2005

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Average Rates

February 24th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

Mortgage rates ease for the 1st time in 5 weeks, but no all of them!

This week, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.26% (with an average of 0.6 points) for the week ending February 23, 2006. This average is LOWER from last week; which was at 6.28%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.96% for the week ending February 23, 2006 (with an average of 0.6 points). This average is slightly HIGHER from last week when it averaged 5.95%.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.32% this week (with an average of 0.7 points). This average is LOWER from last week when the average was at 5.36%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, explained “Tame core inflation figures and market confidence that the Fed will continue to keep inflation low kept mortgage rates in check this week,” “Over the long term, we expect mortgage rates will bounce back and forth a bit, remaining near current levels.”

I will have to say that you better catch a good fixed rate while you can or at least catch a variable loan with a longer fixed rate period. Stop waiting and get rid of those dangerous loans you have now!

February 24th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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Should I Refinance or Not??

Many homeowners who purchased a home 3 to 5 years ago are now or will face soon this question. These homeowners purchased their homes with adjustable-rate mortgages and low monthly payments but soon they will have to decide whether to stay in their existing loans or refinance into fixed-rate mortgages or extend it into a longer fixed rate ARM (Hybrid ARM).

Here are two scenarios very similar to many homeowners:

A homeowner took out a $400,000 “3/1 hybrid arm” loan three years ago at 3.8% interest. The monthly payments currently would be $1,863.83. Since this loan only has a fixed rate period of 3 years, the first rate adjustment is about to happen, and this homebuyer has two choices:

1. Keep the loan. The rate adjusts to 6.95%, the new monthly payment is $2,582.61 and the rate will probably increase again next year.
2. Refinance into a 30-year fixed-rate loan at 6.25%, which would have a monthly payment of $2,322.90. If the closing cost equals $4,500, the borrower would break even in about 17 months compared with the cost of staying with the current ARM loan. This break even point would be much sooner if the borrower purchases a 5, 7 or 10 year ARM which are good choices as well if the borrower cant qualify for a 30-year fix loan.

Another homeowner also took out a $400,000 loan three years ago, but paid “interest only” on a 3/1 ARM at 4% interest. The monthly payments currently would be $1,332.32. Since this loan only has a fixed rate period of 3 years, the first rate adjustment is about to happen, and this homebuyer has two choices:

1. Keeping the loan would receive a rate increase to 6.95% interest and would require payments to include more money to pay off the principal. The monthly payments would jump to $2,738.24 and the rate will probably increase again next year.
2. Refinance into a 30-year fixed loan at 6.25%, which would have a monthly payment of $2,462.87. If the closing costs equals to $4,500, the borrower would break even in about 16 months, compared with the cost of staying with the current ARM loan. This break even point would be much sooner if the borrower purchases a 5, 7 or 10 year ARM which are good choices as well if the borrower cant qualify for a 30-year fix loan.

These are all fictitious interest rates given only have an idea of when a refinance makes sense. This is not for everyone, homeowners whose hybrid loans don’t begin to adjust for another two years and plan to sell within that time probably would want to stick with what they have. If you plant to purchase another home and rent your current home that has a hybrid arm, you might want to think about these scenarios and refinance soon.

February 20th, 2006 · Filed Under Mortgage - Loan Information

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Mortgage watch 2/20/2006

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Mercury News
Average Rates

February 20th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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Long-Term mortgage rates hit highest level this year

This week, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.28% (with an average of 0.5 points) for the week ending February 16, 2006. This average is HIGHER from last week; which was at 6.24%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.95% for the week ending February 16, 2006 (with an average of 0.5 points). This average is HIGHER from last week when it averaged 5.89%.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.36% this week (with an average of 0.7 points). This average is HIGHER from last week when the average was at 5.34%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, explained “So far this year, fixed-rate mortgage rates have risen only slightly” “Long-term mortgage rates are only marginally higher than they were two months ago.”

Let me say this again, you should REALLY think about refinancing if you happen to have an interest-only loan or “Option ARM.” These types of loans could get very dangerous for many homeowners if rates keep rising as it has been predicted.

February 20th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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Free Credit Report sites? Or shall I say FAKE credit report sites!

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC); emphasizes the importance of the public being informed of FREE credit reports SCAMS!

While surfing the internet, you might have seen web sites offering credit reports, sometimes for free or you might have received an email offering you the same.

BE AWARE that some of these may not actually provide credit reports, but may be using these websites and emails to capture your personal information and sell this information to fraud experts therefore you could end up another identity theft victim.

