Scott Fowler's (sfowler) Blog

Mortgage rates overcame a terrible Monday last week, climbing back to unchanged by Friday.  And like most weeks this year, rates were volatile. Most interesting about last week, though, was that there was a ton of news that should have dragged mortgage rates down, but it didn't seem to happen. A ...

Each month, the National Association of Realtors® releases a study called the Existing Home Sales report.  It's a detailed look at "used" home sales data from all four regions of the country. One of the key findings in each Existing Home Sales report is something called the "median sales price", ...

It's not your imagination -- getting approved for a home loan is becoming increasingly more difficult. Taken from the Federal Reserve's quarterly survey of 84 banks, it illustrates the changing dynamic of mortgage guidelines. Most notable is the steep curve for "prime" mortgages, a type of home l...

When home sellers accepts a contract on MLS-listed property, the property's official status changes from "Active" to "Pending". By measuring the number of "Pending" homes nationwide, the National Association of Realtors® publishes its once-monthly Pending Homes Sales Index. The real estate indust...

In a week packed with mortgage news and economic data, mortgage rates swung hard in both directions last week before settling into the weekend slightly higher across the board. Adjustable-rate mortgages worsened more than their fixed-rate counterparts and both broke a two-week streak in which mor...

The next time you think you may have outgrown your home, consider what it would be like living in The Little House. Barely bigger than a school bus, the 312-square-foot home featured by CTV News occupies land once reserved for a city alleyway.  When the alley went unfinished, a contractor decide...

Fannie Mae announced a new risk-based pricing model and additional mortgage delivery fees this week, adding to the cost of buying or refinancing a home. Risk-based pricing was first introduced by Fannie Mae this past April. It added new, mandatory loan fees for high-risk borrowers while rewarding...

For the second consecutive meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee left the Fed Funds Rate unchanged at 2.000 percent. In its press release, the Federal Reserve addresses inflation, saying that it "has been high", fingering energy and commodity costs as culprits.  The Fed does expects inflatio...

In a week in which stock markets moved 1 percent or more on four separate days, mortgage markets displayed a relative calmness that helped pull rates lower. It was the second consecutive week that mortgage rates improved.  Last week's biggest story came Monday when the housing bill was passed int...

Conforming mortgage guidelines are the Home Loan Rule Book, delineating between applicants that approved for a mortgage and those that do not. Effective today, the rule book just got a little bit tougher. According to Fannie Mae, homeowners converting their primary residence into a second home or...