Average rates for 30 Yr Fixed Rate mortgages slid to 4.78 percent, the lowest since December when they were at 4.71 percent. 30 YR FRMS continued their downward spiral, shedding some percentage points from the previous weeks 4.84 percent. This is certainly music to the ears of families looking for the best housing deals in the market.

Homebuyers are advised to move in on these deals as mortgage rates may not remain low for long.  An improving economy and stock market may shift investors back into the stock market, which in turn could raise mortgage rates back up. The window for locking in on these mortgages may not open for a long period as this is brought about by factors which are outside the housing market.

Homeowners hoping to avail of the government refinancing program are also being urged to take advantage of the low mortgage rates. Applications for mortgage refinancing grew to their highest level in 7 months as homeowners hoping to reduce their payments take advantage of the drop in mortgage rates.

Home sales seem to be cooling down even as mortgage rates have been steadily sliding down. This may due to the fact as some of the popular government programs like the Tax Credit program which has been fueling the resurgence of the housing market ended. Its role in the housing markets recovery as applications for home sales surged prior to the programs end.

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This was reflected in all types of loans which posted an increase in delinquency rates compared to last year. The number of loan delinquencies has been growing steadily during the last few quarters inching ever closer to today’s 10.06 percent.

However, delayed payments for FHA loans improved to 13.15 percent, one of the few sectors were the rate of delinquencies posted a positive figure. The improved numbers are largely due to the changes undertaken after the losses incurred during 2007 and 2008 were most of FHA guaranteed loans started going bad.

Basically, there were no changes in the number of foreclosed homes from the previous quarter but was significantly higher than the number of repossessed loans the same quarter last year. The number of foreclosed homes stood at 4.63 percent way higher than last year’s 3.85 percent.

Other good news included a seasonal drop in the number of delinquencies during last year’s final quarter. Increased holiday spending and heating costs have traditionally caused homeowners to miss mortgage payments but surprisingly delinquencies went down a sign that the economy might be improving.

There is also fear that the number of foreclosures may see a rise this year as majority of homeowners who have applied for mortgage modification may have failed to qualify for permanent restructuring. Unless fundamental problems such as unemployment are addressed, foreclosures and delayed payments will continue to mar the housing market’s landscape.

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Improved mortgage rates are largely due to shifts in investor sentiments as the continuing European debt crisis has moved them into the more stable long term US bonds. Long term US Treasury bonds and commodities like gold have long been a safe haven for many investors when financial markets have been in turmoil.

Average rates for 30 Yr FRMs fell to 4.93 percent last week against the previous week’s 5 percent rates. This was also the lowest since 30 Yr Fixed Rate Mortgage rates reached a record low of 4.71 percent in December. The government program ended this March but treasury officials have indicated that they would keep the doors open when the housing market’s recovery looses steam.

The average fixed rate dropped to a record low of 4.71 percent late last year, pushed down by a campaign by the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs for consumers. The program ended this spring, but rates have remained low, especially after fears that Greece’s government would default shook world markets.

15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages stood at 4.3 percent a slight improvement from last week’s 4.36 percent. Average rates for 5 Year Adjustable Rate Mortgages also went down to 3.95 percent and One Year Adjustable Rate Mortgages also improved to 4.02 percent from the previous weeks 4.07 percent.

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The large number of foreclosures and late payments being experienced today are due to “Alt-A” mortgages which required little proof that a homeowner could pay his mortgage payments. Most of these transactions were done during the height of the housing boom, when real estate agents were trying to push properties as fast as they were being built.

Government efforts to curb the rising number of foreclosures included the mortgage refinancing program where homeowners were offered the chance of lowering their mortgage payments. This gave them the chance to negotiate a new contract which took advantage of low mortgage rates. A majority of these high risk mortgages were offered in California and Florida who suffered from the housing crisis’ worst effects.

According to a report released by Fitch, late payments made on “Alt-A” mortgages dropped to 34.1 percent this April from 34.4 percent the previous month, the first improvement in four years. An increase was noted however with homeowners with prior good credit ratings as many factors in the economy including unemployment still pose a threat to the housing economy.

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Overall, mortgage rates have managed to stay at the 5 percent level even after the end of a major government program aimed at keeping mortgage rates down. Some real estate analysts have expressed concern that prematurely ending government support would lead to another round of mortgage rate increases.

Mortgage rates have been creeping up the last few months and the last time 30 Yr Fixed Rate Mortgages were below the 5 percent mark was on the week of March 25. Government efforts to spur renewed interest in home buying by keeping mortgage rates down saw average rates down reach record lows the previous year.

Average rates slid to 4.71 percent in December, their lowest since average mortgage rates across the country were recorded.  The government’s trillion dollar program aimed at buying Mortgage Backed Securities were largely responsible for keeping mortgage rates down and more importantly helping the real estate market rebound from the worst housing crisis in decades.

15 Yr FRMs also showed a slight improvement posting an average of 4.36 percent, from the previous weeks 4.39 percent. Average mortgages for 5 Yr ARMs were down to 3.97 percent from last week’s 4 percent.

