Mortgage Interest Rates - St Louis Real Estate News

New home sales close out 2010 on the rise; predicting increased sales in 2011

By Dennis Norman, on January 26th, 2011

Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau released new home sales data for December 2010 showing an increase of 17.5 percent from the month before, but a decrease of 7.6 percent from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted new home sales rate for December was 329,000 homes, a 17.5 percent increase from November’s revised rate of 280,000 homes. The supply of new homes on the market decreased from an adjusted 8.4 month supply in November to a 6.9 month supply in December. The median new home price increased for the month to $241,500 whopping 12.0 Continue Reading →

St. Louis Foreclosures and Delinquencies on the rise in November

By Dennis Norman, on January 25th, 2011

Dennis Norman

The St. Louis foreclosure rate shot up 7 percent in November to 1.67 percent, according to a report published by CoreLogic. The report also shows that the rate of serious mortgage delinquencies in St. Louis (90+ days delinquent) increase slightly to 5.18 percent in November from 5.17 percent the month before.

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Foreclosures on the rise in December; Mortgage delinquences decline though

By Dennis Norman, on January 21st, 2011

A “first-look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, is somewhat encouraging as it shows the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (not including foreclosures) for December was 8.83 percent which is a decrease of 2.1 percent from November’s rate of 9.02 percent.

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St. Louis housing market finishes 2010 on an upward trend

By Dennis Norman, on January 20th, 2011

Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS(R) shows St. Louis area existing home sales for December were 3.1 percent higher than a year ago and St. Louis area home prices in December were 7.8 percent higher than the year before.

Nationally, existing home sales in December were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 5.28 million units which is an increase of 12.3 percent from November and is a decline of 2.9 percent from a year ago. Preliminary numbers for 2010 show 4,908,000 existing homes sold which is a decrease of 4.8 percent from 2009 when Continue Reading →

Private Mortage Insurance helps you get the loan; St Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on January 19th, 2011

Private Mortgage Insurance, also known as PMI, is a supplemental insurance policy you may be required to obtain in order to get a mortgage loan. PMI is provided by private (non-government) companies and is usually required when your loan-to-value ratio — the amount of your mortgage loan divided by the value of your home — is greater than 80 percent.

Mortgage Insurance isn’t a bad thing — it allows you to make a lower down payment and still qualify for a mortgage loan. In fact without PMI, many of us would not be able to Continue Reading →

St. Louis Foreclosure Rates Increase for Forth Consecutive Month

By Dennis Norman, on January 13th, 2011

A report released by CoreLogic showed that the St. Louis foreclosure rate increased in October marking the fourth-consecutive month of increases. The report shows St. Louis to have a foreclosure rate in October of 1.58 percent, a slight increase from September’s 1.57 percent, however an increase of over 11 percent from a year ago. The foreclosure rate in the U.S. in October was 3.33 percent, an increase of 14 percent from the year before.

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Buy and Rehab Using an FHA Loan; St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on January 12th, 2011

The FHA 203K rehab program is intended to promote and facilitate the restoration and preservation of existing homes. It enables borrowers to finance the acquisition and rehab of a property in one step; the loan value is based on the projected value of the home at the completion of the rehab.

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Where is the real estate market headed in 2011?

By Dennis Norman, on January 7th, 2011

The real estate market has not been very nice to us over the past 3 years or so and we are all anxious to see the light at the end of the tunnel. With that in mind, and 2011 in front of us, where is the real estate market headed in 2011? Before I take my humble stab at answering this question I need to remind you I am not an economist nor do I have a PhD behind my name, in fact I have nothing behind my name. All I can offer is a whole lot of experience “in Continue Reading →

Mortgage Interest Tax Deductibilty Extended Through 2011; St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on January 5th, 2011

The President has signed the bill extending Mortgage Insurance tax deductibility through December 31, 2011. Borrowers can use Mortgage Insurance (MI) to buy a home sooner and enjoy predictable payments, while benefiting by deducting the premiums from their income taxes. And MI can be canceled once the home buyer builds enough equity. MI is required on all mortgage loans that exceed an 80% loan to value.

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Has The Rate of Home Ownership Dropped to an All-Time Low?

