| House Refinance Center |
| Recent News Headlines In Housing |
| Rates Continue To Fall 03.03.2010 Mortgage rates remain below 5%. Applications last week were up, with refinancing leading the way with a 17.2% increase. Refinancing home loans represent about 69% of all mortgage applications. On the surface this looks like good news for the housing market. However, unemployment is still around 10%, foreclosures are at a record pace, credit is tight, and banks are sitting on large inventories of repossessed houses. |
| Underwater Borrowers Get Life Raft 03.03.2010 The government has extended HARP for another year. Home Affordable Refinance Program allows borrowers with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans to refinance up to 125% of the appraised value of the house. The extension of HARP is to June 30, 2011. With house prices continuing to fall now is the time to jump on the bandwagon. In 2009 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased or guaranteed more than 4 million refinanced mortgages. Of this total 190,180 were HARP refinances with loan-to-value (LTV) between 80% and 125%. |
| Delinquency Rates Rise 03.03.2010 Delinquency rates on mortgages continue to rise. For the fourth quarter of 2009, TransUnion reported that 6.89% of borrowers were at least 2 months behind on their mortgage payments. This was the 12th straight quarter that the delinquency level has risen, and it is also an all-time national average high.. With this high level of delinquency, we can expect the foreclosure rate to climb. Hardest hit states for delinquencies were Nevada (16.19%) and Florida (14.93%). The states with the lowest delinquency rates were North Dakota (1.84%) and South Dakota (2.46%). The continued high level of unemployment and the lowering of house prices are troubling issues. It appears that the situation will most likely get worse before it gets better. |
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| SC Housing Agency Announces $40Mil Homebuyer Program 03.03.2010 South Carolina has $40 million to give to teachers, firefighters, police, EMS workers and correctional officers to help with the purchase of a house. This is so great! The money will be used for the downpayment, and the borrower may even qualify for a low-interest home loan from the State Housing Finance and Development Authority. The downpayment assistance is capped at $7,000. Middle-income borrowers must repay the loan, but it can be forgiven after 5 years. This program is similar to HUD's Good Neighbor Next Door. The main difference is that HUD specifies that the house must be located in a "revitalization area". Let's pray that more communities follow this idea. |
| Pending Home Sales fall 7.2% 03.04.2010 Existing home sales fell to a 7 month low. The National Association of Realtors said that its pending home sales index slumped in January. This is disappointing news since there are many potential buyers who are ready to jump into the market. |
| Lawmaker working to help borrowers 03.05.2010 Barney Frank (D-Mass) is in talks with major banks to remove the obstacle that would make the Home Affordable Programs more successful. Second liens and second mortgages are on many of the houses, but the lenders refuse to give ground. These loans are now worthless in many cases, and are jamming up the loan modification process. They were popular during the boom when homeowners used a "piggyback" loan to help them get the house. These individuals had no money, or very little money towards a downpayment. The banks are hoping that the housing market recovers so that they can get money for these home loans. |
| Principal Reduction will save houses 03.06.2010 FDIC Chair Sheila Bair says that reducing the principal balance on home loans is one way to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Blair was addressing a real estate conference in Washington on Thursday. Bair noted that the problem with underwater borrowers has to be resolved before we can put a stop to the housing crisis. Bair would like to see the loan-to-value ratio reduced to around 100 per cent. |
| FHA Major Changes In 2010 03.15.2010 The Federal Housing Administration has proposed making some changes on how their mortgage business is conducted. The following will be affected.
The seller concession could be a potential land mine. Many sellers have to help pay the buyer's closing costs in order to get the deal done. And the buyer usually depends on this assistance. If this concession becomes law and is reduced to 3%, the result would be a sharp decline in sales in the first time home buyer segment. For example, take the case of a house being sold for $150,000 and the closing costs are $9,500. Under the current system the seller will pay 6% of the selling price which is $9,000. The buyer can get into the house with $5,250 downpayment plus $500 closing costs. With the new proposal the seller can pay only 3% or $4,500. To close the deal the buyer now has to find an additional $4,500. For many first time borrowers this would be a challenge. The downpayment change to 5% minimum is long overdue. |
| House Prices Down: Property Taxes Unchanged? Nationally house prices are still about 30% below their top levels. However, property taxes do not reflect the decline in real estate values. You can do something about it. You can appeal to the city or municipal tax assessor. If you are declined, you can go to a review board. The process is simple. You should get 4 or 5 comparables. These are houses that were sold within the last year and were similar to yours in key areas. Same neighborhood, similar in square footage, number of bathrooms, number of bedrooms, lot size, garage. Compile a history of each property and present your case. Many cities will throw out distressed sales such as foreclosures. If you have difficulties finding comparables, get a new appraisal. It would cost you about $400. Appeals are on the rise across the nation. In Miami-Dade there were 143,000 appeals last year, 104,000 in 2008. Normal volume is about 40,000. There is obviously a large gap between the "assessed" value and the "market" value of a house. The housing crisis bears part of the blame. We can also point to a system that assesses properties every 3 to 4 years. Property taxes are crucial to sustaining a city. The property taxes collected by states and localities rose 2.7% in 2009. The $421.8 billion collected represented 33 % of the total taxes, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. On the flip side, sales and income tax receipts sank more than 9%. You might not get all that you ask for, but you have a 40% chance of winning a reduction. |
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