Buying A Home? You Don’t Need To Do It Alone

According to Florida Realtors, the housing market reported higher median prices, more new listings, and a stable level of inventory in March. Closed sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 20,081 last month, up 2.8 percent from March last year. »READ MORE <<<Click Here

Existing-home sales fell 1.0 percent in December to 4.94 million and November sales were revised downward, slipping below 5 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. Economisst had expected the sales pace to improve to 5.1 million from November’s originally reported 5.04 million.The median price of an existing single family home rose to $180,800 in December, up 0.8 percent from November and 11.5 percent from December 2011, the strongest year-year gain in seven years.

For home buyers or refinancers, borrowing costs for home ownership just got a little cheaper as mortgage rates took another dip to new all-time record lows this week, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. "Signs of slowing economic growth and inflation remaining subdued allowed yields on Treasury bonds to ease somewhat and brought most mortgage rates to new all-time record lows this week,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.Here’s a closer look at average rates for the week ending May 3: •  30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.84 percent, with an average 0.8 point, reaching a new historical low. The previous record for 30-year rates was 3.87 percent, which was set on Feb. 9 of this year. A year ago at this time, rates averaged 4.71 percent. • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.07 percent, with an average 0.7 point, another historical low. The previous record for 15-year rates was 3.11 percent set on April 12 this year. A year ago at this time, 15-year rates had averaged 3.89 percent. • 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.85 percent, with an average 0.7 point, holding the same as last week. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.47 percent.• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.70 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, also registering at a new all-time low. Last year at this time, 1-year ARMs averaged 3.14 percent. 

The Federal Housing Administration announced that starting April 1 it will not insure mortgages to borrowers who have an ongoing credit dispute of $1,000 or more on their file. To be considered for an FHA-backed loan, borrowers will either have to pay the remaining balance on the credit dispute or enter into a payment plan, making at least three payments on it. Any payment plans will need to be documented and submitted to FHA, which will then figure it into the debt-to-income ratio for the new mortgage. FHA’s new rule does not include disputed credit accounts from more than two years ago or any related to reported identity theft.Still, the new rule has some in the housing industry worried that it’s going to keep more potential home buyers from securing a mortgage."We expect this revision will certainly kick some buyers out of the marketplace, and we’re in ongoing efforts to quantify how extreme the impact will be," Lisa Jackson, senior vice president of research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, told HousingWire.Jeremy Radack, a real estate attorney in Houston who assists with financing, estimated FHA originations may be reduced by 33 percent to 50 percent this year due to the new rule. FHA says the rule is aimed at protecting the FHA’s emergency fund, which has fallen below the mandated amount Congress requires. "We found that many borrowers with mortgage payment delinquencies had prior credit deficiencies including unpaid collections and unresolved disputed accounts prior to the approval of their loan," the spokesman said. "This change was made to eliminate this layer of risk to FHA-insured loans and help protect our insurance fund."