Just a quick mid-day update: Since opening significantly lower after the jobs report, mortgage bonds have rallied. The FHA loan rates have recovered all of the losses from opening bell and are now up 18 basis points.
We are now overbought according to every technical signal so the market could move quickly if it reverses.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, FHA Loan RateWhat a wild day already. At the opening today, the government’s Non-Farm Payrolls report came out.
Expectations were for job creation of about 15k. We lost 20k jobs on the month. On this negative economic news, the FHA interest rate should have normally improved, but nothing is normal these days.
The market plunged at open and it looked like mortgage rates were headed higher. Now, 2.5 hours after all of the opening-bell fireworks, we’re back to exactly flat on the day.
There is absolutely no good reason for the FHA mortgage rate to still be at 5%, but it is. If you’re looking at a purchase or refinance anytime soon, there is almost no room for rates to go lower and plenty of room for rates to go up.
Use our quick form and we’ll get quotes from the four best FHA lenders sent to you immediately.
Tags: economic news, FHA Interest Rate, FHA Loan RateOur mortgage rate predictions aren’t looking so good this week. We really thought that yesterday’s ADP report and tomorrow’s Non-Farm Payrolls account would be the market movers. They weren’t. Global fear turned out to be the main story, so far, this week.
Investors have pulled out of the stock market with the Dow now below 10,000 and at a 3-month low.
The FHA loan rate is back to 5% after ticking up yesterday, but many lenders did not re-price rates late in the day. Below 5% is a possibility when the market opens tomorrow.
However, the Non-Farm Payrolls report hits first thing. We’ll have an update tomorrow, but this report has the potential to help this rally challenge all-time lows or it could push rates back up significantly with a strong reading.
How’s that for a prediction? The market is so uncertain that we’ll try and report on it, not predict it.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, FHA Loan Rate
Version 3.0 of the first time home buyer tax credit expires in 100 days.
The end of the first time home buyer $8,000 tax credit has been pushed forward to spring, requiring homebuyers to be under contract for a home no later than April 30, 2010, and to be closed no later than June 30, 2010.
In addition, “move-up” buyers were also added to the program’s eligibility list. This means that you don’t have to be a first-time home buyer to be eligible for the tax credit. If you’ve lived in your home for 5 of the last 8 years, you meet the IRS requirements. Tax credits of up to $6,500 on the “move-up” or “long-term residents” program.
The basic eligibility requirements are still the same:
There are still some notable changes.
First, the subject property’s sales price may not exceed $800,000. Over $800k? Fully ineligible. The good: household income thresholds have been raised to $125,000 for single-filers and $225,500 for joint-filers.
And lastly, don’t forget that the program is a true tax credit — not a deduction. This means that a tax filer who’s eligible for the full $8,00 credit and whose “normal” tax liability totals $5,000 would receive a $3,000 refund from the U.S. Treasury at tax time.
The complete list of qualifying criteria is posted on the IRS website. Review it with a tax professional to determine your eligibility. Then mark your calendar for April 30, 2010.
There’s just 100 days to go.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, FHA Loan Rate, first time home buyer, first time home buyer tax credit, Homebuyer Tax Credit, IRS, Tax CreditMortgage rates hit all-time lows on December 1st and shot right back up during the month of December. We came into 2010 with mortgage rates just trading higher one day, lower the next.
We’re starting to get some direction this week. The FHA 30 Year Fixed rate has moved back to 5% and is now developing a fairly clear trend towards lower rates…for now.
The reason for the move this week has been that the economic news simply wasn’t that great. The Retail Sales showed we aren’t buying very much and the low inflation data today indicates we’re not growing very fast right now.
I don’t believe that the data we’ve seen is enough to forecast rates going lower for the entire year. Things simply weren’t as great as they appeared in December and they’re not as bad as they appeared in the past 48 hours.
To get the best rate in 2010, you need to lock in your rate before the average person starts to think the economy is recovering. There was great news in housing for nearly all of last year, the jobs market isn’t better–but it’s not worse, and the stock market has come back a lot since the lows.
Still, people aren’t confident. The “trick” to getting a great FHA loan rate or buying at the lowest price is simply doing it before CNN broadcasts that housing has recovered. Consumer Confidence is low and the Retails Sales reports confirm it.
When confidence levels soar, so do home prices and mortgage rates.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, fha loan, FHA Loan Rate, interest rate predictions, mortgage rateIt’s been an interesting week for the FHA loan rates.
We’ve had every piece of bad news that mortgages could hear:
Still, after all of this bad news and after losing 11 of the last 15 trading sessions, the FHA mortgage rate is still at 5%. That’s surprisingly great news.
We’re still looking at an odd scenario where the rate is 5% for FHA vs Conventional rates at 5% as well. That conventional rate requires a 740 FICO for the best rate. For a buyer with a 700 FICO score, it is actually cheaper to get the FHA loan. That’s significantly different than just a few years ago.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, fha loan, FHA Loan Rate, fha programs, FHA vs Conventional, government loan programsLast week saw rates take a bruising after chasing all-time lows right near Thanksgiving. The FHA interest rate was pushed higher, but still opens this week under 5%.
It is hard to keep in context how low mortgage rates are. We went up .25% and are still below 5%. That’s great news today. It’s scary news into the future.
The economic data continues to point towards a slowly rising economy with sporadic pockets of bad news. Every time that the Federal Reserve says “inflation,” rates go up .125%.
Today’s mortgage rates still sit more than 1% away from their ‘normal’ levels. If you are looking at refinancing an FHA loan, this is a great time for it. If you are looking at buying a home, today’s FHA interest rates make it much more affordable than it would be in a year.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, fha loan, FHA Loan Rate, FHA Mortgage Refinance, interest ratesWe’re seeing some follow-through from yesterday’s big sell-off. Presently, the GNMA 4% is off about 20 basis points. That might or might not be enough to move rates a full .125%.
Gold hit another record, now up to $1,207/oz.
The ADP jobs report came in today. The report was worse than expected in terms of how many jobs were lost, yet mortgage rates are deteriorating. Right now, the momentum appears to be that mortgage bonds were a little overbought in these past few weeks. The FHA interest rate predictions have to be more heavily favoring rates rising rather than falling.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, fha loan, FHA Loan RateMore to follow tomorrow.
We saw profits coming off the table and year-end positioning being set up. We saw part of a correction today, the question is whether it will continue tomorrow. We’ll keep you posted.
Tags: FHA Loan RateWe’re starting to see a reversal today as the GNMA bond is under pressure. The Dubai mess is unwinding and appears to be regional. We’re getting blistering numbers in the housing market. Add to this the fact that mortgage bonds appear to be overbought, we’re ripe for a reversal.
We’ll start today at 4.75% on a 30 Year Fixed FHA Interest Rate with EXTREME volatility possible.
Tags: FHA Interest Rate, fha loan, FHA Loan Rate, loan rate