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Fixed U.S. mortgage rates set record lows last week for the sixth straight week, keeping affordability high for borrowers who can get loans, home funding company Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Refinancing has picked up steam but the pace remains well below last year’s peaks when rates were similarly low. Get the full story »
It’s time for some more words of warning on how good intentions can mess up your credit report or credit score as you try to get mortgage payments you can handle.
Since writing about how mortgage modifications can tarnish your credit score, I have heard from many well intentioned people who ended up with a credit disaster as they tried to do the right thing with their mortgages.
U.S. 30- and 15-year mortgage rates fell to fresh lows in the past week amid concerns about the state of the economic recovery, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.
Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, averaged 4.56 percent for the week ended July 22, down from the previous week’s 4.57 percent and its year-ago level of 5.20 percent, according to the survey. Get the full story »
Sometimes you are doomed if you do and doomed if you don’t.
That’s the case now with mortgage payments you can’t afford to pay. When you are missing payments, you are lowering your credit score, so your lenders get rough on you — increasing interest on credit cards, for example, and making it harder to get your feet on the ground. On the other hand, your score also gets hammered if you get a loan modification.
Only four of the eight largest mortgage servicers have committed to participate in a government-sponsored, yet voluntary, program designed to aid troubled homeowners with second mortgages, new data released Tuesday shows.
Of the four servicers participating in the second lien modification program — Bank of America, CitiMortgage, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Bank — only Bank of America and Chase were “operationally ready” and extending modification offers to consumers this spring, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. Get the full story »
U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rates held at record lows last week, while shorter-term borrowing costs hovered at or near all-time lows, home funding company Freddie Mac said Thursday. The 30-year mortgage rate stayed at 4.57 percent for the week ended July 15, matching the prior’s week’s all-time low in Freddie Mac records dating back to 1971. Get the full story »
Foreclosure filings in Illinois dropped between May and June but remain far above their year-ago levels, despite the implementation of additional government programs to assist troubled borrowers.
Another 3,273 homes were repossessed by banks last month, bringing the number of Illinois bank-owned residences to 12,095 for the second quarter, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a firm that tracks foreclosure filings and markets foreclosed properties. Get the full story »
Demand for loans to purchase U.S. homes sunk to a 13-year low last week, and refinancing demand also slid despite near record-low mortgage rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. Get the full story »
U.S. 30-year mortgage rates dropped to a record low in the past week, according to a survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac, as concerns mounted about the economic recovery.
Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, averaged 4.57 percent for the week ended July 8, down from the previous week’s 4.58 percent and 5.20 percent a year earlier, according to the survey, which started in April 1971. Get the full story »
From CNN | Troubled mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said goodbye to the New York Stock Exchange at the end of trade Wednesday. At the market open Thursday, Fannie and Freddie will start trading on the over-the-counter bulletin board — also known as pink sheets — under the symbols “FNMA” and “FMCC.” Get the full story »
Refinancing drove total U.S. mortgage applications to a nine-month high last week, while demand for loans to purchase homes sunk to a near 13-year low as buyers remained sidelined after the expiration of federal tax credits. Get the full story »
Home loan delinquencies, excluding those loans already in foreclosure, rose 2.3 percent in May, to 9.2 percent nationally, according to a mortgage monitor report released Tuesday by Lender Processing Services Inc.
Meanwhile, the foreclosure inventory remained relatively stable compared with April, at 3.18 percent of all mortgage loans outstanding, the company reported.
Illinois is among the 10 states with the most loans in foreclosure or delinquency, with a rate of 13.6 percent of active loans. Nationwide, the rate is 12.38 percent.
Mortgage rates have sunk to the lowest level in more than five decades, but consumers aren’t rushing to refinance their loans or buy homes. Mortgage company Freddie Mac says the average rate for 30-year fixed loans sank to 4.58 percent this week.
That’s down from the previous record of 4.69 percent set last week and the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. Get the full story »
Refinancing drove total U.S. mortgage applications to an eight-month peak, as loan rates fell to or near record lows, but demand to buy homes sank toward 13-year lows last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. Get the full story »
The state of Illinois sued former mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp. on Tuesday for allegedly using discriminatory lending practices for minority borrowers.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, said an investigation revealed that African-American and Latino borrowers were much more likely to be given risky subprime loans by the lender than similarly situated whites from 2005 to 2007.
