Home Prices on the Rise While Mortgage Rates Remain Low

by Ed Ferrara

 

This past week, Freddie Mac released their U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for the month of August, 2012 which revealed a much needed home price increase. The Freddie Mac House Price Index increased 4.8% from March to June, 2012 which was the largest quarterly increase in eight years.

Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia showed higher home values during the past 12 months through June, 2012. This is the largest number of states with positive appreciation on an annual basis since April, 2007. While home prices have increased, mortgage rates continue to remain at historic lows keeping affordability at high levels. FreeRateUpdate.com's survey of wholesale and direct lenders shows that mortgage rates remained stable this past week with 30 year fixed mortgage rates at 3.375%, 15 year fixed mortgage rates at 2.750% and 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates at 2.125%.

These are the lowest mortgage rates available with 0.7 to 1% origination fee for borrowers who have maintained a record of good credit. Home purchase loans and traditional mortgage refinances require borrowers to have steady employment and income, as well as, enough verifiable assets to cover the down payment and necessary reserves.

Today, many refinances are going through HARP 2.0, the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which increased to a 33% share of all Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinances in June. Since HARP was revised with no loan to value caps, the number of refinances through the program soared in June with the average number of refinance mortgages over 125% LTV accounting for 40% of volume, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Some borrowers continue to have problems obtaining HARP as a number of lenders have overlays that are too difficult to overcome. There are still many other lenders who are eager to assist borrowers obtain a HARP 2.0 refinance and can be found by submitting a quick online form which is the easiest, quickest and most secure way to obtain the best HARP mortgage available.

According to FHA (Federal Housing Administration), refinances surged 198.3% during the month of June, 2012 with the streamline refinance accounting for 53.8%. The FHA streamline refinance with no cash out was expanded in June for mortgages that were endorsed prior to June 1, 2009 and offers these borrowers a reduced upfront mortgage insurance premium of .01% and annual mortgage insurance premium of .55%.

This is a cost saving measure together with low FHA mortgage rates that continue to remain stable. Current FHA 30 year fixed mortgage rates are at 3.125%, FHA 15 year fixed mortgage rates are at 2.625% and FHA 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates are at 2.625%. Prior to this offer of reduced insurance premiums that runs through the end of 2013, higher fees kept many borrowers away from refinancing. FHA loans normally have higher closing costs (APR) due to various FHA fees and the upfront mortgage insurance premium.
On a regular FHA purchase mortgage, these costs can be added to the mortgage amount in most cases or paid with seller concessions. Regardless of fees, FHA has several mortgage programs designed to help consumers become homeowners with a low down payment which continues to be popular with home buyers.

Remaining stable, jumbo 30 year fixed mortgage rates are at 4.125%, jumbo 15 year fixed mortgage rates are at 3.125% and jumbo 5/1 adjustable mortgage rates are at 2.250%. Having excellent credit is required in order for borrowers to obtain these lowest jumbo mortgage rates with 0.7 to 1% origination fee. Jumbo mortgage rates can be very competitive since these are mostly private loans held by the lender.

Even guidelines and approval conditions can differ from lender to lender. As more lenders re-enter the jumbo mortgage market, borrowers will have more options available to compare and should be shopping around for the lowest jumbo mortgage rates, as well as, flexible requirements. With rising home prices, jumbo mortgages will again become a popular and necessary non-conforming mortgage product.

MBS prices (mortgage backed securities) generally move mortgage rates in the opposite direction. There were no major changes in MBS prices that affected mortgage rates over the past week since a limited amount of U.S. economic data was released. Second quarter productivity increased at an annual rate of 1.6%. The trade deficit in the U.S. shrank during the month of June due to a decrease in imports and increase in exports. Import prices for July dropped 0.6% which was more than expected. China's exports rose only 1% and imports increased 4.7% from last July, both missing forecasts. The biggest news for the week was jobless claims which fell by 6,000 to 361,000 for the week ending August 4th according to the Labor department.

FreeRateUpdate.com surveys more than two dozen wholesale and direct lenders’ rate sheets to determine the most accurate mortgage rates available to well qualified consumers at a standard 0.7 to 1% point origination fee.