Articles Tagged With: FHA Loan News

November 7, 2016

Mortgage Rate Trends: Improving Slightly

Mortgage loan interest rates are not directly tied to things like scheduled economic data releases. Friday’s job report, for example, is not directly associated with rate movements, but investor reaction to such reports can and often does influence mortgage rates. The usual rule of thumb is, in general, what is bad for the economy often benefits interest rates. So when you get good news (or at least, better news) in a job report, you could reasonably expect conditions to be favorable to higher mortgage rates assuming you use that rule of thumb. But sometimes that rule won’t apply for one reason or another, and that was the case on Friday when mortgage rates improved slightly even though the jobs data was stronger than some thought it might be. In this | more...

November 3, 2016

Mortgage Rates: Slightly Better

By Joe Wallace

Mortgage loan rates recovered a bit on Wednesday, making nearly a full week of either no upward movement or slight recovery on a daily basis. Borrowers affected by these four days will likely have noticed the differences in closing costs rather than adjustments in rates. There was some attention paid to Wednesday’s Fed announcement, since past versions of this have either moved or had serious potential to move mortgage loan rates based on investor reaction to the contents of such announcements. But this time around, there was nothing noticeable; the markets seem more interested in the uncertainty surrounding political events at the moment. 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages are still at or near 3.625% best execution. FHA mortgage rate conditions haven’t altered either, holding steady in the comfort zone range | more...

November 1, 2016

FHA Condo Loans: New Requirements

By Joe Wallace

The FHA official site has updated owner/occupier requirements for FHA condo loans. In a press release issued in late October, the agency announced changes effective immediately; “The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced that, under certain circumstances, it will lower its required owner-occupancy standard for approved condominium developments…FHA currently requires that approved condominium developments have a minimum of 50 percent of the units occupied by owners.” The press release adds that “this requirement can be lowered to 35 percent for existing condo developments provided the project meets certain conditions.” The press release states that The Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) included instructions to the FHA, “to issue guidance regarding the percentage of units within an approved condominium development that must be owner-occupied. While having too few owner-occupants | more...

October 25, 2016

Interest Rate Trends: Higher

By Joe Wallace

We’ve watched an overall upward trend in interest rate behavior for mortgages in recent weeks, and while there have been some days of recovery, it seems that at present there are a variety of factors putting upward pressure on rates. Market watchers have been using the phrase “the trend is not your friend” for a while now, and Monday’s rate movement showed no signs of proving that phrase wrong in the short term. Rates moved higher on Monday, not enough to push actual numbers up, but enough so that affected borrowers may notice a difference in closing costs. 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages are still being reported at or near 3.625% (best execution), and the FHA mortgage loan interest rate range between 3.25% and 3.5% is still there (again, best | more...

October 14, 2016

Mortgage Rate Trends: Recovery

By Joe Wallace

After ten days of no improvement, upward pressure on interest rates finally broke on Thursday, but some market watchers are not ready to declare that day’s respite from higher numbers a decisive victory. In fact, some say this could be a resting moment before rates continue to push upward. Some industry professionals are using the word “lock” quite a bit in public statements aimed at those who haven’t yet made an interest rate lock commitment with their lenders and are within a month to two months of closing. It’s hard to argue with their logic, and rates have been low for quite some time. Is the current trend just a short term development or do we have a new range of rates to look forward to in the coming months? | more...

September 27, 2016

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends: Improving

By Joe Wallace

Mortgage loan interest rates improved on Monday, the fourth business day in a row that rates have recovered. There was an upward trend for some time, but some market watchers and industry professionals are using the word “rally” to describe what they’ve been seeing lately. There was considerable attention on the latest Fed statement about interest rates, but once “Fed day” came and went there was no significant change in investor activity-that is to say no increase activity unfavorable to interest rates in specific reaction to the Fed announcement. 30 year fixed rate conventional mortgage loan rates were reported at 3.375%, best execution, on Monday. That puts conventional loan rates in a single number rather than the range of best execution rates we saw previously. FHA mortgage loan rates are | more...

September 22, 2016

HUD Announces Final Rule For Equal Access

By Joe Wallace

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced a new final rule that promises important protections for all Americans seeking housing, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. According to a press release on the HUD official site, the new final rule is known as, “Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity“. The press release says the final rule affects everything from FHA mortgage loan programs to housing services and benefits. “Following what had previously been a practice encouraged by HUD, providers that operate single-sex projects using funds awarded through the Departments Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) will now be required to provide all individuals, including transgender individuals and other individuals who do not identify with the sex | more...

September 8, 2016

Mortgage Rate Trends: Moving Lower Ahead Of European Central Bank Press Conference

By Joe Wallace

Press conferences are not directly tied to mortgage loan rates, but depending on the contents of a particular press opportunity investor reaction to such things can and often does affect mortgage loan rates. Over the summer, the European Central Bank (ECB) has had an influence on rates due to a variety of factors (and Brexit cannot be ignored in that respect), so with a press conference Thursday morning for ECB officials, it’s entirely possible that we could see investors react to the contents of that. Or not. At the time of this writing the press conference hasn’t happened yet-it is scheduled for 7:30 AM Central Daylight Time. While that doesn’t sound terribly helpful, it is basically a fact of life with respect to mortgage loan rates. Sometimes these scheduled events | more...

September 6, 2016

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends: Slightly Higher After Friday Jobs Report

By Joe Wallace

Ahead of the holiday weekend, all eyes were on Friday’s employment stats, which can and have acted as a spoiler for mortgage loan interest rates in the past depending on investor reaction to the contents of such reports. Market watchers reported weaker-than-expected numbers in that report, and ahead of a holiday weekend we saw some lenders keeping rates the same, while others had slightly higher numbers to close out the week. 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages were reported at or near a best execution range between 3.375% and 3.5%. Friday’s increases with some lenders were likely reflected in closing costs rather than actual higher rates. FHA mortgage loan rates continue holding fast in their best execution range between 3.0% and 3.5%. The numbers we’ve been seeing are reported by industry | more...

August 31, 2016

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends: Slightly Higher For Some

By Joe Wallace

Monday saw mortgage loan interest rates taking back a bit of ground from Friday’s move higher; Tuesday saw some lenders keeping things unchanged while others moved a bit higher. There are some question marks around scheduled economic data releases on Wednesday and Friday, which could resolve as upward pressure on rates depending on investor reaction to Wednesday’s Pending Home Sales report and a national employment report also due on Weds. These reports in and of themselves don’t “do” anything to mortgage loan rates, it’s the behavior of the investors in the wake of those reports that creates the changes in rates we see depending on how those reports go. Friday is another day of employment data with the Employment Situation report-something that has moved rates in the past due to | more...