Mortgage Rates Remaining Low With Mixed Economic Reports

Investor's are became cautious once again which is causing mortgage rates to remain down. In housing news, The Mortgage Banker's Association's seasonally adjusted Market Composite Index showed that mortgage applications increased 4.8 percent for the week ending March 30th. The Refinance Index rose 4.0 percent and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index rose 7.2 percent.

All mortgage rates are showing to remain stable except for the 30 year mortgage rates which reached a high of 4.625% the week of  April 2nd, however as of April 11th the were back down to a low 4.375%. Remaining the same, jumbo 15 year fixed mortgage rates are at 3.375% and jumbo 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates are at 2.500%.

If you're a well qualified borrower with excellent credit you can obtain these lowest jumbo mortgage rates with 0.7 to 1% origination fee. Jumbo mortgages, which have stricter guidelines, are necessary for mortgage financing above the conforming and FHA loan limits.

2012 may be a good year to purchase a home according to consumers, according to Fannie Mae's March National Housing Survey. Fannie Mae surveyed over 1,000 Americans and many expect both rents and home prices to increase.  73% of those surveyed said that purchasing a home this year is a good idea.  In order to qualify for a mortgage, borrowers are required to have stable employment and income that must be documented along with verifiable assets for the down payment and required reserves.

FHA mortgage applications for home purchases increased as borrowers rushed to beat the higher upfront and annual mortgage insurance premiums that began April 9th. For all new FHA mortgage applications, the UPMIP increased to 1.75% and the annual mortgage insurance premium went up .10%. In June, the annual MIP will increase another .25% for FHA mortgages above $625,500. FHA allows these additional costs to be added to the mortgage as long as the loan to value remains the same. FHA also announced that it has put its credit qualifying changes on hold until July 2012 which was good news for both lenders and borrowers. These changes included full payment, payment agreements and documentation (in the case of theft) for all collections and/or defaults totaling $1,000 and higher.


Source: Realty Times