Nenita Dasalla- Single Family Residence Real Estate Sales Consultant

Wall Street Journal
For homeowners who have been waiting for interest rates to fall even further before refinancing, it might be time to pull the trigger on a deal.  Rates are moving up – and could stay higher for a while, experts say.

Read the full story:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577295762407392928.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed more than 2.1 million foreclosure prevention actions since the start of conservatorship including 1.1 million permanent loan modifications. These actions, designed to help borrowers stay in their homes, are detailed in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s fourth quarter 2011 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report. The report also shows that after nine months, fewer than 20 percent of Enterprise loans modified in the four quarters ended March 31, 2011, had missed two or more payments, an improvement over prior years.

With this report, FHFA releases new state data sets and launches an interactive Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac State Borrower Assistance Map, showing the number of loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, delinquencies, foreclosure prevention activities, Real Estate-Owned (REO) properties, and refinances in each state. In addition, the report now includes a graphic showing Delinquent Loans by State and Profiles of Key States, with detailed information about states with the biggest five-year decline in house prices and the highest number and rate of seriously delinquent loans.

Also in the report:
Half of all borrowers who received loan modifications in the fourth quarter had their monthly payments reduced by over 30 percent, and one-third included principal forbearance.
Serious delinquency rates for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans remain below industry levels and continue to decline.
California had the largest number of completed foreclosure prevention actions since the beginning of conservatorship in 2008.

http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/23523/4Q_Forecl_Prev_release_031912.pdf

The New York Times
With interest rates at or near record lows, many borrowers are seeing little reason to pay points when buying or refinancing a home.  Some are even opting for what’s known as “negative points,” agreeing to a slightly higher rate to help pay closing costs.

Making sense of the story

• Paying points enables a borrower to “buy down” the interest rate on a mortgage in exchange for an upfront fee.  The trend away from points partly reflects borrower sentiment that rates are already low enough, according to industry experts.
• A point equals 1 percent of the loan amount, so paying one point on a $250,000 refinancing costs an extra $2,500 at closing, in addition to other mortgage fees, taxes, and escrow amounts.  Paying a point usually reduces the interest rate by 0.25 points over its term, so for instance, instead of 4 percent, the rate is 3.75 percent.
• The average number of points paid in 2011, according to a Freddie Mac survey, was 0.7 percentage points, less than half the levels people paid in the 1990s.  The average has been 0.7 percent for three years, after it hit a low of 0.4 percent in 2007; in 1995 it averaged 1.8 percent, according to Freddie Mac data.
• The primary advantages of paying points are a lower rate and monthly payment.  To decide if paying points is worthwhile, borrowers should consider two key decisions: How long they plan to live in the home, and how much they can afford in close costs.
• Many mortgage professionals suggest following this rule: If the borrower plans to live in the home for at least five years, paying points will help the homeowner to reap savings.
• Some borrowers are even going for negative points, which is also called a lender rebate or points in reverse.  In exchange for accepting a higher interest rate, the lender agrees to give the borrower a credit, which is usually used for closing costs.

Read the full story
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/realestate/mortgages-points-lose-favor.html?_r=1&ref=realestate

This alert is written to warn consumers about marketing companies, unlicensed entities, lawyers, and so-called attorney-backed, attorney-affiliated, and lawyer referral entities that offer and sell false hope and request the payment of upfront fees for so-called “mass joinder” or class litigation that will supposedly result in extraordinary home mortgage relief.

More info

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco this week sent to Congress a strategic plan for the next phase of the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
FHFA identified three strategic goals for the next phase of the conservatorships:
Build. Build a new infrastructure for the secondary mortgage market;
Contract. Gradually contract the Enterprises’ dominant presence in the marketplace while simplifying and shrinking their operations; and
Maintain. Maintain foreclosure prevention activities and credit availability for new and refinanced mortgages.

http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/23344/StrategicPlanConservatorshipsFINAL.pdf