Rates Up On Economic Improvement “Deja Moo” is defined as “the feeling that you’ve heard this bull before”. Rates have gone up because the “economy is doing well”, yet there are numerous signs that the economy is a) either not doing well, or b) about to sink even farther. Unfortunately for mortgage bankers, ALL rates
June 2009
The $10,000 tax credit for California homebuyers appears to be running out so if you haven’t applied, you need to apply quickly. The previous link also contains all parameters to qualify for this credit. This credit is separate from the Federal $8000 homebuyer tax credit.
Rates Up, Mortgage Apps Down, Stocks & Commodities Up The Mortgage Bankers Association of America announced that applications dropped last week due to higher rates. That is about as surprising as glam-rock singer and “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert announcing that he’s gay (which he did). U.S. mortgage applications fell last week to the lowest
In late breaking (true) news, my kids brought home their Redwood High School year books yesterday. It turns out that a member of the yearbook staff who designed the cover, in artsy fashion, put in writing that, when viewed in the mirror, reads “Redwood Sucks [male body part]”. It doesn’t help that I believe that
Over the weekend I was in the express lane at the store quietly fuming. Completely ignoring the sign, the woman ahead of me had slipped into the express check-out line pushing a cart piled high with groceries. Imagine my delight when the cashier beckoned the woman to come forward looked into the cart and asked
The Bureau of Labor Statistics non-farm payroll report showed that the economy lost 345,000 private sector jobs in May. This is the seventeenth straight month of losses, putting the job loss toll since January 2008 at 6 million, with 2.92 million of these job losses occurring in 2009. After six straight months of losses greater
General Motors has filed for bankruptcy, and they also want billions more in bailout money so they can restructure their debt. “You want more money? Wait here while I talk to the manager. I’ll be right back.” First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Facts There is still some confusion about the guidelines for use of the first-time
There’s been a lot of chatter about whether the $8000 homebuyer tax credit can be used toward down payments. Most recently, HUD said the tax credit can go for down payments and here’s a press report on it: First-time homebuyers will now have access to quick cash to help them with their down payments. On
Latest news from Bloomberg on bringing more transparency to the credit default swaps market: Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG will for the first time offer hedge-fund customers protection by backing credit-default swap trades with clearinghouses by Dec. 15. The dealers also committed to report all
According to an Opinion Research study, affordability now trumps location as the biggest homebuyer priority. Here’s an excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle write up on the survey: The survey, conducted by Opinion Research for San Francisco-based real-estate search engine Roost, spoke to 1,002 adults by phone last month. It found that 43% said finding
GM filed for bankruptcy a few days ago. A buddy told me, “This would be bad news if anyone had actually bought a GM car in the last five years. They say that the company will emerge from bankruptcy in three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first.” There are some witty folks out there.
What are top loan agents saying? One broker wrote, “Things have been good for me lately, which has been much needed. Hopefully it will keep up, as I have a lot of brokers that were waiting to lock for 15 days, so unfortunately they’re in a little bit of trouble now. The DU Refi Plus
There are some clever folks out there. One of them created this lamentation of the new appraisal rules (known as HVCC, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct), sung to Joe Cocker’s “All Night Laundry Mat Blues”: We got the all day HVCC blues Brokers can’t use appraisers that they choose The AMC we’re using they
To: New York Attorney General, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (“HVCC”) stands to be an important step forward for consumers and the Real Estate industry, but in its current form there are some important changes that require your attention. In its current
Overall Personal Consumption Expenditures, the Fed’s favorite measure of consumer inflation, were +0.1% in April and +0.4% year-over-year through April. Excluding volatile oil and food costs from the readings, “Core” PCE price index for April was +0.3% and +1.9% YOY through April. The Fed looks closely at Core PCE excluding food and energy prices because
My kids asked me, “Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?” I told them “My sense of decency.” Will Higher Rates Stall Economic Recovery? May was the third month in a row for stock market gains. Stocks have been appreciating as the credit freeze and bank liquidity crisis has eased,
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