Home prices continue to rise and more homeowners are tapping into their home equity, making home equity lines of credit and cash-out mortgage refinances popular again.Home equity line originations jumped 8 percent to nearly $46 billion in the second quarter. That is the highest level since 2008, according to data from Equifax, a credit reporting firm. Cash-out mortgage refinances reached $15 billion, a 6 percent increase from a year ago, accor
Fannie Mae is changing the requirement that borrowers pay a higher down payment to qualify for an adjustable-rate mortgage, announcing that it is bringing this type of financing more in line with that of fixed-rate mortgages.Now, borrowers can make as little as a 5 percent down payment on a one-unit primary property using an ARM. Also among the changes is that borrowers need less equity in order to refinance into an ARM; they now need just 5 perc
Borrowers applying for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage this week locked in the lowest rate of the year, as it dropped to its lowest average since November 2016, Freddie Mac reports. Additionally, “the 10-year Treasury yield fell 6 basis points this week amid concerns over lagging inflation,” says Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti.Freddie Mac reported the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Aug. 24: 30-yea
Fifty-one percent of homes sold in July were on the market for less than a month, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ existing-home sales report, released Thursday.Properties typically stayed on the market for 30 days in July, down from 36 days a year ago.“Buyer interest in most of the country has held up strongly this summer and homes are selling fast, but the negative effect of not enough inventory to choose from and its pr
Half of the 20 hottest housing markets in August were located in California. Vallejo, Calif., held on to its top spot in realtor.com®’s “hot list” this month. Realtor.com® ranks the top 20 medium-to-large metro markets where homes are selling the fastest and where buyers are searching the most on realtor.com®.Detroit also made a comeback on realtor.com®’s list this month, entering the top five for the first time since October 2013. Ne
The prices of newly built homes are rapidly rising, which may have caused the plunge in new-home sales last month, CNBC reports. Sales of newly built single-family homes tumbled 9.4 percent month over month in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000 units, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday. This is the lowest reading for new-home sales since December 2016.The media
The federal government is expanding its effort to catch people and organizations that use all-cash purchases of high-end real estate to launder money. Under the expansion, Honolulu will join several other areas in which title agents are required to report purchaser information for specific transactions. The expansion also adds certain wire transfers to the list of reportable real estate transactions, specifically to help the government identify i
The interest rate for jumbo loans—those greater than $421,100—dropped five basis points last week, averaging 3.99 percent for the week. That is now 13 basis points lower than the conforming rate, which is the largest spread between jumbo rates and the conforming rate since March 2016, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association."A strong appetite for jumbo loans and a highly competitive jumbo market has led to increased availability and lo
The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that it is extending HARP, a popular government refinancing program, through Dec. 31, 2018. The Home Affordable Refinance Program was to expire on Sept. 30. While the FHFA has once again extended the deadline by another 15 months, this time it plans to introduce a new loan program to eventually take HARP's place.HARP, which was introduced during the housing crisis, helps homeowners refinance their mor
Value range pricing, also known as variable range pricing, is when a listing indicates sellers are looking for offers between two suggested prices, such as "$450,000 to $500,000," rather than just one price, such as $475,000. This tactic is still relatively rare, but it’s becoming more popular because it offers advantages to both buyers and sellers, according to realtor.com®.“Once buyers and sellers understand the rhyme and reason of the co
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