Archive for Government Refinance News
FHA Home Loan Submissions and Refinance Applications Increase
Posted by: | CommentsIn the last week we saw a significant rise in borrowers seeking FHA refinance and new home buying opportunities with government insured loans. FHA announced a few weeks ago that once again they would be raising insurance premiums on all new FHA loans.
The MBA home refinance index increased 2.7% during the week ending April 15, possibly due to a decline in rates last Friday when the rate-indicative benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to levels closer to 3.4% from levels around 3.5%. While mortgage refinance rate averages were up week-to-week during the week ending April 15, the four week moving average for the refinancing index was down 5.7% and the market-share of refinance activity dropped to 58.5% from 60.3%, marking the lowest share for home refinancing seen since May 7, 2010. The adjustable-rate home loan share was up slightly during the week ending April 15, at 6.5% compared to 5.9%. Read the original article > FHA Mortgage Refinance Applications Surge
Underwater Refinancing with the Home Affordable Refinance
Posted by: | CommentsThe National Mortgage News released a report today that indicated that the underwater mortgage programs is showing signs of life, as homeowners who owe more on their mortgage than their homes have been successfully refinancing. It’s always challenging for lenders to approve mortgage refinancing for borrowers who have a negative equity. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency report, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae approved nearly 3.6 million refinance loans in 2010 with 11%. The report revealed that the mortgage refinance volume was directly connected to the 125% loan program endorsed by the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). In 2010, GSEs confirmed a significant increase in home mortgage refinancing with 1.37 million refinance loans closed. 38% of the high LTV loans funded in the fourth quarter.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program Offers a Solution with No Equity Refinancing
The latest FHFA report indicates a major increase in the fourth quarter for high loan to value refinance loans under the HARP program. This home refinancing relief program was created to offer high LTV refinance loans that the GSEs already guarantee. Unlike FHA loans, with the Home Affordable Refinance Program, borrowers are not required to pay for monthly mortgage insurance. In the last few years, no equity refinance options have been difficult to find, but the FHFA reveals that the high LTV loan program works as thousands of distressed homeowners were finally able to refinance their home, even though they were underwater.
In the fourth quarter, the GSEs completed 131,150 refinance transactions of conventional mortgages with loan to value ratios up to 105%. In 2010, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac closed close to 403,000 100% refinance transactions. The HARP program also allows the enterprises to refinance loans with LTVs above 105%, up to 125%. Fannie and Freddie completed 28,700 underwater refinance loans of these underwater loans last year, including 10,800 in the final quarter. Since the Home Mortgage Refinance program was launched in the spring of 2009, lenders have closed 30,600 refinance loans in the 105% to 125% range.
Lawmakers Rolling Out Mortgage Refinance Relief Bill
Posted by: | CommentsReuters reported that up to 30 million homeowners may be eligible for low rate mortgage refinancing regardless of their income, credit history or loan-to-value ratio under a new mortgage refinance assistance plan to be unveiled today by lawmakers in Washington. Most political insiders agree that better home mortgage refinancing programs is a critical component to eliminate the housing crisis nationally.
The legislation would provide struggling access to thirty-year fixed-rate home loans at the average mortgage interest rate, now around 4.275%, for anyone seeking to refinance a government-backed loan, Representative Dennis Cardoza informed Reuters.
The refinance relief plan assists many distressed borrowers and is much more comprehensive than the narrowly targeted efforts President Barack Obama attempted previously.
Hope for Home Refinancing Returning
Posted by: | CommentsLots of homeowners are frustrated because that they can’t qualify for mortgage refinancing even though home loan rates are at all-time lows. Rachel Beck reported in a Reuters article that these homeowners are not by themselves as many people on Wall Street are rooting for lenders to loosen the refinance guidelines because they believe that refinance boom would be an effective way to boost the economy. Their train of thought is that if more homeowners can take advantage of home refinancing, that they will have more disposable income to help spend us out of this recession.
Those economists and analysts calling for a mass mortgage reset say it could be engineered by the government, which controls the giant mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Have them loosen underwriting criteria and offer discounted lender fees in an effort to help the distressed homeowners qualify for a fixed refinance loan that could boost their quality of life with an immediate increased cash flow..
The only way, the trend of mortgage refinancing in high volumes nationally would indicate that banks and lenders were reverting to looser refinance guidelines, one of the things that got us into this mess. It could also boost mortgage refinance rates for new borrowers and force U.S. taxpayers to shoulder more risk, since they technically own Fannie and Freddie. Dean Baker, co-director of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington said, “At some point, we have to ask ourselves how much more can we ask taxpayers to do to support people staying in their homes.”
Wall Street has been buzzing with talk of additional mortgage relief. HUD announced a new FHA short-refinance program that will offer mortgage aid to borrowers who saw their property value tank in the last few years. Apparently, GMAC has been offering these FHA short refi’s to distressed homeowners residing in California. Millions of borrowers haven’t been able to qualify for fixed rate mortgage refinancing. Many of these homeowners have been rejected multiple times by multiple lending companies. Unfortunately, missing out on these record low mortgage refinance rates, is like leaving thousands of dollars on the table.
Refinancing Costs for FHA Loans
Posted by: | CommentsToday when you refinance mortgage loans above 80% loan to value it requires the borrower to pay additional mortgage insurance. Whether the borrower is refinancing conventional or FHA loans, mortgage insurance will be required. Monthly mortgage insurance has risen over the last few years due to the increase in loan defaults. FHA Loan Pros recommends making sure you have included PMI into the loan payments when comparing mortgage refinance offers from conventional and FHA lenders. In addition, homeowners that refinance FHA must pay an additional 2.25% of the FHA loan amount up-front to cover the mortgage insurance premium. FHA is trying to get Congress to pass a bill to increase for the annual mortgage insurance premium rate. It is important that borrowers consider all of the costs when considering the benefits of home refinancing.
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