Monday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated the $700 billion "Bailout Bill", surprising Wall Street and the world.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average responded by falling 777.68 points -- its largest one-day loss in history and, this morning, every newspaper in America is covering the story as front page news.  Lost in the coverage, however, is how the "No" vote created a terrific opportunity for mortgage rate shoppers.  Yesterday, as money fled the tanking stock market, most of it ended up getting parked in the relative safety of government-backed bonds which ...

Mortgage rates bounced around last week, ending up worse overall.  It was the second straight week in which rates deteriorated.  Sentiment was driven largely by the proposed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 -- a.k.a. The $700 Billion Bailout.  The good news is that Congress drafted its bill Sunday evening and within the 110 pages, there is an important clause that should be good for mortgage rates.  On Page 40, it says, summarized: The U.S. Treasury gets $250 billion up-front It must ask the President to approve its next $100 billion And Congress must ...

Thursday, federal regulators seized mortgage lender Washington Mutual.   The Seattle-based thrift became the third "big name" lender to close its doors since July, joining IndyMac and Lehman Brothers.In 2007, these 3 lenders represented about 10 percent of the mortgage market and their subsequent failures are confusing American homeowners. The most prevalent question: If my mortgage lender fails, are my payments still due? And the answer is an unequivocal "yes". If a mortgage lender is seized, goes bankrupt, or is otherwise closed, it doesn't change the terms of the bank's mortgages ...

The August Existing Home Sales report was released Wednesday, showing a decline in the number of homes sold nationwide, and a reduction in the median sales price. Not surprisingly, the media singled these two statistics out, playing them as a big negative.  They're not. The decline in sales wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible, either -- sales were actually up in half of the regions around the country.  And, citing "median sales price" is somewhat pointless because median sales price only measures the price point at which half the homes sold for more, and half sold for ...

Earlier this year -- and for the first time in its history -- the FHA changed its funding fees and mortgage insurance structure.Effective October 1, 2008, it's repealing those changes. Partly to keep FHA home loans affordable, and partly to comply with new laws, the FHA is rolling back its up-front fees and ongoing mortgage insurance requirements and replacing them with new ones. The new up-front FHA fees are as follows: 1.750% : All purchase and "standard" refinances 1.500% : All "streamline" refinances 3.000% : All FHASecure programs for delinquent mortgagors These fees ...

Crude oil prices jumped $25 at one point Monday, ending the day up by 16 percent.This is an unwelcome development for home buyers because the same market forces that pushed up oil prices had a similar impact on mortgage rates. It all comes down to the U.S. dollar. Because both crude oil and mortgage-backed bonds are denominated in dollars, the fate of both instruments has been closely tied to the greenback lately. With respect to the mortgage market, when the dollar has been strengthening, rates have tended to fall.  And, when the dollar has been weakening, mortgage rates have ...

In a historic week for American Finance, mortgage rates rose considerably, reversing a 3-week trend through which rates had fallen. The U.S. Treasury is the biggest reason why most conforming mortgage rates increased by a half-percent. Hank Paulson's government group helped to restore investor confidence that had steadily eroded from concern to fear since July 2007, before succumbing to outright panic last week. Wall Street nerves were so frayed that at one point Wednesday, yields on government bonds were actually in the negative; investors were paying the U.S. government to hold and ...

Getting a great, low mortgage rate is often a combination of luck and preparation. Consider what happened in conforming mortgages this week: Monday, mortgage rates plunged to their lowest levels of the year Tuesday, they bounced back in full Wednesday, they clicked higher by a eighth-percent Thursday, they clicked higher by another eighth-percent And so, here we on are Friday, four days after the best rates of the year, and the mortgage market barely resembles itself.  Despite what the papers tell you, mortgage rates are not low anymore. That's the luck element -- you can't ...