Low foreclosures, stable home prices and affordability make eighth-ranked St. Louis a good bet for home buyers, according to a report released by Forbes.com last Friday. Forbes gathered data from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo’s Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The index measures median home prices against median incomes. Additional data overlays included [...]
|
|||||
 |
When considering historically low interest rates, competitive home values along with the $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer and $6,500 Repeat Homebuyer Tax Credits, potential homebuyers still have a great opportunity. THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW. The Federal Reserve indicates it will stop buying mortgage-backed securities toward the end of the first quarter. Most mortgage experts believe that mortgage [...] Over Fifteen Percent of Missouri Borrowers are Underwater-Another 5.6 Percent Are Almost Underwater
Dennis Norman According to a report released today by First American CoreLogic more than 11.3 million U.S. mortgages, or 24 percent of all mortgaged properties, are in a negative equity position meaning the borrowers owe more on their mortgage than their home is [...] More than 380 mortgage lending operations nationwide have ceased operation since 2006, according to the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter website. However in spite of a tough and demanding economic market, Paramount Mortgage this week celebrated it’s 40 year anniversary! “Expect Excellence” has been our corporate motto and the driving force in our philosophy of providing exemplary customer service,” [...] Dennis Norman Deceleration in Rise of Mortgage Delinquencies Short Lived Back in July, 2009 when speaking in North Carolina President Barack Obama announced “we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the recession“. My thoughts then were that was very optimistic and I didn’t agree (for whatever that is worth). Since then some economists [...]
Dennis Norman Last week a friend emailed me a link to a video titled “The Indymac Slap in Our Face” that was created by Think Big Work Small. I watched the video which gave a recap of the failure of Indymac bank back resulting in it’s seizure by the FDIC in July, 2008, and the [...] Dennis Norman Big Losses Are Forecast For Commercial Real Estate and Expected to Crush Some Community Banks-Can the Housing Market Avoid the Fallout? This morning the Congressional Oversight Panel issued a report, “Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability” which expressed concerns about coming losses in Commercial Real Estate and also described how [...] There is time left for qualified buyers to take advantage of the 2009 First-Time Home Buyer’s $8,000 Tax Credit & Repeat Home Buyer’s $6,500 Tax Credit. Binding sales contract must be executed by April 30, 2010, the closing can be extended until June 30, 2010. The newly expanded first-time homebuyer and repeat homebuyer tax credit [...]
Dennis Norman Fannie Mae is offering 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equivalaent amount in appliances for people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath® property. Fannie Mae is trying to entice buyers to buy one of their HomePath® homes by offering to pay up to 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equal amount [...]
Dennis Norman Bank of America announced that it is the first mortgage servicer to sign an agreement formally committing to participation in the pending second-lien component of the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Bank of America has systems in place to begin implementing the Second Lien Modification Program (2MP) with the release of final [...] FHA loans gained in popularity for borrowers as applications for FHA-guaranteed mortgages exceeded an annual rate of 3 million in October; nearly triple the level in 2007. In 2006, when subprime and other Wall Street programs were at full speed, the annual rate for applications was less than 600,000. As a result the Federal Housing Administration [...]
Dennis Norman This week the Treasury Department issed a report which included stats on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) which is part of the Obama administrations’ Making Home Affordable Program and “is a loan modification program designed to reduce delinquent and at-risk borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments”. The HAMP program got underway around March of [...] The mortgage market will be besieged this week by a wave of worry…demand concerns related to Treasury auctions to the question about what happens if Fed Chairman Bernanke is not confirmed for another term… uncertainty seldom pushes rates lower. St. Louis Mortgage Rates – January 27, 2009 * 30-year fixed-rate mortgage 5.00% no points
Dennis Norman FHA Announces Policy Changes to Address Risk and Strengthen Finances This week FHA announced policy changes that are going to help them shore up their finances but will make it more difficult and/or costly for your clients to purchase a home. The FHA policy changes include: Mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be increased to build up [...] Dennis Norman MortgageDaily.Com tracks mortgage company failures on it’s website The Mortgage Graveyard. According to The Mortgage Graveyard 225 mortgage-related firms in the U.S. ended operations or failed in 2009, higher than any year since they began tracking data in 1998. This was an increase of over 80% from 2008 which saw 124 firms fail. The [...] St. Louis mortgage rates this week remain unchanged on fixed rate loans this week but dropped slightly on ARM’s according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company. Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there. St. Louis Mortgage Rates – January 13, 2009 * 30-year fixed-rate mortgage [...]