Here are some precautions you should follow when visiting this sites or responding to emails that offer credit reports:

If you get an email offering a credit report, don’t reply or click on the link in the email. Instead, contact the company cited in the email using the telephone number or web site address you KNOW to be genuine.
Be skeptical of unsolicited email offering credit reports. Keep an eye out for email from an atypical address like XYZ123@website.net, or an email address ending in anything other than “.com”. For example: “.ru”, “.de”, etc
Check whether the company has a working telephone number and legitimate address. You can check addresses at web sites like www.switchboard.com, and phone numbers through reverse lookup search engines like www.anywho.com.
Check for misspellings and grammatical errors. For example, an area code that doesn’t match an address, often are giveaways that the site is a scam. Also look at the company’s web address, is it a real company’s address or it is a misspelled version of a legitimate company’s web address?
Check to see whether the email address matches the web site address. If you entered the company’s web address into the browser and it re-directs you somewhere else, that’s a red flag and you should stop there.
Find out who owns the web site by using a “Whois” search as the search at www.networksolutions.com.
Exit from any web site that asks for unnecessary personal information, like a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for you bank account, the three-digit code on the back of your credit card, or your passport number and issuing country. Legitimate sites don’t ask for this information.
All legitimate sites will want to verify who you are, and will respond to an electronic request for a credit report by asking you for an additional piece of information. If a site does not ask a follow-up question, the site is almost certainly a fake.
Use only secure web sites. Look for the “lock” icon on the browser’s status bar, and the phrase “https” in the URL address for a web site, to be sure your information is secure during transmission. All real sites are secure.
Watch your mailbox and credit card statements: if you’ve responded to a bogus site, you may never receive the credit repot they offered for free. If you paid one of these sites for a credit report, your credit card many never be charged. If you find that you have unauthorized charges, contact your financial institutions and credit card issuers immediately.
Report suspicious activity to the FTC and the U.S. Secret Service. Send the actual spam to the Electronic Crimes Task Force (in California at LA.ECTF.reports@usss.dhs.gov) and to the FTC at spam@uce.gov. If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft web site www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damange from identity theft.

I hope this article has been informative for you.

I also wanted to note that the only website that is allowed to offer and give FREE credit reports is www.annualcreditreport.com (once a year from each of the 3 credit bureaus). There are other companies that offer you free credit report but they put it in the small print that you have to purchase one of their products before you can get your free credit report.

February 10th, 2006 · Filed Under Credit Repair scams

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Mortgage Rates drift slightly higher!

This week, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.24% (with an average of 0.6 points) for the week ending February 9, 2006. This average is slightly HIGHER from last week; which was at 6.23%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.89% for the week ending February 9, 2006 (with an average of 0.7 points). This average is slightly HIGHER from last week when it averaged 5.87%.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.34% this week (with an average of 0.5 points). This average is slightly HIGHER from last week when the average was at 5.33%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, explained “With no big economic news to influence the direccion of mortgage rates this week, the numbers drifted verly slightly upward,” “We see this trend continuing throughout 2006, with the 30-year FRM ending the year at about 6.3% as the housing market eases back from last year’s record settling levels toward a somewhat more normal rate of activity”

Should I repost the same message I’ve been repeating over and over again, which said that this is the best time to get rid of those interest-only, Option ARM and variable mortgages? May be not, I think you are smart enough to realize what I’ve been saying.

February 10th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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Mortgage watch 2/9/2006

Provided by Mortgage Track
Mercury News
Average Rates

February 10th, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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Mortgage rates are up, could it be inflation jitters?

This week, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.23% (with an average of 0.5 points) for the week ending February 2, 2006. This average is UP from last week; which was at 6.12%.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.87% for the week ending February 2, 2006 (with an average of 0.5 points). This average is UP from last week when it averaged 5.75%.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.33% this week (with an average of 0.7 points). This average is UP from last week when the average was at 5.20% and even higher from two weeks ago when it averaged at 5.18%.

Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, explained “Declines in worker productivity coupled with accelerating labor costs increase the threat of inflation down the road. Inflationary pressure generated by these two factors pushed long-term mortgage rates upward” “Mortgage rates will surely fluctuate in the weeks and months ahead, but the trend now is for higher rates over the long run.”

Which brings me back to the same message I posted last week which was this:

“With all this said, I think that if you are looking to purchase a home now, you should really be trying to qualify for a fixed-rate loan. If this is not an option for you, I strongly encourage you to look into the Hybrid ARMs. You should consider these types of ARMs with a long fixed rate period if that fits your future profile of living in this home. If you are thinking about refinancing, I suggest you do it now and get out of the Interest-only loan or Option ARM loan, which could become even more dangerous as the time passes by. Always keep in mind what your future plans are and you economic situation as well as the cost and consequences any of this transaction may bring.”

February 2nd, 2006 · Filed Under Keeping an Eye on the Market

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