In the fourth quarter of 2011, 85 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table, a 26-year high, according to Freddie Mac. Of these borrowers, 37 percent maintained about the same loan amount, and 49 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance; this latter percentage reflecting “cash-in” borrowers was the highest in the 26-year history of the analysis.
“Cash-out” borrowers, those that increased their loan balance by at least five percent, represented 15 percent of all refinance loans, the lowest percentage in the 26 years of analysis; the average cash-out share during the 1985 to 2010 period was 46 percent.
The median interest rate reduction for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was about 1.4 percentage points, or a savings of about 26 percent in interest rate.
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- In coming weeks, federal policy makers could roll out pilot programs to further test the concept of renting out single-family homes.
- There are two different types of programs that officials are likely to consider. Under the first, the Federal Housing Administration could sell properties in bulk to investors who agree to rent them out.
- A more likely option for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be to set up pools of properties in which third-party investors would take a stake. Investors could be responsible for handling maintenance and day-to-day operation of the rental pool, with Fannie and Freddie sharing in some of the returns.
Read more about the pilot programs at http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/01/12/six-questions-on-foreclosure-to-rental-programs/.
Los Angeles Times
The mortgage market told a sad story throughout 2011: Record low rates, but few people taking advantage of them to buy homes. The likely scenario in the new year, according to many analysts, is more of the same.
Read the full story:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mortgage-rates-20120103,0,2240865.story
Calif. median home price: October 2011: $278,060 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. highest median home price by region/county October 2011: Marin: $781,250 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. lowest median home price by region/county October 2011: Lake County: $96,500 (Source: C.A.R.)
Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: October 2011: 122., an increase of 3.1 percent compared with a prior year.
Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index: Third quarter 2011: 52 percent (Source: C.A.R.)
Mortgage rates: Week ending 12/8/2011 30-yr. fixed: 3.99% fees/points: 0.7% 15-yr. fixed: 3.27 fees/points: 0.8% 1-yr. adjustable: 2.80% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)
In the third quarter of 2011, 82 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table, according to a report by Freddie Mac. Of these borrowers, 44 percent maintained about the same loan amount, and 37 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance.”Cash-out” borrowers, those who increased their loan balance by at least five percent, represented 18 percent of all refinance loans; the average cash-out share during the 1985-to- 2010 period was 46 percent.More info
