July 28, 2006

Mortgage Rates Dip A Little

Mortgage rates declined slightly this week as investors grew more optimistic that the Federal Reserve’s long string of rate increases is drawing to a close.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped to a nationwide average of 6.72 percent for the week that ended yesterday, according to a survey by Freddie Mac, the mortgage company. That rate compares with 6.8 percent for the week ending July 20, which was the highest in more than four years. (Read More)

Source: Baltimore Sun  

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Filed under Real Estate News by Kirk McDonough.
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July 21, 2006

Mortgage Rate Continue Their Upward Trend

Rates on 30-year mortgages rose this week to the highest level since the spring of 2002.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to a nationwide average of 6.80 percent, up from 6.74 percent last week.

The increase pushed 30-year rates to the highest level since they stood at 6.81 percent the week of May 24, 2002. (Read More)

Source: The Seattle Times: Real Estate

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Filed under Real Estate News by Kirk McDonough.
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July 14, 2006

30-year mortgage rates dip for first time in 5 weeks

Rates on 30-year mortgages declined this week for the first time in five weeks amid expectations that the Federal Reserve won’t push interest rates much higher.Mortgage finance company Freddie Mac reported yesterday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages slipped to a nationwide average of 6.74 percent this week from 6.79 percent last week.  (Read More)

Source: Baltimore Sun

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Filed under Real Estate News by Kirk McDonough.
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July 10, 2006

As housing market cools down, some buyers bailing out

WASHINGTON — As the U.S. housing market cools, builders say more people are walking away from contracts and from tens of thousands of dollars in deposits.

Nationally, some big builders are beginning to report cancellation rates upward of 25 percent.

“Ten to 15 percent of people deciding to cancel is not going to be unusual most of the time,” said Jonathan Dienhart, director of research for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, a home-building research firm. “It’s just that in the last couple years — when we had unusually high demand, where people could just buy a property and flip it — there were fewer cancellations. It’s not a cakewalk anymore.”

When a housing market is hot and prices increase, as they did dramatically over the past five years in many areas, cancellations are rare, and builders generally aren’t concerned because they can typically sell the units at higher prices.

But if the market is slowing, as it has been this year, builders might need to add incentives, such as upgrades and price cuts, to move their product. (Read More)

Source: The Seattle Times: Real Estate

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Filed under Real Estate News by Kirk McDonough.
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Adjustable rates lose some allure

Rising interest rates this year have prompted many homebuyers to apply for traditional fixed-rate loans and avoid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Washington-based industry trade group.

Consumers who jumped on the adjustable-rate bandwagon when rates were headed down will begin to feel the pinch from higher payments when their loans reset, the experts say. (Read More)

Source: The Seattle Times: Real Estate

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Filed under Real Estate News by Kirk McDonough.
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