And if the US Government Does Not–Then Interest Rates Rise Significantly Regardless Nine in ten loans today are guaranteed by either Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or governmental agencies according to this Wall Street Journal article.   Without some form of guaranty from the US government, interest… Read more

As interest rates have tracked down, many homeowners are now taking advantage of using 15 and 20-year fully-amortizing, fixed-rate loans.  Since these are shorter in duration than 30-year loans, they also feature lower interest rates. Last week, according to Freddie Mac, while 30-year rates averaged… Read more

Quoted again in Bankrate.com’s daily blog. See link Below Excerpt from artcile: Rates fell amid financial turmoil in Europe and a disappointing June U.S. employment report, released last Friday. The economy shed 125,000 jobs, hourly earnings fell and the average workweek shrank by six minutes…. Read more

See comments below from a 30-minute interview with Bankrate.com  Friday. Comments: “I think the bottom line is we’re not out of this recession,” says Ted C. Jones, chief economist for Stewart Title. Yes, he realizes that a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of shrinking… Read more

Experts see underlying weakness in housing Despite a surprising surge in home sales reported this week experts say the housing market’s spring fling has been fueled by now-expired tax credits and is unlikely to last.

MBA Reports That Home Purchase Applications Fall to a 13-Year Low — It’s Getting Uglier Out There Folks Today’s signed home purchase contracts become next quarters closings (where the real estate transaction industry gets paid).   And the news is not good.  Applications for home purchase… Read more

Economists Forecasting Home Prices to Rise 12 Percent in the Next Five Years (But In My Opinion, That Would Not Even Cover Inflation)   Wall Street Journal Article Economists in this survey are forecasting a 12 percent price recovery in the next five years.  If that is… Read more

It’s not just the house loan that is taking a toll on borrowers, but the car loans, credit card balances and college loans.  Typical homeowners getting loan relief under the President’s initiatives spent 44.8 percent of their pretax income on housing prior to loan modification,… Read more

An article from the Mortgage Bankers Association finds some less than rosy expectations for commercial real estate in 2010. Approximately three of every four commercial experts surveyed expect the following in 2010: Rents to decline Interest rates to rise 60 percent expect a full market… Read more