Mortgages Archives

The American economy has pulled through some tough times before. But until now, we were almost always pulling together -- even though only some of our citizens were directly affected by recession or economic transition.   Read more»

Potential home buyers have far fewer choices when applying for a loan these days.   Read more»

The mortgage crisis is about to take another bite out of my family's finances.  It's bad enough that we got squeezed out of the housing market as property values soared, only to get stuck with a home that's valued far lower than what we paid for it once the bubble burst. Now we're being forced to foot part of the bill for the cleanup, even though we have plenty of equity in our home and never miss a payment.   Read more»

If you're still waiting to refinance that adjustable-rate mortgage, you may have blown it.  Mortgage rates rose over the past week from two-year lows, even as the Federal Reserve lowered short-term interest rates again, according to a survey by Freddie Mac (FRE) . The average rate on benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages was 6.11% in the week ended Thursday, up 15 basis points from 5.96% the previous week.   Read more»

Lenders keep trying to suck my family into a vortex of debt.  We're standing firm. Just as President Bush was announcing a deal with the mortgage industry to freeze adjustable rates for up to five years in some cases, Countrywide was aggressively marketing a $365,382 cash-out refinance to my family.  We don't want it. We can't afford it. If anything, we're anxious to dump our 30-year, 6.5% fixed-rate mortgage for a shorter-term loan.   Read more»

The announcement that the Federal Reserve endorsed new rules for lenders of subprime mortgages, which includes banning low-documentation loans and setting limits on penalties for borrowers who want to repay their loans early, set off a debate about how effective the plan would be -- and who would really benefit from it.   Read more»

Mortgage rates fell to their lowest levels in more than two years as financial markets took it on faith that the Federal Reserve will cut short-term rates next week, according to a survey by Freddie Mac (FRE) .   Read more»

By Sheree Curry The National Association of Realtors announced that existing-home sales are projected to show a slight increase in 2008, though many measures still indicate that housing is likely to remain weak for some time.   Read more»

Though the housing downturn is straining many people, this might actually be good news for buyers -- particularly those of a vacation home, condo or a home in the center of the country, some experts say. Read more»