Financial News

Mortgage rates drop for second week

Nov 15th, 2008 | By Gregory Arzumanov | Category: Financial News

By  Gregory Arzumanov -
Nov. 14, 2008 - Mortgage rates dropped for a second straight week, reflecting the impact the weakening economy is having on financial markets.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.14 percent this week, down from 6.20 percent last week. It marked a sharp decline [...]



Growth in Basement Remodeling Undeterred by Sluggish Housing Market

Nov 10th, 2008 | By RT Staff | Category: Financial News

“If You Can’t Sell, Remodel” has become the unofficial slogan for legions of American homeowners convinced that basement remodeling provides a practical alternative to labored attempts to sell homes for profit amid an economic and housing downturn. In the all-new report, Trends and Opportunities in the U.S. Basement Remodeling Market, market research publisher SBI forecasts [...]



Mortgage rates drop to average 6.2 percent

Nov 8th, 2008 | By Gregory Arzumanov | Category: Financial News

WASHINGTON (AP) – Nov. 7, 2008 – Mortgage rates dropped this week, providing a dose of welcome news to prospective homebuyers.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.20 percent for the week ending Nov. 6. That was down sharply from 6.46 percent last week.
The retreat in mortgages rates [...]



Fed cuts key interest rate half-point to 1 percent

Oct 29th, 2008 | By RT Staff | Category: Financial News

The central bank on Wednesday reduced its target for the federal funds rate, the interest banks charge on overnight loans, to 1 percent, a low last seen in 2003-2004. The funds rate has not been lower since 1958, when Dwight Eisenhower was president.
In a brief statement explaining Wednesday‘s action, the Fed said the “intensification of [...]



Next Steps to Resolve the Mortgage Crisis

Oct 29th, 2008 | By RT Staff | Category: Financial News

There is bipartisan agreement today that stemming home foreclosures and restructuring troubled mortgages would slow the downward spiral harming financial institutions and the real American economy. The federal government possesses a range of tools to take action, but what’s missing is a way to persuade the mortgage servicers who control most of these loans on [...]



30-year mortgage rates drop to five-week low

Oct 28th, 2008 | By Gregory Arzumanov | Category: Financial News

WASHINGTON - Oct. 24, 2008 - Rates on 30-year U.S. mortgages dropped sharply this week, falling to the lowest level in five weeks.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent this week, down from 6.46 percent last week. The sharp decline pushed 30-year rates down to the lowest level since [...]



212,000 borrowers avoid foreclosure in September

Oct 27th, 2008 | By RT Staff | Category: Financial News

Mortgage lenders have helped nearly 2.5 million troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure since the mortgage meltdown began in the summer of 2007.
That’s according to the latest report from Hope Now, the coalition of banks, mortgage-securities investors and housing counselors formed by the Bush administration to stem the foreclosure crisis.
Hope Now members helped 212,000 borrowers stay in [...]



30-year mortgage rates drop to five-week low

Oct 24th, 2008 | By Gregory Arzumanov | Category: Financial News

WASHINGTON - Oct. 24, 2008 - Rates on 30-year U.S. mortgages dropped sharply this week, falling to the lowest level in five weeks.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent this week, down from 6.46 percent last week. The sharp decline pushed 30-year rates down to the lowest level since [...]



Causes and solutions of crisis to be examined

Oct 23rd, 2008 | By Gregory Arzumanov | Category: Financial News

WASHINGTON (AP) - Oct. 23, 2008 - Lawmakers have called key players from the past and present to congressional hearings in an effort to find out what caused the biggest U.S. financial crisis since the 1930s and determine how the government plans to get the country out of the mess.
Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the [...]



Freddie Mac: Fixed-rate mortgages fall in latest survey

Oct 23rd, 2008 | By RT Staff | Category: Financial News

U.S. fixed-rate mortgages declined in the latest week, according to Freddie Mac’s survey released Thursday. The national average interest rate on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 6.04% in the week ending Thursday, down from last week’s 6.46% and the year-ago 6.33%. The 15-year fixed-rate loan averaged 5.72%, down from the week-ago 6.14% and the [...]