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☆ Changes are coming to some mortgage fees next month
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Broadly, the fees will go down for many with lower credit scores and will increase for many with higher credit scores. But that doesn’t mean people with lower credit scores will pay less than those with higher credit scores. The changes mean that people with higher credit scores will still pay less based on lower risk to the lenders, but having a lower credit score will now come with less of a penalty. For those with higher credit scores, more price tiers have been put in place, which in some cases may increases fees. The difference in assessed fees is about $4,000 more for a buyer with a 640 credit score than for a buyer with a 740 credit score, based on a $300,000 mortgage.

☆ First Republic Bank Lost $102 Billion in Customer Deposits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Maureen Farrell | Rob Copeland | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over that same period, it borrowed $92 billion, mostly from the Federal Reserve and government-backed lending groups, essentially replacing its deposits with loans. That’s a perilous course for any bank, which generally do business by taking in relatively inexpensive customer deposits while lending money to home buyers and businesses at much higher interest rates. First Republic is still making some money; it reported a quarterly profit of $269 million, down one-third from a year earlier. From March 31 to April 21, the bank said that it lost only 1.7 percent of its deposits and that most of those withdrawals were related to tax payments by its clients. The slide began roughly six weeks ago, when the midsize lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were taken over by federal regulators after customers pulled billions of dollars in deposits.

East Palestine, Ohio CNN —Melissa Henry already had a lot on her plate before a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine about a mile away from her home on February 3, spilling toxic chemicals into the air. He currently has several properties listed in East Palestine and said there are about 14 properties total on the market, more than there would typically be. East Palestine is a good city. But they just got kicked in the pants on this one.”An aerial view shows a plume of smoke, following a train derailment that forced people to evacuate from their homes in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 6, 2023. Alan Freed/ReutersWith a population of about 5,000 people, there are roughly 2,600 residential properties in East Palestine, according to Attom, a property data provider.

☆ A 23-year realtor shares the key tip that has allowed him to negotiate home prices down by up to $129,000 in the current market, and additional tips to save on interest rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ryan Rogers says home buyers can take advantage of the current real estate market. Rogers recommends looking for properties that have been on the market for more than 30 days. The 30-year fixed rate averaged about 6.62% on Wednesday, down from peaks of above 7% during the last quarter of 2022. But nothing could be farther from the truth, according to Ryan Rogers, a 23-year residential real estate agent with Douglas Elliman in Austin, Texas. Since the start of the year, he has noticed an increase of properties that have been sitting on the market for 30 to 60 days.

☆ 5.5% may be a magic number for mortgage rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Mortgage rates more than doubled over the past year, reaching as high as 7.08% in November, according to Freddie Mac’s average weekly mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan. The survey found that 5.5% mortgage rates seem to be the tipping point. A majority of respondents — 71% — said they are not willing to accept a mortgage rate above 5.5%. Looking at forecasts of mortgage rates for the rest of the second quarter of 2023, no major forecast is even predicting rates under 6%. Furthermore, 5.5% is lower than the historical average for mortgage rates.

☆ Mortgage rates climb to the highest level in a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Mortgage rates rose this week, after five weeks of falling. “For the first time in over a month, mortgage rates moved up due to shifting market expectations,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. The average mortgage rate is based on mortgage applications that Freddie Mac receives from thousands of lenders across the country. When Treasury yields go up, so do mortgage rates; when they go down, mortgage rates tend to follow. “Last week’s jump in mortgage rates led to a pullback in mortgage applications, as homebuyers remain sensitive to rate movements,” said Bob Broeksmit, CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

☆ Mortgage rates are moving higher amid economic uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Diana Olick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMortgage rates are moving higher amid economic uncertaintyCNBC's Diana Olick joins 'The Exchange' to discuss climbing mortgages rates, shrinking buyer demand, and a pullback in first-time home buyers.

☆ New home starts pull back in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Housing starts, a measure of new home construction, was down 17.2% from a year ago, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau. After surging in February following five consecutive months of falling, March housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.420 million, down from the revised February estimate of 1.432 million. Single‐family housing starts in March rose 2.7% from the revised February figure, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 861,000. Housing starts had big drops in May and July last year, when spiking mortgage rates pushed many prospective home buyers to the sidelines. Starts bounced back slightly in August, but fell through January.

