Mortgage Industry Blog

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Preferred Trust Mortgage Blog Reply   Mortgage markets improved last week in a week of few economic releases. The one major data point - Retail Sales - showed stronger-than-expected, but markets reacted mildly. The report's strength was whispered in advance of the actu...

  Beginning April 1, 2011, Fannie Mae is increasing its loan-level pricing adjustments. Conforming mortgage applicants in South Carolina should plan for higher loan costs in the months ahead. If you've never heard of loan-level pricing adjustments, you're not alone; they're an obscure mortgage pr...

  FHA Streamline Refinance guidelines are changing. For the better. In an effort to improve its loan portfolio, the FHA is loosening approval standards on its popular refinance program, rendering large groups of homeowners suddenly FHA Streamline-eligible. Now, that may seem counter-intuitive - l...

  For certain members of the military, and for certain federal employees, there's just 2 months remaining to get use the federal home buyer tax credit. Eligible persons include members of the uniformed services, members of the Foreign Service, and intelligence community employees who served at le...

  Mortgage rates could move higher beginning tomorrow morning. The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its February jobs report at 8:30 AM ET. Home buyers and rate shoppers in Greenville would be wise to take note. The jobs report is almost always a market-mover. Consider last month. Although net...

Last week, Standard & Poor's released its Case-Shiller Index for December 2010. The index is a home valuation tracker, meant to meausure the change in home prices from one period to the next. December's Case-Shiller Index showed major devaluations nationwide. As compared to December 2009, on a y...

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Preferred Trust Mortgage Blog Reply   After a strong run to close out 2010, the market for home resales softened a bit in January. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Pending Home Sales Index dropped 3 percent last month, and December's figures were revised downward for...