Matthew Bowles's (matthewjbowles) Blog

Housing Starts Rise In 8 Months Out Of 9 This Year   Housing Starts on single-family homes gained last month, marking the 8th time that's happened this year. A "Housing Start" is a home for which the foundation has been excavated and, considered alongside other key market metrics, September data...

The new Good Faith Estimate makes its debut January 1, 2010. Expanded from 1page to 3, the legislators responsible for the new Good Faith Estimate want it to be simpler for homeowners and home buyers to understand than the former version. By most accounts, Congress will meet this goal.  The new ...

What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : October 19, 2009   Mortgage markets worsened last week on better than expected economic data, causing mortgage rates to rise. Last week was the third consecutive week that mortgage rates moved higher and, since touching a multi-month low in early-Octob...

The Fed Thinks The Economy Is Improving And What It Means For Home Affordability   Mortgage rates are higher after the Federal Reserve released the internal notes of its September 22-23, 2009 meeting. Known as the "Fed Minutes", the report details the conversation and cross-currents that led to t...

For the seventh consecutive month, foreclosure activity in the U.S. was dominated by a tiny subset of states. As reported by RealtyTrac.com, more than half of September's foreclosure-related activity occurred in just 4 states: California Florida Nevada Michigan These states represent just 22.05 p...

Should Joint Homeowners Have Separate Bank Accounts?     When you own a home with a spouse or partner, the issue of what's mine, what's yours, and what's ours can be a divisive one. Each household has its own money management methodology and, according to financial talk-show host Suze Orman, most...

According to the Freddie Mac weekly mortgage rate survey, the relative cost of a 5-year ARM is dropping versus its 30-year fixed-rate cousin. During the first 5 months of 2009, the products ran neck-and-neck. Today, they're a half-percent apart. On a $200,000 home loan, that's a difference of $6...

An escrow account is a designated savings account into which funds get deposited for a specific purpose. With respect to real estate and home loans, escrow accounts are used to pay real estate tax bills and homeowners insurance payments. Escrow accounts are managed and disbursed by lenders. When ...

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. It also reiterated plans to support the mortgage market to the tune of $1.5 trillion. In its press release, the FOMC noted that the U.S. economy is "picking up following its severe ...

  Conforming Fixed Rate Mortgages Are Now Priced Better Than Comparable ARMs   It's the age-old question for home buyers in need of a mortgage: Which is better: Fixed or ARM? Historically, the answer has hinged on a homebuyer's desire to meet one of two mutually-exclusive mortgage financing goals...