Personal Finance Blog By MoneyRates - Mortgage Rates
December 7, 2010
In the wake of the U.S. Department of Labor's depressing jobs report for November, Gallup's Job Creation Index provides a glimmer of hope. According to the index, job creation reached its highest level in November in more than two years. The nationwide index hit a positive 11, the best reading since September 2008, Gallup said. The [...]
November 2, 2010
Not so long ago financial experts chided consumers for using their homes as ATM machines by doing cash-out mortgage refinance loans. Keeping debt levels lower with less cash-outs It took the collapse of the housing market and tighter lending standards though to change the trend. Last quarter, just 18 percent of homeowners who refinanced their [...]
June 22, 2010
Bank economists say we're on the path to a solid recovery, a double-dip recession is highly unlikely, and they expect the Fed will start raising interest rates next year. The prediction about rising interest rates was unanimous among the dozen members of the American Bankers Association Economic Advisory Committee, which recently released its views on [...]
May 14, 2010
Average 30-year fixed mortgage rates dropped under 5 percent this week to their lowest level so far this year, according to the latest survey by Freddie Mac. With rates continuing at such low levels, mortgages are about as affordable as they can get for buyers with good credit. But if you're looking to move up [...]
September 15, 2009
So, Ben Bernanke says that this brutal recession has "very likely ended." For Money-Rates readers who hold money in CDs or savings accounts, this silver lining may appear obscured by a dark cloud: Worries over inflation. Already, CD rates are too slow to keep up with even a moderate rate of price growth. However: 1. Foreign Goods Help [...]
August 26, 2009
One of the interesting details about the weeklymortgage data released by the Mortgage Bankers Associaton is the breakdown of the data into different types of mortgage activity. For example, mortgage application activity was up overall this week, but it was led by refinance activity. This suggests that most people taking advantage of low interest rates [...]
August 19, 2009
Mortgage applications surged last week, as mortgage rates fell to their lowest levels since early July. This is good news for the housing market, but it raises a couple of questions: With mortgage rates generally low, are people really holding out for week-to-week dips in the mortgage rate? What will happen when measures to stimulate the housing [...]
August 10, 2009
Somewhat surprisingly, mortgage rates held the line and even declined slightly last week, despite a steep rise in bond market interest rates. Mortgages and bonds have some characteristics in common -- they are long-term, interest-based commitments -- and thus tend to respond to the same market forces. Those forces include demand for capital and inflation. With [...]
