By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
RISMEDIA, July 30, 2007—(MarketWatch)—Mortgage rates dropped this week, with Freddie Mac attributing the fall to market concerns of continued weakness in housing demand.
Data released Thursday showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 6.69% for July 20-26, down from the previous week’s 6.73% average. The mortgage averaged 6.72% a year ago. The 15-year averaged 6.37%, down slightly from last week’s 6.38% but above 6.34% a year ago.
The softening rates came after further evidence of sluggish housing demand, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, Frank Nothaft, said Thursday.
“For example, building permits fell last month to the slowest pace in a decade, and more recent data on June sales of existing home showed a fourth consecutive monthly decline,” he said in a news release.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.30%, down from last week’s 6.35% average and below 6.35% a year ago. The one-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 5.69%, down from last week’s 5.72% and below 5.78% a year ago.
To obtain the rates, the 30- and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, along with the five-year ARM, required payment of an average 0.4 point. The one-year ARM required payment of an average 0.5 point. A point is 1% of the total loan amount, charged as prepaid interest.
Rates easing from previous highs
Increases in mortgage rates last month may have contributed to the continued sluggishness in housing, Nothaft said.
“Several factors contributed to the softening in housing markets this spring,” Nothaft said. “In addition to the tightening of lending standards earlier this year — especially on subprime loans — the 40-basis-point jump in rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in June may have deterred potential buyers.”
According to a separate survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage application volume was down a seasonally adjusted 3.6% last week, compared with the week before.
So far this year, mortgage brokers have been closing fewer non-traditional or subprime loans than they did in 2006, according to a report earlier this week from the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.
Subprime loans made up an 11% share of all mortgages offered in April, NAMB said, while in 2006, 13% of mortgage loans were subprime.
As the year progresses, the trend toward lower-risk loans should continue, said David Olson, from NAMB’s research partner Wholesale Access Mortgage Research & Consulting, Inc.
Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.
If you are considering buying or selling a home in South Orange County, call on the experts! Dianna and Brian McGarvin 949-370-2652 or visit our website at http://www.pierbowl.com/.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Realtors expect market rebound by early 2008
Meeting in Orange County, the National Association of Realtors' leadership answer questions about legislation, discount brokers and the Justice Department's anti-trust suit.
By JEFF COLLINS
The Orange County Register
Dana Point The housing market will rebound by the end of this year or the start of next year, with U.S. home prices and sales rising in 2008, the CEO of the National Association of Realtors said during a recent leadership retreat at the Ritz Carlton here.
A new association forecast issued last week projected that prices next year will rise by 1.8 percent, but NAR CEO Dale Stinton was even more optimistic, saying he expects prices to go up as much as 4 percent next year.
"We don't quite see the gloom and doom that other people see," Stinton said. "When you look at the macro data and when you look at the country as a whole, it's still a pretty darn good time to be looking at property."
Stinton's remarks came during an interview last week with national and state leaders of the industry's biggest trade association. The leadership huddled for three days at the oceanfront hotel to prepare for Long Beach broker Dick Gaylord's year as NAR's 2008 president. Among their key comments during the interview:
NAR expects the current session of Congress to focus heavily on housing issues.
Officials defended NAR's position in a 2005 federal anti-trust lawsuit over use of online home listings. The case will probably go to trial in Chicago next winter.
While 11 states ban discount brokers from giving their clients commission rebates, NAR's ethical policies allow such rebates.
Here's a summary of their comments:
Housing legislation
Among the key actions on Congress' agenda this year is a measure that would raise the "conforming" home loan limits for borrowers in California, said Jerry Giovaniello, NAR's chief lobbyist. Currently, borrowers seeking to qualify for loans bought by agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are limited to borrowing $417,000, while the median price of a California home is above $590,000.
Other matters before Congress include Federal Housing Administration reforms to make the FHA-insured loans more attractive, creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to pay for development and preservation of affordable homes, and foreclosure hearings to ask regulators why so many homeowners were allowed to get in over their heads, he said.
"What was troubling (about the first foreclosure hearings) is that some regulators said that the companies that were making loans (that ended up in default), 'we don't regulate them. There's no law that says we have to watch what they're doing,' " he said.
Giovaniello said Congress likely will require better disclosure so that borrowers using exotic loans understand what they're getting into.
Anti-trust suit
NAR is sticking by an online home-listing policy that sparked a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit accusing the association of suppressing competition.
At issue is a policy allowing brokers to "opt out" of having their listings appear on another broker's Web site. Critics say the practice seeks to eliminate discount brokers by keeping the listings of big real estate chains off their sites.
Laurene Janik, NAR general counsel, denied that the association is being anti-competitive, noting that only 48 brokers nationwide have used the opt-out policy to keep their listings off another's Web sites. She said that in some cases, Web sites allow sometimes inaccurate Zillow.com price estimates to appear on listings with prices well above Zillow's "Zestimates."
"Agents should be able to say that's not in my interest," Janik said.
Commission rebates
On a related topic, Janik also noted that while 11 states have banned commission rebates, such bans are contrary to NAR's policies.
