Article Archive - 2013
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Tight Supply Restrains Home Sales
May 23, 2013Existing home sales were up slightly in April, but still remained stubbornly below the 5...
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Rising Rates Put Chill On Refinancing
May 22, 2013Refinance demand is down sharply over the past two weeks, after mortgage rates headed back...
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Home Prices Maintain Strong Pace
May 21, 2013U.S. home values in April posted their sixth consecutive month of annual price increases of...
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NAR: Easier Credit Could Boost Home Sales 15-20 Percent
May 20, 2013Home sales could increase 15-20 percent above what they currently are if mortgage lenders...
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Mortgage Rates Climb for Second Week
May 16, 2013Mortgage rates are up for a second straight week, with both 30- and 15-year fixed-rate...
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What Can You Do if PMI Blocks Your HARP Refinance?
May 15, 2013Anita Holley knows first-hand the advantages of having private mortgage insurance.
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Freddie Offering Easy Mortgage Mods
May 14, 2013Freddie Mac has accelerated the launch of its streamlined loan modification program, giving...
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Realtors Saw Incomes Rise in 2012
May 13, 2013Realtors saw their median gross incomes increase by 25 percent in 2012, for only the second...
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What You May Not Know About Mortgages
May 11, 2013People in the mortgage business often take certain things for granted when it comes to what...
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Rates Rise, Ending 5-Week Decline
May 09, 2013Mortgage rates headed higher this week on the strength of a better-than-expected employment...
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Stronger Home Price Gains Expected
May 08, 2013Analysts are feeling more bullish about 2013 home price gains than they were just a few...
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Lenders Not Easing Up on Bad Credit
May 07, 2013The housing market has been slowly improving over the past year but that doesn’t appear to...
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Fewer Loans Delinquent, Underwater
May 06, 2013Fewer homeowners are falling into financial difficulty with their mortgages, with the rate...
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5 Tips for Buying a Home When You Have Student Loan Debt
May 03, 2013With $28,000 in student loan debt when he graduated from college last spring, Patrick O’...
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30-Year Rates Approach Record Lows
May 02, 2013Mortgage rates are down for a fifth consecutive week, with 30-year rates approaching all-...
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Foreclosure Bump Seen As Temporary
April 30, 2013The number of homes lost to foreclosure showed a moderate increase in March, even as long-...
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Pending Home Sales Flatten Out
April 29, 2013The housing market may be bogging down, suggested by only weak improvement in pending home...
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Mortgages for Unmarrieds: Part II
April 26, 2013When you buy a home as an unmarried couple, getting approved for the mortgage is only half...
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15-Year Rates Hit Record Lows
April 25, 2013Mortgage rates are once again hitting new record lows this week, with both 15-year loans...
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First-Time Homebuyers Returning?
April 24, 2013First-time homebuyers appear to be on the verge of returning to the market, as more young...
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FHFA: Home Prices Keep Rising
April 23, 2013U.S. home prices continue to rise, increasing a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent from...
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Homes Sales Down, But Prices Up
April 22, 2013Existing home sales fell in March, but continued a trend of annual increases that has been...
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Mortgages for Unmarrieds: Part I
April 20, 2013Getting a mortgage and buying a home offers some significant challenges for two unmarried...
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Mortgage Rates Toy With Record Lows
April 18, 2013Mortgage rates edged down again this week, posting their third consecutive decline with 5-...
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More Borrowers Seek Purchase Loans
April 17, 2013Mortgage applications for home purchases hit their highest level in nearly three years last...
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New Home Construction Slows
April 16, 2013New construction of single-family homes slowed last month, but remains well ahead of last...
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Lenders Allowing Lower Down Payments
April 15, 2013It’s getting easier for borrowers to get a mortgage with a small down payment, according to...
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An Overlooked Perk of FHA Loans
April 13, 2013Recent fee increases have made FHA mortgages less attractive than they used to be. However...
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Big Drop in Fixed Mortgage Rates
April 11, 2013Fixed mortgage rates fell sharply this week, following a weaker-than-expected employment...
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HARP Underwater Refinance Extended
April 11, 2013The federal HARP program for refinancing underwater and low-equity mortgages has been...
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More Lenders See Credit Easing
April 10, 2013Lenders are feeling more optimistic about the direction of the housing market than at any...
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HARP Refinancing Remains Strong
April 09, 2013Nearly 100,000 mortgages were refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (...
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Worries Grow Over Personal Finances
April 08, 2013Consumers continue to look forward to a strengthening housing market this year, even though...