Dennis Norman Depending on which estimate you believe, somewhere between one-third and one-half of the homeowners with a mortgage in the U.S. owe more on their homes than their homes are currently worth. This has lead to an unprecedented amount of short-sales and in many cases, a lender “forgiving” you of the short-fall (the amount [...] St. Louis mortgage rates this week bounced around a bit with 30 year fixed rate mortgages and ARM’s decreasing slightly while 15 year fixed rate mortgage rates increased according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company. Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there. St. Louis Mortgage Rates [...] St. Louis mortgage rates inreased again this week bringing 30 year rates above 5 percent according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company. Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there. St. Louis Mortgage Rates – December 30, 2009 * 30-year fixed-rate mortgage 5.25% no points Dennis Norman In a just a few days we will say goodbye to 2009; a year that has been brutal to the housing market. So as the new year comes in, what will 2010 hold in store for the housing market? To answer this question I turned to the housing forecast just released by Fannie Mae [...] According to NAR 51 percent of recent homebuyers are first-time buyers and 39 percent of recent home sales have relied on an FHA loan Dennis Norman The National Association of REALTORS just released a report showing that 51 percent of the homes sold recently have been to first-time home buyers and that 39 percent [...] Dennis Norman Last week I did a post about the Obama Administrations’ Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and showed how it really has not been effective in helping keep families in their homes and avoid foreclosure as was the intention by the administration. When my kids tell me they don’t like the way I want them [...] St. Louis mortgage rates inched up slightly this week but remained at near record-lows according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company. Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there. St. Louis Mortgage Rates – December 15, 2009 * 30-year fixed-rate mortgage 5.00% no [...] Ted Gayer, co-director of Economic Studies, Brookings Institute According to this article, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has scored a Senate homebuyer tax credit at $16.7 billion. How does the JCT $16.7 billion cost estimate square with my previous back-of-the-envelope calculation of the cost of the tax credit of $73.9 billion? For my calculation, I [...] Dennis Norman This week the Treasury Department issed a report which included stats on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) which is part of the Obama administrations’ Making Home Affordable Program and “is a loan modification program designed to reduce delinquent and at-risk borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments”. The HAMP program got underway around [...] St. Louis mortgage rates remained at near record-lows this week, with only the 30 year fixed rate mortgage rates increasing slightly, according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company. Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there. St. Louis Mortgage Rates – December 9, 2009 [...] Dennis Norman Laurie Goodman, the Senior Managing Director at Amherst Securities, testified today before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on “The Private Sector and Government Response to the Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis“. Amherst Securities specializes in the trading of residential mortgage backed securities and charges Goodman with keeping them and their customers abreast of trends in [...] Dennis Norman For the first year or so of the real estate slump, it appeared to just be concentrated in the residential market, specifically homes and condos. However, over the past few months the attention has shifted more and more to the commerical and multi-family markets as well as the economy remains weak. The Mortgage Bankers Association [...] Dennis Norman Last week the Treasury Department announced the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA), the latest program under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), designed to offer alternatives to homeowners facing foreclosure. THE HAFA PROGRAM: The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides financial incentives to loan servicers as well as borrowers who do a short-sale [...] St. Louis mortgage rates remained at near record-lows this week according to St. Louis-based Paramount Mortgage Company. Lower interest rates, low prices and the extension and expansion of the home-buyer tax credit should be pretty tempting to buyers out there. St. Louis Mortgage Rates - December 2, 2009 * Tweet This Post |
||||
|
Connecting St. Louis Information St. Louis The author and owner of this site are providing the information on this web site for general information only. The information on this site does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind nor should it be construed as such. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action on this information, you should consult a qualified professional adviser to whom you have provided all of the facts applicable to your particular situation or question. None of the tax information on this web site is intended to be used nor can it be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided as is, with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose Powered by WordPress & the Atahualpa Theme by BytesForAll. Discuss on our WP Forum |
|||||
Recent Comments