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The Pittsburgh Steelers have won 5 Super Bowls in the history of its franchise and -- for the sake of the housing markets -- let's hope this year doesn't make Number 6. In 4 of the 5 years the Stillers won it all, the national real estate market floundered over...

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I am a regular participant in the Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Trend survey and this week's survey is now available. The Bankrate.com survey is for conforming mortgages. It does not apply to FHA mortgages, VA mortgages, jumbo mortgages, or foreign national mortgages. For rate quotes, email me...

Read the full post at http://www.themortgagereports.com

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today at the end of its 2-day meeting. The benchmark lending rate remains in a range of 0.000-0.250 percent, the lowest Fed Funds Rate recorded levels in history. Ben Bernanke & Co didn't offer up much in...

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If you only looked at the headlines, you may have missed the important part of December's Existing Home Sales data. While most papers trotted out some version of a "Home Sales hit 17-year low in 2008" story, astute observers noticed that national housing supplies cratered last month, providing a...

Read the full post at http://www.themortgagereports.com

I am a regular participant in the Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Trend survey and this week's survey is now available. The Bankrate.com survey is for conforming mortgages. It does not apply to FHA mortgages, VA mortgages, jumbo mortgages, or foreign national mortgages. For rate quotes, email me...

Read the full post at http://www.themortgagereports.com

An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. We learned this from Isaac Newton 321 years ago. And although the Netwon's First Law describes the physical world, it's relevant to the economy, too. How else can we explain the chart at right?...

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Exactly 1 year later, it's amazing how relevant this video still is. In 5 minutes, it covers the loosening of mortgage guidelines between 2002 and 2005, and the subsequent tightening from 2006 to the present. It shows why some homeowners are "stuck" in their respective mortgages, unable to...

Read the full post at http://www.themortgagereports.com

I am a regular participant in the Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Trend survey and this week's survey is now available. The Bankrate.com survey is for conforming mortgages. It does not apply to FHA mortgages, VA mortgages, or jumbo mortgages. For rate quotes, email me directly. The group's 30-day...

Read the full post at http://www.themortgagereports.com

Each week, Freddie Mac publishes its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, a report of the nation's average mortgage rate-and-fee structure. The media then grabs Freddie's press release and reports it to Americans in its newspapers, websites and television program. It's through these channels that most...

Read the full post at http://www.themortgagereports.com

Several weeks ago, the Federal Reserve pledged $500 billion to the mortgage-backed bond market and, after the announcement, mortgage rates fell. This happened because conforming mortgage rates are directly correlated to the demand for mortgage bonds. When demand rises, prices rise with them,...

Read the full post at http://www.themortgagereports.com