About Government Refinance and Home Purchase Programs

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.

Escalating armed conflicts Israel and Ukraine has been spooking global investors over the last few weeks. When investors get spooked they generally start moving funds into safe investments like U.S. treasuries. That compresses the yields on treasuries which in turn lowers mortgage interest rates. While we haven’t yet seen a big drop in mortgage interest rates, we are seeing the rates staying at 12 month lows and the recent headlines have been creating even more downward pressure on rates.

The upshot is that now is a terrific time to look into buying a home or refinancing to a lower rate. If you are looking into a refinance, contact us in the sidebar. For home purchase inquiries, contact us on our home purchase page.

The USDA rural development program is a popular home purchase program. The primary appeal of the program is that it requires no down payment. In addition, borrowers who get a USDA RD loan avoid the expensive monthly mortgage insurance associated with FHA loans. One of the primary limitations to the program is that only homes that are in designated rural areas are eligible.

On October 1, 2014, the eligibility maps for the USDA rural housing program will change. See the USDA eligibility maps at the USDA RD site. Click on the “Single Family Housing” link in the sidebar and follow the instructions to get to the maps. Densely populated areas are not eligible but a surprisingly high number of suburbs are eligible for USDA RD program.

Contact us at our home purchase page to get more information on the USDA RD program.

Just over a year ago, in May of 2013, mortgage interest rates made a sudden upward jump on news that the Fed was planning on tapering its stimulus program. Since then mortgage interest rates have drifted back downward again. Rates on 15 and 30 year fixed mortgage are lower now than they were last summer and that is making refinances and home purchases extremely attractive again.

If you would like to lower the interest rate and payments on your current mortgage, contact us in the form in sidebar. Or if you are looking into buying a home, contact us on our home purchase page

Over the last couple of years rent prices have been rising rapidly across the United States. Low vacancy rates have allowed landlords to hike rates at 2-3% per year. At the same time, mortgage interest rates have dropped over the last few months. In addition, home values have been steadily increasing again after the bottom fell out of the housing market in 2007-2008.

All of these factors add up to make purchasing and owning a home increasingly attractive to many Americans. In many areas of the country, mortgage payments are the same or lower than rent costs. And with home values steadily increasing, owning a home can mean owning an appreciating asset that can often be sold at a profit down the road rather than simply pouring money into rent.

If you have considered buying a home, contact us at our home purchase page today. Our counselors can point you in the right direction regarding available government-backed home purchase programs.

In a turn of events that has surprised Wall Street, U.S. treasury bonds have become surprisingly popular with investors again recently. As investors pour money into treasury bonds, the yields on the bonds are dropping, and as usual, mortgage interest rates have been dropping right in step with the yields on the 10-year treasury note. As a result of these global financial trends, mortgage interest rates in the U.S. have dropped to lows not seen in the last 12 months. While rates are not back to the lows we saw in late 2012 and early 2013, they have been slowly inching that direction for more than a month.

With mortgage rates at 12 month lows, now is an excellent time to contact us in the contact form in the sidebar about refinancing programs, or contact us about home purchase programs in on this page.