Blog — Page 745 of 865 — First Rate Financial Group

28

Oct

Market Outlook

Case-Shiller: August Home Prices Accelerate

Case-Shiller August Home Prices Accelerate According to the Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index, U.S. home prices increased by 0.40 percent in August, which boosted year-over-year home price growth to 5.10 percent. Denver, Colorado continued to lead in home price gains with a monthly increase of 0.90 percent and a year-over-year gain of 10.70 percent. San Francisco, California also posted a year-over-year gain of 10.70 percent, but posted a month-to-month loss of -0.10 percent. Portland, Oregon posted a year-over-year gain of 9.40 percent with a month-to-month gain of 1.10 percent.

Cities with the slowest growing home prices year-over-year included New York City with a reading of 1.80 percent; Chicago, Illinois and Washington D.C. each posted year-over-year gains of 1.90 percent.

Majority of Cities Show Home Price Gains

Before seasonal adjustments, home prices were higher in 18 of 20 cities; after seasonal adjustments, 11 cities had higher home prices, four were unchanged and five cities had lower home prices. After adjustments for inflation, current home price growth approached rates seen in the housing boom of 2005and 2006, but current home price growth is driven by a slim supply of available homes rather than excessive demand seen during the housing boom.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that home prices for sales of homes related to mortgages owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose by 5.50 percent year over year.

New Home Sales Slump in September

Sales of new homes dropped by 11.50 percent in September; this was the lowest level since last November. The drop largely attributed to a steeper than usual drop in home sales in the Northeast, which accounted for 62 percent of slumping home prices. Over the past two years, the Northeast region accounted for 32 percent of declining home sales. Low inventories of available homes and rising home prices contributed to the slump in sales; home builders are working to close the gap between available homes and current demand. September’s supply of available homes increased to a 5.80 month supply from August’s reading of a 4.90 percent

Analysts said that September’s inventory of homes for sale reached its highest level in and a half years and also noted that homes under construction had achieved their highest volume in six and a half years. Although millennials are expected to boost home sales as they begin to start families, some analysts pointed out that the slump in sales coincided with indications that third quarter growth may be weaker than economic growth during the second quarter of 2015.

27

Oct

By support

Home Mortgage Tips

Mortgages 101: How to Calculate How Much You Will Need for Your Down Payment

Mortgages 101: How to Calculate How Much You Will Need for Your Down Payment If you’re planning to buy a home in the near future, you’re probably already in the process of saving up for a down payment. But if you haven’t seen a mortgage advisor or started looking at properties yet, you probably don’t have a good idea of what a down payment will cost you. Different mortgages have different down payment requirements, and you’ll need to figure out ahead of time how much of a down payment you need to put forward.

Following are some general guidelines. Be sure to speak with a knowledgeable, local lender to get the best advice for your area

How can you calculate what you’ll need for a down payment? Here’s what you need to know.

Look at What the Lenders Are Asking For

When it comes to down payments, you’ll need to take into account what lenders want to see. A lender wants to know that you can afford the home you’re planning to buy. That’s why a sizable down payment looks great on a mortgage application.

Although you can pay as little as 5 percent down, a 20 percent down payment looks better on paper. It also means you don’t have to get private mortgage insurance, which will save you money in the long run on a conventional mortgage.

Use Your Debt-to-Income Ratio as a Guideline

Your debt-to-income ratio is a measurement that you can use to determine what kind of a mortgage you can afford. Your down payment will be subtracted from your total mortgage, and it’s your monthly mortgage payment that will determine your debt-to-income ratio. As a general rule, your non-mortgage housing expenses (or your back end ratio) should probably account for no more than 28 percent of your before-tax income. With all housing costs included (mortgage or rent, private mortgage insurance, HOA fees, etc.) most lenders are looking for the debt-to-income ratio (the front end ratio) of 36 percent or less.

Lets say for example, you want to get a $300,000 mortgage amortized over 25 years and you expect to make a $25,000 down payment, your monthly mortgage payment will be approximately $916.67. To afford that mortgage payment, you’ll probably need to have a total before-tax household income of around $3273.82 per month. But if you were to increase your down payment to $50,000, your monthly payment decreases to about $833.33 making the debt-to-income ratio lower if you made the same amount of money.

Doing the Math: Down Payment Requirements for Various Specialty Mortgages

Although there are certain laws around how much of a down payment you’ll need, in some cases the rules are different. The Veterans Affairs office provides mortgages through private lenders designed specifically for active military service people, veterans, and their spouses. A VA home loan requires zero down payment for loans that are within the maximum conforming loan limit, with a 25% down payment on the difference if you opt to buy a house worth more than the loan limit.

Your down payment size will influence a variety of other factors, like your mortgage terms and whether lenders are willing to give you a mortgage. A mortgage professional can help you understand the nuances of down payments. Check with your trusted mortgage advisor to learn what will for your particular situation.

26

Oct

By support

Market Outlook

What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – October 26, 2015

Whats Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week October 26 2015 Last week’s economic news included the National Association of Home Builders Index, Housing Starts and FHFA’s report on August home sales. The National Association of Realtors® released its monthly report on sales of previously owned homes.

Builder Confidence and Housing Starts Post Gains

The Wells Fargo National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index for September posted its highest level of builder confidence in 10 years a higher than expected results with a reading of 64 for October. Analysts expected a reading of 62 based on September’s reading of 61.

The NAHB Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reading is based on three builder confidence readings. Builder confidence in current market conditions rose three points to a reading of 70; builder confidence in housing market conditions over the next six months rose seven points to 75 and buyer traffic in new housing developments held steady with a reading of 47. Any reading over 50 indicates that more builders are confident about market conditions than those who are not.

This news was consistent with September housing starts, which were also higher. The U.S. Commerce Department reported September’s housing starts at an annual level of 1.206 million starts against expectations of 1.139 million starts and August’s reading of 1.132 million housing starts.

Sales of Previously Owned Homes Surpass Expectations

September sales of pre-owned homes surpassed expectations according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors®. Sales of previously owned homes reached 5.55 million sales on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis against an expected reading of 5.34 million sales. August’s reading was adjusted downward from 5.31 million sales to 5.30 million sales of previously owned homes.

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors®, cited lower mortgage rates, higher demand for homes and low inventories of available homes as driving higher sales. Slight easing of mortgage credit standards was also said to be driving home sales.

FHFA’s Home Price Index for August showed that home prices for properties associated with mortgages owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased at a rate of 5.05 percent in August as compared to a growth rate of 5.80 percent year-over-year in August 2014.

Mortgage Rates Mixed, Weekly Jobless Claims Lower

Weekly reports on mortgage rates and jobless claims yielded mixed results. Freddie Mac reported that average rates for fixed rate mortgages dipped with the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage three basis points lower at 3.79 percent; the average rate for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage fell by five basis points to 2.98 percent. The average rate for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage ticked upward by one basis point to 2.89 percent. Average discount points were 0.60 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, 0.50 percent for a a5-year fixed rate mortgage and were unchanged at 0.40 percent for a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage.

Weekly jobless claims were lower than expectations with a reading of 259,000 new claims filed against expectations of 265,000 new jobless claims. New claims were higher than the previous week’s reading of 256,000 new claims. Analysts are keeping an eye on jobs reports as stronger job markets are essential to expanding home sales.

What’s Ahead

This week’s scheduled economic news includes Case-Shiller reports on home prices along with reports on new home sales, consumer confidence and consumer sentiment. Core inflation readings will be released Friday after Thursday’s releases of Freddie Mac mortgage rates and weekly jobless claims.