Today the Federal Reserve wrapped up its two-day March meeting and came out with some significant announcements relative to our economy. Specific to key interest rates and mortgage rates, they kept the Fed Fund rate unchanged (which was widely expected) but also announced an increase of their buyback program on mortgage back securities (MBS). They [...]
Trying to Time Market CAN hurt!
Unless you’ve been living in a cave as of late, you are probably well aware that the financial and lending climate has changed dramatically…and it continues to be very dynamic. Every week, we have lender changes, investor changes, market changes, etc. that can affect how borrowers can structure both purchase and refinance loans. [...]
A 4.5% conforming fixed rate? Don’t count your chickens…
These are certainly very dynamic and fast moving times in the mortgage market these days! Just when you think things are settling down a bit, another curve ball comes our way. The most recent one came to us courtesy of Secretary Treasurer Hank Paulson yet again.
As you know, the Treasury has already announced a plan [...]
Fed Boosts Mortgage Industry,Hands Consumers Lower Rates
The Federal Reserve just announced this morning that it would purchase $600 Billion of Mortgage-Backed Securities (often referred to as MBS) backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. This action is “being taken to reduce the cost and increase the availability of credit for the purchase of houses, which in turn should support [...]
$729,750 Conforming Loans: Going, Going…Soon to be Gone!
Back in February of this year (wow…doesn’t that seem SO long ago), the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was enacted and part of that Act was to temporarily increase the loan limit on mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to 125% of the average cost of a home, county-by-county, to a maximum of [...]
Fed cuts rate by 0.5%…why didn’t mortgage rates go down, too?
In response to the slowing pace of economic activity and intensified turmoil in financial markets, the Federal Reserve cut the its key rate by 50 basis points, or 0.5%, last week ahead of its regularly scheduled meeting at the end of October. The action was globally orchestrated with banks around the world, including the Bank [...]
Yes…we ARE still closing home loans in Marin!
We’re entering yet another week of turmoil in the financial markets and we’re still trying to work our way out of this mess. In the recent days, we continue to see challenges for financial companies and our economy as a whole including:
The failure of Washington Mutual (the largest bank failure in our nation’s history) and [...]
Continued Chaos Created Opportunity!
First of all, I want to say how excited I am to be part of Blog By The Bay! This is a great opportunity for me to get current and accurate information out about what is happening in the world of real estate finance. The opportunity is especially critical given all the misinformation I hear [...]
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