From Realtor.com — As we approach the midpoint of 2015, the residential real estate market is on track for its best year since 2006, the peak of the housing bubble. (This time, though, it’s no bubble.) See full article by clicking here.
Articles Categorized: News
Upcoming E-Waste and Document Shredding Event in Pasadena
Upcoming E-Waste-Document Shredding Event E-waste/Document Shredding event is scheduled for May 30, 2015 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Rose Bowl Stadium – Parking Lot I E-waste items include computers, keyboards, printers, monitors, laptops, docking stations, scanners, shredders, fax machines, computer mice, telephones, televisions, flat screens, VCRs, DVD players, PDAs, cassette players, tape drives, stereos… Read more
Fannie Mae to offer lenders access to proprietary home valuation database
From the L.A. Times.com — Starting Jan. 26, Fannie Mae plans to offer mortgage lenders access to proprietary home valuation databases that they can use to assess the accuracy of and risks posed by the reports submitted by appraisers. The Fannie data will flag possible errors in the appraiser’s work before the lender commits to… Read more
It’s Time to Think About Refinancing Your Mortgage
From the NYTimes.com — The bond market is a complicated thing, and it is understandable if most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. But even for Americans who don’t want to spend any mental energy on yield curves, convexity and term premia, there is one simple thing to know about the… Read more
FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums Cut
From Businessweek.com — The annual fees the Federal Housing Administration charges to guarantee mortgages will be cut by 0.5 percentage point, to 0.85 percent of the loan balance, Julian Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said today during a conference call with reporters. Under the new premium structure, FHA estimates that 2… Read more
Five Key Take-Aways on America’s Housing Market
Fannie Mae’s chief economist, Douglas G. Duncan met with the L.A. Times editors and reporters to share his views on where the housing market is headed. Here are five key takeaways: Housing isn’t really going gangbusters. Despite those eye-popping price jumps, housing is not in a bubble or even a boom. Real estate is also… Read more
Low Rates and High Rents are converting Homeowners into Landlords
From CNN Money. Low mortgage rates and soaring rents have convinced a growing number of homeowners to hang onto their former homes and become landlords instead.
Existing Homes Sales Post First 2014 Increase
From Mortgage News Daily. There were stirrings of a spring market in April as both existing home sales and the inventory of available homes increased. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said that home price growth also slowed, an encouraging sign of continued affordability.
Mortgage Rates Hit Six-Month Low; Not Likely to Rebound
From the Wall Street Journal. Mortgage-interest rates have fallen to their lowest level in six months, and may struggle to surpass last fall’s peak by the end of the year. Such a development could be a boon for the housing market slowed by a rise interest-rates that began a year ago. Interest rates on 30-year… Read more
Cash-Out Refinances Up as Home Equity Rises
According to the LA Times, equity holdings in homes are surging again, cash-out refinancings are coming back into vogue — this time under much tighter controls by lenders and used for saner purposes by borrowers than they were last decade. Giant mortgage lender Quicken Loans estimates that about one-quarter of new refinancings are cash-outs. Federally… Read more