Mortgage, Real Estate | featured news

Mortgage rates continued their decline this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate average having met or matched a record low in 10 of the past 11 weeks, according to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac. The 30-year fixed-rate average fell to 3.62 percent, down from 3.66 percent last week and 4.60 percent a year ago.

With each passing month, the foreclosure crisis continues to slowly burn. The Obama Administration keeps splashing water on it—massive remodifications, mortgage settlement cash, rental programs—hoping something will stick. On Friday, here at the Clinton Global Initiative, in Chicago, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and FHA Commissioner Carol Galante announced yet another: a program to pool together mortgage loans on the brink of default, and save them.

Average U.S. rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages this week fell to fresh record lows for the sixth straight week. Cheap mortgages continue to help boost prospects for home sales this year.

Mortgage debt continues to be a major issue in the United States, nearly six years after home prices peaked, according to a report released last week by online real estate site Zillow. Americans continue to owe more on their homes than they are worth.

Nearly 1 in 3 homeowners with a mortgage in L.A. County owes more than the property is worth, new data show. These underwater loans hinder mobility and hurt prices because they tend to stymie the important move-up market.

Mortgage rates held fairly steady this week, with the 30-year fixed rate average creeping slightly lower to yet another all-time record, according to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac. The 30-year slid down from 3.79 percent last week to 3.78 percent, marking its fourth record low in as many weeks. This time last year, the average was much higher at 4.60 percent.

President Obama will announce new figures Friday showing a dramatic spike in the number of Americans taking advantage of federal programs designed to help struggling homeowners and stabilize the lagging housing industry, administration officials said Thursday.

Banks have become so restrictive in making mortgages that many worthy homebuyers are being frozen out of the U.S. housing market, and lending practices are not likely to loosen any time soon, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week, making home-buying and refinancing more affordable than ever for those who can qualify.

The government-backed mortgage financier said it made a profit in the first quarter and that it does not need additional bailout money — a first since the federal government took it over in 2008.