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Adjustable vs. Fixed Mortgages: Compare the Tradeoffs
Choosing an adjustable vs. fixed mortgage involves more than comparing today’s interest rates. Look at how each offer changes over time, whether a higher payment would fit your budget, and the total borrowing costs shown on the Loan Estimate. Neither structure is automatically the better choice for every borrow
Archived Rate Commentary: A Past Winning Streak
Archived market commentary: This page formerly reported several consecutive days when mortgage rates held steady or moved lower. Its original publication date could not be verified from the migrated record. That past streak does not establish the direction of rates today or the terms available to an individual bo
Archived Rate Commentary: A Three-Month Low
Archived market commentary: This URL formerly carried a day-by-day note about a period when mortgage rates moved lower for several sessions. The original publication date is unverified. The earlier discussion of a 13-day trend, same-day economic news, and a coming jobs report is historical, not a current rate quo
What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.
"What we've got here is a failure to communicate."Hopefully, that famous line from the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke won't apply to our leaders on Capitol Hill, as they work toward a resolution on the debt ceiling debate and budget fight. Read on to learn what this could mean for home loan rates. Congress continues t
Federal Reserve would not begin tapering this month.
Last Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee surprised investors by announcing that the Federal Reserve would not begin tapering its $85 billion asset-purchasing program this month. Investors heaved a sigh of relief, and markets surged on the news. However, the gains lasted for only three trading sessions. M
Government Shutdown – How will this effect mortgages?
With the midnight deadline passing in Washington and a government shutdown in place many of you are wondering if this will cause problems for any mortgage transactions that are due to close during the shutdown. I have received a number of calls this morning with people asking this question. The answer is t
The Day Ahead: Back to Business as Congress Quickly Passes Debt Deal
Congress apparently thought the 10/17 debt ceiling deadline was a much bigger deal than financial markets. It's not that markets didn't perceive an actual default as a big deal--just that they'd already worked out that it would be at least another two weeks before any payee was at risk of not being paid by
Home Improvement Spending to Level in mid-2014
LIRA, a forward looking indicator of remodeling activity, continues to project a double digit annual increase in home improvement spending through this quarter and the first quarter of 2014, but cautions it expects a slowdown thereafter. LIRA (Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity) has projected strong i
MBS MID-DAY: Yesterday’s Gains Doubled and Holding
After adding half a point yesterday, Fannie 3.5 MBS are up another half point today (Fannie 3.5s as of 11:55am) as the ill effects of the government shutdown and debt ceiling drama are priced out of bond markets. Both MBS and Treasuries have moved precisely to the narrow ranges that prevailed before the ons
Archived Rate Commentary: A Past Rebound
Archived market commentary: This page formerly described a mortgage rate rebound after a prior day's increase. The migrated record does not establish the article's original publication date. Its former rate figures and references to immediate market events are not current NorthStar Funding quotes or offers. Comp
Lenders using new criteria to determine credit risk in mortgage loans
A low credit score doesn’t necessarily result in an automatic turn down for a mortgage loan.Mortgage lenders are looking for borrowers who are good risks, even though they may have little or no credit history. Lenders are now looking at additional criteria, some that they may not have considered a few yea
Archived Eminent Domain Information Notice
Historical article notice. This URL previously carried a general description of eminent-domain steps. That description has been removed because it did not identify a jurisdiction and should not be used to interpret a notice about a particular property. For background on federal land acquisition, see the U.S. Dep