Low mortgage rates have yet to fuel home sales

July 18th, 2010 by ApiaBlogs  |  1 Comment

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed loans were unchanged this week at the lowest point in decades, but it hasn’t been enough to jump-start the housing market.

Government-sponsored mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average 30-year fixed rate was 4.57 percent. That’s the same as a week earlier, and the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.

The last time home loan rates were lower was the 1950s, when most mortgages lasted 20 or 25 years. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to an average of 4.06 percent, down from 4.07 percent last week. Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.85 percent, up from 3.75 percent. Rates on one-year ARMs fell to an average of 3.74 percent from 3.75 percent. This week’s average is the lowest the one-year ARM has been since Freddie Mac began following it in 1984.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The nationwide fee for all types of loans in Freddie Mac’s survey averaged 0.7 points. Rates have fallen since the spring. Investors, concerned with the European debt crisis, have poured money into the safety of Treasury bonds. Treasury yields have fallen and so have mortgage rates, which tend to track yields on U.S. debt. But low rates have yet to fuel home sales and have sparked only a modest increase in refinancing.

Mortgage applications dropped last week as requests for purchase financing declined 3.1 percent to the lowest level in more than 13 years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. An index measuring refinancing fell 2.9 percent, the MBA said.

Rates could go lower and still not budge the housing market, analysts say. That’s because a person without a job can’t afford a home; a person worried about losing a job is unlikely to buy one, either. To calculate the national average, Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates Monday through Wednesday from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day.

Article by : Washington Post

When You Should Start Considering a Mortgage Refinance Loan

July 2nd, 2010 by mortgagerefinance  |  3 Comments

Every time that you end up being late on your monthly mortgage payments you end up doing some serious irreversible damage to your credit score. Most people do not fully comprehend the full implication of making these late payments, but the fact of the matter is that these late payments are going to be the most derogatory notations that you can end up having entered onto your credit report (other than bankruptcy) and it absolutely should be avoided at all costs which is where a mortgage refinance loan comes in. You should definitely begin to consider getting a home mortgage refinance to get a lower payment on your current mortgage.

When you end up going about the mortgage refinancing loan process, you should first choose a fixed rate mortgage that enables you to make a predictable monthly payment that will be capable of fitting your budget. Your home is going to be most critical asset that you will ever own, so make absolute sure that you do not agree to anything that would truly not be within your range on a refinance home loan. You can get refinance mortgage rates on terms of up to thirty years, and being able to refinance your home for a longer period of time will enable you to lower your monthly payments each month.

Additionally, there happen to be several different borrowers that will find that when they go about getting a mortgage refinance loan that as a result they are then given a lower interest rate. Perhaps your credit has recently improved since the first loan was initially approved, or maybe on the other hand that refinance mortgage rates have dropped. A home mortgage refinance to even just a half point lower can end up saving you thousands of dollars over the duration of the mortgage.

You also need to be completely aware that prior to getting a mortgage refinancing loan on your existing mortgage that there may end up being some additional costs that have to be paid that are going to be associated with your refinance home loan, just like when you first took the mortgage out originally. Look for a financial lender will be capable of offering to share these costs or absorb them completely for you. Many of these financial lenders are going to be willing to do just that so that they get your business.

There are a lot of online financial lenders out there that will be able to offer traditionally lower rates on a home refinance loan than your local banks that you might have dealt with in the past would be willing to offer you. You should not feel as if you need be loyal to your original financial lender when you are looking to get a home mortgage refinance. You need to remember that the true name of the game is going to be for you to save money and get your finances back on track.

Illinois Auto Insurance

June 27th, 2010 by Peter M  |  1 Comment

How to obtain better Auto Insurance in Illinois?

What could an Illinois resident do to reduce the Insurance cost and keep the coverage they really need? Well it is no longer a secret that if you shop and compare your rates online you will most likely to drop your rates drastically.

Shopping for Illinois Insurance can be much easier if consumer can see the actual rates from multiple carriers on one simple website. Usually the process is rather simple, however it is highly recommended that prior to quoting online you grab a piece of paper and write down some basic information’s about your vehicle such as Year, Make, Model or just a VIN Number which will help you get an accurate quote.

It also helps to gather exact numbers and information from your current insurer, just to be safe and to match your coverage with the one that you are obtaining online. If you have Full Coverage make sure that you select that, in some situations Car Insurance Comparison sites will set basic Liability Coverage option as default selection.

Any extras provided by the site that compares rates are most likely not the necessity. Once you are done with viewing the quotes, you can also request a phone call from their certified Insurance Agent where you can go over the premium wishing to buy or if something is not clear and you think that it requires additional explanations. This will confirm and assure that consumer gets the coverage they needs and do not purchase anything they will ever need or use.

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