Some experts are now saying that buying a home may not be the great wealth builder it once was. They say it may be better to rent a place to live and invest the intended down payment in the stock market. Yeah, like that’s such a sure bet. Who decided that buying a home was meant to be an ‘investment’?…
Author: Michael Vitali
Home Equity Going Up; Mortgage Rates Stay Down
Okay, a little good news for a change. A CoreLogic report indicates that to date about 9 million current homeowners have regained positive home equity. Residential property owner’s still carrying negative equity is down to about 3.1 million. Some highlights of the report: 635 of homeowners realized a $7.66 billion increase in the last year On average, each homeowner saw…
Fannie Issues Guidance on NCAP Changes
In case you didn’t know, NCAP is the National Consumer Assistance Plan. Under this plan, the 3 credit repositories will no longer report most civil judgments and tax liens, or unpaid medical bills less than 6 months. They say it’s because, in many cases, these issues are not accurate and they may negatively impact a consumer’s credit profile and score.…
Are We Heading For Another Disaster?
With times being a little tough for many lenders, I hate to bring up anything negative about potentials for increased lending, but I will. Although there is a shortage of homes in the range that would be considered as affordable, there is currently quite a bit of activity from first-time homebuyers resulting from the many low down payment programs and…
VA Fee Update: MBA Steps Up For Members Again.
Previously, I mentioned that VA had issued a request for comments on proposals to update the fees a veteran could pay in connection with their mortgage. If you missed that one you can read all about it HERE. It’s about time. VA allowable fees haven’t been updated in over 60 years. Maybe it’s about time for a facelift. The MBA…
Expenses Up; Profits Down for Mortgage Lenders
It’s little surprise that the most recent MBA first quarter Performance Report reflects a major drop in net gains on loans sold by independent mortgage bankers and those operating as subsidiaries of chartered banks. Not such good news. According to the report: Net income declined to $224 per loan from $575 prior quarter Average volume per company declined by $235…