equifax credit report data to construct a longitudinal quarterly panel of individuals and households covering the period 1999 to 2009. The panel is a nationally representative 5 percent sample of individuals with social security numbers and an Equifax credit history. The survey includes all individuals sharing the panel members' address, allowing the survey designers to construct household-level debt for a representative...(read more)

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 13, 2010. The MBA's loan application survey covers over 50% of all U.S. residential mortgage loan applications taken by retail mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. The data gives economists a snapshot view of consumer demand for mortgage loans. In a low mortgage rate environment, a trend of increasing refinance applications implies consumers are seeking out a lower monthly payment. If consumers are able to reduce their monthly mortgage payment and increase disposable income through refinancing, it can be a positive for the economy as a whole (creates more consumer spending or allows debtors to pay down personal liabilities like credit cards). A falling trend...(read more)

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit 4.44 percent this week, mortgage buyerFreddie Mac said Thursday. And some brokers say homeowners looking to refinance have even managed to do so for as low as 4 percent.

Still, cheap rates have done little to boost the struggling housing market. Instead, they are highlighting investors’ fears that the rebound is stalling and the country could be slipping back into a recession.

Investors are shifting their money away from stocks and into safer Treasury bonds. That is sending Treasury yields lower. Mortgage rates track those yields.

And the Federal Reserve is pushing those yields down even further. The central bank said Tuesday it would buy Treasurys to help aid the recovery, using the proceeds from debt and mortgage-backed securities it bought from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

That move alone is unlikely to push average rates down to 4 percent, said Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans. But average rates that low are still a possibility if the economic outlook worsens even further.

“The silver lining to a bad economy is that interest rates fall,” Walters said. “If you can lower your debt burden by refinancing, that’s great.”

Up to now, low rates have failed to spark a struggling housing market. Slow job growth, a 9.5 percent unemployment rate and tight credit standards have kept people from buying homes. Applications to refinance have grown but remain well short of a massive boom.

Overall home loan applications rose only 0.6 percent last week from a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

For those homeowners with solid finances, the opportunity to refinance below 4 percent is persuading some to consider 15-year fixed loans. Those average rates dropped to 3.92 percent, down from 3.95 percent last week and the lowest in decades.

More homeowners are choosing that option because it allows them to save money in the long run, though it costs more in monthly payments. Freddie Mac says nearly a third of borrowers refinancing 30-year loans in the April-to-June picked loans with 15-year or 20-year terms.

Still, savvy consumers can already find 30-year fixed rates at or near 4 percent if they are willing to pay a little more upfront.

Chik Quintans, assistant sales manager with Atlas Mortgage in Seattle, said he was able to get two clients into mortgages with a 4 percent interest rate and a fee of 1 percent of the total mortgage amount on Wednesday. But rates have inched up since then.

“Every day’s different,” Quintans said. “Sometimes people have to ruminate, and then the opportunity’s gone.”

Refinancing could pick up significantly if rates fall further. An average rate below 4.375 percent could be enough of a drop so that many people who refinanced last year could shave a half of a percentage point of their mortgage rates, said Scott Buchta, chief mortgage strategist with Braver Stern Securities.

Lenders could find themselves in a bind if traffic picks up, Buchta said. Many have laid off thousands of workers over the past three years and don’t have enough staff to handle a crush of new applications.

Mortgage rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day. To calculate the national average, Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from about 125 banks, thrifts and credit unions around the country in a voluntary survey.

Rate quotes from parts of the country with more lending activity—such as the West and Northeast—are given more weight in creating the average.

Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.56 percent, down from 3.63 percent a week earlier. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to an average of 3.53 percent from 3.55 percent.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The nationwide fee for loans in Freddie Mac’s survey averaged 0.7 a point for all loans except for 15-year mortgages, which averaged 0.6 of a point.

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/38674782/