"The bans have been on the books for many years, she noted, but only recently came into the spotlight as discount brokers sought to rebate part of their commissions to home buyers. NAR's code of ethic says is there's nothing inherently unethical about any gift, premium, prize or rebate that's offered to a consumer so long as it's adequately disclosed, she said.
However, Janik said the association won't seek to have those bans lifted because NAR does not get involved in lobbying at the state level.
"We leave a determination as to what's best for a state up to our state associations," she said.
If you are considering buying or selling a home in South Orange County, call on the experts! Dianna and Brian McGarvin 949-370-2652 or visit our website at http://www.pierbowl.com/.
By JEFF COLLINS
The Orange County Register
Dana Point The housing market will rebound by the end of this year or the start of next year, with U.S. home prices and sales rising in 2008, the CEO of the National Association of Realtors said during a recent leadership retreat at the Ritz Carlton here.
A new association forecast issued last week projected that prices next year will rise by 1.8 percent, but NAR CEO Dale Stinton was even more optimistic, saying he expects prices to go up as much as 4 percent next year.
"We don't quite see the gloom and doom that other people see," Stinton said. "When you look at the macro data and when you look at the country as a whole, it's still a pretty darn good time to be looking at property."
Stinton's remarks came during an interview last week with national and state leaders of the industry's biggest trade association. The leadership huddled for three days at the oceanfront hotel to prepare for Long Beach broker Dick Gaylord's year as NAR's 2008 president. Among their key comments during the interview:
NAR expects the current session of Congress to focus heavily on housing issues.
Officials defended NAR's position in a 2005 federal anti-trust lawsuit over use of online home listings. The case will probably go to trial in Chicago next winter.
While 11 states ban discount brokers from giving their clients commission rebates, NAR's ethical policies allow such rebates.
Here's a summary of their comments:
Housing legislation
Among the key actions on Congress' agenda this year is a measure that would raise the "conforming" home loan limits for borrowers in California, said Jerry Giovaniello, NAR's chief lobbyist. Currently, borrowers seeking to qualify for loans bought by agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are limited to borrowing $417,000, while the median price of a California home is above $590,000.
Other matters before Congress include Federal Housing Administration reforms to make the FHA-insured loans more attractive, creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to pay for development and preservation of affordable homes, and foreclosure hearings to ask regulators why so many homeowners were allowed to get in over their heads, he said.
"What was troubling (about the first foreclosure hearings) is that some regulators said that the companies that were making loans (that ended up in default), 'we don't regulate them. There's no law that says we have to watch what they're doing,' " he said.
Giovaniello said Congress likely will require better disclosure so that borrowers using exotic loans understand what they're getting into.
Anti-trust suit
NAR is sticking by an online home-listing policy that sparked a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit accusing the association of suppressing competition.
At issue is a policy allowing brokers to "opt out" of having their listings appear on another broker's Web site. Critics say the practice seeks to eliminate discount brokers by keeping the listings of big real estate chains off their sites.
Laurene Janik, NAR general counsel, denied that the association is being anti-competitive, noting that only 48 brokers nationwide have used the opt-out policy to keep their listings off another's Web sites. She said that in some cases, Web sites allow sometimes inaccurate Zillow.com price estimates to appear on listings with prices well above Zillow's "Zestimates."
"Agents should be able to say that's not in my interest," Janik said.
Commission rebates
On a related topic, Janik also noted that while 11 states have banned commission rebates, such bans are contrary to NAR's policies.
"The bans have been on the books for many years, she noted, but only recently came into the spotlight as discount brokers sought to rebate part of their commissions to home buyers. NAR's code of ethic says is there's nothing inherently unethical about any gift, premium, prize or rebate that's offered to a consumer so long as it's adequately disclosed, she said.
However, Janik said the association won't seek to have those bans lifted because NAR does not get involved in lobbying at the state level.
"We leave a determination as to what's best for a state up to our state associations," she said.
If you are considering buying or selling a home in South Orange County, call on the experts! Dianna and Brian McGarvin 949-370-2652 or visit our website at http://www.pierbowl.com/.
Monday, July 16, 2007
24323 Santa Clara Avenue
Excellent blufftop location down the street from The Headlands in Dana Point. Surrounded by multi million dollar homes. This condo offers two bedrooms and two baths situated all on one level. Gated under ground parking with elevator. Stroll to ocean view lookouts above the harbor.$694,000
For a more information or a private showing call 949-370-2652.
If you are considering buying or selling a home in South Orange County, call on the experts! Dianna and Brian McGarvin 949-370-2652 or visit our website at http://www.pierbowl.com/.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
309 Calle Empalme, San Clemente, CA
Gorgeous single level home with views of the ocean and hills. This home has been remodeled througout. Offering granite kitchen counters and new appliances. Gorgeous travertine floors throughout. Master and second baths offer granite and travertine. Four bedrooms and two baths all emcompass a central atrium with fountain.$999,000-1,039,000
For a more information or a private showing call 949-370-2652.
If you are considering buying or selling a home in South Orange County, call on the experts! Dianna and Brian McGarvin 949-370-2652 or visit our website at http://www.pierbowl.com/.
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