Applications for mortgages dropped last week from the previous week, as interest rates hit their highest levels since June but applications were still up an unadjusted 16.1% compared to the same week last year. A 30-year fixed mortgage rate, excluding fees, averaged 5.38%- continuing the 11th straight week of rates above 5%. Some experts say [...]
Before the House takes their summer recess, they’re taking emergency measures to ensure that people getting unemployment checks or hoping for a low-interest housing loan won’t lose any of those services while Congress is gone. The three part house bill includes bolstering the federal unemployment insurance and highway trust fund as well as increasing lending [...]
Senior U.S. housing officials and leading mortgage companies will make a fresh commitment to help troubled borrowers keep their homes and promise to expand foreclosure-prevention aid in their meeting today. Officials have warned the mortgage industry that it must do more to help families avoid foreclosure and they plan to “name and shame” firms that [...]
Did you know that some homeowners are saving thousands in property taxes? You may be thinking…how is that possible? Here’s how: housing values have dropped but many people are still paying taxes based on the higher value of their home. Now property owners are requesting re-assessments—and paying property taxes based on the current value of [...]
Home Retention Services is joining forces with Freddie Mac and will help several regional mortgage services to process thousands of additional applications for Home Affordable Modifications. By using Home Retention Servicers’ staff and resources, Freddie Mac will be able to ease some of the pressures on their staff and help more borrowers to participate in [...]
The $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit makes now a great time to buy a home, but buying a home requires big financial decisions and that’s why the NJ Realtors Association is offering a free information seminar at the Grand Versailles hotel in Maple Shade next Wednesday, July 29th from 6- 8 PM. The 2-hour seminar [...]
We’ve been hearing it for months: declining property values- that means your home could be worth a lot less, but you could be getting a tax bill that’s way too high. Many people don’t realize that there is a solution- you can file an appeal and get your property reassessed. There are two types of [...]
If you are applying for a loan to buy a primary or secondary home, or are planning to refinance, you will see some changes as a result of a little-publicized set of federal consumer-protection rules that take effect July 30. Know your rights, so you can take advantage of the new regulations designed to protect [...]
Fixed mortgage rates have fallen for three consecutive weeks and are approaching their lowest levels. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 5.14% this week- compared to 6.26% last year at this time. Falling rates can spur refinancing activity, which is what happened in April when rates fell to 4.78%.
U.S. home sellers slashed the prices of their properties by a total of $27.1 billion as the recession and rising foreclosures cut back demand. One quarter of sellers with homes on the market as of July 1 cut their price by an average of 10% and properties listed for more than $1 million had the [...]
