Fannie Mae Touches Refinancing Highs in Q2

Fannie Mae has posted its best refinancing figures in the last 17 years and its Q2 earnings have put in shade its Q1 earnings, demonstrating that it is having a decent time despite the setback faced by the broader economy. ‘Fannie’ believes that its performance can be put down to spiked mortgage purchase activity as well as its ability to tackle credit-related expenses.  Fannie Mae’s CEO Hugh Frater stated in a conference call that "Our performance during this period benefited from strong underwriting practices that we've had in place for the last 10…
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Pending Home Sales Index Posts Surprising Numbers

Riding on the declining mortgage rates, pending home sales have come around really well, beating all expectations. This further asserts that the housing market is the only silver lining in the Coronavirus-affected economy.  The National Association of Realtors  (NAR) has an index that puts the contract signings into perspective. According to it, the signings to buy previously owned houses have shot up 16.6% once again, building on the excellent show in May (44.3% rise). Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for NAR is surprised. In his statement, he suggested, “It is quite surprising and…
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Forborne Mortgage Numbers Drop Again; Albeit at a Lower Rate

The number of mortgages hitting forbearance has come down for a 6th consecutive week. The speed of fall has slowed down though. Forbearances triggered by the Coronavirus declined by 6 basis points  (7.8% to 7.74%) between 13th and 19th July, confirms the Mortgage Bankers Association. For the independent mortgage providers, the loans sitting in forbearance climbed to 7.85% from 7.83%. The MBA’s senior vice president (and chief economist) Mike Fratantoni suggested, "Although the GSE portfolio of loans in forbearance should continue to improve, Ginnie Mae's portfolio saw an uptick of both loans in…
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Mortgage Rates Up After Falling for 6 Weeks

Having fallen below 3% for the first time since Freddie Mac started recording, the mortgage rates have risen above 3% once again, thus arresting a fall which began 6 weeks ago. At this point, it is only symbolic though. From 2.98% on July 16, we are at 3.01% (July 23). On the year-to-year chart, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage traded at 3.75%. To quote Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Sam Khater, "While housing demand continues to rebound, the month-long swoon in economic activity has caused the 10-year Treasury benchmark to drop," He added, "In the…
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In a First, Mortgage Rates Fall Below 3%

For the first time in the last 50 years, the mortgage rates for the 30-year fixed-rate loan have come below 3%. Freddie Mac reveals that the rates sat at 2.98% for the week closing on July 16. On the year-to-year chart, it is a 22% decline.   Unsurprisingly, the rate drop has raised the demand for homes and the meager rates have been "capitalized into asset prices in support of the financial markets," divulges Freddie Mac's chief economist, Sam Khater. Things might still get tight though, thinks Khater, if the reemergence of Covid-19 cases…
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Mortgage Forbearance Sees Biggest Drop Since Cares Act Became a Law

A significant part of active forbearance plans slated to expire in June has not been extended, leading to the biggest weekly drop  (435,000) in the volume of mortgage borrowers under forbearance.  Andy Walden, Black Knight’s Economist and Director of Market Research, suggested that "this latest decline in the number of homeowners in active forbearance is an encouraging sign of continued improvement". Notably, those servicing government-guaranteed loans were asked for by the government relief stimulus to grant residential borrowers an extension of forbearance, in case they asked for it.  For the week ending June…
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Mortgage Forbearances Register Biggest Dip

The Mortgage Bankers Association reveals that the coronavirus-related mortgage forbearance growth had its biggest drop of 8 basis points over the June 22-June 28 week. For the last week of June, nearly 4.2 million mortgages were under forbearance; this is 8.39% of the total loans outstanding. The percentage is less than 8.47% posted a week prior. For the banks servicing independent mortgages, forbearance loans fell from 8.42% to 8.33%. Mike Fratantoni, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of MBA, suggested that the forbearance numbers are only expected to come down, now that the…
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Mortgage Rates May Not Have Hit Bottom Yet

While the mortgage rates have never come down as low since Freddie Mac started in 1971 with its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, there is a good chance we haven’t seen the bottom yet.  Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, Sam Khater, feels that in the final few months, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage could come down in a deficit of 3%. For the week ending June 25, the average for ‘30-year’ was 3.13%. It fell to 3.07, a week later. On the year-over-year chart, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has seen a 16% decline. The fall in…
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Millennials to have a Big Say in 20s’ Residential Real Estate

The novel Coronavirus has come in a year when a good percentage of millennials are turning 30. What this means is that this demographic is stepping into its prime home-buying years in a scary situation. True that 2020 may be a headache-inducing year but looking at the big picture, “millennials may be poised to fuel a ‘roaring 20s’ of homeownership demand”, according to  First American Financial’s Chief Economist, Mark Fleming. Fleming feels that all that the millennials need to do is make the right lifestyle choices.  Not all millennials are serious about buying…
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Mortgages in Forbearance Up after Falling for Three Weeks

Integrated Technology company Black Knight says that the total mortgages in forbearance have shot up after three successive weeks of decline.  The update on June 23 divulges that the number of mortgages under forbearance ran up to 4.68 million, a clean 83,000 above its tally a week before that.  The Government-sponsored Enterprise (GSE) mortgage (Conforming) forbearance numbers rose to 1.925 million, representing a 1.3% hike. The Federal Administration and Veteran Affairs numbers shot by 3% to 1.509 million. The uncleared forbearance principal balance shot up by 1.28% to $1,025 trillion for June 23.…
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