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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 point you in the right direction.

For the 4th consecutive month, the Case-Shiller Index showed a softening in year-over-year home price declines. But, even more relevant than the annual Case-Shiller numbers, are the monthly ones. According to the data, 18 of the 20 tracked real estate markets improved between April to May. It's the Case-Shiller Index's strongest showing in nearly 3 years.

Based on the last several months of real estate data, it appears as if home buyers are about to lose their upper-hand. When they do, buying a home won't be nearly the "deal" it may feel like today -- especially once mortgage rates head back up and after the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit expires December 1. They say this is a Buyer's Market. It's only a buyer's market if you actually buy.

If taking a downpayment gift is part of your upcoming home financing strategy, you need to know that there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. You can't just deposit your parents' money into a bank account.

In yesterday's post, I described mortgage rates as being "range-bound", repeatedly returning to the same 5.250 percent, 0 points marker since last December. Rather than take my word for it, though, check out the chart. It plots the Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed mortgage rate from December 2008 to July 2009.

If we study the long-term mortgage rate pattern dating back to late-2008, we observe that mortgage rates have bounced within in a tight range for nearly 8 months, only breaking the upper and lower boundaries for brief moments in time. Conforming mortgage rates appear to be "stuck" near 5.250 percent with 0 points.

As strict as mortgage underwriting has been lately, it may seem that there's a magic formula to getting approved. Truth is, there's not. Getting approved for a mortgage is the same as it ever was, just with higher hurdles. Satisfy the Mortgage Income-Equity-Credit Triangle and everything else is cream cheese.

If you're planning to claim use the credit and haven't started looking for a home, your clock is officially ticking. You must be closed on your new home on or before December 1.

Because purchase closings come 60-days standard, therefore, your $8,000 is in jeopardy unless you go under contract prior to October 2, 2009. That's 73 days from now.

Use it or lose it, as they say.

Mortgage approvals are getting more difficult. Again. After reviewing recent unemployment data and market fluctuations, plus patterns of mortgage fraud, Fannie Mae is making major mortgage guideline changes for the first time in more than 6 months. The changes are broad, impacting 15 separate areas of the mortgage approval process. The most impactful change may be Fannie Mae's new restrictions on mortgages for 2-unit properties.

Setting aside the personal pain foreclosures can cause, the massive mortgage default numbers have a silver lining. Both first-time home buyers and opportunistic real estate investors can now buy foreclosed homes at relatively low prices and finance them at attractive mortgage rates. Meanwhile, Foreclosure search engines are rarely free but often come with "trial periods".