☆ How to Get a Mortgage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +15 min

“Houses cost more than the money invested to purchase them,” says Brian Rugg, chief credit officer at mortgage lender loanDepot. Research mortgage loan types and lendersThere are two basic categories of mortgage: private and government backed. “Look at customer reviews from past borrowers,” says Alex Shekhtman, a mortgage broker and founder of LBC Mortgage in New York. “Mortgage lenders use appraisals to protect their investment in the home,” says Liz Lopez, a real-estate agent at RelatedISG Realty. Since mortgage payments are made in arrears—meaning you pay on the first of the month for the previous month’s charges—you won’t owe a mortgage payment until the start of the second month following your closing date.

☆ Where jobs were gained and lost in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Government employers and the professional and business services industry also hired at a solid clip last month. Strongest gainsLeisure and hospitality employers added 72,000 jobs last month, the most of any industry. Health care businesses added 34,000 jobs and employment in the business services sector — which includes many white-collar jobs such as accountants, engineers, and consultants — grew by 39,000. The construction industry lost 9,000 jobs in March, the first decline in construction employment in more than a year and the largest job loss in the sector since May 2021 -— though still a drop of just under 1.1%. But while new residential construction has slowed over the past year, construction jobs have held up, mostly because of a backlog in construction projects, Swonk said.

☆ When Is The Best Time to Buy a House?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

By Michele LernerAs with much else in real estate, the best time of year to buy a house depends on location, market conditions—and you. “But the best time of year to buy a house depends a lot on the type of buyer.”The spring housing marketTraditionally the housing market’s most active season, spring can be the “best” time of year to buy or the “worst” time of year to buy, depending on your perspective. Best time to buy for: Buyers who hope to move before the holidays or at least before the end of the year. Best time to buy for: Buyers and investors looking for a better deal. “Sometimes it’s the right time to buy a house when you’ve found ‘the one’ that feels right for your family and your circumstances,” Bloch says.

☆ Home prices suddenly jump after several months of declines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Home prices nationally rose 0.16% in February, when seasonally adjusted, according to Black Knight. By fall, the rate shot over 7%, and home prices began cooling more quickly. In December and January, however, mortgage rates began pulling back, and homebuyers were quick to take advantage. "Conscious of changing mortgage rates, home buyers are taking advantage of any rate declines," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said in the February sales release. Mortgage rates began rising again in February and then fell back slightly in March due to market fears over the U.S. banking system, amid several bank collapses.

☆ Do You Speak Real Estate? Take Our Home Buyer’s Quiz.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Debra Kamin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The process of purchasing a home, particularly for first-time buyers, can be stressful and confusing. And buyers in today’s market may feel the odds are stacked higher against them. There are also more all-cash buyers purchasing homes now than ever before, so even well-qualified buyers with excellent credit are finding it difficult to compete. Along the way, you’ll encounter real estate jargon that can be difficult to understand. The stronger your grasp, the better prepared you’ll be to conquer (or at least navigate) the housing market.

☆ The Best Places to Buy a House on a Budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Michael Kolomatsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

First-time home buyers around the country are struggling to amass a down payment in this high-inflation economy. For those who work remotely or are open to relocating, a recent study by Rocket Homes can help find a new locale. To arrive at the 10 best metros for these buyers, researchers compared home prices, mortgage payments, income and sales taxes, unemployment and crime rates, the health of residents and climate hazards. Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages and 20 percent down payments with an interest rate of 6.5 percent were factored into the calculations. Pittsburgh came in seventh, thanks in large part to the health of its residents.

☆ How the Bank Mess Can Hit Home Buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Telis Demos | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mortgage bonds are a big driver of the unrealized losses on bond portfolios that banks are struggling with. As investors scan for potential spillovers from the present banking crisis, one place to look is in mortgage rates. There are several inputs into the rates that are offered to home buyers. If mortgage bonds are in demand, that can lead investors to buy more mortgages at lower interest rates. But if mortgage bonds aren’t much in demand, that puts upward pressure on mortgage rates.

☆ Home prices will fall 15% over the next year as high interest rates squeeze the housing market, economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Home prices are set to drop 15% over the next year, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics. That's because rates are likely to remain high, helping push down affordability and demand as a result. Some economists think a housing market recovery could be coming in 2024. US home prices have fallen amid higher mortgage rates over the last year, notching their seventh straight month of declines in January. Mortgage rates touched a 20-year-high in 2022 and have stayed elevated, crimping housing affordability and demand while putting downward pressure on prices.