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Getting a Mortgage After Foreclosure
April 06, 2013If you lost your home as a result of the financial crisis, you may be wondering how soon...
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PMI Firms Accused of Lender Kickbacks
April 05, 2013The nation’s four major mortgage insurance companies have been hit with $15 million in...
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Obama Targets Tight Lending Standards
April 03, 2013The Obama administration is working to boost mortgage lending to borrowers with less-than-...
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Fannie Mae Reports Record Profits
April 02, 2013Fannie Mae has reported a record profit of $17.2 billion in 2012, resulting in an $11.6 billion...
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Mortgages Dominate CFPB Complaints
April 01, 2013Mortgages accounted for nearly half of the complaints received by the Consumer Financial...
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Buyer Beware on For Sale by Owner
March 30, 2013If you’re shopping around for a house, you may have come across some properties listed as For...
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Banks Tackling More Foreclosures
March 28, 2013The number of homes in foreclosure is on the rise but that doesn’t mean more homeowners are...
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FHFA to Offer Simplified Loan Mods
March 27, 2013Homeowners who have fallen behind on their Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages will be...
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New Home Sales Cool Off
March 26, 2013New home sales declined in February, but remained ahead of their pace for the entirety of 2012,...
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FICO Alternative Rises in Popularity
March 25, 2013It looks like the FICO score, long the only game in town when it came to credit scoring for...
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Buying a Home in Today’s Tight Market
March 23, 2013With low prices and mortgage rates, it should be a great time to buy a home. But tight...
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Rates Drop on Low Inflation Report
March 21, 2013Fixed-rate mortgages headed back down this week, reversing last week’s spike that sent...
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Underwater Mortgages Keep Falling
March 20, 2013The number of homeowners with underwater mortgages continued to shrink in the fourth...
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Refinance Demand Keeps Slowing
March 20, 2013Mortgage applications for both home purchases and refinances fell last week, with...
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9 State AGs Call for New FHFA Head
March 19, 2013A group of state attorneys general are calling for the replacement of Federal Housing...
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Six Great Things About Owning a Home
March 18, 2013Thinking about buying a home? If so, you may have worn out your brain trying to add up all...
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Foreclosure Losses Lowest Since 2007
March 14, 2013The number of homes lost to foreclosure has fallen to its lowest level in nearly five and a...
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Women Get More Mortgage Rejections
March 13, 2013Female mortgage applicants are significantly less likely to be approved than comparable...
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Jumbo Loans Looking More Attractive
March 13, 2013Jumbo mortgages, often thought of as high-priced cousins of conventional loans, have...
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Mortgage Rates Jump on Jobs Report
March 11, 2013Mortgage rates are up significantly the past few days, spurred in large part by Friday’s...
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FHA Loans Getting More Costly - Soon
March 08, 2013If you’re thinking about an FHA mortgage, you might want to act fast to avoid some higher...
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Mortgage Rates Holding Steady
March 07, 2013Mortgage rates are holding largely steady this week, with only minor changes among the...
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Immigrants a Third of New Households
March 06, 2013Foreign-born households are a large and growing factor in the U.S. housing market, expected...
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Fannie, Freddie Successor Planned
March 05, 2013A new business entity intended as an eventual successor to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will...
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Wealthy Tapping Interest-Only Loans
March 04, 2013Interest-only mortgages are making a bit of a comeback, at least among the very wealthy....
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The Piggyback Jumbo Mortgage
March 02, 2013Need a jumbo mortgage but you don’t want to pay a jumbo mortgage rate? You might consider a...
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Mortgage Rates Turn Downward
February 28, 2013Mortgage rates cooled off somewhat this week, with all three major loan types down from...
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Pending Home Sales Keep Rising
February 27, 2013Pending home sales rose in January, reaching their highest level in nearly three years and...
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New Home Sales Start the Year Strong
February 26, 2013New home sales picked up sharply in January, rising 15.9 percent over December’s rate to...
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Successor to Fannie, Freddie Proposed
February 26, 2013Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be totally eliminated to make room for an expanded role...
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Mortgage and Home Tax Deductions
February 23, 2013What federal tax deductions can you take for a mortgage and other home ownership expenses?...
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Tight Inventory Boosting Home Prices
February 21, 2013Existing home sales showed a slight improvement in January, while a shrinking inventory and...
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New Home Demand Keeps Rising
February 20, 2013Demand for newly built single-family homes continues to rise, with both building permits...
