A great graphic from today’s Wall Street Journal illustrating a fact that we’ve harped on around here for a while - that despite the recent flurry of Fed Cuts, mortgage rates have mostly moved in the opposite direction, and the housing market woes continue unabated: There are two reasons mortgage rates haven’t responded more to the Fed’s rate cuts. One is that long-term Treasury yields, which are the benchmark for most mortgage rates, have risen recently, perhaps because of increased concern about inflation as the prices of oil and other commodities soar. The other is that the spread between m (more…)
The other day, we kicked around the idea of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s condundrum: He is cutting rates, yet many long term rates - including fixed rate mortgages - are going up. So, since Mr. B spent the last two days testifying before congress, it might be a worthwhile excercise to tease out his thoughts on the same in an attempt to get an idea what this may portend for Mortgage Rates. First from Forbes, while not in so many words, we have Bernanke confirming the ‘conundrum’: ‘We have a problem, which is that the spreads between the Treasury rates and lending rates are widening…So in that part (more…)
A lawsuit has been filed against Countrywide Home Loans Inc. for allegedly inflating foreclosure expenses. Countrywide is accused of extracting improper fees, expenses and attorney fees from borrowers in foreclosure proceedings. In some cases, the Calabasas, Calif.-based company allegedly charged higher fees than it incurred — a breach of the notes. (more…)
During January, primary insurance defaults numbered 68,950, the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America reported. The activity represents the sixth straight month defaults have risen, according to the data. January defaults came in at the highest level on record based on MICA data dating back to 1989. (more…)
