As you read this quarterly mortgage market update, you may still be reeling from the figures on your first quarter 2009 investment statements. Markets have been bruising since the credit crisis began in August 2007, with stocks declining approximately 40% since last Fall alone. During this time, economic and financial market updates have come to
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In our first quarterly report of 2008, we proposed “Ride The Storm” as phrase of the year, and discussed how aggressive Fed rate cuts and higher conforming loan limits might “break the storm clouds” in mortgage and financial markets. As 2008 moved on, 85-year-old investment bank Bear Stearns collapsed, Congress passed two economic and housing
The National Bureau of Economic Research declared today that the U.S. is in recession, saying that economic expansion that began in November 2001 reached its peak peak in December 2007 after 73 months (They said the previous expansion of the 1990s lasted 120 months). The NBER is the organization that officially calls a recession, and
Fixed and ARM rates for loans up to $729k are up about .5% from last week, which continues a .375% to .5% up/down trend for the past few months. Rates on above $729k are consistent because they continue to be priced more on lenders’ willingness to lend than on market forces. Most lenders are phasing
One common story during the past year of home price declines is how homeowners can go to their local tax assessors office and ask for their property to be re-assessed. In many counties across the country, it’s not as big of a deal because the assessors offices reassess properties quarterly or annually anyway based on
Indymac Bank made the biggest headlines recently, but so far in 2008, seven banks have failed and have been taken over by the FDIC. When this happens, the FDIC will guarantee $100,000 per account. But what if they run out of money? They insure $4.4 trillion in deposits and currently hold about $44 billion in
If you’re a homebuyer with less than 20% down, let’s say 10% down as an example, you’ve probably heard over the past several years that you just get a first mortgage for 80% and a second mortgage for the remaining percent. This way, you avoid mortgage insurance lenders charge for first mortgages above 80% of
Most working adults have asked themselves whether it’s better to rent or buy a home, and most of them ask the question often. It’s hard to avoid the question when most of adult life is spent either at home or working to pay for their home. The bare bones mathematical answer lies in whether the
After Google reported first quarter earnings growth of 42% yesterday, Google shares soared $89 or 20% today to $539.41, and helped push the Nasdaq up by 61 points and the Dow by 229 points. Meanwhile bonds went on a wild ride with mortgage bond prices trading in an 99 basis point range on the day.
We think that the credit crunch began in April 2007 when subprime lender New Century went under. Others think that the beginning was when two Bear Stearns hedge funds collapsed in June 2007. And most people think it began on August 1, 2007 when American Home Mortgage went down, and the credit markets froze up.
Last week, we touched on tax deductions for investment property. So with the tax filing deadline is creeping up, we wanted to add some detail to that and include some extra property tax topics that may come in handy right now, and will also give you some things to think about as you fine tune
We discuss mortgage bonds often, probably too often on this site. In the heat of daily trading, especially with the extreme mortgage bond market volatility since August, sometimes we rush past what they actually are in order to make the broader point of how they affect mortgage rates. But here’s a good Slate story on
Last quarter, we showed how dropping home prices create opportunities for buyers even if rates are higher. Now, we’ll continue that discussion in the context of the global credit crunch which has had a big influence on home prices and rates. Overview of The Credit Crunch The ‘Credit Crunch’ that hit mortgage markets in early
In the recent boom years, Summer and Fall were the best of times for home sales. Even in Summer 2005, one full year after the Fed started raising rates off of all-time lows, huge sales volume helped both sellers and buyers win. It wasn’t until Fall 2006, and especially this year, that we saw a
Now that you’ve settled into your routine for the new year, we wanted to give you some tax tips to help you understand and optimize your 2006 filing, and some tips for evaluating costs and rates of your existing or new loans. New loans are used for purchasing a new home, getting cash out of
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