World Home Mortgage News

Mortgage rates fall for 1st time in a month
Bankrate.com

Mortgage rates fell for the first time in a month as the bond market waved goodbye to last week's Fed rate increase and looked ahead to the June employment report.  The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 2 basis points to 6.91 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The mortgages in this week's...

Mortgage averages little changed
MSN Money

Interest rates on 30-year mortgages edged up slightly last week as fears about the Federal Reserve's next rate moves lessened a bit.  Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to a nationwide average of 6.79 percent this week, up from 6.78 percent last week.  It was the fourth weekly increase and put rates at the highest level for 30...
 

US mortgage applications increase last week-MBA
Reuters

U.S. mortgage applications rose for the first time in three weeks as interest rates fell from a four-year high, an industry trade group said on Thursday.  The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended June 30 increased 5.9 percent to 561.0 from the previous week's 529.6.  Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate...

Four Steps To Reduce Mortgage Exit Fees
Motley Fool UK, UK

Recently I feel like all I'm writing about is how to tackle unfair charges by the nasty, big financial companies. So I guess there's no reason why today should be any different! We wrote in this article about the increasing costs of mortgage exit fees. We showed that one provider's charges have gone up 350% in five years. If you took out a mortgage in 2001 expecting to pay £50 for leaving...

Nigeria: Capital Base for Mortgage Banks Now N2bn
AllAfrica.com, Washington

THE Central Bank (CBN) has increased the minimum capital base of mortgage banks to N2 billion from N200 million under its reform agenda for the financial sector. Deputy Governor, Financial Sector Surveillance, CBN, Mr Tunde Lemo, announced the new capital base to the chief executives of mortgage banks at a quarterly meeting of Committee of Mortgage Banks in Nigeria (COMINT)...

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Allianz raises stake to 8% in Hungarian mortgage lender FHB
Budapest Business Journal, Hungary

Allianz AG, Europe's largest insurer, increased its stake in Land Credit and Mortgage Bank Nyrt (FHB), Hungary's second-largest mortgage lender, to 8%.  Allianz raised the holding through its local unit on July 3, FHB said in a stock exchange statement late yesterday. The bank didn't say what Allianz's stake in FHB was before the transaction...

Change in mortgage lending patterns
QCK, UK

Non-conforming mortgage sales have risen from £1 billion a decade ago to £25 billion today, it has emerged.  Council of Mortgage Lenders' (CML) figures show that the non-conforming mortgage market has grown around six times faster than the mainstream mortgage market.  Non-conforming loans have no set guidelines and can vary widely from lender to lender, potentially changing on a regular...

Target: Zero-Energy Homes
Natural Life, Canada

There is a new buzzword in the green building industry and it’s “Zero Energy Homes” (ZEH) or “Net-Zero Energy Homes” (NZEH). The term describes buildings that are connected to the utility grid, but combine highly energy-efficient design and technology with solar electric and thermal systems to produce as much energy as they use on an annual basis, resulting in net zero energy consumption...

Blue skies over Portlaoise broker
Laois Nationalist, Ireland

THE Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, was on hand to officially launch Blue Sky Mortgages at The Heritage Hotel, Killenard on Monday last.  Central to this new development is Portlaoise mortgage broker, Aidan Kelly who re-branded his existing business, Midlands Mortgage and Finance Centre, as Blue Sky Mortgages. There will be 13 offices throughout the country initially, with the objective...

Jobless Claims Fall by 2,000 Last Week
The Spokesman Review, WA

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits declined slightly last week, indicating continued strength in the labor market despite a spring slowdown in the economy.  The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for jobless benefits totaled 313,000 last week, a drop of 2,000 from the previous week.  That was a slightly better performance than economists...

Debt consolidation allows a borrower to combine several debts into one loan, hopefully at a favorable interest rate. The preferred types of consolidation loans are home equity loans and lines of credit because the interest portions of...

Bank leaves interest rates on hold
ic North London Online, UK

The Bank of England has left interest rates unchanged for the 11th month in a row.  The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted for the cost of borrowing to stay on hold at 4.5% when its two-day meeting ended.  Interest rates have been frozen at 4.5% since August, but economists still think there could be a hike before the end of the year.  In May, the Bank warned that inflation would...

Malaysian banks seen able to absorb rate impact
Business Times - Malaysia, Malaysia

MALAYSIA'S banking system is strong enough to absorb any major impact from the possible rise in interest rates, says Rating Agency Malaysia Bhd (RAM).  Its senior manager of financial institution ratings, Meor Amri Meor Ayob, said that on a rating perspective, an interest rate hike will see some deterioration in banks' interest rate margins, "but generally, the system will be able to absorb this"...

Lottery's profit invested in housing
Bucharest Daily News, Romania

A share of minimum 60 percent of the profit obtained by the Romanian Lottery this year will be directed at financing youth housing projects, construction of gyms and the modernization of the Polyvalent Hall. The funds estimated to be allocated to these projects will be 15.33 million euros, 1.5 million euros more than the sum allocated last year, and will be transferred to the Ministry...

Housing market bound to recover
Border Mail, Australia

RISING interest rates will continue to cast a cloud over the housing market for the rest of this year, however this could result in an even stronger recovery in coming years, ANZ says.  ANZ is looking for rates to rise by another quarter per cent this year — most likely next month or November — which would bring them to 6 per cent.  ANZ economists Ange Montalti and Paul Braddick said solid...

Housing market to slow or even fall in next 2 years
Shanghai Daily, China

THE growth in average prices for residential properties in China's mainland will slow to below 5 percent over the next two years, while Shanghai's housing prices are likely to drop further by 15 percent, an industry report forecast yesterday.   As a result of the changes in the supply structure, average prices are expected to exhibit a marked weakening or even a fall in the coming years, given the...