Although this week’s economic data was generally stronger than expected, it was overshadowed by solid demand for the Treasury auctions and intensified concerns about the economic situation in Greece, which helped mortgage markets. After reaching the highest levels since August, mortgage rates ended a little lower than where they ended last week.

Recent increases in yields on long-term fixed-rate securities such as 10-yr Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) appeared to have been sufficient to attract investors. Very strong demand from both foreign and domestic investors for Wednesday’s 10-yr auction pushed Treasury yields lower, and mortgage rates followed. Increasing the appeal, renewed worries about the fiscal situation in Greece caused investors to seek the safety of US securities. Comforting statements from Fed officials that they expect inflation to remain low for a long time also added to the demand.

In the housing sector, February Pending Home Sales jumped 8% from January, far exceeding the consensus forecast. Pending Home Sales are a leading indicator of housing market activity. The chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) considered the data to be a potential sign of a “second surge of home sales this spring”. To receive the homebuyer tax credit, contracts must be signed by the end of April, which likely boosted the results for February. As buyers seek to take advantage of the program, March and April pending sales may show strength as well.

For expert assistance with your financing needs, call Michele Poulin, Retail Sales Manager at Wells Fargo, (203) 440-3745.

Here are this week’s rates:

Monday, April 12th, 2010

All rate quotes are for a 60-day lock with 0 points and a 720 FICO score.

Conforming limits are up to a $417,000 loan limit*

30 yr conforming fixed: rate = 5.125% APR = 5.318%

15 yr conforming fixed: rate = 4.375% APR = 4.700%

5/1 yr conforming FHA ARM: rate = 3.750% APR = 3.384%

5/1 yr conforming ARM: rate = 3.875% APR = 3.647%

30 yr FHA Fixed : rate = 5.250 APR = 6.028%

30 yr CHFA w/ 1 pt : rate = 4.500% APR = (see below)

———————————————————–

CHFA (Connecticut Housing Finance Authority) rates for the week of April 8 – 14 , 2010

Homebuyer Mortgage Plan:

Interest rate: 4.500 % (APR range 4.600 – 5.000%)

Fees: Up to One Point (1% Origination Fee) * Payable to Lender

Term – 30 years, fixed rate

Downpayment Assistance Program (DAP)

(Rate listed is for DAP loans with Homebuyer Mortgage Program financing.)

Interest rate: 4.500 % (APR range 4.600 – 5.000%)

Fees: Up to $2000 Application Fee * Payable to Lender

Term – 30 years, fixed rate

(NOTE: If at any time the interest rate for the Homebuyer Mortgage Program exceeds 6%, the DAP interest rate will be capped at 6%.)

* Additional fees may apply

*Conforming loan limits listed above are for a single-family owner occupied residence.

Courtesy of Harriman Real Estate LLC and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

*All rates are subject to change. Minimum down payment and credit score requirements may apply. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified .

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Post from: Wallingford Wired©2009 by Pat & Wayne Harriman

Mortgage Rate Update 4/12/10

While the economic data released this week had little impact, mortgage rates were heavily influenced by two big stories. One was an announcement that China will take steps to slow its economic growth and the other was President Obama’s proposed new restrictions on the activities of financial institutions. Both measures are expected to lead to slower economic growth in the US, which hurt the stock market but helped fixed income markets. As a result, mortgage rates ended a little lower.

During the week, China released a report showing that its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an 8.7% pace in 2009. Rapid growth generally leads to higher inflation. In an effort to slow its economy and prevent inflation, China announced that it is going to curb bank lending. China currently has the third largest economy and is responsible for a significant percentage of global economic growth, so the effects of a slowdown in China will be felt around the world. In the US, President Obama proposed to limit the size and activities of large banks to reduce the risks to the financial system as a whole. If passed by Congress, this too would lead to slower growth for many large US financial services firms. The potential for slower economic growth and the resulting reduction in inflationary pressures was favorable for mortgage rates.

To build capital and reduce risk, the FHA announced that it will raise insurance rates and tighten credit score requirements. The major changes include increasing upfront premiums from 1.75% to 2.25%, reducing the maximum seller contribution from 6% to 3%, and increasing the level of FICO scores from 500 to 580 below which a down payment of 10% is required. At this point, the expected timing of the upfront premium increase will be in the spring, and the other changes will take place over the summer.

For expert assistance with your financing needs, call our in-house mortgage executive, Rick Cannavaro, at (203) 672-2706.

Click here to send a secure online mortgage application.

Here are this week’s rates:

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

All rate quotes are for a 60-day lock with 0 points, 5% down payment, and a 720 FICO score.

Conforming limits are up to a $417,000 loan limit*

30 yr conforming fixed: rate = 4.875% APR = 5.134%

15 yr conforming fixed: rate = 4.375% APR = 4.662%

7/1 yr conforming ARM: rate = 4.250% APR = 4.641%

5/1 yr conforming ARM: rate = 3.875% APR = 4.227%

30 yr FHA Fixed : rate = 4.875 APR = 5.120%

30 yr CHFA w/ 1 pt : rate = 4.375% APR = 4.698%

———————————————————–

Jumbo loan limits range from $417,001 to $1,000,000*

30 yr jumbo fixed: rate = 5.625% APR = 6.010%

15 yr jumbo fixed: rate = 5.125% APR = 5.357%

7/1 yr jumbo ARM: rate = 4.750% APR =5.224%

———————————————————————————

CHFA (Connecticut Housing Finance Authority) rates for the week of January 21 – 27 , 2010

Homebuyer Mortgage Plan:

Interest rate: 4.375 % (APR range 4.475 – 4.875%)

Fees: Up to One Point (1% Origination Fee) * Payable to Lender

Term – 30 years, fixed rate

Downpayment Assistance Program (DAP)

(Rate listed is for DAP loans with Homebuyer Mortgage Program financing.)

