According to the November 2015 Freddie Mac Multi-Indicator Market Index, the MiMi (don’t you just love these acronyms?), housing markets across this nation are doing quite well (MiMi). This report indicates that most markets are improving thanks to better employment and current mortgage payment trends. In November, the MiMi index increased to 82.5. This is about 39% higher than the…
We’re off and running. The 2016 presidential race is officially underway with the completion of the Iowa Caucus. What is a “Caucus” anyway? It’s a meeting of supporters or members of a particular political party or movement. So, what we had was a meeting of supporters of the movement to elect a new president who put forth their opinions on…
The debate rages on among the mortgage lending professionals and their respective trade groups. Should FHA again reduce their required mortgage insurance premiums? If so, should they reduce the upfront premium, the annual renewals, or maybe both? (FHA Cut). Proponents of the additional rate cuts say that the prior actions to reduce the annual premiums helped make FHA loans much…
Recently, Fannie Mae announced the implementation of its new “Home Ready” mortgage product. According to Fannie Mae, this mortgage product was designed to support homeownership opportunities among underserved populations. They now recognize the growth of extended-household living arrangements and by allow the existence of non-borrower income to be considered as a compensating factor in Desktop Underwriter. Articles are already being…
Maybe there is a little “happy” in this New Year. The latest housing market indicators all seem to be pointing in the right direction. Although all the planets are not quite fully aligned, the outlook for housing is more positive than negative (Housing Market). The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose almost 15% from November…
Was it the result of the recent rate hike, the reintroduction of the low LTV home loans by the GSEs, or maybe the FHA rate cut? Whatever it was, it appears many first time homebuyers are dipping their proverbial feet into homeownership waters. According to recent reports, FHA-insured lending dramatically increased over the past year. In many cases, these FHA…
