Home Loan Blog

It may seem like an old story by now, but someday we'll look back on these rock-bottom mortgage rates with a sense of wonder. Mortgage rates declined again last week slightly and are hovering around record low interest rates, yet refinance applications decreased. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) says that applications for a home refinance decreased 0.7 percent for the week ending April 27, 2012 and the share of mortgage applications for a refinance rather than a purchase application dipp [...]

The majority of mortgage applications these days are for homeowners refinancing their home loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Refinancing borrowers tend to pick a fixed-rate home loan and many are also choosing to shorten their loan terms. The MBA's Refinance Index for the week ending February 10, 2012 showed that refinance applications rose to their highest level since August 8, 2011. The refinance share of mortgage applications last week rose to 81.1 percent last week [...]

Mortgage bankers did not receive much of a holiday gift from consumers in 2011, since applications for both a home refinance and new home loans decreased during the last two weeks of 2011 even when the statistics are seasonally adjusted, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the weeks ending December 23 and December 30 showed a decline of 1.9 percent in refinancing applications compared to the week ending December 16. However, the share [...]

CoreLogic, a provider of mortgage data, released data on November 29 showing that 22.1 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage owed more than the value of their home during the third quarter of 2011. This represents a slight decrease compared to the previous quarter. Underwater homeowners have been unable to refinance into lower mortgage rates, since most lenders require at least some home equity in order to approve a new loan. Mortgage rates remained extremely low for most of November, accor [...]

Plenty of homeowners have lost equity in their homes in recent years and feel their mortgage payments are meaningless since they are paying off an asset that has dropped in value. But equity in a home is built both by increasing market value and by paying off the principal balance on your home loan. Switching to a shorter loan term when you refinance can build equity more quickly than simply opting for another 30-year fixed-rate home loan. Recently, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), wh [...]

Low mortgage rates offer several options for homeowners with enough equity to refinance. While the most popular option for homeowners is to reduce their monthly mortgage payment with a home refinance, some borrowers choose instead to shorten their loan term to pay off their entire loan more quickly. According to Freddie Mac, 95 percent of homeowners who refinanced in the third quarter of 2011 chose to refinance into a fixed-rate mortgage and 40 percent of those who refinanced from a 30-year fix [...]

Homeowners who have kept up-to-date with their mortgage payments but have been locked out of the refinancing rush because they have little or no equity are about to get some relief from an expansion of an existing federal government program. President Obama announced that the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which started in 2009, has been extended through 2013. If you have a home loan owned or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and are current on your mortgage payments you are eligib [...]

Refinancing rates have slowed recently in spite of historically low mortgage rates, but among those homeowners who can qualify for a home refinance, 15-year fixed-rate mortgage loans have become more popular. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that applications for a home refinance decreased by 5.2 percent during the week ending September 30, 2011 compared to the previous week. The share of refinancing applications among all mortgage applications remained high at 79.1 percent, a sli [...]