Seth Jacobs – Maine Mortgage Banker / Broker

Another year has passed, and while the last 5 of them have been rough for the housing market, we’ve now seen two consecutive quarters with most states showing incremental appreciation. Cause for celebration? Perhaps not, yet this is beginning to look like stabilization and that of course is the first step towards recovery.

What’s working in favor of prospective home buyers?

In a word – Affordability – Since 1963, it has cost an average of approximately 43% of “per capita” income to finance the cost of a median priced home (20% down payment and prevailing 30 year fixed rate mortgage). Right now it’s less than half that cost, and in many areas the monthly housing payments are less than an equivalent rental.

You can lock in your mortgage cost for life – Imagine if you could have locked in the price of gas back in 2001 when it was only about $1.50 per gallon or less? Think about that the next time you’re standing at the pump filling your tank with $4 gas. How smart would you feel if you knew your cost was forever lower? When it comes to a place to live, that same kind of opportunity is staring us in the face right now. Record low prices and record low rates are here now and plentiful. The beauty of a 30 year fixed rate loan is that it’s a 30 year fixed rate loan. If you lock it in now, it will never go up.

There is still uncertainty – yet there is also clarity that comes from knowing where things stand at present such as rates & prices. Above all else, the state of the market doesn’t change the fact that we need a place to live. Choosing to purchase is one of two options. The other one is to rent or to continue living with family if that’s where you are now.

The trouble is – renting amounts to little more than paying your landlord’s mortgage and in the end, there is nothing to show for that. Living at home gets old at the same rate as we do. The day comes when it’s time to leave and there’s never been a less expensive opportunity to do that than now. At some point, rates will rise and so too will prices. Being ahead of or behind that curve is all dependent on the action you choose to take today.

It’s Official: FHA Hike of 75bps Will Come April 1.

The Federal Housing Administration is following through with its pledge to increase upfront and annual insurance premiums on its forward single-family business. The plan is to help rebuild it’s insurance emergency fund which has taken a hit over the last few years during the housing collapse (FHA has paid out nearly $37 billion in defaulted mortgages since 2008).

Unveiled late Monday, the increases are designed to strengthen FHA’s capital position and “have minimal impact on the market and borrowers,” according to FHA acting commissioner Carol Galante. She noted that FHA streamline refinances are exempt from these premium hikes.

Starting April 1, FHA will hike its upfront premium by 75 basis points to 175 bp on all single-family loans, including jumbos.

FHA is also hiking the annual premium on loan balances of up to $625,500 on April 1. On higher balance loans or jumbos, FHA is planning to implement a 35-bp hike in the annual premium on June 1.

The federal mortgage insurance agency currently charges a 115 bp annual premium when the loan-to-value ratio is above 95%.

The head of the National Transitional Council military arm announced on Al Jazeera Arabic that Gadhafi is dead. The report hasn’t been confirmed.

Mortgage bonds are weaker at the open pushing rates higher as news out of Europe indicates the euro zone’s bailout facility will be able to buy EU bonds on the secondary market. The US debt market was weaker heading into the jobs data and didn’t move move following it.

Stock futures are higher adding addition pressure to mortgage bonds. The flight to quality buying of US debt instruments continues to fluxuate as hopes of a European debt solution increase. AS WE CONTINUE TO STATE….the trouble in Europe is far from over and we have been on this roller coaster for some time so expected more volatility to come!!!

Weekly jobless claims @ 403k, expected @ 400k, relatively in line with expectations

MARKET WRAP: Stock markets plunged today and pushed Bond prices considerably higher in early trading. But as the session unfolded Mortgage Bonds hit fresh session highs, then they reversed course and headed lower. The 3.5% coupon rose 19bp to 101.66, just above where it closed yesterday. Today’s higher than expected Initial Claims and a plunge in the Philly Fed gave a big boost to the Bond markets but the rally soon fizzled out. Stocks plunged today on the aforementioned news. That coupled with Euro bank woes was the recipe for the sell-off. The Dow lost 419.63 to 10,990.58, the S&P 500 dropped 53.24 to 1,140.65 while the Nasdaq plunged 131.05 to settle at 2,380.43. Oil finished the turbulent session at $82.38/barrel down $5.20 as global recession fears could crimp demand. There are no economic reports tomorrow.

