by Jim Crowder | Sep 4, 2015 | HOUSING MARKET
Last month, this blog reported that availability of mortgage credit, as benchmarked by the mortgage credit availability index set to 100 for March, 2012, had increased 0.5% month over month. It continues to set new records, hitting 126.1 in August (it was 116.4 for...
by Jim Crowder | Sep 3, 2015 | HOUSING MARKET
The second quarter of 2015 was a banner one for the mortgage industry, with the highest level of originations since Q4 2007. The actual figure, $395 billion, is up $65 billion quarter-over-quarter, and $98 billion year-over-year. Forbes goes in-depth on the market...
by Jim Crowder | Sep 2, 2015 | HOUSING MARKET
From the 2009 bottom of the market, single-family housing starts are up slightly more than 100%. Multi-unit buildings, on the other hand, are up a whopping 466%. Although those numbers feel out of whack at first glance, it likely makes sense in this post recovery...
by Jim Crowder | Sep 1, 2015 | HOUSING MARKET
The folks over at credit.com have written quite an extensive article on the impact of getting a mortgage pre-approval on your credit rating. The short answer is, they have an impact, but it’s quite small. For more details, the article is well worth the read, as...
by Jim Crowder | Aug 31, 2015 | HOUSING MARKET
If you’ve done any research into home ownership, then you’ve undoubtedly run across the various ways that making your payment differently can impact your lifetime cost (in terms of interest), and how long it takes to pay down your mortgage. Typical schemes...
by Jim Crowder | Aug 28, 2015 | HOUSING MARKET
Rumors have been flying fast-and-furious the last few months about when the Fed is finally going to raise interest rates. With the recent turmoil in global stock markets and China in particular, the future of Fed decisions is even more uncertain. But according to a...
