Tag Archives: dan the planner

Housing Starts Up 26% Over Last Year

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Housing StartsSometimes, the housing data headlines tell just half the tale. The stories on May’s Housing Starts figures are proving to be a terrific illustration.

Tuesday, the Census Bureau released its monthly Housing Starts report. A “housing start” is a home on which construction has started.

The report is separated by property type with a separate count for single family homes such as detached residences and town homes; for multiple-unit homes such as 2-unit, 3-unit and 4-unit structures; and, for buildings of 5-units of more such as new condominiums. Continue reading →

What Mortgage Rates Are Doing This Week of May 29, 2012

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Jobs in focus this weekMortgage markets worsened slightly last week as demand for mortgage-backed bonds slacked. There was little surprise in U.S. economic data and the unfolding story lines of the Eurozone continued unabated.

As of this Wednesday morning, Europe’s stock markets are getting hit hard on increasing lack of confidence in the region. Money continues to flow to safety, into US treasuries and German bunds. Also, China said today it won’t inject stimulus at the pace it did in 2008 and its economic growth is expected to decline 8%, also helping to drive our rates lower. Continue reading →

Don’t Rush To Refinance Your Adustable Rate Mortgage Just Yet!

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Is your mortgage scheduled to adjust this season? You may want to let it. This year’s ARM-holding homeowners in Sacramento are finding out that an adjusting mortgage may be the simplest way to get access to today’s low mortgage rates — without paying the closing costs.

Currently, conventional adjustable-rate mortgages are adjusting to near 3.00 percent. Continue reading →

Does A Reverse Mortgages Makes Cents?

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Despite several big-name banks pulling the product from their respective home loan offerings, reverse mortgages remain a popular mortgage choice among homeowners aged 62 or over.

A reverse mortgage is exactly what it sounds like — a mortgage in reverse. Rather than borrow a fixed amount of money then pay that loan balance down to zero as with a “forward” mortgage, a reverse mortgage starts at a given loan balance and works its way up as scheduled payments are added to the existing loan balance. Continue reading →

A Simple Explanation Of Bernanke’s Statement Today (April 25, 2012)

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Putting the FOMC statement in plain EnglishThe Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within its current target range of 0.000-0.250 percent Wednesday.

For the fifth consecutive month, the Fed Funds Rate vote was nearly unanimous. Just one FOMC member, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker, dissented in the 9-1 vote.

The Fed Funds Rate has been near zero percent since December 2008. It is expected to stay near-zero through 2014, at least. Continue reading →