Friday Rate Update

30-Year Mortgage Rates Slip, 15-Year Hold Steady 

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.76 percent this week, down from last week’s 3.79 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 3.98 percent. This week’s 15-year FRM rate averaged 2.98 percent, unchanged from last week’s rate. A year ago, the 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.13 percent---

ABA Daily Newsbytes

ABA On the Economy

Home Price Growth Continues to Rise
Home price growth in 20 major metro areas rose in August, with year-over-year growth landing at 5.1 percent, ahead of July’s 4.9 percent increase, according to yesterday’s Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index release. Fifteen cities of the 20-city composite index reported price increases in August, with double-digit increases seen in San Francisco and Denver. Year-on-year growth was highest in Denver, San Francisco and Portland, Ore.


Consumer Confidence Falls
The Consumer Confidence Index declined in October to 97.6, down from 102.6 in September, the Conference Board said yesterday. “Consumers were less positive in their assessment of present-day conditions, in particular the job market, and were moderately less optimistic about the short-term outlook,” said the Conference Board’s Lynn Franco. “Despite the decline, consumers still rate current conditions favorably, but they do not anticipate the economy strengthening much in the near-term

Interesting....

Friday Rate Update

Mortgage Rates Fall 

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.79 percent this week, down from last week’s 3.82 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 3.92 percent. This week’s 15-year FRM rate averaged 2.98 percent compared to last week’s 3.03 percent rate. A year ago, the 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.08 percent. 

--ABA Daily Newsbytes

Fannie Mae Expands Eligibility for High-Balance Loans

Fannie Mae recently expanded eligibility for high-balance loans to help lenders serve creditworthy borrowers in high-cost areas. Maximum loan-to-value ratios are now aligned with Fannie’s standard eligibility up to 95 percent. To simplify lender processes, Fannie also removed many policy overlays that applied only to high-balance loans. These updates will be implemented in Desktop Underwriter Version 9.3 the weekend of Dec. 12.   ---ICBA

Home Buyers Pay Price for New Rules

It has barely been a couple of weeks since a nationwide changeover in mortgage and settlement procedures went into effect, but lenders and brokers are already charging that just about everything is taking longer and the costs to home buyers are increasing. As of Oct. 3, lenders and other agents were required to comply with an almost 1,900-page new rule book designed to improve transparency and accuracy in real estate and mortgage transactions for buyers and refinancers. Worry remains that the reformed process will draw out the typical time span between loan application and closing. However, what has received less focus are the impacts of longer timelines on how much consumers pay to close the deal -- increases that are just starting to become more evident. According to Mortgage Bankers Association chief economist Michael Fratantoni, the expenses added by the new settlement rules are in addition to a long series of federal regulatory changes in the last few years that have hiked the cost of originating a typical home loan from $4,500 to $7,000. "A lot of it is personnel, quality control, spending on new technology, and reprogramming systems," he says. As lenders and agents gain more experience in managing deadlines under the new rules, Fratantoni is hopeful that 30-day closings will become more common again.

From "Home Buyers Pay Price for New Rules"
Daily Herald (10/16/2015) Harney, Ken

Mortgage Applications Plummet in Week After TRID Takes Effect 

Applications for new mortgages plummeted 27.6 percent in the week of Oct. 3-9, immediately after the new TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures took effect, according to weekly figures released by the Mortgage Bankers Association yesterday. Refinancing applications dropped by 23 percent.

The drop followed a significant spike of 25.5 percent the week before as lenders moved to process applications before the TRID deadline. TRID took effect for mortgages whose applications were received starting Oct. 3. TRID implementation “caused lenders to significantly revamp their business processes, and as a result dramatically slowed the pace of activity,” said MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni. “The prior week’s results evidently pulled forward much of the volume that would have more naturally taken place into this week.” 

--ABA Daily Newsbytes

Survey: Millennials’ Money Stress Affecting Other Areas of Life 

More than four in 10 U.S. millennials -- those aged 18 to 34 -- say they are “chronically stressed” about money, adding that money stress is spilling over into their emotional well-being, leisure activities, personal relationships and physical health, according to a Bank of America/USA Today survey released yesterday.

Of those who worry about money, more than half say they get anxious about it on a weekly basis, and 30 percent say they worry they won’t have enough money to make it through month’s end. More than six in 10 say they worry some or a lot about the cost of living, and 58 percent say that where they live makes them concerned about their ability to save. Taxes are a source of worry for about 43 percent of millennials.

Compared to a similar survey last fall, top financial stress points remain similar but show a longer-term focus in some areas. For example, millennials are six percentage points less likely this year to worry about spending too much, while they are four points more likely to worry about the costs of having children and three points more likely to be concerned about putting aside enough for retirement.

---ABA Daily Newbytes

Friday Rate Update

Mortgage Rates Drop on Weak September Jobs Report 

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.76 percent this week, down from last week’s 3.85 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 4.19 percent. This week’s 15-year FRM rate averaged 2.99 percent compared to last week’s 3.07 percent rate, falling below 3 percent for the first time since April. A year ago, the 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.36 percent

---ABA Daily Newsbytes

HOUSING FINANCE

Fannie, Freddie Q2 Income Surpasses $8 Billion
Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s combined second-quarter income rose to $8.8 billion from $2.4 billion in the first quarter, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported yesterday.

The increase was attributed mainly to interest income and gains on derivatives, the agency said, adding that the GSEs also saw a $2.2 billion decrease in loan loss reserves due to rising home prices. National home prices rose 5.4 percent from the second quarter of 2014.

Meanwhile, the Federal Home Loan Banks collectively earned $669 million in the second quarter, down from $1 billion in the first quarter.

--ABA Daily Newsbytes