Iraqi officials said that they have less money to spend on infrastructure because the falling price of oil has hit government revenues hard. They said they can’t spend money they don’t have. Have we taught them nothing in six years? California’s First Ever Worker Furlough They’re trying not to do that here in California. More
Conforming Loan Limit
My 16-yr old, who is preparing for the SAT tests, was (coincidentally?) reading an article the other day titled, “Six-Figure Jobs You Don’t Need A College Degree For.” After ending their title sentence in a preposition, the article goes on to talk about air traffic controllers, construction workers, plumbers, ultrasound technicians, “locomotive engineer”, and of
RATE UPDATE & LOCKING STRATEGY Rates have traded in a half-point range in the two weeks since my last report. This kind of volatility is standard right now as markets struggle to reconcile dismal economic news with massive government stimulus. It’s somewhat futile to display rates at the bottom of this report because they swing
The Detroit Auto Show opened recently, and America’s automakers are showing off their latest cars. Unfortunately, they didn’t get as much of the bailout as they thought, so a ticket to the auto show costs $1.3 billion. Citi, BofA, Wells Hammered Anyone who owns stocks in financial companies got whacked yesterday. Citigroup, Bank of America,
For borrowers with great credit and at least 20% equity, 30yr fixed rates (with zero points) are approaching sub-5% for loans up to $417k; rates are approaching 5.25% for loans up to $626k; and rates for loans from $625k to $1m are mid-6% range. Today the Fed reiterated their strategy to buy mortgage bonds to
The economy is pretty bad right now. Yesterday I was putting a foreclosed sign on my house, and while I was doing that, another guy came by and repossessed my car. Did someone mention cars? Stock markets overnight got hammered after the Senate rejected the automaker bailout plan, and our stocks markets are expected to
Fixed and ARM rates for loans up to $625k are holding onto the 0.625% drops we saw last week after the Fed said they’d buy $500b in mortgage bonds, and rates on loans from $625k to $1m are down about 0.125%. Now that it looks like rates might hold for longer than a few days
Fixed and ARM rates for loans up to $625k are down 0.625% since last week, and rates on loans from $625k to $1m are down about 0.125%. Rates on loans above $1m are provided based on specific client profiles, and since we’re in the last days of super-conforming to $729k, those quotes are also case-by-case.
Everyone is waiting to see what Barack Obama has got planned. We already know his economic plan. It’s designed to help small businesses that make under $250,000 a year…Like General Motors and Chrysler. $600b Mortgage Bond Investment By Fed Seriously, this morning rates have improved dramatically the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department unveiled hundreds of
These are exciting times! This story just came across the news wires: *SOMALIAN PIRATES APPLY TO BECOME BANK TO ACCESS TARP *PAULSON: TARP PIRATE EQUITY IS AN `INVESTMENT,’ WILL PAY OFF *KASHKARI SAYS `SOMALI PIRATES ARE ‘FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND’ *Moody’s upgrade Somali Pirates to AAA *HUD SAYS SOMALI DHOW FORECLOSURE PROGRAM HAD `VERY LOW’ PARTICIPATION *SOMALI
Fixed and ARM rates for loans up to $729k are even since last week, ending several weeks of .5% price swings. Rates on loans from $729k to $1m are also about even. Rates on loans above $1m are not shown below because that pricing is truly custom based on client profiles. Only a few lenders
American Express is now trying to find access to the $700 billion bailout fund. It’s not clear what Amex would do with the money, but it may pay off its huge Visa and Mastercard bills. MBS Quotes Occasionally people in the mortgage biz want mortgage-backed security prices. Although there is a cost for real-time quotes,
The analysis of Fannie & Freddie’s plan for forestalling foreclosures continues. As one astute loan agent quipped, “All I have to do is stop making mortgage payments and I can get a 3% rate?? Sweet! Who needs a mortgage broker!” Speaking of Freddie, they announced a 3rd quarter loss of $25.3 billion, and the company
How would you like to process and underwrite loans in Israel? Their Minister of Development recently said that, “…low mortgage rates will help residents of the Qassam-ridden region afford to fortify their own homes in lieu of government funding.” In lieu of sufficient government funding toward the expansion of the fortification works, the Minister of
Fixed and ARM rates for loans up to $729k are down about .5% from two weeks ago, which continues a weekly .375% to .5% up/down trend for the past few months. Rates on loans above $729k are consistent because they continue to be priced more on lenders’ willingness to lend than on market forces. Super-conforming
AIG Gets More Government Help Jay Leno recently said, “This week, the Nobel Prize for economics went to a highly intelligent economist whose theory is a little hard, I think, for the average person to comprehend. He determined that it was bad business to give loans to people who can’t pay them back!” In that
Load More