Mortgages Blog

Consumer confidence in the economy is rising slightly and so are predictions about home prices. Mortgage company Fannie Mae reports that its January survey showed 30 percent of respondents believe the economy is on the right track, up from 22 percent in December. Respondents also predicted home prices will increase by 1 percent over the

Is President Barack Obama’s latest plan to allow millions more struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages actually further stalling a housing market recovery? Critics of the proposal, announced last week, say the chief drawback is that it’s setting up a delay in foreclosures, which, in turn, prevents home prices from hitting bottom.
Republicans, who believe government

The economy added 243,000 jobs in January. That’s the biggest gain since April and more than analysts had expected. The unemployment rate also fell slightly to 8.3 percent.
Great news! But not good enough to cheer up the 12.8 million people who remain out of work. An additional 11 million are working part-time jobs because they

Banks can’t say no to borrowers who want to refinance their mortgages.
In short, that’s what Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said when asked by a reporter if he believed lenders were going to embrace the Federal Housing Administration refinance plan that President Barack Obama proposed Wednesday. The program would

Part of the fallout of the housing crisis means that rental demand is up – and so are prices. As home prices have been dropping and supply increasing, it’s a cruel twist for renters who are blocked from getting a mortgage because of bad credit to see their monthly payments go up. It’s also frustrating

President Barack Obama has proposed allowing underwater homeowners to refinance their mortgages with FHA-insured loans. The proposed program would extend today’s low rates to homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth.
The plan would be similar to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, but it would apply to private mortgages that are not

Have you ever wondered why, despite numerous government programs made to help struggling homeowners, there are still so many obstacles that prevent borrowers from refinancing their loans?
Here is one of many disturbing reasons: Freddie Mac, which owns or guarantees many U.S. mortgages, makes a ton of money by betting on homeowners who are stuck with

The fact that it’s still a buyer’s real-estate market is no surprise. Despite small fluctuations, mortgage rates are low and so are home prices. The problem is that few are buying.
A survey by the mortgage company Fannie Mae shows that while 71 percent of Americans think it’s a good time to buy a home, only

Bank of America’s cash-for-short-sales pilot program to help Florida homeowners stave off foreclosure has been something of a good news/bad news scenario since its debut last October.
Under the program, Bank of America offered $5,000 to $20,000 to homeowners who agree to sell their distressed property in a short sale rather than let it slip into

You’ll have more time to seek a mortgage modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. And maybe your lender will be more likely to write down principal.
HAMP’s expiration date has been extended one year, to the last day of 2013, the Treasury Department announced this afternoon. Treasury announced other changes, too:
• Treasury will