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Report: One Third of Americans Don’t Know Their Mortgage Rate

mortgage

According to a new report by CNBC, more than a third of Americans don’t know their mortgage interest rates.

Reporter Diana Olick says Monday morning’s finding is not surprising, however, considering that – during the housing boom – many people didn’t even know whether they had a fixed or adjustable rate mortgage.

“If you don’t know your mortgage rate, especially today with falling rates and new government-backed loans that are cheaper than they were before, you could be missing out on thousands of dollars on annual savings,” Olick said.

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News

Mortgage Serious Delinquency Rate Declines in December

foreclosure

Freddie Mac reported on Friday that the Single-Family serious delinquency rate dropped in December to 1.88% from 1.91% the month before.

A seriously delinquent mortgage is one that is “three monthly payments or more past due or in foreclosure.”

Bill McBride, blog writer for Calculated Risk, noted that although the rate is declining, the “normal” serious delinquency rate is under 1%.

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Credit

Report: Majority of Consumers Have Subprime Credit Scores

credit

The Corporation for Enterprise Development released a new report on Thursday, which revealed that many Americans are still struggling to improve their credit, despite a growing job market and overall better economy.

“In the world of consumer credit scoring, if you mess up, it’s a seven- to 10-year penalty,” explained John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at CreditSesame.com.

As a result, these consumers often see their loan applications denied, or if they are borrowing, they don’t get to take advantage of the same low interest rates that borrowers with better scores are offered.

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News

Pending Home Sales Closed Out 2014 with Largest Drop of the Year

house

According to Mortgage News Daily, the National Association of Relators revealed on Thursday that the rate at which contracts were signed to purchase homes in December was down 3.7 percent from November. It was also the largest drop since December 2013, when it fell 5.8 percent.

“Total inventory fell in December for the first time in 16 months, resulting in fewer choices for buyers and a modest uptick in price growth in markets throughout the country,” explained Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “With interest rates at lows not seen since early 2013, the strength in existing-sales in upcoming months will largely depend on the willingness of current homeowners to realize their equity gains from the past couple years and trade up.”

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News

Rural America Suffering Silent Housing Crisis

house

As The Atlantic points out in a new report published on Wednesday, it’s not just the big cities – like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco – where affordable housing for low-income families is difficult to come by.

In fact, according to the news source, rural America is suffering its own affordable housing crisis, as many of the homes available to low-income families are in terrible condition.

“When we are looking at areas that are most challenged economically we’re also finding some of the most challenging housing conditions,” says David Dangler, the director of Rural Initiatives at NeighborWorks America.

Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition added, “Much of the affordable-housing stock in rural housing areas is old and in need of repair. Many of the people who live there don’t have the resources that they need in order to keep the houses in good repair.”

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News, Tips & Advice

Millennials Seeking Smaller Homes, Greater Details

house

The National Association of Home Builders revealed on Monday that there are several characteristics in a home that will become more and more sought-after as millennials begin to enter the housing market.

For one, desired home will get a little smaller, while laundry rooms and home technology will become more prevalent.

“Builders will build whatever demand calls out for,” NAHB Assistant Vice President of Research Rose Quint said.

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News

Number of First-Time Homebuyers Remains at Historic Low

for sale

The National Association of Realtors confirmed on Friday that, for the second straight year, first-time homebuyers made up just 29 percent of previously-owned home sales in 2014.

That number remains the lowest since data was first collected in 2008. And, according to some experts, there’s no real relief in sight.

“The still-tight mortgage credit conditions and more challenging first-time home buyer affordability that were revealed by the failure of home sales to continue recovering last year remain serious concerns as we head into 2015,” Morgan Stanley economist Ted Wieseman said in a note to his clients Friday.

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News

Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Fined Over ‘Illegal Mortgage Kickbacks’

money

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced on Thursday that it and the Maryland Attorney General’s Office have ordered Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase to collectively pay $35.7 million to settle charges that they once participated in an illegal marketing kickback scheme.

According to Reuters, Wells Fargo will be responsible for paying a $24 million penalty, plus another $10.8 million in redress to consumers, while JP Morgan will pay a $600,000 penalty plus another $300,000 in redress.

“These banks allowed their loan officers to focus on their own illegal financial gain rather than on treating consumers fairly. Our action today to address these practices should serve as a warning for all those in the mortgage market,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement.

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News, Tips & Advice

Report: Millennials Prefer Suburbs Over City Living

suburbs

A new survey released on Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors finally put to rest the debate over whether millennials are likely to remain city dwellers or eventually move out into the suburbs.

According to the findings, 66 percent of individuals born since 1977 want to live in a single-family home in the suburbs, even if they are now reside in the city.

“While you are more likely to attract this generation than other generations to buy a condo or a house downtown, that is a relative term,” said Rose Quint, the association’s assistant vice president of survey research. “The majority of them will still want to buy the house out there in the suburbs.”

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News, Tips & Advice

How Do Oil Prices Affect the Housing Market? Experts Differ

gas prices

How to oil prices affect the housing market? It depends who you ask.

One economist – Freddie Mac’s Frank Nothaft – had quite a positive outlook.

“It has the same impact on consumer spending as a tax cut would,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “It should help to strengthen housing demand.”

Another – Credit Suisse analyst Michael Dahl – wasn’t so sure.

“Overall, we still see modestly better single-family housing growth in 2015 than in 2014, but the expected slowdown to housing construction activity in oil-focused local economies trumps other positive incremental tailwinds in the market,” he explained.

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