Currently Browsing: Mortgage News
House Values Resilient Despite Interest Rates
Today I’m pulling up a chart that we put out every month. It’s one of my favorites to show housing trends. The red line on the chart is 21 years of 4.5% year-over-year growth. Looking at historical norms, it’s about what…
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Waiting for Home Prices to Drop? Here’s One Reason Why They Might Not!
Today’s topic is something that I am seeing continually: headlines and people talking about how everyone is just waiting for real estate prices to fall. When prices fall, then it’s time to jump into the market. So, people are just trying to…
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BREAKING NEWS: Housing Up, Inflation Down
On the mortgage front this week, inflation numbers came out this morning. CPI is still trending lower, which is a good sign. You can see in the chart below: our high was 9.1%, now we are down to 5% on the headline…
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The Latest Foreclosure Data May Be a Bit Misleading
Black Night issued the month-over-month foreclosure data. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about this topic: the wave of foreclosures that are going to be coming. The current reality and good news are that according to the numbers, foreclosures appear to…
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June Data on Existing Home Sales Remains Encouraging
We received data for existing home sales in June, and the numbers are worth taking a look at. Obviously, this is a report that comes out every month – and we’ve been paying more attention to it than usual. There’s no question…
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What’s Really Happening with Interest Rates?
In today’s video, I’m sharing some geeky charts so we can what is happening to interest rates and where we stand right now – and where I think we are heading (based on my opinion). Breaking Down Interest Rates In this chart,…
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Mortgage Loan Limits are Going Up in SoCal
This topic has been all over the news lately: the new loan limits. Every year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac re-evaluate conventional loan limits. They go back to look at how much appreciation they saw in Q3, then they increase the loan…
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Home Prices Continue to Rise at a Record Pace
Today I want to talk about what is going on with the housing market and current housing prices. If you’ve been paying attention, you can see that the real estate market is still on fire. Last week, we got year-over-year median home…
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The March Real Estate Report: These Numbers are Insane!
Every month, we get a real estate report – click here if you want to download the full report. Most of these comparisons are year-over-year, and the numbers are getting crazier with time. This month in particular is odd because a year ago…
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Supplemental Property Taxes: What You Need to Know
With so many people buying houses right now in the state of California, it seems relevant to re-explain: what is a supplemental tax bill? If your loan officer doesn’t explain this to you, it might be a surprise to get a bill…
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Undeniable Signs of Strength in Real Estate
Today I’m going to highlight a few interesting things from our economic update conference last week. Every person that I’m working with right now shares their concerns about what is happening in the real estate market. Where are we? How are things…
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California Home Buyers Over Age 55 Could Save Big on Property Taxes
Over the past few weeks, there have been a few conversations about Props 60 & 90. These new changes in the state of California are designed to help people who are 55+ save money on their retirement real estate purchases. If you…
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The Tax Laws Pertaining to Mortgage Interest
Tax day is looming, so many people are looking at their tax burden and wondering what can be done for tax strategy going forward. One of the main questions that keeps coming up is whether there are any tax benefits left…
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Removing Road Blocks to Home Ownership – Self-Employment
Today’s video is the start of a series of related topics that I am going to share about some of the major road blocks to home ownership. Some of these things are real, and some of them are myths that are assumed…
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Watch Out for This New Home Construction Trap
There is a lot of new home construction happening right now, and these houses are beautiful. It’s easy to see why homeowners are choosing to build when there aren’t many options available on the real estate market. But, you need to know…
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Buying or Selling a Home? You’ll Likely Need THIS…
As I’m helping families with their mortgages, I find that the majority of my clients are in the midst of a major life change. As a result, they are going to have to hire a ton of help: from cleaners, to insurance,…
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Self-Employed and Looking to Purchase Real Estate?
There are many benefits of self-employment, but some entrepreneurs are worried about how their income will qualify for a real estate purchase. We work with all kinds of self-employed home buyers, and everyone has their own set of circumstances. In today’s mortgage…
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How Does the New Tax Plan Affect Real Estate?
A few weeks ago, I shared a video after the new tax bill came through and mentioned how the proposed changes could affect the real estate market. At the time, I promised to share more information as it became available. So, this…
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Is Now the Right Time to Buy a Home?
If you are thinking about purchasing a home, then you are probably asking the same question that we hear from so many people: is right now a good time to buy a home? No one has a solid answer for this question,…
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Is Now Still a Good Time to Buy Real Estate?
Since most real estate prices are elevated right now, many people are asking the same question: is it still a good time to buy real estate? Whether you are preparing to buy your first home or you feel like it is time…
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What is the Difference between a Jumbo Loan and Traditional Financing?
If you are working to secure financing to buy a home, then you need to be familiar with the different types of loans that are offered. Some people are scared of the term “jumbo loan” because they don’t understand what it means….
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FHA Lowers Mortgage Insurance Premiums!
The department of U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Monday that they will reducing the premiums charged on FHA insured mortgages by a quarter of a percent (.25%). HUD secretary Julian Castro stated that four years of growth and the…
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California Association of Realtors 2017 Market Forecast
According the 2017 California Housing Market Forecast, California’s housing market will post a nominal increase in 2017 as supply shortages and affordability constraints hamper market activity. The California Association of Realtors (CAR) forecasts a modest increase in existing home sales next year,…
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A Common Credit Roadblock to Home Financing
I think we all understand that credit and credit ratings are important. Unfortunately, sometimes we all make financial decisions that might seem like a good idea initially, only to find out later that it lowered our credit score. If you are looking…
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What’s Going to Happen with Interest Rates?
Nearly every day I get asked the question “What’s going to happen with interest rates?” The truthful answer is that no one can really predict when or if interest rates will go up or down. But I think it’s worth noting that…
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Freddie Mac Releases Mortgage Rate Forecast for 2016
Government-owned Freddie Mac recently issued its mortgage rate forecast for 2016. This forecast comes from Freddie Mac’s broader report titled, “May 2015 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook.” The report explains that according to Freddie Mac’s estimation, the average rate for a…
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Should You Refinance Your Home?
During times when mortgage rates are at historically low levels – like right now – many homeowners ask themselves whether refinancing their loans would be a good idea. If you have a good credit score and reliable income, you may be able…
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FHA Home Loan Limits for 2015 Announced
Home buyers who are shopping for a home in the Temecula area should pay special attention to the new FHA loan limits for 2015. Just released last week, these new limits will apply to case numbers assigned on or after January 1,…
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Is a Mortgage Crisis Brewing?
Dick Bove, a noted banking analyst, is predicting a pending mortgage crises as we move towards the end of 2014. The reason? An end to “quantitative easing” meaning the Fed, which has been buying as much as $40 billion in mortgage backed…
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Foreclosure Scams Still Exist
Unfortunately, many homeowners are still struggling with the possibility of foreclosure. And, where there are foreclosures, there are foreclosure modification scams. It is imperative to understand that these scams can only lead to more stress and problems for the homeowners and if…
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