Archive for Mortgage Refinance News
Mortgage Refinance Rates Forecast for 2011
Posted by: | CommentsAs you know, interest rates change with the trends of the market. The current mortgage refinance rates for a fixed 30-year mortgage is 4.75%. Fixed rate refinancing for a year-15 mortgage is currently at 4.00%. A 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage right now is 3.25%, but the trend for higher rates could push this amount up this coming year. There are several factors that will determine mortgage refinancing for 2011.
First, keep your eye on the economy. Economic trends factor in hugely to dictate whether a higher FHA mortgage insurance premium will be seen this year along with what conventional rates will be. The Federal Reserve stimulus along with tax agreements seem to ensure that the economy will continue to climb through 2011. What this means for FHA mortgage rates, and all other mortgage refinance rates, is that they will slowly but surely increase throughout this year and into the next.
Is the Trend for Higher Refinance Rates on the Horizon?
Another factor is that homebuyers are going to start returning in larger numbers. Improvement in the labor market and still very reasonable interest rates will encourage people to buy homes and seek mortgage rate refinancing. There might still be somewhat strict underwriting practices this coming year in determining applicants’ personal rates on 15-year mortgage and 30-year mortgage fixed rate refinancing.
Then, an additional factor worth considering is that the Federal Reserve program called Quantitative Easing II (QEII) may or may not end. It was only initiated in November 2010, but its goal to foster low interest rates has had the opposite effect. However, there certainly has not been a spike in interest rates—an occurrence that could have forced the economy back into another recession—so there is talk that the program might be extended instead of terminating mid-2011 as originally planned. Either way, it can be agreed that a trend for higher rates will be seen in 2011.
These are some of the main factors that play into FHA mortgage rates, conventional rates, and mortgage refinance rates on the whole. While a higher FHA insurance premium and other rates on those holding a 15-year mortgage or 30-year mortgage are expected to increase, that means the economy is improving, as long as mortgage rate refinancing and other rates in regards to mortgages increase at a gradual, manageable pace. Having said that, rates are still quite favorable, and you can still take advantage of fixed rate refinancing.
Home Refinance Help
Posted by: | CommentsThere has been a lot of talk of record low mortgage rates and home refinance programs, but millions of Americans continue to search for mortgage refinancing help. According to iServe Lending’s Al Pereida, “Unfortunately millions of Americans still need refinancing help because they don’t qualify for today’s lending guidelines.” The California lender continued, “We are seeing many applicants fail to qualify because of low credit scores and late mortgage payments.”
In 2011 all indications point towards even tighter guidelines. Conforming, VA and FHA loan programs are requesting increased documentation and higher criteria for qualifying. Mortgage Refinancing Buzz continues to report great refinance rates for qualified borrowers.
- FHA Streamline Refinance
- Cash Refinancing
- VA Mortgage Refinance
- Low Conforming Rates
Home Mortgage Refinancing Applications Surge
Posted by: | CommentsThe Mortgage Bankers Association released a report indicating that loan applications overall increased 14.6% from a week earlier, behind by a 21% increase in applications for home refinancing. MBA announced today that refinance activity spiked significantly last week on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was the first increase in loan activity in five weeks. Record low mortgage refinance rates continue to lure homeowners to refinance into a lower and more affordable loan payment.
According to MBA’s vice president of research and economics, Michael Fratantoni, “After five weeks of steadily declining rates to yet another new low, borrowers who had been on the fence jumped off, which factored into refinance activity surging more than 20%.”
Fixed Home Mortgage Refinance Rates Available at 3.75%
Home loan applications were stimulated last week with homebuyers making a move before HUD tightened the FHA guidelines that went into effect October 4th. Fratantoni continued, “The theory was confirmed by the fact that this week FHA home loan applications fell back to a level closer to the average seen over the past four months.”
Mortgage Refinance Activity Surges! The four-week moving average for home mortgage refinancing applications, which smoothes the volatile weekly figures, was up 3 percent. The purchase index average is down 0.3 percent while the refinancing index is up 3.9%.
The home refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 83% of total loan applications from 80% the previous week. This week’s loan application report revealed that this was the most significant market-share for mortgage refinances since back in January of 2009.
New Options for Refinancing a Mortgage
Posted by: | CommentsThere are a lot of people offering mortgage refinancing advice online, but very few publishers have experienced home lenders on staff posting articles like Mortgage Refinancing Buzz. Most refinance lenders have tightened their guidelines, so very few homeowners qualify for record low refinancing. Therefore it is more important than ever to get insight from lending professionals that stay up to speed on breathrough loan products and government mortgage relief.
Refinance Recast or Re-Amortize Your High Rate Mortgage
Many homeowners who have already refinanced and locked into low rate home loans are using a new somewhat unknown strategy to reduce their monthly mortgage payments. Rather than home mortgage refinancing, this process is called “recasting” or “re-amortizing “and enables borrowers to reduce loan payments on an existing fixed-rate mortgages for a small fee without having to apply for a new home loan and without having to pay reappraisal and other fees. Recasting also may enable homeowners to save on interest paid over the life of the home mortgage, merely by putting a large sum of cash against the principal, whether or not they have refinanced already.
The bad news? Banks don’t advertise the strategy, perhaps because it is less lucrative than refinancing a mortgage. And not all loans are eligible. To find out more, you will have to ask your lender directly.
At J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s Chase Home Finance unit, less than 200 home loans a month are recast out of 10 million home mortgages outstanding, a spokesman says. At Bank of America Corp., about 200 to 300 a month recasting requests are received out of about 14 million home loans serviced by the company, a spokesman says. Neither bank has seen increased demand. Here is how it works: A homeowner asks his mortgage servicer if he can put a large sum of money against the outstanding principal on the mortgage. Ordinarily, doing so would enable him to pay off the loan early, but he would still have to pay the same monthly note. But if the lender agrees to recast the mortgage, he may be able to reduce the monthly payment over the remaining term of the loan. For example, a person with a 30-year $300,000 fixed-rate mortgage and an interest rate of 4.75% who re-casted one year into the loan by putting in $60,000 toward the principal would trim his balance to $235,371. Assuming there were 29 years left on the mortgage that would result in a monthly payment of $1,247 instead of the original $1,565.
Recasting can be a good choice for borrowers who have cash and want to reduce monthly payments but who can’t get approved for a mortgage refinance, such as those with a no income mortgage, most of whom can’t get the same types of home loans today due to tighter regulations, even if they have high income and good credit. (Self-employed professionals often find themselves in this boat.) And at a time of low interest rates on certificates of deposit and U.S. Treasury bills, paying off a mortgage early is a relatively safe investment that brings a return at least equivalent to the interest rate on the mortgage itself. There are downsides to the strategy. Many financial experts advise against putting additional cash into one’s residence, arguing that higher returns historically have been available in the financial markets and interest rates on bonds are likely to rise eventually. They also warn of the possible tax consequences of retiring a mortgage early, because mortgage interest on a primary residence can be tax-deductible.
Mortgage recasting resembles a cash out refinance, a newly popular strategy in which a borrower pays down principal on an existing loan in order to qualify for a new loan with a lower interest rate. In a recasting, though, the interest rate and the number of payments remain the same, and there are no transfer and title costs. Getting permission to recast a loan can be tricky. The loan must be in good standing, and you need to secure permission from the loan servicer, who may or may not be the original lender. If the loan has been sold to an investor, the servicer also must secure its approval. Original article was written by M.P. McQueen.
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.
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