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This afternoon, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within a target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. This was expected so no surprises there. What wasn't expected was the Federal Reserve's relative optimism in its press release.

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This afternoon, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within a target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. This was expected so no surprises there. What wasn't expected was the Federal Reserve's relative optimism in its press release. For homebuyers in places like...

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Mortgage rates are notoriously volatile when the Federal Open Market Committee meets and today is such a day. Today's meeting is one of 8 scheduled FOMC meetings this year. The Federal Open Market Committee is a rotating, 12-member sub-group within the Federal Reserve that debates about financial...

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With evidence that Swine Flu ran for the border this past weekend, mortgage rates are improving. Confirmed cases of H1N1 Swine Flu have spread to 5 continents and financial contagion has put markets in Safe Haven mode. "Safe Haven buying" is a market jargon. It describes a common trading pattern...

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When banks make fixed-rate, principal + interest home loans, a borrower's monthly payment gets calculated from amortization schedules (ah-mor-ti-ZAY-shun). With respect to mortgages, amortization is the process of paying a loan to $0 over time. For homeowners, an amortization schedule's most...

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Signing mortgage paperwork can be unsettling for people. I know this first-hand. I've been to enough closings in my life to know that no matter how many HUD-1 Settlement Statements a person has seen in their lifetime, there is always some confusion about "the closing costs". Settlement statement...

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It's a common belief among Americans that the Federal Reserve controls mortgage rates. This is incorrect. If that were true, however, mortgage rates would have increased between 2004 and 2006 while the Fed was jacking the Fed Funds Rate from 1 percent to up over 5 percent.

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Are mortgage rates going up? Are mortgage rates going down? I am a regular participant in the Bankrate.com Mortgage Rate Trend survey and this week's survey may have your answers. The Bankrate.com survey is for conforming mortgages. It does not apply to FHA mortgages, VA mortgages, jumbo mortgages,...

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The Federal Reserve meets next week for a policy-setting meeting. It’s one of 8 scheduled Fed meetings this year in which the Federal Open Market Committee votes on whether to raise, lower, or leave unchanged the Fed Funds Rate. The Fed Funds Rate is the rate at which banks lend...

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Since 2007, foreclosures have dominated national real estate news. You can't turn on the news or open a paper without seeing at least one foreclosure-related story. But for all of the discussion, even two-and-a-half years after the peak of the housing market, home foreclosures continue to be...

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