Interest rate: 4.375 % (APR range 4.475 – 4.875%)

Fees: Up to $2000 Application Fee * Payable to Lender

Term – 30 years, fixed rate

(NOTE: If at any time the interest rate for the Homebuyer Mortgage Program exceeds 6%, the DAP interest rate will be capped at 6%.)

* Additional fees may apply

*Conforming loan limits listed above are for a single-family owner occupied residence.

Courtesy of The Harriman Team and William Raveis Mortgage

*All rates are subject to change. Minimum down payment and credit score requirements may apply. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified .

William Raveis Real Estate, 465 S. Main St., Cheshire, CT 06410

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Post from: Wallingford Wired©2009 by Pat & Wayne Harriman

Mortgage Rate Update 1/22/10

This week’s economic news was mixed for mortgage markets. A speech from Fed Chief Bernanke pushed mortgage rates lower early in the week, but weak results in the Treasury auctions caused them to turn higher again later in the week. In the end, mortgage rates finished with little net change.

Despite a stronger than expected November Employment report released on Friday, December 4, Bernanke came out on Monday and repeated the Fed’s plans to maintain the fed funds rate at extremely low levels for an extended period of time. According to Bernanke, the Fed still expects the labor market to improve very slowly, so they are reluctant to remove monetary stimulus by raising rates. Fed officials believe that inflation will remain low for the next couple of years, meaning that there is little short-term pressure to raise rates.

For expert assistance with your financing needs, call our in-house mortgage executive, Rick Cannavaro, at (203) 672-2706.

Click here to send a secure online mortgage application.

Here are this week’s rates:

Friday, December 11th, 2009

All rate quotes are for a 60-day lock with 0 points, 5% down payment, and a 720 FICO score.

Conforming limits are up to a $417,000 loan limit*

30 yr conforming fixed: rate = 5.000% APR = 5.240%

15 yr conforming fixed: rate = 4.375% APR = 4.542%

7/1 yr conforming ARM: rate = 4.375% APR = 4.641%

5/1 yr conforming ARM: rate = 4.000% APR = 4.354%

30 yr FHA Fixed : rate = 4.875 APR = 5.230%

30 yr CHFA w/ 1 pt : rate = 4.375% APR = 4.559%

———————————————————–

Jumbo loan limits range from $417,001 to $1,000,000*

30 yr jumbo fixed: rate = 5.250% APR = 5.452%

15 yr jumbo fixed: rate = 4.875% APR = 5.154%

7/1 yr jumbo ARM: rate = 4.625% APR =5.225%

———————————————————————————

CHFA (Connecticut Housing Finance Authority) rates for the week of December 10 – December 16 , 2009

Homebuyer Mortgage Plan:
Interest rate: 4.375 % (APR range 4.475 – 4.875%)
Fees: Up to One Point (1% Origination Fee) * Payable to Lender
Term – 30 years, fixed rate

Downpayment Assistance Program (DAP)
(Rate listed is for DAP loans with Homebuyer Mortgage Program financing.)

Interest rate: 4.375 % (APR range 4.475 – 4.875%)
Fees: Up to $2000 Application Fee * Payable to Lender
Term – 30 years, fixed rate

(NOTE: If at any time the interest rate for the Homebuyer Mortgage Program exceeds 6%, the DAP interest rate will be capped at 6%.)

* Additional fees may apply

*Conforming loan limits listed above are for a single-family owner occupied residence.
Courtesy of The Harriman Team and William Raveis Mortgage

*All rates are subject to change. Minimum down payment and credit score requirements may apply. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified .

William Raveis Real Estate, 465 S. Main St., Cheshire, CT 06410

Post from: Wallingford Wired©2009 by Pat & Wayne Harriman

Mortgage Rate Update 12/11/09

[NEW UPDATE: It appears that this program was announced prematurely, as the mortgagee letter has been removed from the HUD web site. There has been no word if the program is dead or alive, and at this point the real estate and mortgage communities are in a "wait and see" mode until official notification of the program's status is released. We will post information about the program as we get it.]

In a move that the NAR has been lobbying for and is sure to brings smiles to all first time home buyers, The FHA today announced that it would begin allowing its lenders to let first time home buyers use the $8000 tax credit as a down payment on a home.  Up until now, buyers wouldn’t receive the funds until their tax returns were filed and they received their refund, and this has caused some home buyers to hesitate in using the  credit.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan made the announcement during his address at the 2009 REALTORS(r) Mid-Year Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo being held in Washington, D.C..

“We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the home buyer tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a down payment,” Donovan said. He added that FHA lenders will be allowed to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans, which would allow eligible home buyers to have the funds immediately at the closing table.

Hopefully, this should be a further stimulus to a group of home buyers that have been slow to utilize the credit. According to a survey commissioned by Move, Inc. (which operates Realtor.com), as of a month ago almost 50% of home buyers didn’t know the credit exists, and nearly a third said the credit wasn’t large enough to get them into the market right away. With the release of this new announcement, we hope that those percentages will shrink considerably.

[Update: you can find the full 2009 HUD Mortgagee Letter describing the usage of the tax credit as a down payment on FHA loans here in MS Word format.]

Post from: Wallingford Wired©2009 by Pat & Wayne Harriman

FHA to Allow Use of $8000 Tax Credit for Down Payments