By Dennis Norman, on December 31st, 2010

As 2010 quickly comes to an end I sat here early this morning pondering the real estate market and reading reports on the housing industry. One thing that caught my attention was an article titled “The Mortgage Interest Deduction and Negative Equity” by Ted Gayer, the co-director of economic studies at the Brookings Institute (and occasional contributor to this blog). Ted’s article made some interesting points related to the mortgage interest deduction, negative equity and home-ownership rates in the U.S.

In his article Ted states “It seems semantically incorrect to call someone who owes more on an asset than it’s Continue Reading →

Co-Signing for your childs loan; St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Dennis Norman, on December 30th, 2010

As your kids grow up, you support them through their bumps and bruises, pay for their braces, school and much, much more.

Over the past few years, I have run into the issue of young adults not being able to qualify for a mortgage without a parent’s help. So, the big question is: should you offer to co-sign on your child’s loan? Your kid may need something more than your money…

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Making Appraisers the Scapegoat

By Dennis Norman, on December 28th, 2010

It seems we always need to find someone to blame for our problems…

When it comes to the meltdown in the housing market that has taken place over the past three years there has been no lack of finger pointing by many inside and outside the industry as to factors that either caused or contributed to the collapse of the housing market. Sub-prime lending, Wall Street, mortgage fraud, the mortgage industry, banks, community reinvestment act, real estate brokers and agents, fannie mae, freddie mac, federal government over-regulation, federal government under-regulation, appraisers, unemployment, the economy in general, “flipping”, sellers, buyers and Continue Reading →

MHDC’s Cash Assistance Loan; St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on December 23rd, 2010

First-time home buyers receive a forgivable 3% cash assistance loan for down payment and closing costs.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) provides a competitive interest rate on a safe 30-year fixed rate 1st mortgage. Your 3% advance loan is treated as a 2nd mortgage completely forgivable after five years of continuous occupancy. New, Constant Funding means MHDC will have the monies available for the borrowers regardless of bond issuance.

For more information about this program, go to http://www.box.net/shared/s2x9zriz1g or www.MHDC.com .

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Mortgage Defaults Increase In November

By Dennis Norman, on December 23rd, 2010

A report released this week by Standard & Poor’s and Experian showed an increase in monthly default rates on first mortgages to 3.05 percent and an increase in default rates on second mortgages to 1.80 percent. The increase in default rates for first mortgages is the first increase since December 2009. The good news is that even though the rate in November increased, it is still down 34.84 percent from a year ago at the same time.

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Existing home sales increase in November; Down almost 28 percent from a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on December 22nd, 2010

Today’s existing home sales report from theNational Association of REALTORS(R) shows existing home sales in November were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.68 million units which is an increase of 5.6 percent from October and is a decline of 27.9 percent from a year ago.

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2011 Real Estate Market Expected to Show Some Improvement

By Dennis Norman, on December 21st, 2010

Ah, it is so much fun to be able to write something positive about the real estate market!

According to an economic outlook report just issued by Fannie Mae, our country’s economy should “kick into higher gear” by the second quarter of 2011. This positive outlook is the result of improvements in consumer spending, consumer confidence, increased demand for goods and services and falling unemployment claims.

For 2011, Fannie Mae, in their December 2010 forecast, is forecasting growth of 3.4 percent which is an improvement from the 2.9 percent growth in 2011 they previously forecast. The big caveat is that Continue Reading →

Foreclosures on the rise in November however mortgage delinquences decline

By Dennis Norman, on December 20th, 2010

A “first-look” report issued by Lender Processing Services, one of the countries largest loan servicers and aggregators of loan performance data, is somewhat encouraging as it shows the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate (not including foreclosures) for October was 9.02 percent which is a decrease of almost 3 percent from October’s rate of 9.29 percent.

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Twenty-three percent increase in price reductions by home sellers

By Dennis Norman, on December 16th, 2010

A new report release by Trulia reveals that, in December, the number of listings with at least one price cut grew to 27 percent which is a 23 percent increase from December 2009 when 22 percent of the listings had at least one price cut. In terms of the size of the price cut, that has remained about the same at 11 percent.

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Online Mortgage Qualifier; St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on December 14th, 2010

The first step in buying a house is determining your budget.