MARKET WRAP: WOW!

What a day in the markets today as Stocks plunged on fears of another recession due to weak economic data and as sellers said, “Get Me Out!” The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 512.76 to end the session at 11383.68 down 10.5% from just July 21 and sending the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and the Dow into negative territory for the year. The S&P fell 60.27 to 1200.07 while the Nasdaq dropped 136.68 to 2,556.39. The 4% coupon jumped 81bp to end at 103.50. We will be switching our focus to the 3.5% in the next few business days. Oil was last seen in after hours trading down $5.48 to $86.45/barrel. Tomorrow’s Jobs Report sees 84K new jobs created in July and will be reported at 8:30am ET.

Before deciding on what terms lenders will offer you on a loan (which they base on the “risk” to them), they want to know two things about you: your ability to pay back the loan, and your willingness to pay back the loan. For the first, they look at your income-to-debt obligation ratio. For your willingness to pay back the loan, they consult your credit score.

The most widely used credit scores are FICO scores, which were developed by Fair Isaac & Company, Inc. (and they’re named after their inventor!). Your FICO score is between 350 (high risk) and 850 (low risk).

Credit scores only consider the information contained in your credit profile. They do not consider your income, savings, down payment amount, or demographic factors like gender, race, nationality or marital status. In fact, the fact they don’t consider demographic factors is why they were invented in the first place. “Profiling” was as dirty a word when FICO scores were invented as it is now. Credit scoring was developed as a way to consider only what was relevant to somebody’s willingness to repay a loan.

Past delinquencies, derogatory payment behavior, current debt level, length of credit history, types of credit and number of inquiries are all considered in credit scores. Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report. Late payments will lower your score, but establishing or reestablishing a good track record of making payments on time will raise your score.

Different portions of your credit history are given different weights. Thirty-five percent of your FICO score is based on your specific payment history. Thirty percent is your current level of indebtedness. Fifteen percent each is the time your open credit has been in use (ten year old accounts are good, six month old ones aren’t as good) and types of credit available to you (installment loans such as student loans, car loans, etc. versus revolving and debit accounts like credit cards). Finally, five percent is pursuit of new credit — credit scores requested.

Your credit report must contain at least one account which has been open for six months or more, and at least one account that has been updated in the past six months for you to get a credit score. This ensures that there is enough information in your report to generate an accurate score. If you do not meet the minimum criteria for getting a score, you may need to establish a credit history prior to applying for a mortgage.

To get a FREE Copy of your credit score, contact your Maine Mortgage Banker today.

MARKET WRAP: MBS had a great day finishing up 66bp settling at 101.25. Unfortunately, the reason for this rally is due to bad economic news. This morning’s ADP Report was poor, ISM very weak, and also a downgrade of Greek debt caused Bonds to improve throughout the trading day. As seen on the Bond Chart, prices did get halted at resistance. Stocks had a rough go today on the aforementioned news. The Dow lost 279.65 to end at 12,290.14, the Nasdaq dropped 66.11 to 2,769.19 while the S&P 500 fell 30.65 to 1,314.55. Oil fell $2.41 to $100.29/barrel. Tomorrow’s data includes Initial Claims and Productivity. 

Find out if you are eligible for a VA Home Loan

If you are considering a VA Home Loan the fastest and easiest way to find out if you qualify is by connecting to a VA Home Loan Specialist who can help to determine your eligibility, qualification level and let you know what your options are.

It doesn’t cost you anything and there is no obligation.

You May Be Eligible If Any One of the Following are True:

• Served 181 days during peacetime (Active Duty)
• Served 90 days during war time (Active Duty)
• Served 6 years in the Reserves or National Guard
• You are the spouse of a service member who was killed in the line of duty.

Get connected with a VA Loan Specialist who can help you maximize your VA benefits and let you know what you qualify for.