The rate is down from 67.1% one year ago The decline is "yet more evidence that Americans are now less able and less willing to buy a home The housing crash has more than reversed the increase seen during the boom The Census Bureau estimated a total housing inventory of 131,009 units across the
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04/27/2011
"...The 20-city composite is within a hair's breadth of a double-dip..." All but one of the 20 cities in the index showed a year- over-year decline of 3.3% Phoenix had the largest decline with an 8.4 percent slump Minneapolis declined 8.3 percent The Washington DC area bucked the trend with a 2.
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04/26/2011
Morgan Stanley predicts U.S. home prices will fall 6 percent to 11 percent in 2011 This correlates to a 39 percent drop from their 2006 peak through the spring of 2012 Morgan Stanley previously estimated values would drop 35 percent from the peak The greater home price decline will come from a
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04/25/2011
FICO will not be higher if homeowners choose "short sale" over foreclosures Mortgage delinquency data from the nation's three major credit bureaus was used to make this decision Potential borrowers with short-sales will have FICO scores in the 575-to-595 range at one credit bureau This is the s
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04/25/2011
"...Steps taken to hone our underwriting standards in the past year have allowed FHA to materially strengthen its balance sheet and to further strengthen its capital reserves..." Written Testimony of Bob Ryan, Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA CommissionerU.S. Department of Housing
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04/24/2011
FHA continues to offer much higher and more flexible maximum debt-to-income ratios, far more generous underwriting and lower down payments, and will accept FICO scores that conventional lenders and private insurers won't touch The FHA put its second premium increase in six months into effect Mond
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04/23/2011
30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages (FRM) averaged 4.80% with an average 0.7 points for the week ending April 21, 2011 This was down from last week when it averaged 4.91%; one year ago the 30-year FRM averaged 5.07% 15-Year Fixed Rate Mortgages averaged 4.02% with an average 0.7 points This was down f
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04/23/2011
The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home sold in California increased 5.4% in March compared with February to $286,010 But prices declined 4.9% compared with March 2010's median price of $300,900 The decline in prices year over year is attributed to an increase in d
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04/21/2011
FHA uses both downpayment and FICO scores to allocate credit assistance Downpayment and FICO scores when used together are a much better predictor of loan performance than just one of those components alone FHA insured loans with LTV above 95% and a FICO score above 580 perform better than loans
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04/20/2011
A Federal Reserve proposal released today would require lenders to insure that borrowers have the ability to repay their mortgages The rule will tighten lending standards and combat home lending abuses Minimum underwriting standards for most mortgages will be established with lenders open to law
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04/19/2011
