Rates ended last week even after heavy volatility. Tuesday, rates rose as mortgage bonds sold sharply on less bad U.S. retail sales and a 5.5% spike in Chinese inflation since May 2010. But as the week progressed, bonds rebounded and rates improved on tame U.S. core inflation and contracting U.S. manufacturing activity.

Occasionally I am asked, “How safe is the mortgage interest tax deduction?” In the past I was much surer of my answer (“Safe – what politician wants to take away even one of the advantages of home ownership?”), but ongoing talk of ending this homeowner tax benefit makes me think twice. Whether eliminating it for [...]

Late start today after being overserved at the sake bar last night. Enjoy (what’s left of) your Friday, and here are some links for afternoon perusing….

Here’s a list of some interesting things that happened on ‘tax day’ over the years. Thanks to Katelande for curating and sending!

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 [...]

Now that the dust has settled from the election, what did it all mean for the mortgage consumer? Historically Republicans are reputed to be more “pro-business”. Republicans may try to rein in regulators implementing a sweeping overhaul of financial rules and press for a smaller federal role in the mortgage market. This will be interesting, [...]

Interesting Bloomberg story today on Google’s tax strategy. Click infographic below to get the interactive version.

Finreg Summary For Lenders The Financial Reform Bill passed the Senate, and will no doubt be signed by President Obama. It is 2,300 pages. From my limited view, there are hundreds of thousands of questions for regulators and investors to answer in the next several months (at least), and most large mortgage companies are doing [...]

Financial Reform Back In Headlines Our elected officials return from the July 4th recess this week, and those in the mortgage business are waiting to see if the Senate passes the Financial Reform Bill and passes it along to the president for his signature – as expected. Among other things to note, the bill establishes [...]

Tax Credit Deadline Now Sept 30 President Barack Obama signed HR 5623, the “Homebuyers Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010,” a three-month extension on the closing deadline for first-time home buyers to receive the tax credit. Potential homeowners with offers currently under contract now have until September 30 to close the deal, instead of the [...]