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HARP Refinances Doubled in 2012
February 20, 2013The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) topped 2 million mortgages refinanced in...
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Housing Predicted to Lift Economy
February 18, 2013The housing market should give a boost to the economy this year, coming on the heels of a...
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The Special Rules for Condo Mortgages
February 17, 2013A condominium offers many of the advantages of home ownership with fewer of the hassles....
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New Foreclosures Lowest Since 2006
February 14, 2013Foreclosure starts have fallen to their lowest level in six-and-a-half years, after new...
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10 Metros with Best, Worst Credit
February 13, 2013The nation’s highest credit scores are clustered in metropolitan areas along the Pacific...
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27 Percent of Refis Cut Loan Term
February 13, 2013Over one-quarter of borrowers who refinanced their mortgage late last year chose to shorten...
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Home Prices Show 10% Annual Gain
February 11, 2013U.S. home prices have posted their strongest annual increase in seven years, showing a 10...
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Are Home Equity Loans Coming Back?
February 09, 2013Wondering if you can qualify for a home equity loan? Recent indications suggest that second...
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Mixed Trends for Economy, Housing
February 07, 2013Consumers are showing some increased optimism about the direction of the housing market and...
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Refinancing Up Despite Higher Rates
February 06, 2013Mortgage refinance demand picked up this week, with applications for new loans up by a...
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GMAC Stops Taking Mortgage Aps
February 05, 2013GMAC Mortgage is no longer accepting mortgage applications, its loan origination business...
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Duke: Housing Should Lift Economy
February 05, 2013A recovering housing market should help drive a continued economic expansion in the year...
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Last Chance to Refinance?
February 01, 2013Mortgage rates have been on the rise. Is this your last, best chance to refinance and save...
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Mortgage Rates Turn Sharply Up
January 31, 2013Mortgage rates are up sharply this week, with the most popular loan types up a full tenth...
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Home Price Gains Pick Up Speed
January 30, 2013U.S. home prices are rising at a quickening pace, with November home values showing their...
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Fannie, Freddie to Let Borrowers Walk
January 30, 2013Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will reportedly let some underwater homeowners walk away from...
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Tight Supply Limits Pending Home Sales
January 28, 2013Pending home sales slowed in December, as limited inventories of low-priced homes limited...
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Why You Might Consider an ARM
January 26, 2013You don’t hear much about adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) these days. With interest-rates...
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Mortgage Rates Increase
January 24, 2013Mortgage rates headed upward this week, with the averages on both 30- and 15-year home...
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Home Prices Continue to Rise
January 23, 2013U.S. home prices continue to rise, increasing a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in November...
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New Rules Discourage Risky Loans
January 23, 2013New rules intended to discourage lenders from steering borrowers into riskier and more...
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5 Questions for Potential Homebuyers
January 22, 2013Are you ready to buy a home? With housing prices and mortgage rates as low as they are,...
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Mortgage Credit Scores Average 748
January 17, 2013The average mortgage borrower in 2012 paid an interest rate of 3.90 percent on a 30-year...
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New Year Brings Jump in Mortgage Aps
January 16, 2013Mortgage demand jumped last week, with applications for both refinancing and home purchases...
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Strong Gains for Home Sales, Prices
January 15, 2013For the first time in seven years, annual U.S. home sales have improved from one year to...
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Mortgage Defaults On the Rise Again
January 15, 2013Mortgage defaults turned upward in the last quarter of 2012, a disturbing trend amid what...
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Borrowers and the New Mortgage Rules
January 12, 2013The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rolled out long-awaited new rules for...
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New Qualified Mortgage Rules Released
January 10, 2013Long-awaited “qualified mortgage” rules were issued today by the Consumer Financial...
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Quicken Rises to #3 Mortgage Lender
January 09, 2013Quicken Loans more than doubled its mortgage volume in 2012, originating $70 billion in...
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Slower Home Price Gains Expected
January 08, 2013U.S. home prices are predicted to keep rising in 2013, though at a considerably slower pace...
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Borrowers to Get $8.5B Settlement
January 07, 2013Some 3.8 million homeowners will share in an $8.5 billion settlement over improper...
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Six Steps to Maximize Your Appraisal
January 05, 2013The home appraisal is very important when refinancing a mortgage. By setting the official...
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Foreclosure Rate Keeps Dropping
January 03, 2013Foreclosures fell markedly during 2012, with the number of homes repossessed by lenders in...
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PMI Deduction Revived, Extended
January 02, 2013Two tax protections for mortgage borrowers were extended for at least another year as part...
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