10 Easy Ways to Save for a Down Payment

The down payment is often the toughest hurdle to clear when buying a home. Whether you’re opting for a Federal Housing Administration mortgage loan with just 3.5 percent down, or shooting for a conventional loan with 20 percent down, saving for a down payment on your...

Mortgage rates fall but big banks doing less: Here’s why

As investors flee the stock market and rush to the relative safety of bonds, consumers are seeing at least one benefit: Lower mortgage rates. The average rate on the 30-year fixed conforming loan ($417,000 or less) dropped from 4.5 percent to 4.375 percent for most...

3 reasons cheap mortgages won’t help first-timers

Mortgage rates are still pretty cheap, even though they’ve risen a full percentage point since hitting record lows about a year ago. And with the stronger economy pulling housing along, “this is a good time to get into the market,” Anika Khan, Wells...

Mortgage Rates Slightly Lower to End Week

Mortgage rates managed to move lower today, generally erasing yesterday’s increases.  There was very little by way of market-moving events to motivate the changes.  Considering that yesterday’s higher rates were contrary to the underlying market movement,...

Efforts to kill Fannie-Freddie may already be dead

The leadership of the Senate Banking Committee with some fanfare this week released its long-awaited proposal to reform the U.S. housing finance system by dramatically scaling back the government’s role and eliminating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The proposal,...

Shut Out of the Housing Market? First-Timers Dwindle

First-time home buyers are particularly being hit hard by rising prices and tougher credit standards — and their decreasing market share proves it. The National Association of REALTORS® reports that first-time home buyers accounted for 26 percent of purchases in...