Low Mortgage Rates the Silver Lining in Bleak Housing Picture

(MarketWatch) - If there's one little bright spot among all the gloomy housing data these days, it may be this: Mortgage rates for conforming loans -- those under the $417,000 cap on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchases -- are still relatively low. More...

Generate an amortization schedule for your current mortgage

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Use this calculator to generate an amortization schedule for your current mortgage. Quickly see how much interest you will pay, and your principal balances. You can even determine the impact of any principal prepayments! Press the "View Report" button for a full yearly or monthly amortization schedule.

Mortgage mess echoes in Congress

(LATimes) - As mortgage-related turmoil weighs down the U.S. economy, members of Congress are considering a range of measures aimed at easing the current problems while preventing such a crisis from recurring in the future.


Lawmakers are pushing regulators to police the mortgage business more vigilantly. They are preparing legislation that would overhaul standards for all home loans, imposing new regulation on brokers, independent lenders and investors who purchase mortgage-related securities.


And they are urging a broader role for the giant, federally chartered mortgage finance companies -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- in helping refinance delinquent mortgages.

Lenders cut back, tighten terms

Lenders cut back, tighten terms


Once seemingly confined to subprime lending, problems in the mortgage industry showed signs of spreading to more-creditworthy borrowers Friday, triggering concerns about the potential fallout on the real estate market. ...


The Chicago-based company writes insurance policies that kick in when a borrower defaults on a first mortgage. Its products and services also include title insurance in case there's a problem transferring the title when the house is sold. Title insurance is typically underwritten only when there's a sale or refinancing on a property, so if the housing market weakens, the number of real estate deals requiring title insurance falls. More...

California Home-Loan Defaults Rise to a Decade High

(Bloomberg) - California mortgage defaults rose to the highest level in a decade in the second quarter as falling home sales and higher interest rates battered the housing market.


Californians are struggling to repay home loans as mortgage rates jumped to an 11-month high and tighter lending standards limited their ability to refinance. Southern California home sales last month slumped 36 percent to the lowest for a June in 14 years and San Francisco Bay Area sales fell 26 percent to a 12-year low, mirroring the national slump, DataQuick said last week. More...

Foreign banks offer new mortgage loans to compete

(CCTV) - Citibank launched its home refinancing program in Shanghai in July to target home buyers who want to make better use of their assets as the city's property prices keep on rising. It's the first offering of its kind by an overseas bank in China.

Do you really need a mortgage middleman?

Do you really need a mortgage middleman?

Brokers are in essence middlemen between a borrower (you) and the lender (finance company). More times than not, you want to cut out the middleman. If you have a stellar credit score (700 and above), and you can prove your income then you are better off going directly to the lender that is advertising the best interest rate.


But if you have a low credit score (619 and below), then a broker may be your best, if not your only, option.


Mortgage brokers orignate prime loans as well as sub prime loans but most of their buisness is in the sub prime market. According to a 2004 study by Wholesale Access Mortgage Research & Consulting, Inc., and a separate 2005 survey conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association, more than 50% of all residential loans are originated by a broker. In addition, the Mortgage Bankers Association derived that 71% of sub prime loans were orginated by a broker. More...