For the past 2.5 years, the Fed has run two rounds of rate stimulus known as quantitative easing (QE), which is bond buying to drive prices up and rates down. QE2 ends June 30, so here’s a chart recapping 30yr fixed rates from crisis peak to now. It’s labeled to show how QE1, QE2, and [...]

Recent existing home sales reports remind us that cash buyers are on the rise. In May, 30% of existing home sales were all-cash deals, down only slightly from 31% in April, and a record 35% in March. Is it more beneficial to pay cash for a home? Depends on your expected time horizon in the [...]

No, that title isn’t a blatant search optimization tactic (though it can’t hurt). It’s a subject header to test TheBasisPoint’s new email machine. To all mail newsletter readers over the years: I want thank you, and let you know that me and my amazing team will now bring you market commentary using TheBasisPoint and its [...]

Here are some alarming results from an April 2011 Zillow/Ipsos study: 55% of homebuyers don’t know that rates change throughout each day, 37% think getting pre-qualified means they’ve secured financing, and 44% said they’re not confident in their mortgage knowledge nor the mortgage process. So let’s review mortgage basics for new buyers and especially experienced [...]

If you’re a homeowner with a mortgage, you’ve probably seen promotions for biweekly mortgage payments come from your lender or a third-party company. Promos usually lead with something like “How would you like an extra $59,314 in your bank account?” or “Pay off your 30yr mortgage five years early!” Let’s look past the promos to [...]

Since it’s the time of year when home buying activity ramps up and people are thinking about taxes, it’s worth revisiting some common mortgage and tax rules. Below are some rules that are especially important for prospective homebuyers who haven’t saved as much as they’d like to put a down payment on a home and [...]

Currently 95% of home loans are controlled by the government using Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA, but U.S. Congress is reviewing 3 options to overhaul home financing in this country. Below we examine how this will materially change loans and rates available to you in the future. This is part 2 in a series, [...]

Before presenting rate predictions for 2011, it’s worth noting that all forecasts are subject to the whims of highly volatile rate markets. What follows is an explanation of how rate markets work, how rates have behaved since the financial crisis began in 2007, then the outlook for this year. All rates discussed are 30yr fixed [...]

FHA Loan Fee Increases: Hundreds Per Month For Borrowers Effective for FHA loans October 4, 2010 or later, FHA mortgage insurance (MI) will be increasing on new loans—existing FHA borrowers are unaffected. Using money from MI premiums, the FHA helps troubled borrowers and backs lenders if loans go into foreclosure. Mounting foreclosures in recent years [...]

As financial markets froze this very week in 2007, the real-time media market was catching fire. So instead of summarizing it all with a 140 character Tweet, below we offer some broader perspective by bringing everyone’s favorite obsessions together: mortgage rates, Twitter, and iPhones. Stat-filled timeline and rate chart are included. Home prices started falling [...]