About Government Refinance and Home Purchase Programs

Despite some volatility in markets over the last several weeks, mortgage interest rates are still hovering near 18 month lows. Rates have inched slightly higher since bottoming out in late January, but remain extremely low by any historical measure. It is likely that rates will continue to bounce around into the spring of this year so if you have been considering a refinance or purchasing a home, contact us today to get more information. There is widespread speculation that the Fed will raise its rates this summer so now is am excellent time to look into a government-backed mortgage.

The FHA released the details of the new, lower cost FHA mortgage insurance program (MIP) that President Obama announced last week. The new program will begin Jan. 26, 2015 and will reduce cost of the monthly FHA mortgage insurance payments significantly.

Currently, FHA mortgage insurance on most 30 year fixed FHA loans is at a rate of 1.35% per year. With the new guidelines, the mortgage insurance rate will be 0.85% per year. On a $200,000 FHA loan, that is a savings of $84 per month, or about $1000 per year.

If you are looking to buy a home, you should be able to start the pre-qualification process now. As long as the FHA case number is pulled on January 26th or later you’ll get the new, lower MIP rate. Contact us on our home purchase page for that.

If you have an FHA loan now, this is a good time to look into streamlining your FHA loan to a lower interest rate and take advantage of the lower MIP. The FHA streamline refinance program is extremely user friendly and can result in tremendous savings. If you have a non-FHA loan now, a cash out FHA refinance can make sense as well in some cases. Contact us in the sidebar for more info on FHA refinance programs.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Julian Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that President Obama plans to announce a reduction in the monthly mortgage insurance fees for FHA loans. The FHA currently charges 1.35% per year in mortgage insurance fees. The new rate will reportedly be 0.85% per year, a full 0.5% reduction. This will be the equivalent of a 0.5% reduction in interest rates for FHA mortgage holders and could mean savings of up to thousands of dollars per year.

The announcement is expected to come from the President in a speech in Phoenix on Thursday. Many of the details of the pending change are still unknown, like if current FHA loan holders will need to refinance through the FHA streamline program to get the new lower mortgage insurance rate. But there is no doubt that this will be a boon to FHA loan holders and to potential home buyers.

We’ll keep you updated with more information as it comes out.

To learn more or to get started on a government-backed mortgage, contact us today.

The downward trend in mortgage interest rates that we saw at the end of 2014 has continued in 2015. Rates continue to creep lower and lower. Global market factors like the drop in oil prices have, in a roundabout way, helped add downward pressure on mortgage interest rates. As a result, we are currently seeing the lowest mortgage rates in nearly two years. If this downward trend continues we could soon match the lows we saw in late 2012 and early 2013.

Of course there is no telling how long these low rates will persist. Contact us in the sidebar today to get an estimate on a government-backed refinance. Reducing your mortgage interest rate could lead to significant savings. Or if you are looking into purchasing a home, contact us on our home purchase page right away.

Until this week, borrowers needed at least a 5% down payment to purchase a home through a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conventional loan program. As of this week a new 3% down program is rolling out. The new program will only apply to single family, primary residences, and as with all Fannie/Freddie loans, qualifying will require solid credit and income. Borrowers with credit troubles will probably still be best served by the FHA or VA purchase programs.

As with any new mortgage program, there will probably be some growing pains in the initial weeks of the launch. But the good news for home buyers is qualifying for a Fannie/Freddie loan will now require less money up front.

If you are interested in purchasing a home, contact us today on our home purchase page.

Mortgage interest rates continue to slowly drift lower. Rates recently hit lows that haven’t been seen since May of 2013. That was the month the Fed announced it would begin tapering its quantitative easing program. While rates have not yet hit the lows we saw in 2012, this latest dip is welcome news to Americans looking to buy a home or refinance their mortgage. Rates have not moved quickly in recent months, but the general trend has been downward when they have moved. Contact us today to get more information on government mortgage programs.

The FHA recently announced that there will be no changes to its maximum loan limits in 2015.

