Friday Rate Update

Mortgage Rates Edge Down 

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.15 percent this week, down slightly from the previous week's 4.17 rate. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 3.65 percent.

This week's 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.35 percent, down from last week's 3.39 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM rate averaged 2.95 percent.

---ABA Daily Newsbytes

Economic Update

Fed Expects Moderate Economic Expansion, Gradual Rate Increases 

The U.S. economy will likely continue to see moderate expansion, a strengthening job market and inflation gradually rising to 2 percent in the months ahead, Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen said yesterday in her semi-annual report to Congress on the state of monetary policy. She added that the Federal Open Market Committee expects additional gradual increases in interest rates, cautioning that "waiting too long to remove accommodation would be unwise" and could lead to market disruption.

Yellen cited a lower unemployment rate and increased consumer spending, GDP and personal consumption expenditures as signs of a strengthening economy, but noted that "considerable uncertainty attends the economic outlook. Among the sources of uncertainty are possible changes in U.S. fiscal and other policies, the future path of productivity growth, and developments abroad."

In a question and answer session following her testimony, Yellen highlighted an increase in bank lending, both overall and specifically to small businesses, with greater numbers of consumers reporting that they were successful in securing financing. U.S. banks are also continuing to gain strength relative to their international competitors, she added.

Yellen also expressed support for the "core principles" for financial system regulation outlined in President Trump's recent executive order, and pledged to work constructively with newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and others members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to conduct a review of current regulations to ensure that they are effective and appropriately tailored. Read Yellen's testimony. http://abamaestro.aba.com/trk/click?ref=zt50ebrbb_0-11cigiv-0-3bb8x2860cx3122917&

--ABA Daily Newsbytes

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Baltimore Home Prices Rose Nearly 7% in January


 By Natalie Sherman
The Baltimore Sun
February 13, 2017


Baltimore area home prices continued to climb in January, as steady demand and fewer foreclosures pushed a streak of year-over-year gains into the 11th month.
The median home price in the metro region last month was $234,950, up 6.8% from a year earlier, according to a monthly report based on data from the MRIS listing service.
The gains come as Baltimore's housing market appears to be shaking off several years of sluggish appreciation.
Excluding distressed sales such as foreclosures, the median price increased 5.4% from a year ago to $268,750.
That was the biggest year-over-year gain for standard sales in more than three years, according to the report, which was provided by ShowingTime, a firm that provides market statistics to the residential real estate industry.

Read more here. 

--National Mortgage News

Merger announced between Kopernik Bank and St. Casimir's Savings Bank

St. Casimir's Savings Bank will become part of Kopernik Bank under a merger announced Monday that will create a single institution with about $180 million in assets. Both are Maryland-chartered mutual savings banks. Kopernick, located on Eastern Avenue, was founded in 1924 as Kopernik Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City and specializes in personal and business banking, home loans and commercial real estate lending.

 St. Casimir's was started as a building and loan institution in 1911 by a group of businessmen who would meet in a tavern on Fait Avenue to grant lines of credit, home loans and business financing to immigrants. The bank has four branches in Baltimore, on Eastern Avenue, Erdman Avenue, North Point Road and Foster Avenue in Canton.

"The combination of our two institutions will allow us to better serve our communities," said Timothy Prindle, president and CEO of Kopernik Bank, in the announcement.

Under the merger agreement, St. Casimir's CEO and president, Ronald D. Jasion, will become a senior vice president of Kopernik. Two directors of St. Casimir's will join Kopernik's board of directors.

 Connection Between Tax Refunds and Mortgage Delinquencies

by: Jann Swanson

Apparently we aren't all procrastinators.  Black Knight Financial Services looked at Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filing statistics and how they relate to loan level mortgage performance data for its current edition of Mortgage Monitor and found that 40 percent of tax filers are in and done by the first week in March.  In fact, half of that number or one in five have finished and filed their returns within the first two weeks of tax season.

The company says incentive plays a role in this diligence as Americans who file early are more likely to be expecting a refund.  On average, they also receive a larger refund than those who file later.  The average refund for those filing on or before February 5^th was $3,400, more than 35 percent higher than the refund for those filing in early April and nearly 50 per higher than those filing the last week of the season.  In fact, IRS has already distributed most tax refunds well before the April 15 tax deadline.

So, what does this have to do with mortgages?  Black Knight says if history repeats, nearly 300,000 more borrowers can be expected to bring their delinquent mortgages current in February and March than in a typical month, and changes are they are using their tax refunds to do so.  Black Knight Data & Analytics Executive Vice President Ben Graboske said, "We see this increase in cures across the delinquency and foreclosure spectrum, but it is most pronounced in the early and moderate stages of delinquency. This makes sense, in that a tax refund may be sufficient to pay a few months of past-due mortgage payments, but is likely not enough to bring a homeowner out of severe delinquency. Likewise, the most pronounced impact was seen among FHA/VA borrowers, who might be expected to have less cash reserves on hand and therefore be more dependent upon the infusion of funds during tax refund season to pay down late payments. All things being equal, there's no reason to expect this tax season to be any different."

Read more here at Mortgage News Daily.

Friday Rate Update

30-Year Mortgage Rates Hold Steady 

The rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.19 percent this week, unchanged from the previous week's rate. At this time last year, the 30-year FRM rate averaged 3.72 percent.

This week's 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.41 percent, up from last week's 3.4 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM rate averaged 3.01 percent.   

---ABA Daily Newsbytes