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Foreclosures continue to be a nagging problem as 77 percent of the largest metropolitan areas in the country should an increase of foreclosures over the past year. Overall, foreclosures rose by 16 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

Las Vegas continues to lead the nation in the number of foreclosures, with 3.59 percent of homeowners receiving a foreclosure notice. One in 28 households received a foreclosure filing which is 4.9 times the nation’s average. Foreclosure filings rose by 13 percent during the first quarter of this year with 28,480 homeowners receiving a notice. This was however a significant drop as year to year comparison shows that foreclosure filings were down by 13 percent.

A large number of metropolitan areas with a population of more than 200,000 also showed decreasing numbers of foreclosures compared to last year. Most of the metropolitan areas which showed an increase were those located in the Sun Belt areas.

The foreclosure problem is far from over. The government recently introduced another program designed to help troubled homeowners by making short sales easier is masking the real state of foreclosure problems in the country. Under this program, homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure are given the option to proceed with a short sale which is less damaging to their credit ratings.

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The hugely popular $8,000 Tax Credit program which was originally scheduled to end November of last year was extended to April 30. This was mainly due to the huge clamor in both homebuyers and the real estate market. Some economist believe that with the eventual withdrawal of these programs, gains in the housing market might be lost before the recovery is complete.

Home sales saw a drop during the cold months as many homebuyers were content to wait till spring as the tax credit program was extended. Home sales have been growing steadily the past few months and the number of signed contracts a strong signal of future home sales.

According to a report released this Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously owned homes rose by 5.8 percent from the previous month. Foreclosed homes have proven to be a good bargain and sales of these types of homes have taken a majority of all home sales today.

This was the strongest month to month increase since October when the Tax Credit program was originally scheduled to end. The South showed the biggest increase in pending home sales while sales dropped by 3.3 percent in the Northeast.

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Filed under: News, Real Estate News Tagged: 8000 Tax Credit, 8k Tax Credit, Bargain Homes, Bargain Properties, Foreclosures, Las Vegas, Mortgage, Real Estate, Real Estate News ]]> http://reoproteams.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/pending-homesales-post-strong-numbers-this-march/feed/ 0 reoproteams http://reoproteams.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/home-prices-improve-in-february/ http://reoproteams.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/home-prices-improve-in-february/#comments Sat, 01 May 2010 16:47:13 +0000 reoproteams http://sweetbargaindeals.com/?p=1142 ]]> More positive numbers from February as the second month showed the first year over year increase in home prices, the first time since December 2006. 20 cities in the survey showed average home prices increased by 0.6 percent, a modest gain over the same month last year.

Some analysts remain guarded however, as these increases maybe due to the pending end of the popular $8,000 Tax Credit program. With the tax credit program winding down, more and more homebuyers have been rushing to take advantage of the program.

February’s average home prices actually dipped by 0.9 percent compared to the previous month. But the decline was small enough to enable it post an increase over last year’s home prices. Majority of the cities surveyed showed declines in average home prices as only 9 of the 20 cities showed improvement.

Problem cities like Las Vegas also continued their downward spiral even reaching record lows for home prices. Las Vegas numbers were the most troubling as home prices fell by 14.6 percent in the last year. Average home prices in February were at the same levels as those in the fall of 2003. Overall, home prices across the country fell by almost 32 percent when they were at their peak at the housing boom.

San Francisco showed the biggest gains with home prices posting a double digit improvement over the past 12 months. Overall, forecasts for California cities were sunny as the real estate market has rebounded strongly in the region.

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Mortgage rates have been steadily creeping up the previous weeks after fears that the end of a government program aimed at keeping mortgage rates down would send mortgage rates spiraling upwards. The Federal Reserve’s trillion dollar program aimed at buying mortgage backed securities to push mortgage rates down ended this March but promised to keep the doors open if the housing market drops again.

There were no significant changes in other mortgage plans this week either. Average rates for 15 Yr Fixed Mortgages were at 4.39 percent down from 4.40 a week earlier. 5 Yr Adjustable Rate Mortgages also dipped to 4.03 percent from the previous weeks 4.08 percent. However, average rates on 1 Yr ARMs stood at 4.22 percent, up from last week’s 4.13 percent.

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Home sales have been suffering the previous months as poor weather seemed to have cooled buying sentiment. Winter months have been traditionally slow months for home sales but even after adjusting projected homesales, numbers were still down this year. Meanwhile, the average price for a home was $214,000, 4 percent better from a year earlier but 3 percent lower than February.

The increase in new home sales was seen all over the country. New homesales were up by 36 percent in the Northeast and a mind blowing 44 percent in the South.  However, homesales were modest in the Midwest only up by 3 percent and the West also posted a marginal increase of 6 percent. The inventory for newly built homes were down by 2 percent to 228,000 March and at the current rate of sales, constructors estimate that it would take around 7 months to exhaust them.

The large increase has been credited to homebuyers trying to cash in on the government’s popular Tax Credit program. The numbers represent signed contracts to purchase homes and not completed homesales. The Tax credit program originally targeted new homeowners but has since been extended to current homeowners as well.

The Tax Credit program has cost the government around $12.6 billion, helping more than 1.8 million homeowners in the process. Economists predict that homesales will continue to remain strong through April eventually cooling down and stabilize till the end of the year.

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