Blog

2021 CONFORMING LOAN LIMITS FOR ALASKA (AK)

2021 Conforming Limit Alaska counties is $822,375 and for 2-unit properties is $1,053,000. See below the list of all 2021 Conforming Limit Alaska counties for 1, 2, 3, and 4 Unit properties. 2021 Conforming Loan Limits for Aleutians East Borough 1 Unit – $822,375 2 Unit – $1,053,000 3 Unit – $1,272,750 4 Unit – $1,581,750 2021 Conforming Loan Limits for Aleutians West Census Area 1 Unit – $822,375 2 Unit – $1,053,000 3 Unit – $1,272,750 4 Unit – $1,581,750 2021 Conforming Loan Limits for Anchorage Municipality 1 Unit – $822,375 2…
continue reading →

Impairment is coming down in the Non-QM Space

Let’s define Impairment. According to the Investment vocab, it is the gross reduction in the recoverable part of a fixed asset. So, it is supposed to be good when the impairment level comes down. Right? Quite so. And this exactly is happening to the non-qualified mortgage space. The non-QM loans are faring quite like the pre-Corona scene even as uncertainty persist in the QM space   Impairment in the non-QM space improving dv01, a data and analytics company, reports that non-QM impairment has come down to 1% from 16% during the peak of…
continue reading →

A Complete Guide to VA Streamline Refinance (IRRRL)

VA Streamline refinances are also called the Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (VA IRRRL). Are you eligible for a VA Streamline Refinance (IRRRL)? If you currently have a VA loan and would like to (and why wouldn’t you?) lower your interest rate and/or monthly payments – you should consider a VA streamline refinance. To be eligible for a VA IRRRL, you only need 3 things – You should currently have a VA loan, you currently live or have lived in this home, and you should be current on your mortgage with no more…
continue reading →

Refinance Mortgage Rates are going up Next Week

Starting October 1st, 2020, mortgage refinancing is set to get more expensive thanks to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) 0.5% refinancing fees. Request a Refinancing Rate Quote FHFA initially announced this fee to be implemented in August but delayed the implementation to December 1st after hue and cry from the industry associations and some politicians. FHFA governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which together buys almost 90% of conforming loans currently being originated. Which means the fees will make pretty much all conforming loans more expensive. But wait! If the fee is…
continue reading →

Drop in New Listings Reveal Inventory Shortage

The housing industry appears to be the only silver lining in an otherwise hampered broader economy. The squeezed inventory could however start affecting real estate shortly. While the new-home sales rose by 8.3% annually in August, new-home listings dropped by 4.1%, says Redfin. The fall in listings was 3.8% in July.  Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s Chief Economist, stated in a report that "There's plenty of demand for new homes, but builders are facing a unique and costly set of hurdles as they attempt to satisfy that demand. Listings of new homes aren't bouncing back…
continue reading →

Home Equity Gains Unlikely in 2021 As Delinquencies Expected to Rise

Home price growth is expected to slow over the next 12 months as delinquencies rise, according to new data from CoreLogic. This comes despite the rise in equity American homeowners enjoyed during the second quarter of 2020. Despite the strong home-purchase activity in Q2, unemployment is expected to remain high for the rest of the year, thereby slowing home price growth and increasing delinquencies. Delinquent mortgages are home loans for which borrowers have failed to make timely payments as stipulated by the loan documents. Typically, delinquent mortgages are those where the payments are 90…
continue reading →

South Leads New-Home Sales in August

New-home sales in the closing week of August are at a far higher level than expected. This is largely due to really attractive mortgage rates. Riding on a very high demand in the South, new single-family homes sold 4.8% more than the last month, corresponding to an annualized pace of 1 million. This is about 12.25% higher than the expectation of economists, according to the Bloomberg survey.  The Bloomberg data is the freshest in the line of data emphasizing the current momentum in real estate. Not only are the people being attracted by…
continue reading →

Mortgage Rates Come Up, Could Go Down Again

Freddie Mac believes that the mortgage rates that have climbed by three basis points could come down near record lows shortly. Freddie Mac's chief economist, Sam Khater, stated in a press release that the "Mortgage rates set several record lows over the last few months and have remained low into September. While there is room for rates to decrease even more, higher home prices and low inventory could potentially stifle the high demand that we've been seeing." For the week closing on 24 Sep, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sat at an average of…
continue reading →

Ginnie Mae Proves to be the Forbearance Exception

The number of borrowers on the Coronavirus-forbearance are down but the Ginnie Mae market is proving to be an exception to the rule. The weekly report of the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week closing Sep 13 revealed a drop of 8 basis points for loans under forbearance. However, Ginni Mae’s securitized loans inched up by 3 basis points over the same period.  Ginnie Mae’s hike in forbearance share implies a retardation in the job market’s comeback, believes Mark Fratantoni, the Chief Economist of MBA. Covid-19 has thrown off-kilter the main clients of…
continue reading →

Digital Closing Helpful but Chinks Remain

Remote online notarization (RON) has been on a high since the pandemic hit the town. Digital closings have allowed the housing industry to operate in times of social distancing and lack of in-person contact. However, Kimberly Smathers, Snapdoc’s Head of Information Security and Compliance stated during National Mortgage News Digital Mortgage conference’s panel discussion that the growth in this new design could lead to resource-constrained new products. "Are there enough engineers to create the product?" she asked. "Is there a rigorous security process built into how that product is developed? I think that you…
continue reading →

Get Mortgage blog Delivered To You

res-mobile