Denver Mortgage Loans and Denver Home Equity Loans
Mortgage article from the Denver Post:
The government on Wednesday nudged higher the investment caps for home-loan finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an effort to alleviate strain in the mortgage market.
Read the full article: Fannie, Freddie mortgage caps rise
From the Denver Post:
A day after the Federal Reserve’s first cut in the federal funds rate in four years, a relatively positive marketplace response was tempered by some wariness.
Read the full article: Rate cut leaves some leery
Article from the Rocky Mountain News:
The overall vacancy rate for-rent single-family homes, condos and other non-apartment unit properties in metro Denver dropped to a six-year low of 4 percent during the second quarter, a state report released today shows.
Read the full story: Vacancies in rental houses, condos at 6-year low in metro
Mortgage article from the Denver Post:
A jubilant Wall Street barreled higher Tuesday after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a larger-than-expected half percentage point.
Read the full article: Dow does rate victory dance
Another story about moving up to the condo in the sky:
Erik Osborn is planning to transform a nondescript office building in downtown Denver into a luxury residential tower with condos priced at more than $1 million.
Read the full story: Downtown tower makeover to offer luxury-size units
MAP IT: 1800 GLENARM
Mortgage article from the Rocky Mountain News:
The House on Tuesday approved a plan to expand federal backing of mortgages in hopes of helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.
Read the full story: House bill would aid homeowners facing foreclosure
Fed Funds Rate down .5%
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday slashed the benchmark federal funds rate by a half-percentage point in a bold bid to buffer the economy from a housing slump and related financial market turbulence.
ADVERTISEMENTThe decision by the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee took the overnight rate down to 4.75 percent, its lowest level since May of last year. It was the first cut in the interbank rate — the Fed’s main tool to influence the economy — since June 2003 and the first half-point reduction since November 2002.
Financial markets had widely expected the Fed to lower overnight borrowing costs, but were split over whether the move would be a quarter-point or more-aggressive half-point.
In a related move, the Fed also lowered the discount rate it charges for direct loans to banks by a half-point to 5.25 percent.
What does this mean?
According to Marketwatch:
Here’s what consumers can expect:
If a consumer is paying 8.25% interest on a $100,000 loan that is based on the prime rate — such as a home-equity line — a rate reset to 7.75% is likely. That’s the difference of about $500 a year, or roughly $41.66 a month in interest charges. Resets on some adjustable-rate mortgages will be slightly better. Many ARM interest rates are based on an average of Treasury note yields coupled with a fixed margin, now at about 2.75 percentage points. At Tuesday’s 10-year yield of 4.49%, the rate is 7.24%. In July, it was at 7.77%. That makes the monthly payment on a $200,000 mortgage $1,363, about $73 less than it was in July. But Treasurys could head even lower following the Fed action. Rates on credit cards, which have taken on a bigger role in consumer financing in recent months, are likely to dip a bit too, lowering minimum monthly payments. Savings-deposit rates will go down, meaning that your bank balances won’t appreciate at the same rates you’ve seen all year. Ditto on money market rates, hurting those on fixed incomes — generally the elderly — who rely on cash generated from such safe investments. Interest rates on new loans for cars will fall, though it won’t have any effect on loans already in place. But Brian Bethune, the U.S. economist with Global Insight, urges consumers to wait until contract negotiations between autoworkers and their bosses are done this month. “They could pull out all the stops,” he said about automakers’ desire to unload inventory. And if the Fed lowers rates again next month, all the better.
You may not know what exactly Fedspeak is but you probably know its originator, former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greeenspan. Last night on 60 Minutes, Alan Greenspan gave an “exclusive interview” on 60 minutes.
Fedspeak on Suprime Lending:
“While I was aware a lot of these practices were going on, I had no notion of how significant they had become until very late. I didn’t really get it until very late in 2005 and 2006.”
Greenspan also discussed what it was like to work under 6 presidents. Baseball and jazz were among other topics of discussion along with his upcoming book “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.”
During the interview, Greenspan, comes across as articulate and sanguine. However, as Fed Chairman, the way Greenspan talked was so cryptic that they dubbed it “Fedspeak.”
For more on the interview, visit 60 Minutes. Wall Street Journal also has a great article on Greenspan’s book worth checking out as well in an article entitled Greenspan Book Criticizes Bush And Republicans.
Bait and switch is a sales tactic that seems to infiltrate every segment of industry. The words “sorry, that’s no longer available, but we have this ___(fill in the blank) available” could fit the car, computer, electronic, et. al. industries.
When your dealing with your homes financing, the last thing you really want to hear is that your mortgage term and rate are no longer available. However, in today’s mortgage world, the mortgage program that you were offered probably was available yesterday but may not be available today.
Home buyers and owners refinancing mortgages are increasingly finding at the closings that their lender isn’t honoring the deal they thought they had locked up.
Read the full story: Tough words on mortgage fraud
Whenever the national and local media fails to deliver news that really means something, the Onion picks up their slack and delivers this gem:
There’s actually a blog devoted to Lower My Bills ads.
Mortgage banner ads aren’t nearly as irritating as mortgage telemarketers, mortgage offers in the mail, and mortgage spam.