☆ The US housing market is crashing and soaring at the same time. It all depends on where you live.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US housing market is crashing and soaring all at the same time as pockets of the market see divergent trends. According to data from Black Knight, home prices on the West Coast are plunging at the same time home prices on the East Coast are surging. Meanwhile, all 12 of the major housing markets west of Texas saw home prices fall over the same time period. Such a split in the US housing market is unprecedented. To be sure, West Coast home prices had room to fall after experiencing dizzying gains over the past decade.

☆ US home prices fell in January for the seventh-straight month
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN —US home prices fell for the seventh month in a row in January, even as mortgage rates eased, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index, released Tuesday. Miami had a year-over-year price increase of 13.8%, followed by Tampa with a 10.5% increase and Atlanta with an 8.4% increase. That battle has caused mortgage rates to spike over the past year, resulting in many home buyers being priced out of purchasing a home. Mortgage rates are expected to be volatile for as long as the Fed has to work to pull back runaway inflation. “Just how much prices will rise from winter lows will depend on whether mortgage rates stabilize and creep downward or stay high and volatile.”

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☆ What the banking crisis means for mortgage rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Generally, home buyers can anticipate mortgage rates to move down through the rest of this year as the banking crisis drags on, which could cool down inflation. Neither the actions of the Federal Reserve nor the bank failures directly impact mortgage rates. When Treasury yields go up, so do mortgage rates; when they go down, mortgage rates tend to follow. Following the Fed’s announcement on Wednesday, bond yields — and the mortgage rates that usually follow them — fell. “Homebuyers in 2023 have shown themselves to be quite sensitive to any changes in mortgage rates,” Fratantoni said.

☆ Interest Rates Are Still Going Up—And That’s Good News for Savers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

But they’ve cheered savers by breaking a decadelong streak of near-zero returns on cash parked in savings accounts, CDs and the like. Where interest rates are headed nextThe opportunity might not last. The fed-funds rate, which banks use to set savings and CD rates, now appears more likely to fall than rise further. What it means for your moneySavings and CDsGiven the likelihood that we’re at peak interest rates, using CDs to lock in high yields may be a good idea. On the home buyer front, the median sale price of an existing home fell 12.3% between June and February as higher mortgage interest rates weakened demand.

☆ US mortgage rates tumble by the most in 4 months in SVB's wake, MBA says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 22 (Reuters) - Last week's banking sector turmoil had at least one silver lining for U.S. home buyers: lower mortgage interest rates. The lower rates drove a jump in loan application volumes, with applications for both new purchases and refinancing of existing loans hitting a six-week high, MBA said. Kan attributed that to increased volatility in the market for mortgage-backed securities, which prevented consumer borrowing costs from dropping even more. Mortgage rates had soared to more than 7% last October as the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark policy rate in 2022 at the fastest pace in 40 years to combat inflation. With the U.S. central bank seen as likely to raise interest rates again later on Wednesday and with market turbulence having subsided so far this week, it's not clear how long the recent interest rate relief will last.

☆ Home prices just broke a decade-long streak
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The steep decline in sales activity is driven by the large increase of mortgage rates over the past year. Mortgage rates remain volatile — in February, rates rose half of percentage point — but prices in some areas are cooling, according to NAR. “Conscious of changing mortgage rates, home buyers are taking advantage of any rate declines,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. The huge jump in sales was surprising, said Yun, showing just how sensitive homebuyers are to slight reductions in mortgage rates. This has pushed rates lower over the past week.

☆ Home sales spike 14.5% in February as the median price drops for the first time in over a decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

These sales counts are based on closings, so the contracts were likely signed at the end of December and throughout January, when mortgage rates had fallen sharply. Sales of previously owned homes rose 14.5% in February compared with January, according to a seasonally adjusted count by the National Association of Realtors . The relative drop caused a jump in sales of newly built homes, before rates jumped back toward 7% in February. That lower median price could be a sign that homes on the more affordable end of the market are selling. At a recent open house in Cleveland, Ohio, home shopper Katie Berardi said higher mortgage rates have had an impact on what she and her husband can afford.

☆ Home Buyers’ Big Ask: The Deal Is Off if I Lose My Job
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Veronica Dagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More home buyers are putting an unusual escape clause into their contracts: If they lose their job before closing, they can back out of the deal. Known as an employment contingency, these provisions appeal to tech and finance workers rattled by recent waves of layoffs, real-estate agents and lawyers said. Fears over a recession and the fallout in the tech and banking sectors following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, may only increase their popularity this home-buying season, they said. Like any contingency, this clause will weaken your offer in some competitive markets even if it helps settle your fears.

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