Mortgage and Home Finance News

A new report highlights how expensive it is for first-time buyers to break into the housing market. The post The Price of Entry for First-Time Homebuyers appeared first on theMReport.com. [ read full article ]

Self-employed still face homebuying hurdles post-crisis Both self-employed and salaried workers have seen their use of mortgages and homeownership rates decline since 2007; however, the rate of decline in each case is significantly greater for self-employed workers. #ScotsmanGuide A new study from the Urban Institute suggests that the mortgage industry has had a problem qualifying […]

No Pay Stub? No Problem. Unconventional Mortgages Make a Comeback Aryanna Hering didn’t have pay stubs or tax forms to document her income when she shopped around for a mortgage last year—a problem that made it tough for her to get a loan. But the nursing student who works part time providing home care for […]

Fannie/Freddie Changes Run the Gamut, Including Shutdown Underwriting Shift “Some people are so poor, all they have is money.” How about “26 of the World’s Richest Own the Same Wealth as Poorest Half” in the world!? To the best of my knowledge the PUGS (partial U.S. government shutdown) is not helping anyone’s wealth and is […]

Mortgage interest rates found themselves in freefall last month after climbing gradually throughout the year. For that reason, home sales in Boston and the rest of the U.S. failed to post significant gains in the final month of 2018. However, because home sales typically take around one month to close, there are signs that buyers […]

More Home Buyers Turning to ARMs Mortgage to Achieve Home Ownership The share of December originations that were adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) was the highest since Ellie Mae began tracking them in 2011 the company said in its December Origination Insight Report.  As mortgage rates rose, the share of ARMs reached 9.2 percent, up from […]

For the first time in history, the six biggest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — made $100 billion in profit in a year. Yowzah! There’s a lot going on out there, and Ben Smidt put out his “Mortgage Expert Insights on Business Planning Strategies” that is […]

SBA offices have been closed because of the budget impasse over funding for a #borderwall, suspending several popular #loan programs designed for #business owners that may struggle to get conventional bank #financing. #ScotsmanGuide The partial government shutdown entered its record 24th day on Monday, and among those in limbo are small business entrepreneurs waiting for […]

Boston City Council considers new taxes on some Boston Massachusetts real estate sales Boston is the latest city to consider transfer taxes as a way to fund affordable housing development, although the proposal is already on shaky ground. The Boston Globe reported Jan. 14 that City Council would take up a bill sponsored by Councilors […]

After falling an aggregate of 12 points in November and December the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) appears to have stabilized.  The HMI, a measure of home builders’ confidence in the market for newly constructed homes, gained 2 points in January, rising to 58.  This one 1-point higher than […]