Mortgage Rate News – Week Ending July 29th 2010

Woman working on her latop at home.Freddie Mac released its weekly mortgage rate recap for the week ending July 29, 2010. According to the report, both 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages reached all-time record lows (since the survey began). 30 year rates averaged 4.54% with .7 pt which was down from the previous week when it was 4.56%. Last year at this same time, 30 year rates average 5.25%.

15 year fixed rate mortgages average a record low of 4.00% with .7 pt which was down from the previous week’s average of 4.03. A year ago, 15 year fixed rates averaged 4.69%. [Read more...]

Items to Review on the Final Walk Through Before Closing

Real estate agent and client. Info on doing a final walk though.We stumbled upon an article on realtytimes.com  written by Carla Hill which provides a list of items to look out for when performing your final walk-through. The list includes such actions as:

  • making sure that major appliances are still in working order
  • walls and floors have no additional  damage
  • screens and storm doors are in good shape
  • the home is clean and free of debris
  • garage doors and alarms are functioning
  • light fixtures are still in place.

You can read the article in its entirety here.

Related AFR Resources:
Hidden home defects to look out for
Other items to review on the final walk through

Top Ten List of Places to Live in United States

Couple in their side yard with baby.Kiplinger, the Washington DC based business publisher, recently released their list of the top 10 best cities for the next decade. According to the article, they focused on places that specialize in “out-of-the-box thinking” and show potential for growth and innovation. Upon completing their research, they concluded that the various areas showed  high levels of innovation, had educated, intelligent populations with creative ideas, and collaborative working and cultural environments.

The top ten cities on their list were:
1. Austin, Texas
2. Seattle, WA
3. Washington, DC
4. Boulder, Colorado
5. Salt Lake City, UT
6. Rochester, Minnesota
7. Des Moines, IA
8. Burlington, Vermont
9. West Hartford, CT
10. Topeka, KS

You can read the entire article on Kiplinger’s web site.

Related Posts:
List of Best Small Cities in the U.S.
Tips for Choosing a Place to Live

30 Ways to Save Money on Your Utilities

Green house - ways to save money at home.Karen Rittenhouse, a real estate professional in Greensboro, North Carolina, recently posted a great article on her Active Rain blog which lists 30 ways to save money on your home utilities. In today’s tough financial market, many of us are searching for steps that we can take to reduce our monthly expenses. Simply following through on some of her suggestions may add up to significant savings. Plus, you will be reducing your impact on the environment which is already stressed enough. Happy savings.

Read her blog post.

Related AFR Mortgage Blog Posts:
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint at Home
Bargain Real Estate Markets
10 Priciest Small Towns
Financial Checklist
Tools for Managing Finances

Mortgage Rates for Week Ending July 15th, 2010

Family leaning on moving boxes.Freddie Mac just released its Primary Mortgage Market Survey results for the past week. 30 year fixed rate mortgages average 4.57% with .7 pt which was unchanged from the previous week. According to the report, 30 year rates from the same period last year averaged 5.14%. Rates are still so low that they tied the all-time low from the 39 years that Freddie has been conducting the survey. [Read more...]

Significant Drop In Consumer Credit Scores Reported

Country home with white picket fence.National Public Radio reported Wednesday that 25.5 percent of consumers, nearly 43.4 million people, now have credit scores below 600. Read or listen to the full story.

This is a dramatic increase in the number of consumers, up from 15 percent, in the lower range of FICO scores who often have a tough time being approved for credit such as credit cards, auto loans, and home mortgages.
[Read more...]

Report Shows 31% of Home Sales in 1st Quarter were Foreclosures

Family leaning on moving boxes.Foreclosure Deals recently put out a press release reporting that 31% of all residential properties sold in the first quarter of this year were foreclosures. The release stated that 232,950 foreclosure homes sold in the first quarter which is actually 33% lower than that which sold in the same period in 2009. It went on to say that the price of foreclosures during the 1st quarter was “27% below the average sale price of a traditional home sale.”

What is even more eye opening is that more than 50% of home sales in California, Nevada, and Arizona were foreclosures. The release also noted that Ohio had the greatest average discount on foreclosed homes at 39.5% below market value, followed by Kentucky, Illinois, California, and Tennessee.
[Read more...]

Mortgage Rate News – July 8th, 2010

Nice back porch with flowers and sunshine.According to Freddie Mac’s mortgage market survey for the week ending July 8, 2010, 30 year rates dropped a bit to “another new low”. The survey noted that 30 year fixed rate averaged 4.57% with .7 point which is slightly lower than the previous week’s findings (4.58%). 15 year home loan rates averaged 4.07% with .7 pt. which is up from the previous week’s results (4.04%). [Read more...]