The maximum loan size for FHA loan varies county by county. In a counties deemed high cost the maximum FHA loan size on a single family home is $625,500. The maximum in a low cost county is $271,050. There are varying limits from county to county all across the United States. Contact us to learn more about the FHA loan limits in your county.

FHA loans are excellent loans for borrowers with less than stellar credit. The FHA is much more lenient on credit scores than most other loan types. The FHA is also popular as a home purchase loan because it only requires a 3.5% down payment. Further, the FHA allows for up to 85% cash out loans, so it has been popular in the past as a cash out loan option. Last, homeowners who already have an FHA loan may be eligible to reduce their interest rate through the FHA streamline program.

Contact us today to learn more about FHA loans or other government loan programs.

Mortgage interest rates hit new 18 month lows in October and have remained near those rates into November. Stocks have seen large swings up and down this Fall, but through it all mortgage interest rates have remained near record lows. It seems likely that rates will remain low for the next few weeks but there is no telling where rates will go in 2015. If you have been considering a refinance, contact us in the sidebar today to get an estimate on the savings. There is still time to refinance to a better, government-backed mortgage before the end of the year. If you are looking into purchasing a home, fill in the contact form on this page.

Worries about the the worldwide economy in recent weeks have sent investors rushing to the safe haven of U.S. treasury bonds. That movement of money has sent yields on treasury bonds to the lowest they have been since June of 2013. Movement in mortgage interest rates tend to roughly mirror the movement of the 10-year T-Note, so as the yields on the T-Note have been dropping, so have mortgage interest rates.

It’s looking like this Fall will be the best time in a long time to refinance a mortgage. If you have a mortgage interest rate that you would like to lower, contact us in the sidebar right away before rates move higher again.

September wasn’t a stellar month for mortgage interest rates. Rallies in the stock market pushed bond yields higher and mortgage interest rates mirrored that upward trend for most of September. But since stock prices and bond yields peaked in late September, both have been falling quickly over the last week or so. Mortgage interest rates have been dropping over the last week as well. Numerous factors, including an Ebola virus scare in the U.S. have been driving the downward trend.

While stocks falling isn’t good news for everyone, it is good news for anyone looking into a mortgage. Mortgage interest rates have gotten significantly better this week. That means now is an excellent time to look into a government-backed refinance or home purchase program. Contact us in the sidebar for information on a refinance, or if you are considering buying a home fill in the contact form on our home purchase page.

There was an excellent article recently over at HousingWire.com that focused on a new study from The National Bureau of Economic Research. Here are some excerpts from that piece:

Approximately 20% of households for whom refinancing would be optimal are throwing over ten grand a year away due to their failure to take action.

“Despite the large stakes, anecdotal evidence suggests that many households may fail to refinance when they otherwise should. Failing to refinance is puzzling due to the large financial incentives involved. However, certain features of the refinance decision make failing to refinance consistent with recent work in behavioral economics,” the report said.

NBER stated borrowers are road blocked for three distinct reasons:

-It is difficult for borrowers to calculate the financial benefit to refinancing due to the very limited experience borrowers have with the complexities of transactions of this type.
-The benefits of refinancing are not immediate, but rather accrue over time.
-There is high amount of up-front costs, both financial and non-financial, that households must pay in order to complete a refinance, including a re-evaluation of their financial position and the value of their home.

“All of these features provide a psychological basis for why some households may fail to take up large savings,” NBER said.

The upshot is that millions of Americans who would benefit from a refinance to a better mortgage are still waiting on the sidelines. Contact us in the sidebar today to look into your government-backed refinance options.

As we have discussed in the past, mortgage interest rates tend to roughly trend with the yield on the 10 year T-Note. In recent days, yields on the 10 year T-Note hit new 12 month lows. That is good news on mortgage interest rates.

As global turmoil continues to spook investors, money has been flowing into safer investments like U.S. treasury bonds. Like all market trends, this one won’t last forever; but in the short run, now is a good time to look into a refinance or a home purchase. Contact us in the form in the sidebar of this page for refinance help. To get info on home purchase programs just fill in the contact for on our home purchase page.