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You have been given a two-year extension to refinance your underwater home under HARP.
With mortgage rates dropping, homeowners are quick to realize the double benefit of refinancing now. Not only do they get a low rate that reduces their monthly payments, they are also locking in a shorter duration to be free of debt sooner and build up home equity faster. Freddie Mac released a report recently that shows
Banks are making money from fewer mortgages, but next year looks quite different.
It seems that mortgages, and the housing market in general, are on the front burner for the Obama administration heading into election season.
Applications for mortgages jumped 23 percent last week, largely due to homeowners taking advantage of record-low rates to refinance, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The refinance portion of total mortgage activity was 82 percent. But as a Bankrate article points out, although rates are low, mortgage fees are about to rise. Congress is set
Hoisted from the comments to this post about a three-day shopping period for mortgages, reader Debra James explains why she reluctantly decided not to refinance into a 15-year mortgage, even though she will forfeit the application fee. Instead, she will keep the current mortgage and make extra payments that would pay off the loan in
Yesterday the Federal Reserve took a symbolic step in the direction of more accommodative financial conditions by announcing that they will reinvest proceeds from maturing bonds back into Treasury securities. This will keep money in the financial system and help keep a lid on long-term interest rates, such as mortgages. But this is a small
As I noted last week, the Home Affordable Refinance Program is a bust. And I’ve never succeeded in getting a straight answer as to why. In comments from a post last week, Andy Boyum writes: “HARP is a joke!” He says that, because his loan has mortgage insurance, he can refinance only with his current
I’m looking to interview people who have ARMs and would like to refinance — but they’re underwater and can’t refi. Does that describe you? Are you willing to be interviewed and quoted by name and city? Then e-mail me. By the way, I don’t know the solution to this issue of having an ARM and
“Ugh!” is the first line of an e-mail I got from Anthony Sanders, professor of real estate and finance at George Mason University. He’s talking about mortgage purchase applications, which have fallen to puny levels last seen in December 1996. Sanders continues: “The Obama tax credit caused a blip in home purchases, but it seemed