This calculator steps you through the process of finding out how much you can borrow. Fill in the entry fields and click on the “View Report” button to see a complete amortization schedule of your mortgage payments:

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Survey shows consumers don’t comparison shop for mortgages

By Dennis Norman, on December 14th, 2010

A survey conducted by Harris Interactive, for Lending Tree, shows that consumers do not comparison shop when it comes to their home mortgage, instead borrowers often “lock in” their first home loan offer. The survey shows 96 percent of consumers compare prices when shopping for anything, but nearly 40 percent obtain just one home loan quote. An interesting comparison given was when shopping for a home computer, consumers check out and research an average of 3.1 models before making a purchase. This probably helps explain why, according to the survey, only 28 percent of borrowers stated they were “very confident” Continue Reading →

Homeowner Negative Equity Declines for Third Straight Quarter

By Dennis Norman, on December 13th, 2010

A report released this morning by CoreLogic shows negative equity declined in third quarter of 2010 for residential properties, marking the third-consecutive quarterly decline. The CoreLogic reports that 10.8 million, or 22.5 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages were in negative equity at the end of the third quarter of 2010, down from 11.0 million and 23 percent in the second quarter. While the decline is good news, the bad news is that the report states the decline is “due primarily to foreclosures of severely negative equity properties rather than an increase in home values.”

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Are Reverse Mortgages Safe for Seniors?

By Dennis Norman, on December 10th, 2010

Ah, the reverse mortgage battle continues…Consumers Union says their risky and dangerous; RetireSafe, a grassroots organization that advocates on behalf of seniors says they provide financial independence to Seniors…so who’s right?

First off, I have to say that I personally feel reverse mortgages offer an excellent opportunity for seniors to live a better life, or get them through a tough financial period, by tapping the equity in their homes. I have written before about a friend of mine, Tom Carter, who has helped dozens of seniors over the years with reverse mortgages. Having said that, obviously, like almost Continue Reading →

Zillow Report: U.S. Homes Set to Lose $1.7 Trillion in Value During 2010

By Dennis Norman, on December 9th, 2010

Report by Zillow estimates that U.S. Homes have now lost $9 Tillion in value since Market Peak

U.S. homes are expected to lose more than $1.7 trillion in value during 2010, which is 63 percent more than the $1 trillion lost in 2009, according to a report released by Zillow.com. That brings the total value lost since the market peaked in June 2006 to $9 trillion.

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Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Prime Lending to Resolve Allegations of Lending Discrimination

By News Desk, on December 9th, 2010

Settlement Provides $2 Million to African-American Borrowers Who Paid Higher Interest Rates

PrimeLending, a national mortgage lender with 168 offices in 32 states at the end of 2009, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American borrowers between 2006 and 2009.

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Cash-In Refis; St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on December 8th, 2010

CASH-IN REFIS…

Over the past years, many of Americans pulled money out their homes through “cash-out” refis. Today, many of my clients are bringing cash into their refinance transactions. Money is flowing in the opposite direction.

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Survey shows Americans not expecting housing market recovery until after 2012

By Dennis Norman, on December 7th, 2010

Today, Trulia and RealtyTrac released the latest result of their ongoing survey tracking the attitude of homebuyers toward foreclosed homes. The most recent survey, conducted in early November by Harris Interactive, showed that Americans are still concerned about the health of the housing market with 58 percent of adults survey expecting a housing recovery to take at least another two years.

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Pending home sales increase over 10 percent in October; Mortgage Interest Deduction vital to Recovery

By Dennis Norman, on December 2nd, 2010

Dennis Norman

The National Association of REALTORS Pending Home Sales Index for October shows an increase of 10.4 percent in the index from the month before (seasonally adjusted), and a 20.5 percent decrease from a year ago.

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Freddie Mac Suspends Evictions Over Holidays; St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on December 1st, 2010

Freddie Mac announced today it has ordered all evictions involving foreclosed occupied single family and 2-4 unit properties that had Freddie Mac mortgages to be suspended from December 20, 2010 to January 3, 2011.

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St Louis Foreclosure rate up 25 percent from a year ago

By Dennis Norman, on November 30th, 2010

A report released by CoreLogic showed the St. Louis metro area to have a foreclosure rate in September of 1.57 percent, and increase of over 25 percent (25.6%) from a year ago, and an increase of a little over 3 percent from the month before. The national foreclosure rate in September was 3.29 percent, a slight increase from 3.20 percent the month before.

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Additional payment paydown calculator and St. Louis Mortgage Rate Update

By Robert Fishel, on November 24th, 2010

How much interest can you save by increasing your mortgage payment? Check out the link below and the financial calculator will help you determine your savings. Click the “View Report” button to see a complete amortization payment schedule, and how much you can save on your mortgage!

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