Today’s mortgage and refinance rates  Average mortgage rates edged higher again last Friday. So they’re appreciably higher than they were this time last week. But, even so, they remain within […]

Posted To: MND NewsWire

Fannie Mae said that the standardization of servicing standards that followed the 2008 housing crisis appears to have helped the industry manage the recent flood of COVID-19 forbearance plans. The company included a series of questions about forbearance management in its September Lender Sentiment Survey and has now released a special report on the responses. Servicers had to move quickly to implement the forbearance programs, which were first announced by the GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and by FHA but were then expanded and mandated by Congress under the CARES Act. They also had to manage the loans in forbearance, continue remittances to investors, and make insurance and tax payments out of escrow accounts. As the plans had three-month terms, borrowers had to be contacted to do renewals...(read more)

The pandemic-fueled exodus from New York City propelled nearby Westchester County to its strongest year for home sales in more than two decades.

Today’s mortgage and refinance rates  Average mortgage rates inched lower yesterday. But that followed six days without a fall, five of which showed rises. And averages remain noticeably higher than […]

Posted To: MND NewsWire

Freddie Mac's first quarter 2021 economic forecast is unusually short, and, unlike recent forecasts from either of the GSEs, has relatively few revisions. The company's economists say that nearly a year after the first cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the U.S., economic growth remains uncertain, with answers largely hinging on the roll-out of the new vaccines. The labor market remains weak with close to 20 million collecting unemployment insurance. December's job losses, the first since last April, didn't change the unemployment rate from 6.7 percent because labor participation also declined. Record low mortgage rates continued to carry the housing market during the turmoil of the pandemic. At the end of the first week of 2021, the 30-year rate hit 2.65 percent, a new low. Freddie Mac expects...(read more)

Loan originations hit a record $16.7 billion in the fourth quarter, though executives caution that a recent rise in mortgage rates could slow refinancing activity.

You have extra cash — should you pay off your mortgage or invest? There are pros and cons to both strategies. Here's how to decide.

Posted To: MBS Commentary

A few hours after markets closed yesterday, news began coming out regarding a Biden aide mentioning tonight's stimulus proposal would be in the $2 trillion neighborhood. That's quite a bit more than the $1.3 trillion that had been making the rounds a few hours prior (the same number was thrown around more than a month ago as well). Treasuries reacted to this overnight with a whopping sell-off of 3bps. This reflects the fact that markets have largely priced in some sort of $1.3+ trillion in additional spending/relief. We won't get a chance to any additional reaction until tomorrow's trading session, as Biden won't be speaking until after 7pm ET. It's another light day in terms of economic data, with Jobless Claims already out at 965k vs 795k forecast and 784k previously...(read more)

DTI, your 'debt-to-income ratio,' includes taxes and insurance as part of your mortgage payment. Here's how to find your DTI with taxes and insurance.

Current FHA loan limits for every U.S. county. Check your local FHA loan limit for 1-unit, 2-unit, 3-unit, and 4-unit homes. Limits start at $350K.